Introductory essay by Mark Hosler and Lene Nystrom
Currently hitting hyperdrive with my real project, burning out from overexposure to the under-attended but provocative screenings at the Fingerlakes Environmental Film Festival, scrambling to finish this crazy Radioh Dissny article, and going completely insane compiling what was supposed to be an INFORMAL teen pop survey (which is now more formal and very big -- a full data CD and counting). On-and-off researching/listening/poking around for this thing has provided a few revelations:
1) Holy shit, the new Marit Larsen album is amazing.
2) Holy shit, the new(est) Rachel Stevens album is amazing.
3) Holy shit, I haven't been missing much by not listening to new music in the past few months (unrelated, but I finally sat down and listened to a few albums). [EDIT: OK, a plea to indie rock artists I really am trying to engage with -- STOP USING NINE MINUTE SONGS FOR THE OPENING TRACK. Hard enough to get into this new Destroyer album (which I think I like maybe), but the Islands (who I don't like...tuff luff! Ha!) are RIDICULOUS. Anyway...]
4) Holy shit, extended listening time with B*Witched. Marion Raven. Cherie. Kaci Brown. Stacie Orrico. Fan_3. It's not all great, but it's all available, and the list continues. Also, Darcy's Wild Life and Pokemon soundtracks prove to be very valuable in this endeavor.
So to kick hyperdrive into hyperdrive, more Myspace silliness and some pretty good finds.
Lindsay Robins
She's Canadian. She cites Pat Benatar, Alanis Morissette, and Chrissie Hynde as influences. She is professedly NOT a "pop tart." She also wrote this:
By the age of 13 I began singing 'pop' music in recording studios with various writers. I never really liked singing bubblegum music and over time I became sick of being told to make my vocals sound less aggressive. Soon enough I started writing songs of my own. By the age of 15 I started co-writing and recording both 'rock' and 'pop/rock' songs.
No, it's not Skye (Skye loves bubblegum and would readily describe herself as a pop tart!)...it's Lindsay! No, it's not Lindsay...it's Lindsay Robins! Highlight of the page is "What Would You Do," which is somewhere between the Veronicas and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (not bad!). One to keep an eye on, f'real.
Kristy Frank
Featured on the Darcy's soundtrack, but I actually found this Myspace through Pop Blitz magazine, who friended me recently (btw, the old Basshead Myspace has been replaced by this very blog). I like the Myspace tracks more than the relatively bland track on DWL OST; I'm actually getting kind of a Rachel Stevens vibe. (Why am I not listening to Rachel Stevens right now? This is good, too.)
All three of these tracks are pretty good...nothing jumps out, good or bad (which is good). Even the obligatory acoustic confessional track is bubblegum enough to keep it from dipping into total blandness (or is it "pop country enough"? It has been suggested as of late that there's more bubblegum in country than teen pop these days -- although pop country's influence on teen pop continues to expand and the line between the two is pretty well blurred at this point as it is).
My advice to Kristy Frank: start adopting some esoteric literary and musical influences (even if you're faking it) and write cryptic, hilarious blog posts about the media you voraciously consume on a regular basis. This is why Brie Larson's next album is going to play almost exclusively to weirdo rock critics (tweens won't get the Big Star and Bukowski references).
Sara Paxton
Not a particularly interesting Myspace page (I'll bet Sara's never even seen it), but I should note here that I think I've fallen in love with Sara Paxton. Didn't really notice her on Aquamarine ("Connected" is OK not great), but "Take a Walk" gets me for some reason. Maybe it's collaborating with that Myspace pic, which is mesmerizing. And not in that super-creepy Amy Diamond air-brush iris kinda way. Pitter patter goes my little heart...apologies to my long-suffering gurlfriend.
Funn Club
Here's one that does creep me out. Can't quite put my finger on why -- there's something very dead-eyed soulless about this group. They're like Huckapoo without the fascinating intellectual property-heavy backstory or Dizney support or even flimsy constructed cartoon persona for each member. I mean, they're just five girls in tank tops. And they're smiling. All the time.
Worth noting are "friend" links to Triple Image, who in turn led me to someone named Jer-Z -- a kid R&B artist with OK tunes and decent production who has no appreciation for her Myspace stalkers (hence not talking about her separately). Who led me to the fake Lene Nystrom (more on that in a sec). I would just like to illustrate how Myspace networking can easily become an all-consuming obsession.
The Fake Lene Nystrom
Who the hell is Lene Nystrom?? (scratches head, googles it...)
HOLY SHIT (parallel structure post)! IT IS LENE "AQUA" NYSTROM!!!
The Real Lene Nystrom
Album Play with Me is from 2003, but I'd never heard of it until now. Apparently, Nystrom was also involved in writing Girls Aloud's "No Good Advice" (also from 2003, except THAT album was cleared for hipsters for some reason...). If Lene Nystrom ever puts out another album, I'll sell my pancreas for an advance copy.
Note to future FLEFF programmers: I think that a Mark Hosler/Lene Nystrom IP superduo would dominate next year's festival. Just putting it out there.
Also lots of great Myspace nods from Popjustice in the past week or two: British ska(?)/rap artist Lily Allen, Sugababe gone solo Siobhan Donaghy, and former Mis-Teeq member Alesha Dixon.
No comments:
Post a Comment