Billie Eilish

[Doug85]

I only listened to her last week as the mrs had put her on a playlist and I enjoyed some of her stuff, some of it I didn't get though and that's fine as thats probably my taste or age... I think she will have a similar spot to Dua Lipa on John Peel. 

[mb23]

Well, she samples lines from the American 'Office' in one of her songs.

That's a winner for me. See you at the farm, Billie!

In all seriousness I do like some of the tracks, others I'm indifferent to. I think I'll see her, clashes dependent.

[Gnomicide]

12 hours ago, Keithy said:

Coming on here with your reasonably balanced arguments....

 

12 hours ago, Quark said:

Downvoted for it too no less

I forgot this was the internet, my bad. I'll put it in shouty caps next time to do it properly

After checking who downvotes, I suspect it may have been accidental. 

[thrillhouse188]

10 hours ago, fred quimby said:

see I don't mind people trying to be different and weird. I like different and weird

 

Problem is the music isn't actually all that "different and weird", just the image

[FakeEmpire]

Context though, innit?   The music isn't different and weird to people on this forum who are listening to Snapped Ankles or King Gizz but in terms of mainstream, commercially successful pop music then Eilish's stuff does stand out.   

[thrillhouse188]

Yeah, suppose it's just a shame that the actual interesting stuff goes largely unnoticed 

[Quark]

8 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

 

After checking who downvotes, I suspect it may have been accidental. 

Taken as such, I knew who the culprit was

[Gnomicide]

Just now, Quark said:

Taken as such, I knew who the culprit was

The bastard.

[Woffy]

On ‎4‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 9:58 AM, Matt42 said:

If I was taylor Swift or Ariana Grande I’d be concerned.

I think they'll manage just fine, Matthew. 

Also:

(Some?) middle aged men moaning about a 17 year old (young) woman's music. I never particularly wanted my parents to like the music i liked when i was young, so I don't particularly expect to like the music my kids like and i'm quite happy to (jokingly) goad them a bit with "what's this bloody guff?!", Ken Boon in Quadrophenia style.

Although FWIW i think BE's stuff is decent and i'll go and see her out of curiosity, clashes permitting.

[Keithy]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

But then we're back to the question (this thread? Another thread about integrity? Fuck knows) of whether having someone else write songs for you automatically invalidates you. 

FWIW I find him pretty unexciting and yeah his look is what it is, but he does have a bloody good voice. Having someone else (or many someones) work to get him the material to showcase that talent (and it is a talent) is, depending on your point of view, either the worst thing in the world or neither here nor there.

Aye. I was tempted to link it into that thread about integrity and whether it actually matters but didn't want to bring that thread back to life.

I've tried to like RnB Man but I keep have Vic Reeves Club Singer voice pop into my head everytime.

[bombfrog]

2 hours ago, Quark said:

But then we're back to the question (this thread? Another thread about integrity? Fuck knows) of whether having someone else write songs for you automatically invalidates you. 

Those people that believe that have to chuck Frank Sinatra and Elvis straight in the bin.

[mcshed]

40 minutes ago, bombfrog said:

Those people that believe that have to chuck Frank Sinatra and Elvis straight in the bin.

I don't give two hoots about authenticity but I'll happily chuck Sinatra in the bin.

[Padjeq]

Saw her in March, looking forward to hearing songs released since then, and personally I'd prefer her under cover in the JP as she isn't very loud.

Bad Guy is going to be a big moment

[Winslow Leach]

2 hours ago, FakeEmpire said:

Context though, innit?   The music isn't different and weird to people on this forum who are listening to Snapped Ankles or King Gizz but in terms of mainstream, commercially successful pop music then Eilish's stuff does stand out.   

In a previous job I had to listen to a guy banging on about wanting to use King Gizz songs over the skateboarding videos his company had shot to promote their grotesquely overpriced faux-vintage band t-shirts, which I think tells you everything about how ‘weird’ they are. 

[Matt42]

To those whose favourite song is Ed Sheeran perfect, yes Billie Eilish is an “oddball”. 

[bombfrog]

8 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

To those whose favourite song is Ed Sheeran perfect, yes Billie Eilish is an “oddball”. 

Painting everybody who doesn't like her as an Ed Sheeran fan is nonsense. I can't stand him either. I don't think she's an oddball, I sadi I thought she was "trying too hard" to be weird and different.

[Matt42]

3 minutes ago, bombfrog said:

Painting everybody who doesn't like her as an Ed Sheeran fan is nonsense. I can't stand him either. I don't think she's an oddball, I sadi I thought she was "trying too hard" to be weird and different.

... I didn’t say that haha. Read again.

[bombfrog]

3 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

... I didn’t say that haha. Read again.

Fair enough, I thought it was implied but never mind.

[addicted2noise]

4 hours ago, bombfrog said:

Those people that believe that have to chuck Frank Sinatra and Elvis straight in the bin.

To be fair no one was writing their own songs in the 50's, may as well accuse them of not using enough electronic beats. I wouldn't say having other people write or co-write songs for you automatically invalidates you but it is less authentic to me and with so many artists these days relying on professional songwriters having someone who doesn't is genuinely quite refreshing. 

Edited April 9, 2019 by addicted2noise

[billum]

3 hours ago, addicted2noise said:

To be fair no one was writing their own songs in the 50's, may as well accuse them of not using enough electronic beats. I wouldn't say having other people write or co-write songs for you automatically invalidates you but it is less authentic to me and with so many artists these days relying on professional songwriters having someone who doesn't is genuinely quite refreshing. 

Good point - it's easy to forget that it was the fact that the Beatles actually did write their own songs that made them stand out in the 60s, it was practically unheard-of up to then

[bombfrog]

3 hours ago, addicted2noise said:

To be fair no one was writing their own songs in the 50's, may as well accuse them of not using enough electronic beats. I wouldn't say having other people write or co-write songs for you automatically invalidates you but it is less authentic to me and with so many artists these days relying on professional songwriters having someone who doesn't is genuinely quite refreshing. 

I realise this, but it doesn't change the fact that not writing your own songs doesn't stop you having talent and neither does it change what comes out of the speakers at the end of the day. The ability to sing and the ability to write songs have to be separated. I don't really care if Billie Eilish writes her own songs or not, I'm still going to turn the radio off when they come on.

[Keithy]

My point around songwriters and Rag N Bone Man wasn't to redo the authenticity issue but a more broader issue around perceptions. 

Whether you like her music or not is a moot point to me....as the Dude says, that's just like your opinion man.

What I find weird is the scrutiny and labels attached to young artists like Eilish in comparison to other artists. I picked Rag N Bone Man deliberately to illustrate the point. It's fine to point out Eilish's industry connections but at the same time, RBM had plenty himself when he started out but that is rarely mentioned. Eilish's image is used against her but hasn't RBM quite clearly built an image around the 'big, tattooed, beardy, gentle giant' persona? And if you say 'that's just who he is', then why can't we say the same about Eilish rather than she's trying to hard?

The songwriting issue wasn't to start a discussion about authenticity or discounting Elvis but when RBM broke though, it was never even raised as a discussion point that he had 13 songwriters. Does it matter? Probably not. Would the same ambivalence have been given to Eilish if she had 13 songwriters? No, for some people, it would have been 'proof' she was a 'marketing front'.

Given it was only a few months ago that some jerk uploaded a video of a 'compilation' of her tourette's, forcing her to address the fact she suffers from it, I think she's been a cracking role model for young girls finding their own way in the world and having to put up with shit thrown at them. It's probably why she's connected with them so much.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Hang on - is she authentic because she writes her own songs or inauthentic because she's so heavily hyped and marketed?

[bombfrog]

2 hours ago, Keithy said:

Elish's image is used against her but hasn't RBM quite clearly built an image around the 'big, tattooed, beardy, gentle giant' persona? And if you say 'that's just who he is', then why can't we say the same about Eilish rather than she's trying to hard?

I guess I can't identify with this and perhaps that's why I've failed to understand what you're trying to say. I've never seen a photo of her, or heard her speak, didn't know she had tourettes and didn't know anything about her background or connections. My opinion of her music is based purely on listening to her singles they've started playing on the radio recently.

[Winslow Leach]

3 hours ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

Hang on - is she authentic because she writes her own songs or inauthentic because she's so heavily hyped and marketed?

She’s inauthentic cos she writes her own songs, she’s authentic cos she’s hyped and marketed. Take that, Debord.

 

death to Videodrome! Long live the new flesh!