Please tell me I am not the only person alive who ABHORS the soul/r&b turned hip-hop turned pop and rock trend over the last few years that sees every vocal track being contorted by pitch-shifting?
At an eating establishment here in town last night I was exposed to the Kanye's entire new album (yes - the service really WAS that slow), and though I never thought I would say this - it actually borders on being FANTASTIC.
The only thing that will absolutely keep my from listening to it entirely again, or for my own pleasure (which pisses me off), is the application of this effect on the vocals.
Not as spice - not as an enhancement - not as a way to create a mood or peak interest - but simply applied universally on every track beginning to end. It has long since progressed, especially in this case, from being used as a production technique for artistic purposes to being simply a trendy gimmick and a sign of the times.
This production technique has rubbed me the wrong way since I first heard it, and I abhor it even when used sparingly, but when OVERused, just like anything, it's just ridiculous, and becomes a parody of itself.
Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I really do like the album a lot for a lot of different reasons, and it just saddens me to see what could potentially be a stellar album, an artistic highlight of someone's career, and a positive influence on the same genre going forward, detracted from and trivialized by a grotesque production technique that is by any and all assessment overused and abused, and will serve to simply date the album and relegate it to insignificance by its very presence. That, my friends, is tragic.
Or is it just me?
I'm gonna have a beer.
At an eating establishment here in town last night I was exposed to the Kanye's entire new album (yes - the service really WAS that slow), and though I never thought I would say this - it actually borders on being FANTASTIC.
The only thing that will absolutely keep my from listening to it entirely again, or for my own pleasure (which pisses me off), is the application of this effect on the vocals.
Not as spice - not as an enhancement - not as a way to create a mood or peak interest - but simply applied universally on every track beginning to end. It has long since progressed, especially in this case, from being used as a production technique for artistic purposes to being simply a trendy gimmick and a sign of the times.
This production technique has rubbed me the wrong way since I first heard it, and I abhor it even when used sparingly, but when OVERused, just like anything, it's just ridiculous, and becomes a parody of itself.
Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I really do like the album a lot for a lot of different reasons, and it just saddens me to see what could potentially be a stellar album, an artistic highlight of someone's career, and a positive influence on the same genre going forward, detracted from and trivialized by a grotesque production technique that is by any and all assessment overused and abused, and will serve to simply date the album and relegate it to insignificance by its very presence. That, my friends, is tragic.
Or is it just me?
I'm gonna have a beer.
