Musician of the Year 2008: Lady Gaga
So
now that 2008 and all its glory have passed I figure I might as well reflect on
the music. I used to write more about my
concert experiences than I do these days, possibly because I’ve been seeing
some repeat acts or because I don’t have a whole lot to say. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped following
the worlds of R&B and dance music.
I’ve decided
that my pick for album of the year and best new breakout artist etc etc is Lady Gaga and her album The Fame. Listening to this album is a return to the dance
music of the early 1990s. They say if
you live long enough you’ll see everything repeat, but I have to say, this is
one genre I thought was never coming back.
Surly comedian Dennis Leary did this whole routine about how he saw kids
wearing bellbottom trousers and called them stupid and said that kids should
learn from the fact that nobody who wore bellbottoms during the first wave
would be caught dead in them a second time and that seeing youths sporting the
fashions of his youth made him vicariously embarrassed in advance. I sorta figured I’d
feel the same way when trends of my youth started coming back, but it turns out
I have no shame.
Lady Gaga is
good celebrity to me not only because she looks like a slut, although that’s
always a plus, but because she’s got that totally delusional quality that I
admire so much. She lists her influences
as David Bowie and Pink Floyd, and I’m not challenging that she has in fact
listened to those artists. But you
listen to her music and that’s not what you hear. What you hear is vintage Ace of Base and Technotronic. I
mean, I watch David Lean movies and read Charles Dickens books, but I think you
guys can tell that the stuff I write is more Roger Corman
fare.
She makes all
sorts of wacky statements like how she thinks fans of Motley Crue will like her song Boys Boys
Boys because it expresses a similar slutty sentiment
with some similar lyrics. Again, points
for being slutty, but extra bonus points for having a complete misperception of
your own work.
Her videos are
also a big part of the enjoyment. You
have to see them in order to truly understand how embarrassment can transcend
itself. The result is pure magic, or at
least the result is low-budget sluttiness, but I like
low budget sluttiness as much as I like pure magic.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zrEfpl2-UiU&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6BP7YABLM&feature=related
If you can tell
the difference between those videos and this:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4&feature=related
then you’ve got
keener eyes and ears than I.
She’s also got
great lyrics and coins the new penis euphemism “disco stick” in the phrase “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick”. Her song Paparazzi uses the metaphor of being
a paparazzi pursuing an elusive target to getting some
dude to love her. I just she’s not
pursuing Sean Penn, he’ll punch yo ass out. And her big breakout hit Just Dance has some
of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a dance song in ages. It’s got a good message for today’s youth
about how if you’re too drunk to drive you should just dance and hook up with
strangers until you sober up. Better
than a cold shower or a taxi ride in my book.
The album
unfortunately does have a few tracks that suggest she’s keeping one foot out
the door and possibly hoping to pull a Pink and transition to other
genres. I sure hope not. One Alanis Morissette
was enough, when Pink became Alanis 2 that was just too much. At least Pink did that song where she tells a
dude to jerk off.
I’m hoping this
great album is just the beginning for Lady Gaga and attracts plenty of
ridiculous collaborators to make guest appearances on future albums. I’m also excited to see what she does with
her videos with a higher budget. I’d
love to see David Fincher do one for her.
So
congratulations Lady Gaga, you’re my musician of the year!
If you liked this, you’re easy to please,
so read some more shit why donchya:
Girl Power fuels Air
Canada Centre.
Girlfriend,
I Luv U in da Club Like Dat So Much (So True {Lexus})
My first attempt at writing an R&B song.
Zaki (Ibrahim) in Concert
at Zaphod’s
My Omega Man concert
experience had soul power!