What are you listening to?

[Breton]

Rihanna- S&M

Na na na na
Come on
Na na na na
Come on
Na na na na na
Come on
Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
Na na na na
Come on
Na na na na
Come on
Na na na na na
Come on
Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
Na na na na

Feels so good being bad (Oh oh oh oh oh)
There's no way I'm turning back (Oh oh oh oh oh)
Now the pain is my pleasure cause nothing could measure (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Love is great, love is fine (Oh oh oh oh oh)
Out the box, outta line (Oh oh oh oh oh)
The affliction of the feeling leaves me wanting more (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it (Na na na)
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it

Love is great, love is fine (Oh oh oh oh oh)
Out the box, outta line (Oh oh oh oh oh)
The affliction of the feeling leaves me wanting more (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it (Na na na)
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it

S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M

Oh, I love the feeling you bring to me, oh, you turn me on
It's exactly what I've been yearning for, give it to me strong
And meet me in my boudoir, make my body say ah ah ah
I like it-like it

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me

Na na na na
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it (Na na na)
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it-like it

S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M
S-S-S & M-M-M

_www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc Video is great!!!! :D :D

Edit: link deactivated

Have to agree with Shijing and Redfox.

This (objectively speaking) is an example of pathological corruption in the arts.
However, since it is a prime example of this kind of utter crap, it should maybe have gone into the "My apology - Caricature of Love" or in a thread with those kinds of discussions instead of "What are you listening to"?

 

[EGVG]

_www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc Video is great!!!! :D :D

When I tried to watch the video, I wasn't allowed access unless I verified my age due to potentially inappropriate material -- which I didn't do. But just looking at the lyrics, I'm not sure why you think this is appropriate to post in the first place.

Maybe if you saw the video you could understand better the song, It's not literally S&M.

 

[truth seeker]

Hi EGVG,

In noticing some of your musical tastes, I'm wondering what about this type of music is interesting to you? What about it speaks to you?

 

[Breton]

_www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc Video is great!!!! :D :D

When I tried to watch the video, I wasn't allowed access unless I verified my age due to potentially inappropriate material -- which I didn't do. But just looking at the lyrics, I'm not sure why you think this is appropriate to post in the first place.

Maybe if you saw the video you could understand better the song, It's not literally S&M.

I tried to watch the video, but could not quite get through it. I thought it was pretty degrading, at least to my eyes. "Caricature of Love" really comes to mind as being descriptive of this.

 

[EGVG]

_www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc Video is great!!!! :D :D

When I tried to watch the video, I wasn't allowed access unless I verified my age due to potentially inappropriate material -- which I didn't do. But just looking at the lyrics, I'm not sure why you think this is appropriate to post in the first place.

Agreed. Have you read Cleckley's "Caricature of Love" EGVG? I'm still working may way through it slowly, but my understanding is (in short) things like S&M is pathology twisting sexual relationships into something completely unnatural.
Abhorrent distortion of natural processes through pathological influence, thinking and corruption.

Anything that involve violence and domination of others you can pretty much guarantee is pathological by default.

No have not read that book, I'm checking it out right now. I totally agree with what you say, I find that Rihanna's work often shows pathological influences, since I don't participate in S&M acts or any violence or domination activities physically, I find that watching this video and listening to this song is notting more that a good Pop song, and a colour full video with references to pathological issues displayed in a different ways. For example, this video is about Rihanna's relationship with the press.
Sorry if it offended you in any way, I guess a moderator or administrator could deleted it.

 

[truth seeker]

Maybe if you saw the video you could understand better the song, It's not literally S&M.

I just watched the video. I won't post the link but anyone who googles the name of the song and artist and then the link to videos at the top left should be able to view it.

Videos like this come out every so often - a pop star feels violated by the press and then make a video supposedly thumbing their noses at them. I think there are many creative ways someone can go about doing this other than promoting violence.

To me, the video basically promotes two ideas: the one stated above and s&m. The latter aspects can be seen quite clearly through the use of bondage instruments displayed throughout the entire video. The only way one could miss them is if they were unaware of what they were looking at.

No have not read that book, I'm checking it out right now. I totally agree with what you say, I find that Rihanna's work often shows pathological influences, since I don't participate in S&M acts or any violence or domination activities physically, I find that watching this video and listening to this song is notting more that a good Pop song, and a colour full video with references to pathological issues displayed in a different ways. For example, this video is about Rihanna's relationship with the press.
Sorry if it offended you in any way, I guess a moderator or administrator could deleted it.

Ah, so you were posting it as an example of pathological influences?

edit: clarity

 

[EGVG]

_www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc Video is great!!!! :D :D

When I tried to watch the video, I wasn't allowed access unless I verified my age due to potentially inappropriate material -- which I didn't do. But just looking at the lyrics, I'm not sure why you think this is appropriate to post in the first place.

Maybe if you saw the video you could understand better the song, It's not literally S&M.

I tried to watch the video, but could not quite get through it. I thought it was pretty degrading, at least to my eyes. "Caricature of Love" really comes to mind as being descriptive of this.

OK I'll definitely read that book, you have to be really into Rihanna and the Pop world to understand the video the way it was intended by Rihanna's team. I totally get why you would think is degrading, but you also have to understand that I'm from a different generation and background that you are. In a way I'm more desensitised to this images.

Hi EGVG,

In noticing some of your musical tastes, I'm wondering what about this type of music is interesting to you? What about it speaks to you?

Hi!! :) What I like this type of music is that It has more than meets the eye(If you aloud it), for example Kylie Minogue's music is happy, cheerfull Pop, but also has a deep connection to my emotions it always makes me feel better after I heard it and also the videos are really good and fashion forward.
In Rihanna's case I like her and her songs basically because she is super pretty and can sing good.
Also this kind of music is part of my every day life its just what I hear on a daily basis, some like metal others classical I like Pop. That's it basically.

EDU

 

[EGVG]

Maybe if you saw the video you could understand better the song, It's not literally S&M.

I just watched the video. I won't post the link but anyone who googles the name of the song and then the link to videos at the top left will be able to view it.

Videos like this come out every so often - a pop star feels violated by the press and then make a video supposedly thumbing their noses at them. I think there are many creative ways someone can go about doing this other than promoting violence.

To me, the video basically promotes two ideas: the one stated above and s&m. The latter aspects can be seen quite clearly through the use of bondage instruments displayed throughout the entire video. The only way one could miss them is if they were unaware of what they were looking at.

No have not read that book, I'm checking it out right now. I totally agree with what you say, I find that Rihanna's work often shows pathological influences, since I don't participate in S&M acts or any violence or domination activities physically, I find that watching this video and listening to this song is notting more that a good Pop song, and a colour full video with references to pathological issues displayed in a different ways. For example, this video is about Rihanna's relationship with the press.
Sorry if it offended you in any way, I guess a moderator or administrator could deleted it.

Ah, so you were posting it as an example of pathological influences?

I see what your saying and I understand why it is inappropriate to post here, without further information or explanation. I guess I can be a little naive from time to time, but as always, lessons come from every post I make here.

EDU

 

[truth seeker]

OK I'll definitely read that book, you have to be really into Rihanna and the Pop world to understand the video the way it was intended by Rihanna's team. I totally get why you would think is degrading, but you also have to understand that I'm from a different generation and background that you are. In a way I'm more desensitised to this images.

Yes, this is something to consider. I do see how the video was intended and can be interpreted, I think because as I said above, this happens within every generation of pop. I suppose in my generation one was Michael Jackson's Leave me alone video. While I wouldn't classify that as a great piece of art, I guess he did it in a way that was a creative outlet for him.

To me, one of the things these videos foster is a sense of victimhood. Rihanna in some respects may be a victim but in producing this video further emphasizes that idea by becomming the very thing she is railing against. On the face of it, she becomes the dominatrix (read dominator or the one in control), she really isn't. She promotes the idea that the way to solve this problem of being ruled over is to rule over others. She has become the victimizer. Those viewing these videos without objective understanding of pathology may then feel that this is the answer to their own problems regarding feelings of victimhood.

So I then wonder, are your own feelings of being a victim the thing that these videos/songs speak to?

Another point, Rihanna has at some time made the choice to become famous and everything that entails. Although those choices were probably made in ignorance of what she was entering, at any point, she can choose to end it or at least change the method in which she operates. People have done it before but we just don't hear about it because it isn't news worthy. Perhaps Rihanna hasn't considered this because she, on some level, enjoys the press she claims to dislike?

Hi!! :) What I like this type of music is that It has more than meets the eye(If you aloud it), for example Kylie Minogue's music is happy, cheerfull Pop, but also has a deep connection to my emotions it always makes me feel better after I heard it and also the videos are really good and fashion forward.
In Rihanna's case I like her and her songs basically because she is super pretty and can sing good.
Also this kind of music is part of my every day life its just what I hear on a daily basis, some like metal others classical I like Pop. That's it basically.

EDU

Thanks much for the clarification. :) See the question above.

 

[EGVG]

OK I'll definitely read that book, you have to be really into Rihanna and the Pop world to understand the video the way it was intended by Rihanna's team. I totally get why you would think is degrading, but you also have to understand that I'm from a different generation and background that you are. In a way I'm more desensitised to this images.

Yes, this is something to consider. I do see how the video was intended and can be interpreted, I think because as I said above, this happens within every generation of pop. I suppose in my generation one was Michael Jackson's Leave me alone video. While I wouldn't classify that as a great piece of art, I guess he did it in a way that was a creative outlet for him.

To me, one of the things these videos foster is a sense of victimhood. Rihanna in some respects may be a victim but in producing this video further emphasizes that idea by becomming the very thing she is railing against. On the face of it, she becomes the dominatrix (read dominator or the one in control), she really isn't. She promotes the idea that the way to solve this problem of being ruled over is to rule over others. She has become the victimizer. Those viewing these videos without objective understanding of pathology may then feel that this is the answer to their own problems regarding feelings of victimhood.

So I then wonder, are your own feelings of being a victim the thing that these videos/songs speak to?

Another point, Rihanna has at some time made the choice to become famous and everything that entails. Although those choices were probably made in ignorance of what she was entering, at any point, she can choose to end it or at least change the method in which she operates. People have done it before but we just don't hear about it because it isn't news worthy. Perhaps Rihanna hasn't considered this because she, on some level, enjoys the press she claims to dislike?

Hi!! :) What I like this type of music is that It has more than meets the eye(If you aloud it), for example Kylie Minogue's music is happy, cheerfull Pop, but also has a deep connection to my emotions it always makes me feel better after I heard it and also the videos are really good and fashion forward.
In Rihanna's case I like her and her songs basically because she is super pretty and can sing good.
Also this kind of music is part of my every day life its just what I hear on a daily basis, some like metal others classical I like Pop. That's it basically.

EDU

Thanks much for the clarification. :) See the question above.

It could very well be. On a more unconscious level, that may be a part of why I like Rihanna so much, she fights fire with fire, not a good idea if you don't like fire or get burned. I'm sure Rihanna enjoys the attention and fame.
And also I have to remember this is a bussines, a commercial video, with products display all around it, not a piece of the most distinctive art. I think in this case knowledge does protects us from falling into false images that promote ponerologysation (is that well written?) of the world.
Thanks for helping me see things that I didn't before, :) :) :)

EDU

 

[RedFox]

Thanks for the context EGVG. Well fwiw you may want to check out the Inside the Laurel Canyon... thread and then after reading that, check out the articles on sott. I still recommend reading cleckly, but reading this first may be a better way in given you're (natural) love of music :)
It was an eye opener for sure, but should be taken with a pinch of salt.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/155794-Inside-The-LC-The-Strange-but-Mostly-True-Story-of-Laurel-Canyon-and-the-Birth-of-the-Hippie-Generation-Part-1
*edit* removed additional links, you can find the next article in the series at the end of each one :)

 

[Skipling]

I just thought I'd let any Radiohead fans know that their new album, The King Of Limbs, has just been released. It may be download only at the moment, but here's a link to it if anyone wants a listen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV4xhsYvU2g

Given their past output, I would be amazed if this isn't another interesting album with the increasing fusion of traditional band dynamics with Warp-esque (Warp is a UK electronic indie label that has tremendously influenced Thom Yorke over the last decade) ambient electronica.

They are never less than emotionally commited, and their songs if they catch you at the right (or wrong) time can move you to the pit of your gut. No-one does the complex dynamics of melancholy and alienation quite like Radiohead. I will be giving this a listen in a few moments!

 

[Skipling]

Well I gave The King of Limbs by Radiohead two listens yesterday and it is a very promising album. On the second listen, much later on in the evening, I began to feel the songs. Coming to an album for the first time for me, and probs for most, is more of an intellectual experience, and as such is a little cold. I remember an English journalist Julie Burchill once saying that the first listen of a newly released or purchased album is quite a nerdy experience, and I must say that I agree. There's a really tangible sense of self-conscious limbo involved.
It is truly a strange feeling to be aware of this when actually in the very act of doing it. Thoughts and a muted awareness simmering beneath conscious recall, all so very ambiguous, elusive and not a little frustrating.

It's like being a parachutist in jellied air.

Ermm....anyway. Back to the music. This new album will be released by Radiohead on cd on March 28th, though you can buy it as a download for 6-9 squids now. If the mods don't like the link to a youtube user who has put it out for all to preview listen (knowing full well that most Radiohead fans are intelligent, sensitive and decent people, who will surely thus follow on and purchase their loveable heroes latest work of art), then by all means delete it.

But man, it is a cracking listen. It is more opaque than their previous record, In Rainbows, but does not particularly resemble any of their previous work. Essentially, it is a continuation of their 21st century aesthetic: a fusion of the dynamics and craft of modern songwriting with the ambient atmospherics and complex rythms of the more leftfield element of electronic music.

Instinctively, I reacted and thought that it was a monochrome listen, so perhaps even a reaction to In Rainbows, where with Reckoner they almost vaulted into the arena of soul music IMO. This new one has a little bit of roaming in the gloaming about it, all misty moors and eldritch winter trees under a groaning sky. It sounds dense, claustrophobic and intimate, but slowly opens up like a flower in bloom revealing its heart about half way through. Man, I sound like a cheesy blogger claiming bragging rights now. This record will settle into my consciousness, but I have to say, on the first couple of listens, for me this is already quite possibly going to become my favoutite of their work, and I have everything they have released since The Bends. The creation of atmosphere, their melding of the organic with the technological is becoming so much more subtly interwoven and more seamless with every release. Kid A truly was their rebirth, and boy are they making good on their change of approach.

I can't say much about the lyrics, but they are something that I usually have to sit down and read at some point (ahem....GEEK!), but the songs are lovely, very interesting arrangements and the instrumentation is unfussy. As always, Thom's falsetto is the little boy lost, a wounded choirboy in a world of malevolence and despair. It's amazing how his voice has developed since the early years, he's got the confidence to let it rip and really reach out nowadays. There's a song on it called codex that made me think about those teenage suicides in bridgend. The album sounded really cinematic to me. It has real existential bluesiness about it, it just sounds like what it feels like to be alive now, living in this world, and from my humble standpoint of knowledge/awareness/being, well it just fits. It feels right.

Apparently it is only part one of a double header too! Ooooooh, we lucky lucky people.

Ahem. To those who consider Radiohead practioners of maundlin woe, I blow a silent raspberry (mirth) and now quietly shuffle off.

March 28th will be a very happy day for me. I promise to look both ways crossing the roads between now and then.

 

[Mr. Premise]

"It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got that Swing" Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald Live at the Cote d'Azur:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxfMRhyzu3g&feature=related

This version rocks so hard, it's unbelievable. From 1967.

 

[Skipling]

This is another album which I wholeheartedly recommend, by the erstwhile Chili Pepper Mr John Frusciante. It is called Shadows Collide With People, and if you think about it for about a quarter of a second I reckon you'll see that it is very much a record with cosmic connections. This may well be one of my eccentricities, but quite often when I listen to my records I listen out in particular for something that has that C's flavour. For those old enough to remember early 80's TV adverts it is my Del Monte moment, I look for that specific flavour and taste.

This guy Frusciante has it in spades. His solo albums are like dialogues with the Universe, and I must admit I bloody love his work; it is fearless and tremendously inventive. He runs through every style of rock n' roll, with folk, psychedelia, country blues, new wave stomp-a-thons, he has even made an eerily spectral electronic album which I reckon should have a wider audience too.

What I love about his story also is that his solo albums are like a personal soul quest since getting off heroin. It is absolutely tremendous to see a man save his very life and then enrich millions of us with his remarkable tales of his inner struggles, angsty poetry, sometimes perhaps a little embarrassing, but always, and this is the KEY, brutally honest. His heart is on his sleeve, and man, his sleeves are massive.

So far, these are the stand out tracks for me.

Omission

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug4a8kApRpQ

Second Walk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gms1YZuf7U

Every Person

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C-OTvJ4jyQ

Regret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgwMZboZcjk

Ricky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5cZWeidmw

Wednesday's Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwUqVZcZUP8

This album is still seeping slowly into my subconscious. Man it is so wierd. For many months I seem to stagger around like an uptight skeleman, resisting the loveliness of my music collection, and then something clicked. My music was not reaching my heart. Or at least not enough of it. Too much of it was old stuff from years gone by, and I could barely relate to the albums any more, so much seemed like cliche. I simply had to go out and buy some new music. This is one of those records. It is sad, joyous, and never less than honestly reflective.

He is a man slowly through his records rediscovering himself, getting to know himself again following years of harrowing abuse. Plus I also think his spiritual leanings have been more than piqued during these years. As an interesting side note, I first learned of the existence of Ouspensky's ISOTM through reading a brief recommendation of the book by the former Smith Johnny Marr in a newspaper, I think it was the Guardian. I paused for a moment; I purchased The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley on his advice through a similar channel, but somehow it's significance escaped me for that time. Truly, my loss, but I was clearly not ready. Not long after that though I found the Cassiopaea website! Marr has since collaborated with Frusciante. I think the pair of them are on quests not dissimilar from those that we share with each other here!

There is a strong element of these songs being confessionals, but the melodies are delicately woven, and although his voice may not be to everyone's tastes, he is a passionate singer, ably backed on his records by a musician I had previously not heard of, Josh Klinghoffer. Again, his contributions are superb. Guitarists will love this record I suspect, and it is quite a relief to say that the solo work is infinitely more subtle than the Chili's work (not to diss them though, they really moved me on more than one occasion over the years, beyond the macho posing there were delicate and vulnerable statements made on Californication also).

Between John and Radiohead, I think I have the soundtrack for 2011 already with me. I cannot stress enough just how much I needed to rediscover my love for music and song in a pure and sober state, because that was not the way I had become accustomed to enjoying it over the previous decade. This really represents a big turning point for my emotional development, because I was becoming something that this song cycle alludes to, a shadow colliding with a person, and in the most tragic of cases, yes, indeed they do even eclipse and replace that essence inside. So, a vital emotional and spiritual travelogue from one of my new heroes. I've heard many people state that it is not healthy to heroise others, but if taken lightly a point can be made. I truly believe that in our little interactions with each other through life, or in any medium, we can lift and inspire, maybe, yes, even save each other.

As Laura has said, we can choose to be our own miracles. In those moments, maybe also we each may very well become heroes to those we touch too...