CDOTD 1/8/2023

 Beyoncé: Renaissance 

Borrowed from library

Yeah, what? Let me explain, not that I should need to.

I've already written about how we have a good library system here. I was perusing the CD collection, and this was sitting on display. I figured, well, why not?

And it's too easy for me to just listen to almost impossibly obscure music. That's a trap in itself, liking something for no other reason that it's not popular.

And if I don't like this, I think I have two responsibilities: one is to specify why something isn't for me, the other is to find something positive to say in spite of my opinion. Find the good qualities. 

For example: I've found it easy to put down Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach as being pure kitsch. I still largely think that is true. On closer examination, I came to realize two very positive things. The first is that the synth patch sound design on that record is just short of astonishing. Carlos gets something very close to an oboe sound from dials and patch cords. That's admirable. The other is that all lines are played on a monophonic synth, so any chord or countermelody is created through tracking. This was a good decade and a half before the first MIDI production, making the performance impressive. 

So what do I make of this album? There's definitely a flavor to it, it's very electronica/dance influenced and related. Songs such as "Break My Soul" "Virgo's Groove" sound very post-disco: right tempo, repetitive, funky, strong hits and two and four. It's made for dancing, but is thoroughly layered and the production interesting. 

The entire album sounds great. I really don't like how much of current pop music is produced. To call most of it thoroughly compressed is an understatement; there's no dynamic range whatsoever. Someone once left a CD burn of the Destiny Child song "Survivor" in my room, so I listened to it. It sounded like garbage, like every peak and valley in the amplitude had been compressed to complete flatness. (There may have been an mp3 transfer involved, thus lowering the quality from the original.) This music is certainly compressed, but not to the point where it sounds like a wall of sound all the time. 

Regarding the vocals, since it is much of the focus of this music. When I write that I don't like current production techniques, that really applies to what is done to vocals. There's the incredibly tight compression, but also all of the autotuning done to most. If Autotune is employed here (which in all likelihood is) it's more invisible. My guess is that she's pretty good and nailing the pitch without technical fudging. She sounds natural, whereas most current singers are made to sound plastic.

Some pop singers lean into the yelling and trying to oversell themselves. Call it the Whitney Houston Effect (or alternatively, American Idol-itis). Whitney had a beautiful voice, but she sounded like she was screaming almost everything. Beyoncé sounds much more relaxed. She just sings. I do wish she would lighten up on the warbly vibrato she employs, but that's a matter of taste.

Equally distasteful to me is Billie Eilish-similar style: someone who is singing so softly, it sounds like they're trying to not wake up their parents in the bedroom next to theirs. I find that gets wearisome and annoying very quickly. Come on, put out some sound!

As I listen to this, I just don't find much of it to be memorable. It's good in the moment, well crafted, but none of it sticks in my head. Maybe it's impressive that she isn't fishing for a hit single any longer, and the album is the statement. The most memorable moment is when she's quoting Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." If not a direct descendent of the Summer/Moroder sessions, this album could be argued as a descendent. 

I'm sure Beyoncé is in charge and creating exactly the music she wants to release. There's maybe a dozen credits for each track, or at least I think so. There's microscopically small credits text on the booklet. There's lots of space devoted to photos to accompany each track; how about providing a package where I can actually read the notes? Still, you know, some of us have declining eyesight. 

There's been so much press and writing devoted to this album, I don't know what I could possibly add. So thank you Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, I'll be returning Miss B's new CD tomorrow and someone else can enjoy it. I don't regret the time, the album is fine, but maybe the next person will be more excited by the music than I.