Jenny, where for art thou with thy music?

bergenergy · Last edited by bergenergy on Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:34 pm; edited 2 times in total

What has happened to her music? It has become, at best, a tepid recycling of previously digested genres.

RKnet itself said it best, when it noted that the band's downfall started when Jenny figured out she could 'sing'. You get the hint on 'I Never' that she has learned to belt out the soul/blues in a way that sounds great, but has no real dimension. I know that song is on a supposedly 'sellout,' but, in fact, truly great album, and I really like it. But it portends a serious downturn in musical significance for her and the band.

I do appreciate that her solo shows are 'fun'. But ...

my daughter listens to every album through MA almost every night, whether it be while doing homework or going to sleep. I have never heard her play a post MA track, EVER.

Now I know my daughter is not the final word in taste, no one is. But she certainly provides an indication as to where the memorable Jenny Lewis/RK moments lie to one who has no other agenda.

I guess, what I really want to say here is that MA, and what came before it, were an utterly inspiring representation of what music and lyrics could offer. Every indicator seemed to point toward further achievements.

So what happened?

I had a music professor who once said, 'many artists are only touched once or twice by the hand of greatness, and then it doesn't return'.

That may be the case with RK, as Mattaway said in the 'I wish' thread, but I still believe that Jenny, Blake, Pierre and Jason can create music which will transcend genre and expectation in a way that delights every sense.

They can write wildly original lyrics and back them up with tight and moving music.

Prost!
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chemicalstress · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:18 pm Post subject:

I don't think she has lost her mind, I think she is growing and changing as an artist, and it suits some people's taste and it does not suit other people's taste. It suits my musical taste/aesthetic - I love her solo stuff, more than I love Take Offs. I know other people feel differently. My musical aesthetic isn't objective truth... and no one's is... and a person can't be said to have lost their mind for disagreeing with another person's musical taste.

Built To Post · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:28 pm Post subject:

I'm not a big fan of her recent stuff, but I think saying she lost her mind is a poor choice of words.
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bergenergy · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:32 pm Post subject:

Emily · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:32 pm Post subject:

i can't say that i'm in love with any of her recent stuff, but i wouldn't suggest that her music is "at best, a tepid recycling of previously digested genres". and that's because i respect her as an artist and my appreciation for the beautiful songs she has penned in the past surpasses my dislike for the majority of her solo work. i could add some more about how she's grown up and changed and all of that jazz, but we all know this. we all know that a 30-something year old woman isn't going to write the same songs that she wrote when she was 20-something, because she isn't looking at life the way she did back then. i wish her newer stuff was less repetetive and more complex both lyrically and musically too, but rather than be upset about something that i can't change, i just take the time to enjoy the old stuff that much more.
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bergenergy · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:57 pm Post subject:

**Heather** · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:00 am Post subject:

Not that I entirely agree with your premise here, Dan, but might I suggest that it's due to a change in songwriting partners?

bello_returns · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:26 am Post subject:

This is really about a genre change. Its as simple as that. RK started off as this lo fi, mysterious indie pop band with light alt country influences and evolved into a full on roots rock, alt country, bluesy, kinda of band with only slight references to their indie pop past. If this style is not to your taste, it just isn't. Bands CAN'T stay the same. Change is inevitable. As a musician in a band I can tell you, if you stay locked into a certain formula and have an expectation as to where your music will go, you begin repeating yourself...literally sometimes. Playing the same chords, writing on the same topics. You eventually hit a wall. You have no choice but to evolve. What would be the point of jenny going solo if she was only going to make execution part 2? She went solo so she can explore other avenues.

Also you have to keep in mind, many bands change their sound simply because when they get successful,they finally have the means to make their music sound the way they REALLY want. Ladytron said they went in a more gothic, shoegazey direction because they could finally afford the equipment and studios that require that sound. Takeofffs was recorded at home. When they actually got into a studio and had a label backing them, they got orchestras and more lush production. Its just the way things go. I'm quite sure with UTB they became the band they wanted to be. I think Acid Tongue is a great record, hell amazing, but I still love the EP and Takeoffs so much more.

I appreciate versatility in a band. When Goldfrapp released Seventh Tree last year, people were furious that they abandoned their clubby, glam, lady gaga-esque sound and put out a folk album. But Seventh Tree is by far my fave Goldfrapp album and one of my fave albums of last year, and I'm a far bigger fan of electronic music then I am folk. No one wants to be locked into one thing. So in short, jenny hasn't lost her mind, she's just being a musician. Always growing and changing, just like people. You don't have to like itbut you do have to accept it. Its HER music. Just be content with pre MA stuff.
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bergenergy · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:46 am Post subject:

bergenergy · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 4:38 pm Post subject:

I'm also sick of the whole 'hippies up in the canyon' thing.

I'm an old hippy and can tell you that their music either sucks or rocks.

So far, JL is more in the first category than the second.

She needs to get back to the flatland/city and make something that pushes boundaries.

(PS - yes I'm trolling, but this is how I truly feel, but just haven't posted)
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bassclari109 · Cool Kid Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Posts: 782

delia · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject:

bello_returns · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 8:41 pm Post subject:

TheOtherOne420 · Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject:

lemon · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 63

I admit that I didnt really love Acid Tongue or UTB, but I thought RFC was kind of amazing. And pretty original.
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paramour · Cool Kid Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 706 Location: toronto.

^ RFC changed my life, as lame/cliche as that sounds. no other album has inspired me as much as RFC and if that makes me lame, then so be it. it inspired me to write SO many songs during that year it came out.
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**happyfish** · Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:16 pm Post subject:

moople72 · Cool Kid Joined: 12 Sep 2007 Posts: 794 Location: KC

RFC is what got me interested---after hearing that album I had to buy everything Jenny that I could find.

I like the fact that she has become more confident with her vocals and on stage.

Maybe TEOAT and MA are the peak-----but the stuff that has followed is strong.
UTB is a great record-----the fact that some of it is derivative or tongue-in-check doesn’t devalue it for me------I still enjoy playing it all the way through----Jenny’s singing and the band’s playing are stronger than anything that preceded it.

Maybe she hasn’t scaled the artistic heights of TEOAT and MA------but she is branching out and doing interesting work that is compelling---to me, anyway.

And that live show in June was MESMERIZING (not just because I have the hots for her------it was a GREAT performance------one of the best I’ve seen---evah).

nyeacknjny · Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:43 pm Post subject:

I think it falls into 2 camps: pre- solo and post solo fans. People who got in to Rk/JL through RFC usually prefer that stuff. Old RK fans usually prefer RK stuff. It's all about what attracted you to the music in the first place.
My feelings are similar to those of bergenergy. It was the honesty and rawness that attracted me to RK in the first place. Those things, TO ME, are missing from solo Jenny stuff and while I do enjoy it it just seems more "fictional" to me. I relate to having my heart broken, worrying about debt, the impression i will leave when i'm gone however, carpetbaggers, "jack killing mom" not so much. Now I agree that artists should grow and change but when I pop on a CD of a live show from 2003 and hear Jenny growling "maybe your right!" and singing "you'll be awake, you'll be alert, you'll be positive though it hurts" in an unpolished voice that seems on the verge of tears I can't help but feel something is gone forever. I miss the goose-bump inducing, gut wrenching music of those days.

~Nick
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bello_returns · Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:15 am Post subject:

paramour · Cool Kid Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 706 Location: toronto.

bello, i'm in a similar boat as you. i was already a fanatical RK fan before jenny put out RFC. honestly, my love for jenny has never waned.

there are some songs on UTB that i like more than other ones (dejalo i really don't like) and sure, it's my least favourite RK album, but i don't denounce it or conclude it as crap.
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lemon · Joined: 22 Jun 2008 Posts: 63

nyeacknjny · Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2009 2:10 pm Post subject:

bergenergy · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject:

yikes, the pics at the top of this site make me very emotional

gonna pray for good times with this band Hello

NiceMoustacheBlake · Joined: 03 Dec 2009 Posts: 1

This is exactly the situation with Conor Oberst...what's up with that? Both used to be more 'real' and emotional and now have settled into this countryish, character thing. It's disheartening.