2025 Mix 14: Tate McRae's marshmallow mouth; TEN's intergenerational K-pop; smooth hits from Colombia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Thailand; and wild sounds from Indonesian composer Peni Candra Rini
Now whenever I hear mushmouth (me, c. 2017) singing I usually tune out because at this point it's so worn out, I just lose interest in a singer. There's always exceptions. For whatever reason SZA's doesn't phase me maybe because she uses it like mild seasoning. Ultimately, I blame Arthur Russell and/or Karen Dalton (Godfather and Godmother of the googly-eyed clam singing). My loose theory is those remastered albums/compilations (circa '03 -'05) of both Russell and Dalton (more Russell in my guestimate) influenced artists like Devendra Banhart, other indie/new-folkie "weirdos," etc. who then influenced pop singers in the late 00's or early 2010s.
The McRae album might be the most....I want to say meta form of this singing I've come across, it's like she's trying to throw you off the scent that there are words in there somewhere
The McRae album probably won't make any of my lists. There's just something about her singing that I find interesting in a way that most of the people using these affectations don't have, like someone who doesn't speak English creating a meta-mushmouth by *over*-enunciating poorly-enunciated singing. (I am almost certainly overselling it lol, just think the idea is funny.)
Yeah, I can handle this singing because the pop production keeps things nice and sugary. I think the more earnest or barebones the song or production is the more the mushmouth bothers me.
Yes, I'm trying to get a better sense of where the vocal mannerisms came from that doesn't just punt to Amy Winehouse. I think indie, alt-singer-songwriter (Regina Spektor), and some YouTube Shit that I wasn't really paying attention to are all more promising, along with....maybe emo?
Yeah, I think the answer it comes from several places, not just, say, Arthur Russell. Not a musher, but on the same lines of looking for influential traits, I like to think that Adele was co-birthed by Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor."
Now whenever I hear mushmouth (me, c. 2017) singing I usually tune out because at this point it's so worn out, I just lose interest in a singer. There's always exceptions. For whatever reason SZA's doesn't phase me maybe because she uses it like mild seasoning. Ultimately, I blame Arthur Russell and/or Karen Dalton (Godfather and Godmother of the googly-eyed clam singing). My loose theory is those remastered albums/compilations (circa '03 -'05) of both Russell and Dalton (more Russell in my guestimate) influenced artists like Devendra Banhart, other indie/new-folkie "weirdos," etc. who then influenced pop singers in the late 00's or early 2010s.
The McRae album might be the most....I want to say meta form of this singing I've come across, it's like she's trying to throw you off the scent that there are words in there somewhere
Bahahhaha... Damn... Now I wanna hear it.
The McRae album probably won't make any of my lists. There's just something about her singing that I find interesting in a way that most of the people using these affectations don't have, like someone who doesn't speak English creating a meta-mushmouth by *over*-enunciating poorly-enunciated singing. (I am almost certainly overselling it lol, just think the idea is funny.)
Yeah, I can handle this singing because the pop production keeps things nice and sugary. I think the more earnest or barebones the song or production is the more the mushmouth bothers me.
It's the difference between shoving pink slime in a breaded nugget form versus artfully plating it on its own
Well said, yes! (LOL)
Yes, I'm trying to get a better sense of where the vocal mannerisms came from that doesn't just punt to Amy Winehouse. I think indie, alt-singer-songwriter (Regina Spektor), and some YouTube Shit that I wasn't really paying attention to are all more promising, along with....maybe emo?
Yeah, I think the answer it comes from several places, not just, say, Arthur Russell. Not a musher, but on the same lines of looking for influential traits, I like to think that Adele was co-birthed by Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor."
Great mix, by the way. The penultimate track by Peni Candra Rini is almost Cathy Berberian-esque in it's composition-style? LOVE. IT!
The second episode of "Radio Not Radio" is up now, featuring songs by Nayomi & Perrie and Vanyfox I learned about here: https://www.mixcloud.com/callinamagician/472025-radio-not-radio/
A good sign when I think “ooh I like this one” to the song that I already put on a mix! This is great