When they want to, they can sing!

[jboy88]

I was driving around town a few weeks ago listening to my Ipod on shuffle. When suddenly, a track i'd downloaded a while ago for free came on. It was a track called "Cool My Heels" by Nikki Yanofsky, who like Justin Bieber, Is a 16 year old canadian singer but is more jazz but could easily sing some soul. I'd played the song before but hearing it this paticular time ready blew my away. It had followed Tammi Terrell's "Thats what boys are made for" in the shuffle, and Nikki Yanofsky [[whether she's aware of this or not) sounded to me as if she was channeling at least a swig of Tammi. I've since purchased the whole album and so far i'm pleased with my purchase.

The point I'm trying to make is that there are several talented singers making great music taking a back seat to people who people who keep putting out the same generic mediocre crap and making all the money. What's even more sad is that some of those people making mainstream music, are legit talented musicians and singers following the trends to make a dollar. In a sense, it's like taking center cut prime rib and deluding it with a1. Their talent goes hidden through a bunch of auto-tune and computerized tracks. Anyone know what i mean?

[ralpht]

I understand, Jboy,
I come out of an era where a little talent was a good thing. Not that these younger kids aren't talented, but the process that is used to showcase their talent always falls short, in my opinion. And so many of the younger engineers don't quite grasp the concept of using the miriad display of electronic gizmos as tools rather than some sort of be all end all sound. Ahhh...Don't get me started.

[theboyfromxtown]

It seems to me that the youngsters rely more on those tools to create, instead of their thought patterns.

[nomis]

But once upon a time there was folks who thought things like Chic were mass produced sell outs..I believe part of it is a generation thing..as a dj who plays new music I think the music scene is the most exciting its ever been..people here dog the music of today but Im telling you to play it and see a 100 people dance is just as good as it was 20 years ago..you have got to let your ears be open to new sounds...

[jboy88]

I'm a DJ myself and very open to music! They are some mainstream artists that I like, but a lot of it to me is just blah! I'm actually gotten into Alternative/Indie music, which is what I play at my station. A lot of that style incorporates new techniques with live instrumentation. And the arrangements suit the style of the vocalist.

[daddyacey]

ralpht said,
"And so many of the younger engineers don't quite grasp the concept of using the miriad display of electronic gizmos as tools rather than some sort of be all end all sound. Ahhh...Don't get me started."
PREACH ON.............. As an old school DJ ,before the digital age ,with just two turntables and maybe some reel to reel or cassette tape editing with a razor and cutting block as tools , I've noticed that the "new jacks" ,cut and loop tracks at will ,just because they can ,without any regard towards creativity. They create absolute "Frankenstein" creations of classic tracks as well as "Frankenstein Doo-Doo" of the new Doo-Doo tracks that come out and make Doo-Doo of the worthy new tracks that are out there. Granted that I personally believe and know that DJ's are not on the same level as an engineer ,to wit we are like couch quarterbacks ,yet respect that we have the means to do remixes or mixes only because of the talent and expertise and "SCIENCE" of the persons who have supplied the means and materials for us to be doing remixes in the first place , but damn ,where is the creativity. I listen to weekend so called Master Mixes on the radio here in N.Y. and cringe!!!!! What these kids do to a record is criminal. I could run through cases of cans of whoop ass on any day. And the sad part is ....they don't know what they do......"oh the humanities":D"

[destruction]

I played this about a week ago.....and was quite impressed.

Thx....I may never have found her on my own.

[daddyacey]

Another issue with todays music and the music business is that the direction of the business itself has changed. While in the early days up until the 80's ,radio was a major outlet for new talent and as time went on there were more groups and artists to promote , not only for competition and sales ,but especially in the late 60's thru the early 80's , there were so many artists and groups going in new directions ,as a result of art first and money second,[[to a degree.) Even in the late 60's ,when Soul actually went through a slump period because many tracks and artists didnt crossover to the changing style of radios then "Top 40 Hits" ,but were played on the newer Soul/R&B FM stations. You can see it in the Billboard charts of the time. The pop charts and the Soul charts. To add to this ,Funk had began to develop around the same time that writers and producers of R&B/Soul ,had incorporated more strings and orchestration to compositions. Thom Bell ,Gamble & Huff ,H.D.H ,ETC. There was a lot of talent out there [[ from writers to artists,Groups ,producers ,arrangers,engineers) ,truely working their art.
Fast forward to today ,the radio is computer programmed . Gone are the days when D.J.'s brought you new music and had control and personality of the music. If you have a true love of music ,you will go beyond what is fed to you today as the "current thing" in music ,no matter what genre ,in the Popular Market. Even the Popular Market today, contains music from all genres ,Country ,Neo-Soul and watered down "Hip-Hop" flavored ditty's. An artist of today has a life span of 2 to 3 years. 1 to 2 or 3 albums tops and they were gone.

This is not the same world as 60-80. Today a Super Star attraction ,more now in Soul/R&B ,is an individual rather than a group ,cause there just aint no "Groups" any more, is a multi supported by P.R. ,and multiple producers ,and managers /marketing people ,frontman. The last of the original idols of merit ,Ree-Ree ,KHAN ,Knight ,Labelle ,Lavette ,Mills and others ,are held in high esteem ,but can't get a record deal. Meanwhile artists like Sharon Jones ,Ledesi , Chrisette Michelle ,Jill Scott ,Angie Stone ,Anthony Hamilton and others, are stuck in an underground "Hip Cult" status while the likes of other less qualified artists [[as far as real and not fix in the mix /processed to death and sampled to death talent) ,get maximum exposure ,in effect ,pushed in your face as good or the best NEW THING. Who in the last say 3 years have moved you as much as Luther , Baker ,Houston or Sade.
The Invention of the Walkman and the I-Pod and the Digital age has changed the business also. New artists have many new alternative outlets to get product out. Radio is no longer the outlet it was before ,recording is not what it was before. A computer can produce a track. Anybody and they mother can produce a master for downlaod and production. The market has changed . A lot of the good new artists are noticed today ,by word of mouth ,because those inventions took a lot of the power of radio away.. Now you can find your core audience on your talent or you can sell out to the big money. Thats the paradox that New Good Artists face. Yes there are Good artists out there but is it better to have a following of people that love your work ,or should you go for the big bucks. In 2011 ,I think a following in smaller intimate halls is better than playing a stadium with Jumbotrons.

[splanky]

I like Nikki Yanofsky and think she will have a great career, having seen her myself at a wbgo event last year but I have to
agree with a lot of what daddyacey said. The busines is so f**ked up and fickle nowadays it isn't funny and the bullshit
has even expanded to jazz and other genres I enjoy like afropop. It's all about that "star" thing and commercial appeal and
even established artists with a great catalogue are expected to represent the NOW focus. Which may be why a lot of
great singers don't record as consistently as they did earlier in their careers. The art in a lot of these newer chumps and
chippies is not artistic but artifice which has made much of classic soul a museum kind of thing. Even in jazz, as much as I
love Cassandra Wilson and I've been listening to her since she was part of the Mbase collective, she's a "star" now and
can get her burps and farts released on cd or mp3 while a lot of great singers like Carla Cook for example, haven't had a new release in years. It's a mess. And in world music, unless some rock connected icon like Peter Gabrielle, David Byrne
or Paul Simon produces you and/or takes you out on tour, you could be a tremendous talent like Aster Aweke and nobody
in the mainstream will ever know what you sound like...