Listening this morning also made me think about how we perceive artists inside and outside of their work. I love Woody Allen’s
films, and anytime I mention work he’s been involved in, the
conversation inevitably veers toward his admittedly odd family life.
Does Annie Hall have anything to do with Soon-Yi? No . . .

But do you consider an artist’s full “self” when you take in what they offer? Should you?

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it’s harder to make that distinction from a film director who largely spends his or her time behind the camera working with an ensemble cast and a solo recording artist whose artistry is often shaped by the events that affect his or her personal life. i’m not saying a film director is not intimately involved in their craft, neither am I saying their personal life doesn’t shape their stories. but that there is still a level of detachment from end product (that is unless the film director chooses to insert himself into his film). with a recording artist, he or she is selling his or her voice, perhaps his or her face and the brand he or she has long spent time developing.

for me, it all depends on the artist. some I’ll just take for entertainment value only and not be concerned with where they stand in their social and political views. with other artists, I take into consideration almost everything about them, what they achieve both inside and outside the studio.

then there’s britney spears. personally, i try to steer clear of when she makes headlines for reasons other than her music. it doesn’t interest me. in fact it sickens me how much attention is focused on her for matters that are of a private nature. I change the channel when they discuss the custody battles. those things are not important to me. these are matter that involves her family, something that has nothing to do with me. she isn’t a role model or a fallen role model. parents should have gathered from the moment she stepped onto the scene that while she had tremendous charisma and appeal to a young crowd, she wasn’t capable of being a role model. the wholesomeness was an image. so to build someone up only to tear her down is revolting in its own way.

and her two most recent albums had little coherence for a number of reasons. the last album “in the zone” had a couple of club bangers and definitely had an eclectic, chaotic feel about it because (no joke) no fewer than a dozen producers worked on the album. you can only expect an album with so little coherence when you have so many fingers in the pie. then 2001′s “britney” lacked coherence because she was still in between Max Martin bubble gum and wanting to go for a more grown up theme.

so with this latest offering, it appears britney has come full circle with respect to consistency. “baby one more time” and “oops I did it again” were pure britney albums in that you knew what you were getting with the relatively wholesome image. but now it’s all “gimme more” and paparazzi wants a piece of me. So really, Britney makes it hard to not consider her full “self” because the content of her album in part deals with her present issues; she puts so much of her “self” into the album. unfortunately, the subject matter she chooses to cover does not intrigue to me. but i imagine this album can, from beginning to end, be in rotation at a club (or one of those trendy clothing boutiques) without the deejay having to do a single thing other than press play. everything is remixed, the bass comes in VERY heavy, very shimmy-danceable. “hot as ice” is definitely something i can hear as emerging as a hit from the drone that is the rest of the album. it has the bounce of “toxic” (2003), just a little more funky and not as light. i swear I’ve heard “ooh baby” before so there’s another potential hit. “perfect lover” sounds like timbaland got his hand on it, but i’m not certain on that. “why should I be sad” sounds a little disjointed so it’s a puzzling way to end the album.

although puzzling may be the right word with respect to what britney spears is up to these days. still it doesn’t take away from the fact that the latter tracks is what carries the album as a whole.

and that’s all i got to (or care to) say about britney spears.