Carpenters Gold

We can't understand modern pop without The Carpenters. Vilified for being corny and unauthentic (their repertoire includes a large number of covers, such as this one), they set up the tone for soft music: simple melodies, love-related lyrics, and above-the-average string arrangements. Towards the end of their career, Richard Carpenter had become addict to quaaludes and Karen Carpenter died as a result of eating disorders. The perfect image of a siblings band singing music pallatable for (almost) everybody was just that: an image. A cynic might say that, if you're going to live and die as a rockstar behind scenes, you might as well do it in front of them...

To be fair with them, and in contrast with some modern pop bands, the Carpenters did put some effort in their music, as unoriginal as it was. Karen's voice was unappreciated at the time (today, her tone is basically the norm), and that forced the band to produce high quality material.

It's obviously not their fault, but since their succes their success, pure rock bands have found difficulties finding funding. Music companies started producing en masse Carpenters-like groups that could appeal to the largest number of people, from grannys to elementary school children.

The Carpenters is one of these bands you have to hear if you want to know why music is what it is today. But don't get Carpenters Gold, a 40 songs 2.5 hours long collection. You only need "Let me be the one" and "Close to you" to get an idea of their material.

The Apartment - Billy Wilder

Mad Men makes modern audiences get acquainted with a time when drinking and smoking in the workplace was not socially reprehensible. Films like The Apartment reminds us that the 1960's and the 2010's are completely different Worlds.

A winner of 5 Academy awards (including best picture), The Apartment hasn't aged well. Its jokes seem either moronic (the lead male trying to conquer the lead female preparing pasta using a tennis racquet) repetitive (saying "-wise" at the end of almost every sentence), or both. More importantly, today audiences simply can't relate with the lead characters: an elevator girl who  falls in love with a married big shot of a finance NYC-based company and expects him to divorce; and a guy who  lends his apartment to his superiors of  a finance NYC-based company as a way to get promoted but then falls in love with the elevator girl. Over the last 50 years, cultural codes have changed in such a way that modern audiences understand that an elevator girl (or her equivalent these days) who dates a married is probably doing it for the money, or at least doesn't expect him to divorce; likewise, it is assumed that executives can lease their own apartments for extra-marital affairs and, in the unlikely case they have to ask a subordinate for a place, writers and directors make sure that the subordinate is a despicable guy.

While The Apartment was seen as an innovative romantic comedy at the time it was released, modern audiences would consider it as a sub-par combination of noir film with a chick-flick: this is probably the first romantic comedy I've seen with an attempted suicide and existentialist reflections after it. 

The only thing that leaves uncomfortable with the idea that The Apartment was dated is the fact that other movies from that time (or even before) are still understandable and enjoyable. Probably The Apartment was overrated from the beginning. It wouldn't be the first time that the Academy creates a legend out of thin air...

Still Night, Still Light - Au Revoir Simone

Before issuing their first album, Au Revoir Simone submitted the following song to be the theme of the newest Mega Man.



They didn't succeed, so they put the song in the shelf for a while, added some lyrics, and released it in the pop music market. Some people think it's an awesome theme.

The Bird of Music - Au Revoir Simone

Depression and anger:



(British style):




After giving Ritalin to your daughter for her entire childhood:

Novelle Vague - Nouvelle Vague

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is the first track of the first album of Nouvelle Vague.
Thats the only song to hear to know if you will like the band or not.

Bande à part - Nouvelle Vague

In their second album, Nouvelle Vague covered "In the name of love", originally performed by U2.



Your thoughts about this song will be an excellent proxy for your opinion about Nouvelle Vague in general, since all their songs are based on the same concept.

3 - Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague is a concept designed by French musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux consisting of having female singers (previously called "girls") performing new wave and rock songs with bossa nova arrangements. The experimental character of the project is enhanced by having singers performing songs they had never heard before. Yes, the entire thing is very French.

Their first two albums were very successful, at least in France. For 3, they were even able to recruit people like Martin Gore, who sings the back voice for "Master and Servant."

Overall, the entire concept of Nouvelle Vague is not that bad. Their music is OK for listening in an office and, quite honestly one gets to appreciate the music with a set of headphones. The arrangements are worth the price of the albums.

I guess that the problem with this band is that they take classic songs and rip them off their essence to make them palatable to all audiences -with the remarkable exception of the people who heard the original versions. But that's not the problem of Nouvelle Vague. During the first decade of the 21st century commercial art general was characterized by remakes. Hopefully that was just a trend and originality will eventually come back.