Pop

I respect Justin Bieber. Not begrudgingly respect—no, no, no. Plain, vanilla, true, deep respect. The kid’s good. I can acknowledge this.

There is no doubting that the immense Bieber whinging permeating through the (adult) world of social media is vastly unfounded. Of course, such facts won’t bother those who’ve gleefully ingested the Haterade.

One has to wonder if we’ve just become more adept at smugness for smugness’ sake - because it’s definitely not the music industry that’s changed.

Continue reading "Back off, haters - Justin Bieber’s got talent!" »

Whitney Houston arrived in Australia with an airport controversy and now there’s backlash surrounding her first concert in Brisbane and her Sydney show last night.

By some accounts it doesn’t appear the shows were a resounding success. All I can say is: the poor unfortunate. I’ve never really followed her but I can empathise with anyone who has a bad night on stage.

She’s 46 years of age, has a well documented history of an excessive lifestyle and now she’s back on the road trying to recreate the magic of her hits. It’s a tough undertaking and will take a lot of strength and character.

Continue reading "Whitney’s bad reviews will be a real test of character" »

The booming piano chords that kick off Baby One More Time by Britney Spears constitute one of pop music’s great moments. Like the start of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel or the staccato guitar strums in Faith by George Michael, the Spears intro heralds the start of what is unquestionably one of the genre’s best songs - and one of its last.

Amid all the analysis and reflection on this tumultuous decade as it winds to a close – there’s a powerful interactive trip down memory lane here – there has been a change in contemporary culture, in some ways a sad one, that has gone pretty much unnoticed.

Pop music disappeared.

Continue reading "R.I.P. pop music. We’ll miss you" »