the magnificent miss murphy

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I went to see Róisín Murphy last night (review in Grau tomorrow). She was WONDERFUL and her hats were FABULOUS. I know she's a long-time poptimist favourite but I don't think we've actually talked about her much, so shall we? Her album is one of the best of the year - my favourite is 'Tell Everybody', omg that was so good last night, she did it as the encore. And there are so many parallels with Gwen Stefani: platinum blonde MILF ex-frontwomen of 'alternative' acts who hit big late in their career, now embracing pop and offbeat couture for their solo careers.

Comments

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Hmm not quite, I don't like Goldfrapp's music terribly much and I think she's imprisoned by an aesthetic a bit but her voice has more menace and gumption in it.

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'it sounds like every move is really tightly designed to make sure Roisin never risks doing anything tasteless or vulgar'

this is a criticism i've heard a lot over the years regarding numerous artists but i've never felt it myself. i mean why is it such a bad thing to try and aspire to quality or cleanliness in this way? 'because humans are flawed and we should accept or even celebrate that' yeah but tastelessness and vulgarity over-rated in pop perhaps! are we talking intentional vulgarity or non-intentional (is this even possible now?) tho. interesting talking point.

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well I think it's a personal preference - I am a messy, scruffy, cluttered person and generally the art I like is also messy and cluttered and prone to splurging - in other words I don't agree with or relate to definitions of tastefulness in eg. design (don't like "white space") or in this case pop. To an extent these definitions are projections, though!

With Roisin her visual style - judging from eg the album cover - seems a lot more surprising than her pop style.

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i am a scruffy messy guy too really and not really big on 'white space' either (i dislike galleries in this way, i don't like a lot of 'minimal' dance music) but i don't feel that way about Roisin's kind of Pop altho i can see why it could be classed in this way.

the Sophie Ellis-Bextor comparison is good esp. with 'Let Me Know' which imo would be one of SEB's best singles had it been her.

essentially the reason i like RM, Goldfrapp etc. is pretty much the same reason i love the Pet Shop Boys (they have more warmth and kitsch only at certain points in their career) which is different to your reasons maybe.

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I don't like S E-B either except for "Murder On The Dancefloor" and "China Heart", btw.

The thing with the PSBs is that Neil Tennant has always had a pretty thin, technically weak voice, plus they started making their music when they couldn't get the compressed fullness of sound a big pop album now tends to have. Their recent stuff has had a much richer sound but unfortunately Tennant's voice has become ever more strained trying to fill it (that awful high croak he uses) - on their "imperial" material there are huge gaps in the sound and he can hide in them, lurking and commentating.

All this has nothing to do with Roisin!

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i only bring it up because i like them all for the same reasons tho, regardless of what they have in common and what they don't.

but I do need Roisin to step up and front something as joyous as 'Always On My Mind' yes.

Re: Listening to the album

[koganbot]

Tom, the three or so songs I've heard by Roisin Murphy haven't moved me, at least not yet, but what do you think of Cassie? She's full of stark white space, makes a point of not being wildly emotive in her vocals, yet she's made some of my favorite music of the last couple of years, absolutely riveting on stuff like "Me & U," "Turn The Lights Off," amd "What Do U Want" - that last one being a bare gesture at teenpop that works well despite being, basically, a gesture.

Also, have you heard Keak Da Sneak's "That Go"? Minimalist and scruffy.

Re: Listening to the album

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think what I was saying about the Pet Shop Boys applies a bit to Cassie (who I really really like) - how they use the gaps in the songs to hide in and comment from. The space in Cassie's records is like a stripped-out room, whereas the space in Roisin's is like an art gallery.

Re: Listening to the album

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I agree with this! I love art galleries but it's also why I prefer Cassie (though I prefer Cassie to everyone these days: that's right Ciara, you have been REPLACED at the summit. Until, maybe, your next album).

Re: Listening to the album

[koganbot]

Oh yeah, and I find Cassie's stuff massively emotional, despite not being "emotive."

Re: Listening to the album

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I am v much against vulgarity in pop this week after the complete horror which is Girls Aloud's 'Fling'. I've made the "too tasteful" criticism myself in the past: I think it really shows when the artist in question is using tastefulness, or an idea of it, as a substitute for personality; Roisin adds it as another facet to her personality (ditto Sade who is like the epitome of tastefulness and who I adore).

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'I think it really shows when the artist in question is using tastefulness, or an idea of it, as a substitute for personality'

who do you have in mind out of interest?

Re: Listening to the album

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Haha Sophie E-B, for one. Plus, you know...KT Tunstall, all that lot.

Re: Listening to the album

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

SEB is so media-friendly tho so her personality comes out by being on TV doing a laughable pub cover of 'Hey Mickey' or laughing at Steve Jones jokes etc.

But somehow we know Roisin is a fun, friendly personality too even tho she's not half as exposed.