Music-

like other forms of art should be that which exists only of its own accord, for its own devices.  Its charge is to express all of the range of human emotion and the best of its sort can project a feeling, a perspective even in the most humbling of formats and limited circumstances.

For me, Music’s task has always been to try to capture the most fleeting, purest expressions of joy, contentment and understanding.  While there are peripheral conditions which I occasionally indulge such as anger, resentment or defeat, I don’t usually seek out those sonic experiences.

Perhaps my preference for the upbeat and uptempo has driven me to “popular” music.  (Though, unlike Rob Gordon, do not think I am “miserable” or any other state due to my listening habits.)  I can say, however, that I seek out music that lifts my spirits – maybe if I was floating on a cloud of sunshine, I would prefer more of a balancing melancholy (for further understanding of opposites-attract musical insight, see one of Sammy Hagar’s reviews in the VH1 classic “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock”…).  Who knows!

At any rate, I felt that there was a lack of appreciation all the web-over for well-written pop music, which doesn’t necessarily cross paths with professional music criticism or radios for that matter.  Who, I asked, is out there defending the best in popular music?  The lyrics are often too simplistic for the support of a critic, the instrumentation too basic for the virtuosic and the melodies too confectious for the cynic, and today, the writing too smart for 13-year-old radio listeners (the last traditional and marketable music consumers).

Where I’m coming from, the lyrics aren’t necessarily deal breakers, but melody is.  Tempo, rhythm and feel are essential, but an album should be varied in regards to each.  Accompaniment should serve the song, not the writers’ ego, although being over-the-top can be a virtue.  Production should be a consideration, a tool, but can also operate as a double-edged sword.  Passion is essential, emotion is the writer’s currency.  These things can, and often do, overcome other shortcomings.  Most importantly, the seduction of pop music lies in its structure.  Much as the simplest games have the highest replay value (hide-and-seek, tetris, catch or Angry Birds), so too does the pop song format.  It is unfortunate then, that such a straightforward format can be so hard to write well.  As with Brian Wilson, Axl Rose or Pete Townshend, writing the perfect popular song or record can truly “drive a man insane”.

Perhaps too, today, one has to be insane to believe in the restorative powers of pop music, to believe in something that appears so wholly “uncool”.  I am undeterred.  There is a reason why “Domino” was the best, deserving single overplayed in 2012, “Hello, Goodbye” the purest pop song by The Beatles, Róisín Murphy superior to Lady Gaga and why Phil Collins is truly the greatest pop songwriter of his generation.

If you want to find out, I’ll trust you will stick around.  If then, you think I should be committed to an insane asylum, I only ask you allow me to keep my record collection.

-MYH