Wrap up

I worry this blog has become too hardcore as it descends further into the murk of bad pop. For the last week I've been pushing the line that bad pop is just as complex, inspiring and rich as more acceptable musical varieties -- I maintain that this is true. But I'm getting caught in the vortex of trash, and soon I will be without a soul, potentially feeling an emptiness similar to Whitney Houston as she craves her next fix. I need to divert my attention to other things (e.g. read that Patrick White novel, buy organic vegetables, exercise, blah blah blah blah). I promise more considered posts in the future.

BUT there remain a few final things I need to share...

Inappropriate Remixes

Trashy dance remixes of power ballads promise the world, but tend not to deliver. It's a seductive formula: combine the emotional nuance of the ballad with the driving force of house-lite, and the euphoria of peaking mid-sections. Unfortunately they're so often produced with the subtlety and artistic dexterity of So You Think You Can Dance "contemporary" numbers. But the more inappropriate the source material is to dance transformation, the more hilarious the results can be...

Suitable for gym work and prepping for VCE exams...

For that rare Commonwealth Games-dance crossover moment -- potentially Sensation New Years' at Telstra Dome?

Titanic dance...

And the mother of all dance remixes!!! Check out the snappy editing to dance-ify Evita!! I am seriously blown away by this...

And Whitney...

I was idly youtubing "Whitney Houston Crack is Whack" and found this unsettling interview with Diane Sawyer. I think seeing someone talk about how they're turning things around, how they've transcended their demons and how they're on the comeback trail when they're so obviously messed up touches a slight nerve. Something to do with the way we frame different points in our lives, and maybe that things might be more cyclical than we let ourselves believe. It's as if every celebrity interview is about something bad being transcended -- at every point, progress is being made with every stint in rehab, every comeback film etc. It's rare that an interviewee narrates things in terms of "I'm really falling apart right now". Anyway, I shouldn't glean my life lessons from Whitney...