Kylie

[stuartbert two hats]

Interesting stuff this. I'm firmly on the lyrics side, I think. I've not absolute with the writing/performing, but the only thing I've come to understand is it's performance. It really is acting. Top level musicians practise poses, know exactly when to do those movements that lead us punters to believe they're lost in the music and being all spontaneous etc (one or two notable exceptions aside). I might be thick as fuck, cos it took me ages to work that out.

I think sometimes that technique is intuitive. Do you think it's really that calculated for the really engaging performers? Maybe I'm just being naive to think that it's not entirely pretending. After all, 'method acting' is all about truly becoming lost in the role.

[stuartbert two hats]

Nice work.

Which part?

[Wooderson]

Which part?

All of it - particularly liked the line about Julia's portrayal of Lennon's "oedipal longing and loss".

[russycarps]

there are too many performers I adore (Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Joe Cocker, and many many others) who's song-writing abilities are non-existent, for me to narrow my enjoyment down to only people who write their own material.

no one has said they only enjoy people who have written their own material.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Probably like most people I listened to Julia quite happily for many years without knowing the context. Then when I found out what it meant, the song was transformed into this staggering work of plaintive oedipal longing and loss. So yes, both of us had been listening to it from a position of ignorance for all those years. That doesn't mean we didn't appreciate it musically. But we were missing out on a whole other dimension. I can't speak for other people, but I certainly enjoyed it less before I knew what it meant. Or to put a more positive spin on it, I enjoyed it more once I understood.

I've not really experienced that type of transformation. If anything, once something ceases to be universal and becomes specific, something is maybe lost. Instead of Julia being open to multiple interpretations it becomes a footnote in the soap opera of John Lennon's dead mum, a prelude to the general solipsism that blighted his later output. Not that that's the worst crime in the world, artistically speaking, but if anything it's a song that needs more covers done of it rather than fewer to waft away the sense of reverence around it that would otherwise stultify it to the point of it being an exhausting cliche.

At any rate, I'm not so much criticising the songs that have an additional context as speaking up for the songs that have little to no context because they weren't written by famous western rock stars. Which are, by far, the majority.

[ICGenie]

That's not what he's saying, though, is it?

He's saying it's all about the technical performance, just like classical and opera.

Bloody hell, I've been on these boards for nearly nine years and people STILL think I'm a bloke!

[Wooderson]

All this reverence for lyrics tho.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Blody hell, I've been on these boards for nearly nine years and people STILL think I'm a bloke!

Oops - soz.

All this reverence for lyrics tho.

Now, then - the ability to rhyme 'moon' with 'June' is an important musical skill.

[The Nal]

Kylie has occasionally co written some of her stuff. Can she play now?

[CaledonianGonzo]

She could play even if she'd never written a note of it.

[The Nal]

Cool. Would be nice if she played, 10 years after she had to cancel. Aside from side 1 of A Rush of Blood to the Head shes as good as Coldplay. And that Confide in Me tune is a banger.

[russycarps]

Kylie has occasionally co written some of her stuff. Can she play now?

Play, yes. Headline, no. Reason? She's dreadful.

Hope this helps...

[The Nal]

Play, yes. Headline, no. Reason? She's dreadful.

Hope this helps...

So is Beyonce. So is her husband. Same for Kasabian, Mumfords, Kings of Leon, Basement Jaxx.....

[CaledonianGonzo]

Kylie won't headline as, at the minute, she's in the doldrums career-wise.

[russycarps]

So is Beyonce. So is her husband. Same for Kasabian, Mumfords, Kings of Leon, Basement Jaxx.....

I agree!

Point of order though, I think most of parachutes is better than anything kylie has done as well

Edited January 29, 2015 by russycarps

[mrtourette]

I think applying the "as good as Coldplay" rule is a brilliant solution to the problem of a shortage of potential headliners.

[russycarps]

I think applying the "as good as Coldplay" rule is a brilliant solution to the problem of a shortage of potential headliners.

I agree. over the years coldplay is probably the average pyramid headliner. They are the minimum requirement of ability and output required. (I appreciate the bar is set very low here).

So I guess when we talk about future headliners we should think, are they better than coldplay? If yes, they can get the gig. If no, then they should be discarded immediately.

Kylie, no. Foo fighters, difficult, probably on a par with them so yes.

In fact, I might forward this rating system on to the festival office.

Edited January 29, 2015 by russycarps

[The 38 year old virgin]

For the record, I'd watch her wherever and whenever she was on.

And Coldplay's first couple of albums are pretty good

[Wooderson]

Nal's contempt for Beyoncé and -particularly - "her husband". Haha

[stuartbert two hats]

Coldplay didn't start to get interesting until their later stuff. The first album in particular was incredibly wet.

[FakeEmpire]

Imagine THIS setlist on a pissed up Saturday night at the Pyramid:

Spinning Around

On A Night Like This

Into The Blue

Step Back In Time

Better The Devil You Know

Wow

Slow

Confide In Me

Where The Wild Roses Grow (with NICK CAVE)

Hand On Your Heart/Never Too Late/I Should Be So Lucky

I Believe In You

Love At First Sight

Kids (with Robbie Williams)

The Loco-Motion

Can't Get You Out Of My Head

All The Lovers

[mrtourette]

And Coldplay's first couple of albums are pretty good

But are they as good as Coldplay?

[mrtourette]

Imagine THIS setlist on a pissed up Saturday night at the Pyramid:

Better than a sunny Sunday afternoon with a cider in hand?

[mrtourette]

where's the good bit(s)?

It's a list of Kylie songs.

[ICGenie]

Play, yes. Headline, no. Reason? She's dreadful.

Hope this helps...

Out of interest, did you feel this passionately about the issue ten years ago?