Tag Archives: Justin Timberlake

Bringing More Than Sexy Back

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I realize that I could easily choose to review all that transpired at the Grammy’s in this week’s post because it would be very timely, but as much as I’d love to spend time going into great detail on how tacky Taylor Swift’s imitation of Harry Styles was during her performance of “We Are Never Getting Back Together” or how much Chris Brown deserved the etiquette lesson he received from Adele, I have a new obsession that takes precedence over artists patting each other’s backs. To use the Grammy Awards as a platform, I’ll begin by thanking one of the night’s performers, Justin Timberlake, for this recent discovery I’m about to share with you.

Today, I’m switching it up a bit; instead of discussing a new artist, genre, or song and filling this post with multiple youtube links, I’ll be discussing a new forum for individual music exploration. Instead me of telling you what to listen to, I’m telling you where to find what you want to listen to. Today, we’re talking about MySpace.

You may or may not have heard, but the singer/actor took over the outdated site and recently released a revamped MySpace experience that he is confident will prove popular and revolutionary. To get an idea of what it’s all about, watch the promo-video here. You’ll quickly notice that this MySpace 2.0 is innovative and contemporary–completely different from it’s primitive counterpart.

For those who are still nostalgic over the social media site formerly known as MySpace, Timberlake’s new version did keep the best the old had to offer: a place to choose and display your top 8 friends (or artists), the customizability, and the ability to select a profile song. But what really makes this website (I hesitate to call it a social networking site, and you’ll soon see why) so appealing are the major changes to both its appearance and its focus.

More than anything else, the new MySpace focuses on music. Timberlake recruited numerous artists to the site before launching it publicly, enabling even the pilot users to experience what the site is now all about. I’ll be honest, I was hesitant to make an account, and I assured myself that I would only be creating it for demo/review purposes. I quickly realized that JT was onto something and that I was becoming too attached to the revamp to abandon my account any time in the near future.

Real talk, MySpace is a more aesthetically appealing combination of all the most popular media websites in one. It has a profile, chat, and “news feed” similar to Facebook’s. It has internet radio like Pandora. It has the unlimited streaming and playlist creating and sharing capabilities of Spotify or Grooveshark. It has the music video streaming of youtube. It even has the following–or in this case “connecting”–setup of twitter or LinkdIn. Additionally, it has music editorials, free downloads, no commercials, links to the tweets, Instragrams, tour dates, and full albums of artists, both popular and undiscovered. Some artists even give the fans that connect to them access to free downloads or information on underground shows.

If you can’t tell that I’m a fan of Timberlake’s MySpace, I’ll come right out and say it: I’m a fan of MySpace. I love that, unlike other social media sites, you don’t have to list lots of personal information or even connect to people you know at all. Here, it can be all about the music. Seeing the connection to this blog? Anyways, if you’re interested in seeing a my profile so you can get a realistic idea of what to expect, just click here. Hopefully you’ll be as impressed as I am.

Something Borrowed

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What goes around comes back around. I’m sure you’ve heard this before, if not while listening to a member of a senior generation talk about clothing styles that have come back into style, then probably from Justin Timberlake. I’ve been noticing that in the music industry lately, this little proverb holds a lot of truth.

It’s not unusual to for modern artists to look to the past for guidance and inspiration when creating new music; the classics are classic for a reason and therefore have plenty to offer as far as muses go. However, there is a fine line between drawing from the past to create something new and ripping the past out of its era to revitalize it and/or pass it off for something original. Let’s take “The Time (Dirty Bit)” by the Black Eyed Peas for example: while the catchy chorus sounds ultra-modern with Fergie’s powerful vocals and hyped-up, techno beat, this doesn’t change the fact that it was also the chorus of “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” originally recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes for the film Dirty Dancing 24 years beforehand.

Now, I realize that I sound a bit touchy about this, but I can assure you that this is simply because I cannot stand either the Black Eyed Peas or disco, so I find the combination of the two pointless and nauseating. Although many people accuse artists who incorporate more dated pieces into their work of being unoriginal and lazy, I believe, that when the technique is used tastefully, it can be inventive and refreshing.

Take, for example, the rising young rap artist, Logic. His early mixtape, Young Sinatra, is both well named and creatively compiled. The best track to exhibit this is easily the one that incorporates the album’s namesake: “One.” The timeless crooning and orchestral intro juxtaposed with the rap and overlaid, subtle beat that ensues creates something new and unexpected that somehow meshes the completely different genres beautifully. The remixed version of Frank’s “It Was A Very Good Year” that plays in the background—and occasionally comes to the forefront—gives the song fluidity and depth to back Logic’s rap.

Unlike normal marriages, this matrimony of old and new can work successfully with decades, even centuries, separating the happy couple. One popular new genre known for its broken syncopation and heavy techno bass, dubstep, is a prime model of this harmonious blend across the ages. If Marvin Gaye’s bluesy “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” isn’t exactly up your alley, you may enjoy “Dubvine,” dubbed by Ashes. Venturing even further into the past, there’s Wolfgang Gartner’s “Wolfgang’s 5th Symphony,” which modernizes the world-renowned Beethoven piece while maintaining its original foreboding vibe.

Critics of this renaissance of music may claim that it ruins classics and discredits original artists and composers, but I feel that it does the opposite. It tests the ingenuity of modern artists while giving older songs that may have been forgotten by the 21st century a chance to step out from the shadows. And maybe the incorporation of throwbacks will even encourage today’s listeners to look search for the original pieces, opening them up to embrace a more eclectic and diverse collection of music. Maybe is good enough for me.