The Truth is out there. So is chapter 63.

[valis2]

This has to be the most fun I've ever had writing a chapter. Real melodramatic, angsty stuff, cut with realism...well, as much realism as you can have in the HPverse.

In moments like these I love writing more than...well, a lot of things. What an experience. I OD'd on The Beekeeper and now I'm adrift on a cloud of happy, happy, happy and accomplished feelings.

I am so psyched. I really think it might be the best of all the chapters so far. It came together near-perfectly.

Off to bed. Must sleep now.

Comments

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are a lot of Tori fans stuck in the "China" loop. I liked her even better after Choirgirl. I loved that album.

Based on the special I watched, Regina is definitely looking to court the mainstream.

Why it didn't do better is indicative of what's wrong with the music business.

I'm never certain if it's the music business or mainstream America.

I love to listen to music, and I continually change stations to listen to what I want. However, according to a couple articles I've read, I'm in the minority (10%). Most people just turn on the radio and listen to whatever is played. They poll people on the phone, and everyone wants to listen to the same Hootie song. Majority rules. If there weren't a lot of people who want to "rock out" to Aerosmith over and over and over again they would not sell as well as they do.

I'm way oversimplifying this, and yes the music business has issues, but honestly one of the root problems is mainstream america, who likes to listen to soft pop hits of today.

[morricone1900.livejournal.com]

valis2

Based on the special I watched, Regina is definitely looking to court the mainstream.

I'm not sure if this entirely her doing -- although certainly she is complicit. She's had a particular approach and style and sound for a few years now, but she kind of got "adopted" by some guy from the band THE STROKES. Whoever produces them produced her new album, and I think she was influenced by the authority figures involved. It seems to me that her own writing instincts tend to the stranger, more Bjork-like. The stuff on the "songs" album is almost like a kind of art music, and it's basically the kind of material she was performing live here in NY for a few years and what everyone loved about her.

That style didn't completely disappear with "soviet kitsch," but I'm aware that she has definitely gotten on the corporate bandwagon in certain ways because this new release is a Warner Bros. affiliate. And the way she is being marketed seems designed to make her more mainstream. But if I were to play you some of the stuff on her "songs" CD, i think you'd agree that's it totally unique and the work of a distinctive quirky voice. I suspect that what might happen over time is that she gradually returns to her more esoteric side, particularly if all this new label hoopla doesn't really make her a star.

I mean, she toured as the opening act with the Strokes at her own expense...and now of course the label is paying for her touring both here in the UK, and promoting the hell out of her.

Not that she doesn't deserve it, but I think the irony is that her solo indie album was a ZILLION times better than this corporate release. But I don't know what's commercial or what isn't, god knows. But if she gets a greater following, yet is allowed to "be herself" more on the next album (or has a little more confidence in the face of industry people "guiding" her), she may yet return to her innate bizarre greatness. But who knows. The lure of $$ is stronger than integrity I suppose.