The Good Music Corner
Cover songs have long been a staple of karaoke bars, but they are also the ace in the pocket of any great musician. A good cover song is an art form unto itself, and it is an art form the contestants of American Idol are yet to master.
But what makes a good cover song?
First and foremost: it has to stack up to the original, and unless you are covering Britney Spears this can be a formidable task. Posers are lame, so the second rule of a good cover song: put your own spin on it. If we wanted to hear an exact mimic of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," we'd listen to the original. Good covers switch up genres, strip away instruments or utilize a singer of a different gender.
The following are just a few examples of excellent contemporary covers. Idols, pay attention! This is how it's done!
American Idol is a singing competition. Unfortunately, we're only five weeks into the show and I'm already sick of the singing.
Why do we need words anyway? Without lyrics clogging things up, instrumentals are limitless in scope, and if every contestant on American Idol were required to master an instrument, the quality of music would increase fourfold.
Basic vocals need little effort: my six-year-old cousin can carry a tune without a single lesson and without reading a line of sheet music. Instruments, on the other hand, require years of training just to master the basics. Instrumentalists must learn to read the language of music, where as singers can fudge their way through a chorus without reading a note.
So here is a giant kudos to instrumentalists, who consistently kick vocalists to the curb with the merest flick of their bow or pick.
American Idol has an Asian problem. The Asians featured on the show are there for one reason: to be laughed at. The producers seem to think Asian Americans are either morbidly bad singers (William Hung) or disposable clowns (Sanjaya Malakar). Asian contestants are not considered serious contenders; they are "cannon fodder."
In response to the stereotyping that is a staple of this small-minded show, this edition of the Good Music Corner focuses on the contemporary music of Asians. From the sugary froth of J-Pop, to Thailand's pleng phua cheewit, to the spinning rhythms of South Korea's b-boy scene, these are serious musicians with serious chops.
America is a country of many heritages. Now on it's 8th season, it is high time Idol acknowledged the musicianship of some talented Asians... or even crowned an Asian American Idol.
Welcome to the final installment of the Good Music Corner's series on the stereotypes that should populate the cast of American Idol. Last but not least: manic pixie dream girls! Instead of the interchangeable blondes that currently populate Idol, why not a few interchangeable pixies? These muses refuse to conform to the status quo and would keep us entertained with their wacky shenanigans week after week.
The manic pixie is Natalie Portman in Garden State, Kirsten Dunst in Elizabethtown, and any other artsy, kooky girl who comes along to zap some lovelorn loser out of his gray lifeless funk. Manic pixies are childlike, free-spirited and so adorable you either want to pinch their Lolita cheeks or strangle them. On the upside, the music world's manic pixies tend to record quirky, arthouse tunes with imaginative lyrics about discovering life's eccentricities.
Welcome to Part II of the Good Music Corner's three-part series on the stereotypes that should populate the cast of American Idol. This week: whiny emo boys! The producers of Idol are always looking for eye candy to feed the adolescent teenyboppers. Why not feed them a few brooding poet-types who can drop a metaphor or two?
Emo is teenage anthem music. Nowadays, the genre is often associated with dyed black hair, tight clothes and other fashions originated by the screamo scene at Gravity Records. But emo boys are actually much more than side-swept bangs. They are punkish, lovelorn Romeos, wallowing and raging against the tragic beauty of existence. Yes, they are whiny. They whine about broken love, the mediocrity of suburbia and the frivolity of their peers.
In a world filled with facades, it's refreshing to hear a little introspection now and again, and whiny emo boys aren't afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves.
We are in the midst of the dreaded American Idol auditions. The search for this season's cast will be predictably filled with the canon Idol characters we see every season: the blonde country singer, the rocker, the adorable teen idol, the R&B diva... If the show's producers must give us formulas, they should at least give us formulaic singers who consistently record quality music. Here is the first in a three-part series on the stereotypes that SHOULD be on Idol. This entry: British blue-eyed soul singers!
These girls sing sexy songs about lost love and gravitate toward timeless vintage sounds. As an added bonus, hardcore soulstresses tend to flaunt a host of behind-the-scenes controversies... and that, producers, makes for good reality television.
Dear FremantleMedia:
Winning American Idol is a dubious honor. Once upon a time, it was the ultimate prize (a record contract, wow!) The world is different now. Everyone within a ten-mile radius of the show strikes the record deal of their choosing, while winners are restricted to a tight contract with you. And that prize isn't worth what it once was.
BUT WHY?
Unless your name is T.C. Love or Andrea Marvel, chances are the name that adorns your birth certificate won’t sell many albums. The music industry is inundated with stage names. Musicians take up aliases for many reasons: to stand out from the crowd, transition between genres or cultivate an image.
Read the bios below, and (without cheating!) see if you can guess each artist’s more well-known moniker.