Music, feminine K-pop stars, and more

So the question on Lillian's blog reads, "what kind of music do you listen to?"  Personally, the best way to answer this question would be to say, "I listen to various music," and list the genres.  This, however, is problematic.  I have trouble classifying the type of music I listen to.  May be you can help (and please do!)


Why I dislike (listening to) K-pop

First of all, I do not enjoy listening to Korean pop; I enjoy looking at Korean pop.  I do not enjoy listening to Korean pop due to its simplicity and banal construction.  Listening to K-pop after Miles Davis's On Green Dolphin Street is like reading Goosebumps after The Great Gatsby.  I thought Goosebump series were an insult to the English language when I was in fourth grade, and I couldn't even speak English back then. 

But I do enjoy watching K-pop.  Let's be frank.  I'm a heterosexual male in my twenties watching half-naked girls dance for three minutes.  Does anyone really expect me not to be aroused?  How could it not capture my attention for at least a little bit?  I can't help it, like I can't help gravity. 


(Lee Hyolee, one of the most popular female singers of all time)

Today's marketing is more than an advertisement.  Clever marketing assigns identity.  Laker fans often use the pronoun "we" as if they were the sixth member of team who contributed to the win.  Apple zealots enthusiastically boast new products, unconsciously carrying out false transitive property: Apple is cool; I use Apple; therefore, I am cool.  Same can be said about Manolo Blaniks, BMW, etc.  A huge reason why people buy these products is not because of their infallible quality but to be associated with certain image. 

K-pop executives are masterminds at creating images, and apparently, they seem to care much more about image than sound.  I saw a schedule of fledgling K-pop trainees couple weeks ago.  The schedule includes nearly 8 hours of dance practice, and may be 2 hours of singing every other day.  Clearly, visual presentation is prioritized over anything else, and no wonder nearly all Korean stars have perfect bodies after such a gruesome work out.  These people are professional at looking good, not at making sound, as if they were talking/ walking Barbie dolls.  And to add a irrelevant point, they heavily photoshop their pictures and present false impression of beauty.  There is no way an average 14 year old girl can compete - they can only admire. 

So why listen to groups that were made to present?  I would rather listen to K-pop celebrity in a talk show rather than hear them sing.  At least they're not out of tune in a conversation.


But I do like (some) Korean Music

Let's go back to the original topic - music I listen to.  Please listen (or at least parts of it)



How would you categorize this?  All musicians are Korean, so it can be Categorized as a Korean Music.  It is a 007 medley, so it can be included in the category of movie sound tracks.  But as you can see, they start to improvise in the middle of the song, so it has elements of jazz as well.  You can categorize it as an instrumental but I find that category misleading since any genre, such as hip-hop, can have an instrumental.  What about the instruments?  Which genre ever uses Spanish guitar, normal guitar, harmonica, and a contra bass (and no drums)?  Please tell me, for I am curious.

(How did I find out about these guys?  The dude on contra bass is my cousin)

It is a common stereotype that Korean music only consists of bunch of boys wearing lipsticks with a six pack, but Korean music is not equivalent to K-pop, though K-pop does have a lion share in the music industry.  Korean music by no means is diverse but there are respectable artists. I like respectable artists.



Is categorization really all that important?




(so tell me, is this hip hop or jazz?)

In most cases, categorizing music into genres work, and they work fairly well.  Tupac, for example, is clearly a hip-hop artist, as Miles Davis is the epitome of cool jazz.  Beatles revolutionized rock & roll, and Nirvana was the front runner in the alternative revolution.  But certain songs are slightly harder to categorize, such as the song above.  It's not quite jazz, but it's not quite hip hop either.  It actually has elements of both, which is what makes the song so unique.  Most people would categorize this as jazz-hip hop, and put it in the same category with sound providers and jazzkantine - difficult to categorize, but possible.

But from time to time, it's impossible to categorize a song, period.  Take the next song for example:



The song starts off with a Mongolian man simultaneously singing multiple notes (how this is done I do not know).  Then Bela Fleck starts to play an unknown instrument, along with an Indian drummer.  Up to here, this song is really just a strange mixture of world music (not to mention the African Steel Drums that I do not hear).  But after everyone takes a solo (4:08 is my favorite), the song at 4:54 suddenly sounds like a "normal" 70's pop song! Without coining a new genre, I cannot categorize this song; it is impossible.

But does the inability to categorize this song add or take away from the qualities of the song?  Absolutely not.  So does a need to categorize every single piece of music exist?  Not really if you asked me - though it may be important to marketing executives and record store owners. 

_________________________________________________________

I will continue tomorrow, since I need to sleep soon.