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GARBAGE CHRONICLES

This feels like the beginning of a series...

Everyday I can, I go to the gym with the intention of burning as many calories as possible.  I go with the mindset: I don't do manual labor.  I don't haul anything.  I sit at a desk for about 8.5 hours a day.  The most walking I do is to the bathroom and back.  If I don't go to the gym I'm going to have major health issues related to inactivity.

With that said, I am really tired right now.  I am typing this next to my bed, which looks really comfortable.  But apparently, I still have some more calories to burn through ranting on the internet...

... wait for it ...

"I Like It" by Enrique Iglasias is music for the lowest common denominator of music fans.  It it base and makes me not want to DJ or be involved with music.

I don't know how this happened.  I didn't even feel this strong about Ke$ha's "Blah Blah Blah."  At least with K-to-the-$ I could focus on the fact that it knew what it was.  She doesn't pretend to be anything more than glow-in-the-dark body paint and a slick dance beat.

But I expected more out of you Enrique!  Dammit you're Julio's son, which means you have a greater responsibility than most people.  You were given the opportunity to learn and live and thrive in the most fruitful of soil...

I have no problem with Enrique trying to do something different.  I think it's important to keep changing and evolving.  And I get that it isn't 2003 anymore and record sales have changed, the industry has changed and the business of making money with album sales isn't quite what it used to be.  But by doing this song, Enrique is de-volving.  He's taken a step backwards from a a song like "Escape" or "Balimos" and chosen to take the shortcut.  The quick money. 

You can play "Escape" now, in 5 years, in 10 years, and it will still have pop value. Reference: http://www.swift.fm/DJFeenix/song/53867/.  You won't be able to say that about "I Like It."  It's going to sound just as dated as Ron Browz: http://www.swift.fm/DJFeenix/song/53869/. 

And sounding dated is bad!  It's a parody of itself.  It's a problem.  You can't play A-Ha in a serious way.  The Fixx is a sound from a specific point in time.  U2 needed to reinvent themselves in the giant lemon just to get out of the 80s and into permanency. 

I'm not even trying to be a genre-hater!  It's not about pop-music or what's popular-isn't-cool or whatever pretentiousness goes along with statements like "I liked ____ before they blew up and sold out."  It's not about that!  It's not about hating on anything on as general as "pop music."  I love pop music.  Maybe that's why I get so angry when it devolves into this nonsense. 

It's not that I hate dance music either.  Or pop-techno.  I love that David Guetta/Kid Cudi track "Memories."  It captures something raw and sad and there's a sense of release when Cudi is mimicing the synths.  It's capturing a moment somewhere.  You don't need to lose your soul in this musical exercise.

I look at people like Mandy Moore when seeking people who have transcended their pop success.*

(*Note: I was hoping to be the first but this is actually the second time in recorded history that "Mandy Moore" and "transcend" have been used in the same sentence. Well done, Prefix Mag.)

Speaking on her new album, from her website:

That's a musical NERD right there!  That sentiment is never coming out of Britney's mouth! Despite the juvenile (infantile) singles earlier in her career, this is an artist who has not lost who she is.  She's a music fan and you can feel that in the melodies.  She's trying to invoke Randy Newmann and Fleetwood Mac on the same album!!  This is the girl who sang "Candy!" 

It's supposed to be more acceptable to be a nerd in this day-and-age, not less.  Playing with the in-crowd is exactly what people do when they're desperate.  Everything blends in.  You're not a rock star until you don't give an eff.  And Mandy Moore is a rock star in my book.

I don't know where I net out on this subject but I feel significantly better.