Christina Aguilera

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I know this is the vocalist snob in me rearing to the fore, but I have no fucking clue how you can call Christina Aguilera's vocals "anonymous" in this world of limpid, unsupported, whispery, no-strength pop/R&B singers (and as much as I like her music, Aaliyah was right at the front of that pack). I'll take singers with some meat to their voices and breath support in their technique (Christina, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Blu Cantrell, Truth Hurts, old Mariah Carey, Tweet, Michelle Branch) over breathy idiocy (Britney, Ashanti, Mya, new Mariah, Vanessa Carleton). Shit, when Christina does do the breathy thing ("I'm OK"), she's still supporting her sound and has some core to the tone so that it carries over the music.

The arrangements are subservient to Christina's voice because her voice is powerful enough to carry a song, unlike vocal midgets like Britney or Aaliyah.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

But vocal power can be anonymous! In the same way that someone can have a lot of instrumental technique, chops, whatever but still can leave little impact beyond noting "Oh yeah, you're good at what you do, I guess." I guess I've muttered this before vis-a-vis Eminem and Eric Clapton, say, and it seems equally appropriate here. All the skill in the world isn't enough to connect on its own; otherwise we'd all be Eric Johnson fans or something. Xtina as singer straight up = leaves me COLD. Xtina fucked around with at least one way or another, "Dirrty," "A Stroke of Genius," "Make Over" = far better.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dan you should have heard Michelle on the Latin vmas, i dont think she got one note right, it was horrible

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's not the nakedness that bothers me so much as the guitar. I don't know why. It's almost like adding insult to injury. "The only way that a chick with a guitar will get on the cover of Rolling Stone is if it's a dollybird singer POSING with one."

I always THOUGHT there was a guitar in this photo for some reason:

http://www.thelollies.co.uk/noguitar.jpg

― kate, Friday, 1 November 2002 17:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's not just a voice snob thing, Dan. I generally object to breathy-voices (you forgot to add Janet!) on quasi-feminist principles: "whispery" = unthreatening, modest, thin, geisha-shy, a crummy male hetero fantasy. (Yeah, I know strong proto-feminists can be the subject of male hetero fantasies, too, but it's not as common.) (Also, J-pop is much worse about breathy-voiced singers than R&B.)

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

Damn! I thought my nude mutantman was the ultimate threadkiller!

― kate, Friday, 1 November 2002 17:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

''That cover upsets me on such a fundamental level that I can't even BEGIN to explain.''

RS is a 'rock' mag and so its OK. rock is dead anyway (it is!!). long live pop!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

"whispery" = unthreatening, modest, thin, geisha-shy, a crummy male hetero fantasy

I hope I'm not implying *that*! Eep! :-/ Not when some like Di can rock the house at full volume. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 November 2002 17:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

Di = ?

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

Lady Di = lucylurex = Dunedin ILXer and very good person. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh oh oh. OK. Sorry. No, I meant "whispery = unthreatening" strictly in the context of R&B (and j-pop). In other rock forms, "whispery" means something else -- or gets pleasingly contrasted with more forthright stuff (cf. Lush).

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

I was thinking, like "Di? Is this some R&B singer that Ned's jonesin' about lately that I don't know about?"

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

My secret R&B underworld, don't you know.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

R&B Underworld would be GREBT. "Two Months Off" featuring Usher and Mary J. Blige!

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 1 November 2002 18:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'd like to take this opportunity to interrupt the Dan & Ned Show to report that this album (_Stripped_) is pretty damn good (assuming you can stomach the more histrionic / Linda Perry-esque moments to be had throughout this album) (and that you have an affinity for this dastardly Chart Pop stuff). I'd offer more to counter the "tough love" exercised by these two upstanding gentleman, but I've only heard the album once - suffice it to say that "Dirrty" is buried at the back end of the album for a reason, and while it is a bit of a red herring, it isn't the distracting sparkly thing that "Get This Party Started" was. (But, then, I'll have to actually listen to the entirety of _Mizundastood_ to really know.)

And now, back to your originally scheduled programming.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 1 November 2002 19:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Two Months Off" featuring Usher and Mary J. Blige!

You know, I'm fully on this as an idea. Bootlegs, anyone?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 November 2002 19:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's all about the Scott Storch tracks, innit? Interesting that he and Xtina seem to have fallen out or something (see the thank yous in the CD booklet), but she was right to stick nearly all his stuff upfront, as it's by far the best on the record ("Dirrty" aside).

The LP dips badly in the "Linda Perry section" in the middle. I'm a Perry fan after "Missundaztood", but her songs here are k-rub (although "Make Over" is amusing - is Xtina trying to be Kurt Cobain here?). Sterling is OTM about "I'm OK" - I'm beginning to wonder now if it's Perry, rather than Pink, who has "issues" in re this whole oh-Daddy-why-did-you-beat-up-Mom-in-front-of-me-when-I-was-little thing.

The Alicia track is okay.

― Jeff W (Jeff W), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 12:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

great fuckin album

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 14 June 2018 21:39 (five years ago) link

what else goes on the mixtape with "make over" and sugababes' "Overload"?

― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 14 June 2018 21:49 (five years ago) link

What’s the new one like?

― lost in sublimation (Ross), Wednesday, 20 June 2018 09:27 (five years ago) link

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Christina Aguilera - Stripped