Re: More Oldfield Talk

[William LeFebvre <phil@rice.edu>]

This was returned to me the first time I tried to send it (don't know
why).  Sorry if you already got a copy.

>Really-From: Lazlo Nibble <cs2531bn@charon.unm.edu>
> Has anyone on this newsgroup considered the possibility that Oldfield
> is doing what he's doing now because he ENJOYS what he's doing now?

If he's truly enjoying it, great!  But I don't enjoy it nearly as much
as I did his older stuff.  And that's what matters to me:  how much *I*
enjoy it.

> No snob value in enjoying the work of a performer everyone else likes
> too.  :-(

I do *not*, repeat, do *not* enjoy a musician or a piece of music
merely because no one else does.  No snobbish attitudes here.  Other's
opinions about music don't affect my opinion.  I don't like most pop
stuff because it's all the same.  It's almost always one of two tempos
(the fast one being 120, I haven't bothered to clock the slower one),
the same time signature (4/4), the same chord progressions (1, 4, 5, 1
-- how inventive!), the same structure and form, very little texture,
only the more daring ones actually have a key change in the middle, and
they all contain a maximum of two melodic lines from 2 to 4 measures
each:  one for the verses and one for the chorus.  There is no
originality, no inventiveness.  I've heard it all before because
they've been using the same form for more than a decade.  It was nice
back then but nowadays it's BORING!  The standard pop song is almost
insulting in its simplicity.

Hey, that was a generalization.  I'm sure there are a few exceptions.
I just wish there were more exceptions.

As for the specific efforts of Oldfield, he used to be a trend setter
in the musical world.  Now it seems that he is just following the
trend.  I want each musical piece to have its own personality, it's own
uniqueness.  So most pop stuff just blends into the backdrop of the
musical scene.  I don't dislike it because everyone else likes it:  I
dislike it because it doesn't interest me.

			William LeFebvre
			Department of Computer Science
			Rice University
			<phil@Rice.edu>