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Too slow and stark to be smooth
May. 17th, 2010 05:44 amJust posted this comment at Bilbo's Laptop (Jonathan's Latin Number One Hits blog):
Gloria Estefan has always been in one ear and out the other for me (not that I don't quite like e.g. "Rhythm Is Going To Get You" when I hear it, but right now I couldn't hum a second of it other than the title refrain), with one astonishing exception: Miami Sound Machine's "Can't Stay Away From You," heart throbbing and heart stopping, almost deadly still, but not at all placid. At the time, I would put it on mixtapes next to the Carpenters' "Superstar," either before "Superstar" (in which case "Superstar" is a murmur that turns into a wail, letting loose all the arrested pain of the previous number) or after (in which case "Can't Stay Away From You" is the sad aftermath, unfolding into infinity).
I haven't learned to listen to "smooth"; by my definition, "Can't Stay Away From You" is too slow and stark to be smooth, even if there are no jagged features. I'd say the same about Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," though I'm sure both could make it onto smooth radio. Whereas "Si Voy A Perderte," which is far more eventful than "Can't Stay Away From You," has glisten on its surface, so a feeling of no friction. If my ears ever do learn to penetrate the Smooth, some of what I've overlooked will hit me powerfully, emotions in a shiny skyscraper, but this hasn't happened yet.
Gloria Estefan has always been in one ear and out the other for me (not that I don't quite like e.g. "Rhythm Is Going To Get You" when I hear it, but right now I couldn't hum a second of it other than the title refrain), with one astonishing exception: Miami Sound Machine's "Can't Stay Away From You," heart throbbing and heart stopping, almost deadly still, but not at all placid. At the time, I would put it on mixtapes next to the Carpenters' "Superstar," either before "Superstar" (in which case "Superstar" is a murmur that turns into a wail, letting loose all the arrested pain of the previous number) or after (in which case "Can't Stay Away From You" is the sad aftermath, unfolding into infinity).
I haven't learned to listen to "smooth"; by my definition, "Can't Stay Away From You" is too slow and stark to be smooth, even if there are no jagged features. I'd say the same about Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," though I'm sure both could make it onto smooth radio. Whereas "Si Voy A Perderte," which is far more eventful than "Can't Stay Away From You," has glisten on its surface, so a feeling of no friction. If my ears ever do learn to penetrate the Smooth, some of what I've overlooked will hit me powerfully, emotions in a shiny skyscraper, but this hasn't happened yet.
