Comments on: It’s Time For A Good Old-Fashioned Flo Rida Vs. Norsemen Smackdown

By: MrStarhead

MrStarhead — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:35:40 +0000

I had to be directed to the Internet in order to be convinced that that Linkin Park song was really them. Wow, is that song wussy.

By: Michaelangelo Matos

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:15:50 +0000

edit nitpick: why “strummy acoustic guitars”? why not just “strummed”?

By: Al Shipley

Al Shipley — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:54:01 +0000

i don’t know what Chris meant, but I meant they’re strummed and crummy.

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:04:55 +0000

I think “strummy” implies relatively rapid strumming. “Strummed” could be any tempo.

By: Michaelangelo Matos

Michaelangelo Matos — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:43:52 +0000

they're not "strummy," they're strummed. it's like describing a blonde as "blonde-ish."

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:23:10 +0000

To Matos et al.: I think I went with “strummy” because, as with anything on a megapop production by the likes of StarGate, you never know how organic any instrumental part is. “Strummed” implies an au naturale guitar vibe that I don’t associate with anything on a heavily worked StarGate production.

Not that I dislike heavy pop production, mind you–I wouldn’t write this column if I didn’t–but…”strummed”? That implies some dude sitting in the studio and just playing a guitar. And sure, that’s where the sound no doubt started. And sure, maybe on each of these soundalike tracks the guys have been doing lately, they actually record a new guitar line. But there’s also a part of me that suspects they have two hard drives’ worth of acoustic samples they summon up and deploy by keystroke.

By: Al Shipley

Al Shipley — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:04:30 +0000

Those guitars totally are strummy, though, and I was getting very very sick of them. As much as I liked their work on Ne-Yo’s first album, all of Stargate’s identical post-”Irreplaceable” hits soured me on them big time. Didn’t know they did “Don’t Stop The Music,” too, that’s definitely an encouraging sign of something a little different.