Coldplay and Gwyneth Paltrow = Mediocrity

Xanax and a room full of kittens. Look into it.

What *is* it with all the schmaltz and drivel that clogs mainstream radio and tv? What is the attraction to all the diluted ersatz baby-formula generic cookie-cutter "music" thats infesting the airwaves? Looking back at the history of some of the most successful and longlasting artists out there.... they built their following on doing the music first, and then finding out that there was a market for it. These days, artists appear to be writing songs to order, according to what the cloth-eared A&R execs and radio promoters deem appropriate.. hence all the mindless corporate crap that emanates from the pimps at Clear Channel, MTV and the rest. Its no wonder that artists are increasingly "here today, gone tomorrow".... on the endless, fast moving conveyor-belt of muzak-on-demand that seems to find an bottomless supply of naive and earnest kids, who appear to be under some absurd fantasy/media-generated hypnotic spell, that life as a musician will be fun and rewarding... until they find themselves strung out with $500,000 debt to a multinational corporation, with their first album not promoted according to the terms of the contract, and their career down the toilet.

Only one in 200 bands signed to a major label will get their work promoted according to the clauses in the contract. The labels know full well that they are pretty much invincible in the courts (with a few notable exceptions), no matter how blatantly they breach. Its hardly surprising that these type of cases seldom appear in court.. entertainment lawyers who represent artists also represent the industry... its one big messy conflict-of-interest riddled scam... and we all know who has the money, and hence who wins in court.

Perhaps when artists are sincere enough to write their own music, rather than dilute someone else's by default... will it be worth the enrgy to flip that switch on the radio. Thanks to artists like Radiohead, Tool, Crimson, Eminem (love him or hate him, he's got his own sound). Portishead and others..... keep up the great and original work in these dark days of corporate conformity and bland bs.

So you're special when you're British, or what?

These days? Yeah.

America is a classless, unintellectual society in general, though, of course, there are exceptions.

Cold Play and Gwyneth Paltrow = Shovel to the head.

Ugh, so is Europe. France especially, but there's nothing special about England. We have rednecks, they have hooligans. France has the lazy 20-somethings and street riots. In order to make such a comment, it's clear that the only white people you associate with are elite Europeans and bourgeois Americans.

As far as Ms. Paltrow is concerned, I'd say she's pretty good looking, and a decent actress. Coldplay was interesting for about 15 minutes, which is better than I can say for most, but the all-critical follow-up album was weak. I'm sure they make a cute couple.

I'll admit, though, that I don't really understand indie-rock snobbery. It's like you guys hate anything that's polished, but at the same time you're just a bunch of culture-nazis.

Polished? OMG.

Don´t watch MTV, any gossip "news" or any movie with Paltrow in it. Then its almost as they never existed.

No, its emasculating if they admit they like even one Coldplay song. They'd get kicked off makeoutclub.com immediately. Plus, all of their emo tears would dry up.

That's a horrible thought for an indie-rock kid.

Standard response of idiots: point the finger and laugh. Right now, you're relying on nothing other than herd mentality to try to justify yourself. Unless, of course, the righteousness of your position is beyond human expression.

That's what pop music is: polished. It might not be polished gold, but whatever it is, it's certainly polished. There is also music and art out there that doesn't fall into "pop" that is also polished. For the indie-snobbatorium, this represents the "unpoetic." They are quick to deny that the best loved works of art, even poems themselves, have always been polished.

I like Coldplay, though they're not as good as Elbow, which is admittedly a soundalike. And "Rush of Blood" was WAY better than the first record. No comparison.

It's mellow pop that's not angry. And gosh darn it those Americans are so angry they can't stand anything that isn't screaming "fuck! fuck! fuck!" in a death metal growl, or "girl got booty ass bitch pants" with a repetitive bassline and no talent. "It's hard being a pimp" won the Academy award for best song, for fuck's sake.

Q and NME are my musical saviour.

When referring to the general public, I couldn't agree more. I cite American Idol, and its spin-offs the damn skating and dancing shows.

I hate that Paltrow woman. What I hate most is when people as stupid as her are rich and famous because they are egotistical pricks too in that they think they have earned it. God, I just want to smack her so bad.

Complaining that men don't ask her out and so make the accusation that we are to blame. Hello? Ugly, weird-therapy-using bitch. Complaining that women don't stay at home to raise their kids when the rest of the country complains they are sponging off the state. Ugly, rich-because-she-earns-loads-for-doing-nothing-so-can-afford-to-stay-at-home bitch.

I don't know much about Coldplay but anything related to that Paltrow woman has to be bad.

Apple and Moses = standard childhood trauma.
Apple and Moses and mother Paltrow = someone call social services.

Xanax and kittens for you, too.

Wow, a lot of people got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...

I like Coldplay too. They're enjoyable to listen to, their songs actually have decent content -- unlike the "My parents never understood me" or "I hate society and the whole world is f*cked up" or "Let's all buy diamonds for our teeth and have sex 24 hours a day" music.

I think Gwenyth is a decent actress. She's not amazing, but there are a lot worse out there.

As far as publicity where their marriage is concerned, Paltrow has made it very clear that they DON'T want their marriage always out there for all the world to see. When's the last time we heard news from the couple? When Apple was born. Gwenyth never brings Chris to red carpet events because they don't want to be "that kind of couple."

Give them a break, take off your NIN hoodie, relax, and go smell some flowers or something.

Hey, I like both NIN and Coldplay

OMGWTFBBQ

ANBANBANBANB

Touché.


Laugh at the unfortunate choice of words: polished? Pop music is what the masses listen, and masses are anything but polished.


No, I'm relying on your poor music taste.



Profound. You almost convinced me that Britney Spears is polished. Close, but not there yet.

Nice one though. It certainly shows you know what you're talking about.

I used to be an indie snob, but then I grew up. Good music is good music to you. Who cares if anyone else likes it and who cares if you like what other people like. The other thing that pisses me off is when you hear people talk like it is so easy to do a great pop song. If it was so easy everyone would be doing it and even if you think a pop star lacks talent there are always extremely talented musicians backing them up, excellent song writers writing for them and top notch producers making the tracks. Besides most indie snobs I run into don't have a clue as to how to have a good time.

Could you please explain in what way you feel that current rap isn't re-hashing itself, and other genres, to keep itself marketable?

Everyone should purchase issue 3 of n+1 for the essay, by Marc Greif, entitled 'Radiohead, or the Philosophy of Pop'. I'm not going to retype all 15 or so pages. Buy it. It's well worth the money. (Click here and choose the Back Issues link on the left. There's an excerpt online.)

As with almost every time I've engaged you in an argument, you have failed to provide anything of substance. Not even much of an opinion, other than an elitist facade. Please tell me: who are you that makes you such an authority on these issues of proper culture? I'm legitimately curious.

If you're just another kid who goes to a second-tier college, you don't have to respond.

It's all 'pop' music anyway. That's what the charts track.

Piss on the concept, but appreciate the ability of the songwriter or performer to deliver a product that appeals to a wide group of people. It's a well-crafted distillation. A product. 'Product' in the most pure, commercial, constructed way possible.

Britney Spears. Pop.
Kanye West. Pop.
Limp Bizkit. Pop.
Death Cab For Cutie. Pop.
The Smiths. Pop.
Radiohead. Pop.
Pearl Jam. Pop.
50 Cent. Pop.
Bloc Party. Pop.
The Neptunes. Pop.
Neil Young. Pop.
NIN. Pop.
Bjork. Pop.
Coldplay. Pop.
Etc., etc., etc. Pop.

That group of scruffy indie kids who've just rented a rehearsal space. Pop aspirants.

I like Coldplay. I generally like Paltrow.

I am a snob about music, somewhere between Jack Black and John Cusack in High Fidelity. And I have exquisite taste in all things.

Actually, England has rednecks too. I saw one of their candidates interviewed on TV last summer and he was not wearing a shirt.

Let's see:

1) You think Chris Martin & Gwyneth Paltrow suck.
2) You like music signed to major labels.
3) Rock is dead.
4) Rap is the new 'Rock'.
5) Rap isn't as old as rock, so it's not the same thing and it has some advantage due to youth.

What the hell is your point, then, other than you being bitter about the success of Coldplay while being a consumer of current corporate music.

Your hyperbolic rant that started this thread was far more deserving of the 'rolleyes' emoticon than anything else posted in response.

How's the Three 6 Mafia album?

You seem to believe that there's no value in exploring the boundaries of mediocrity.

Rap. The musical saviour. 30 years strong! Slightly less mediocre than Bob Dylan. Hurrah!

Nah, OSX. I'm sure you've progressed past it already though, with it being almost 6 years old. If you'd like to continue insulting me, pop musicians, Karl Rove or the French, we have a PM system here.

Found yourself a small farm somewhere?

I suggest 'Clonopin' and 'Irony' as names for your children.

Later.

Oh SNAP. How will he ever recover from that blow?

NME for chrissake?

They're nothing but a bunch of gushing fanboys and girls.

If you're going to err, at least err on the side of pretentiousness ala Pitchfork Media.

As opposed to your charade of insults?


Elitist because I think Britney Spears isn't polished? Yeah, really.


I'm the guy that pointed out that you have a logical fallacy wrt to pop and polish.


I may even be a 50-year old doofus that hasn't even finished 4-years of elementary school, but your contention that pop is polished is as true as if I were to say I'm Jesus Christ himself listenting to Christina Aguilera's latest "hit".

That is, not even close.

Please understand that 'pop' is 'pop' for a reason, and that reason is because it is what the masses listen to. Also understand that the masses, as a rule, don't particularly have a high level of musical taste, and as such, anything they listen to (with some rare exceptions) is un-polished, un-intelligent, un-artistic garbage that record labels put out so they can sell more singles to 15-year old teenies that want to be like The Next Pop Queen.

Nothing personal.

Wasn't I the one who told Splinemodel he had bad taste because he didn't like Neil Young?