Strategies of incoherence
May. 13th, 2013 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotOn the latest 4minute EP, four* different sets of producers/writers make the same decision (or follow the same instructions), which is to create songs that have lots of empty space, highlighting each singer and song segment without worrying too much about tying sections together musically or emotionally. These tracks belong to a strange and interesting trend: strategies of incoherence, also being employed to a lesser or greater extent by G-Dragon ("Crayon"), SNSD ("I Got A Boy"), GLAM ("I Like That"), 4minute subunit 2Yoon ("24/7"), plus some others I can't think of this second.
Works pretty well. None of 4minute are bravura-type vocalists, but they're each distinct and can handle the spotlight. HyunA dominates, with bits of incantation and scraps of rap. She really enjoys being a star. The two Yoons twirl their melodies like lassos. Lots of fun. Mat complains regarding "What's Your Name" that "lalalas" are no good for this group, but I disagree. The lalalas fit 4minute's general demeanor of cheerfully contentious salaciousness, are just more seduction. I do find Brave Brothers' beats a bit weak and chintzy. If you're gonna go spare you need strong and dramatic architecture, not just mild percolation.** But the hook has stuck more than I expected. I do prefer "Whatever" (credited to the unknown-to-me Seo Jae Woo, D3O, and Aileen De La Cruz, the latter two being Canadian if my Internet search is steering me right):
*The fifth track, "Domino," is more standard and rather dull.
**I still don't know what I think of Brave Brothers. He's got four MAJOR tracks that I know of, which is a lot: Sistar's "Alone," Sistar19's "Gone Not Around Any Longer," Big Bang's "Last Farewell," and Son Dam-bi's & After School's "Amoled." On those two Sistar tracks, the chintz kind of counterbalances Hyorin's precisely aching and gorgeous vocals, prevents the singing from being too exquisite and respectable, as does all the dumb bending over with ass out in the videos. My defense of "Amoled" is that it's a phone commercial, and you know on mobiles the sound is tinny, ditto the song, which incorporates the old tin of science fiction past.
Works pretty well. None of 4minute are bravura-type vocalists, but they're each distinct and can handle the spotlight. HyunA dominates, with bits of incantation and scraps of rap. She really enjoys being a star. The two Yoons twirl their melodies like lassos. Lots of fun. Mat complains regarding "What's Your Name" that "lalalas" are no good for this group, but I disagree. The lalalas fit 4minute's general demeanor of cheerfully contentious salaciousness, are just more seduction. I do find Brave Brothers' beats a bit weak and chintzy. If you're gonna go spare you need strong and dramatic architecture, not just mild percolation.** But the hook has stuck more than I expected. I do prefer "Whatever" (credited to the unknown-to-me Seo Jae Woo, D3O, and Aileen De La Cruz, the latter two being Canadian if my Internet search is steering me right):
*The fifth track, "Domino," is more standard and rather dull.
**I still don't know what I think of Brave Brothers. He's got four MAJOR tracks that I know of, which is a lot: Sistar's "Alone," Sistar19's "Gone Not Around Any Longer," Big Bang's "Last Farewell," and Son Dam-bi's & After School's "Amoled." On those two Sistar tracks, the chintz kind of counterbalances Hyorin's precisely aching and gorgeous vocals, prevents the singing from being too exquisite and respectable, as does all the dumb bending over with ass out in the videos. My defense of "Amoled" is that it's a phone commercial, and you know on mobiles the sound is tinny, ditto the song, which incorporates the old tin of science fiction past.
Re: Brave Brothers
Date: 2013-05-19 07:58 pm (UTC)Sistar's "Alone"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ZHXVp_wUE
An interesting thing about Hyorin's booster rocket is that she rarely uses it. It's kinda there, has an impact by implication, in that we know that she can launch us over the sky at whim, even though she then doesn't. I'd say her technique leans towards laser precision, the force of her voice directed at a very tiny location. Speaking of tastefulness, I hate the assumption that goes "restraint = taste," but Hyorin's restraint is genuinely good, genuinely effective, splits the emotional nail at 100 paces without having to take a big wind-up to show off that she's doing it.
(Though I think that super light stuff like "Loving U" is a waste of her voice; however, the song dominated all the streams last summer left over from "Gangnam Style," so what do I know?)
I listened to Hyorin's Immortal Song performances only once. I have the impression, maybe incorrect, that they played a big role in pushing Sistar's visibility and sales to the top level. She ran through the vocal calisthenics as you'd expect, and didn't seem ridiculous but did seem forced, and I was left unmoved. This may have been owing to the songs being the wrong ones to bring out what I like most in her. But the delicate beginning of "A Cup Of Coffee" should have been perfect for her. Maybe she needs the studio more than one realizes.