Soul vs Technique

[datura800.livejournal.com]

I hope he won't mind me quoting him, but I read an interesting assertion in Alex's review of the new Mariah album (today's Guardian):

"Carey's voice has been mocked, bizarrely, as being a triumph of technique over soul - an argument that fails to comprehend that technique and soul are intertwined, that technique primarily exists as a means to convey emotion".

I thought this would be a good discussion to have here - it's a point I quite strongly disagree with (generally, not specifically with relation to Mariah), but I'll wait to see if anyone is interested in commenting before launching into it.

Comments

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

(Tho I guess you're referring to the sort of appropriation that most anti-Celine people ignore, the marginalized Quebecoise and status in other parts of the world, and maybe as camp via Vegas and "schmaltz," which wouldn't be the same thing I'm calling "compromise" here.)