Pop and the idea of bands

[mostlyconnect.livejournal.com]

I don't really listen to bands or groups. I think poptimists has something to do with this - I certainly don't see many bands featured here, and I think they still get a bad press even among those who have rehabilitated pop to themselves? Maybe even rightly!

Do you? I feel these days like having more than one focus distracts and confuses the focus of music, making it weaker - but then I'll make exceptions for moments like golden-age Girls Aloud, when it sounded like 5 solo artists all recording at once, leading and pulling in different, exciting directions. Or at the very least - you knew who they were.

What do people think?

Comments

The Point Of Bands

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

i. Create a gang you want to be in.
ii. Create a package that's more interesting than the sum of its parts.

That's about it, except ii can encompass everything from power-trio improv to the Spice Girls to divorce-drama pop so it's pretty broad.

Re: The Point Of Bands

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

Or in the case of McFly/Spicers, create the gang that THEY want you to be in!

The internalised 'being in a band' thing you mention before - I dunno - couldn't that just as easily apply to a solo artist? What with focus on individuals in reality pop shows/BGT etc (yeah okay there are some groups but I think the main focus is on Plucky Individuals and great emphasis placed on overcoming odds by themselves - wvs). Stuff like Going On Tour has it's "bands" ethos (band picking itself apart on tour buses) and "solo artist" ethos (solo artist going insane/engulfed by entourage)...

Also how many solo acts are reeeeally solo aside from producers/collaborators and indeed my dere, scenesters? (I believe some people call 'em "hipsters")...

Re: The Point Of Bands

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well the structure of reality shows is like a GIANT BAND who all have to pretend to like each other and then the prize is a solo career ;)

I think the pre-scripted thing totes applies to solo acts too, I was just thinking of people like The Kooks or whoever where I suspect being in a band makes them EVEN MORE BORING than they might be separately.

Re: The Point Of Bands

[atommickbrane.livejournal.com]

So boring people become more boring but someone by themselves remains as themselves and thus = authenticity!!

Re: The Point Of Bands

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Oh god this has reminded me - the other day when I was looking up the Kid British single, I assumed that Kid British was a solo dude (Kid is singular!) and was v surprised to find that not only were they a band, they were a band that wanted very badly to be a BAND rather than a crew - i.e. not just lots of individual rappers pulled together by a single beat/motivation like So Solid or Wu Tang always seemed to be (altho obv that worked out very well for SSC and WTC!). I think the missing quality for 'band' status Kid British didn't manage was the feeling that all members of the band were absolutely necessary for the song to work. That's on the basis of one song tho - I dunno if they pull it off properly on their album.