i see this strange trend emerging where artists that you would expect to blow their load with one single and fade into oblivion forever are sticking around and releasing great and/or popular follow ups. Soulja Boy has at least three hits now, as few would have expected (i always thought he had more than "Crank That" in him, though). Katy Perry is still with us today. and now the star whose rise has been the fastest, and whose image consciousness will keep her in the public eye for awhile, THE GAGA.

the article on her in the current Rolling Stone is pretty great. i don't think RS puts their magazine online, but here's the summary from their website: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/inde...e-of-lady-gaga/

i think paying her main focus to her fame and image instead of having an artistic vision is one of the common bonds of the truly big popular musicians. they're performers, not necessarily artists. clearly she is a pretty potent songwriter and musician. check some of her stripped down piano versions of the songs, such as:



but even so, for her it's about having an audience, not using the music as a creative release. as a result, the music lacks any sort of self-indulgence. any semblance of silly posturing. it's just music. and in her quest to become famous, she took her singing chops and her melodies and draped them in the synth heavy electro tones of modern popular music so that it's just really fucking enjoyable. "Lovegame", which is getting the radio play now, is my personal favorite, and i'm just starting to explore the whole of her album The Fame to see if the next couple of singles have greatness in store as well.

this is a thread about Lady Gaga, enjoy.

i dunno man. disco stick is like something from c+c music factory after freedom williams left

Awesome.

I missed the explosion, then emerged in Hawaii and this was all that was playing round the club/bar scene. It blew my brain in half. In an awesome way. Her and Kanye doing that tour atop the giant gold agro-crag thing is going to be retarded. Seriously, every song. Straight. Popular. Music. Fire. Chrono otm.

had no clue she could actually sing worth a damn and/or play an instrument

props

I gave this kid the nickname disco stick, since he got really mad at the song when he heard his 5 year old daughter singing along. I am an asshole. He will be forever disco stick.

We got a redlight
Pornographic dance fight

she's a sellout in the best way possible. the world doesn't need another Regina Spektor

when i was first hearing the "Just Dance" rounds during the Christmas holidays last year, i didn't like it at all.

BUT HERE I STAND TODAY WITH THE GAGA.

i dunno, i thought it was pretty avant-garde when she put her leg up on the piano and hit all those random notes...





the girl can definitely play. she is clearly quite talented.

in my experiences i've found her singles to be great on listens 1-10, but quickly losing steam soon after - more fun if you're drunk though (natch). that to say, i'm cool w her recent ascent in the pop charts

no one likes lady gaga except perez hilton

im gay

i didn't really care for her when "Just Dance" came out. wrote her off as another dance diva that did bland dance music. however, for months afterward that song and "Poker Face" would be played in rotation at the gym and after hearing them constantly there (like i had a choice) found them to be really catchy pop tunes with a disco beat. i've since warmed up to her work but i don't think i'll go out and buy her stuff.

and kanye west

Queen influence definitely shows on the solo piano. Got a lil Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy / Killer Queen thang goin on. She took the name Ga Ga after the track Radio Ga Ga. I thought Just Dance got old pretty fast, but Pokerface grew on me.

wow

She's got a bit of a Dresden Dolls thing going on that solo piano performance.

Just Dance and Lovegame are totally great singles. Really some of the only reasons i ever listen to the radio in the car these days. I'm a fan of the LG, no question

I think she's clearly a Warholian exercise in the limits of pop music. Pretty sure she's in on it as well, see any interview with her for proof.

Holy fucking awesome songs. I love gaga, but I kind of wish she had more of a that kinda thang goin on. I kind of wish everybody sounded more like that.

I don't hate her or anything. Kinda just shrug at her existence. The fact that she could play the piano is neat I guess but pretty irrelevant to what kind of artist she is.

I tend to agree, but I think somebody like her picks up a lot of cred from the indie type folks by displaying that ability. Depends on how much value one places on that cred I guess.

Edit: agreement on the latter part, I mean. I love her for some weird reason. I cannot shrug at her existence.

Oh, you're absolutely right, and I think that's lame. Goes into Mitch's "she knows just what she's doing" theory.

The first time I heard of this chick was in some indie source, I forget where. Months before she blew up.

I dig the Lady G. I also dig this Kid Cudi/Kanye take on "Poker Face": http://www.imeem.com/singleofthesecond/mus...i-poke-her-fac/

I respect the fact that she has no shame whatsoever. Like, when Christina Aguilera went all dirty, she was still mostly clothed, Gaga is just straight naked half the time, making out with chicks in her videos, wearing hotpants while walking down the street. That said, her music sucks a dog's dick.

I guess "Just Dance," "Paparazzi" and "Poker Face" are all fine pop songs but I can't stand "LoveGame". Tuneless, robotic vocals (not in a good way) with awful (not even bad enough to be "outrageous" or something equally gimmicky) lyrics.

The "Disco Stick" song is probably one of the worst songs I've heard this decade. "Just Dance" & "Poker Face" are great. The little rap she does in "Poker Face" is really embarrassing though.

Lady Gaga is pretty much the image that pop music needs. Her songs are semi-beat but it really doesn't matter as, I think they are sort of supposed to. When an entire song is comprised of sexual innuendoes built on poker terms, you can't be taking your music too seriously. She sounds a whole fuck of a lot like Peaches when she raps in "Poker Face" though.

I do really like the Kid Cudi/Kanye/Common shit too.

Anyway, as long as she keeps banging out videos where she's playing the part of half-naked and drunk, I'll prob keep watching them.

In a recent New Yorker article, Sasha Frere Jones attempts (with mixed success, IMO) to deconstruct her Warholian metaperformance of the 15-minute doctrine, as well as her affinities with Rilke and the Flying Lizards.

Well, article mentions the Peaches thing too, so I guess I'm not alone on that one.

I've heard "Just Dance" too many times to enjoy it now, "Poker Face" is still an okay track and I don't care for "LoveGame" at all. Actually I think "The Fame" is a better song than the ones she's released a singles.

BTW, I love it when the folks around start dishing about pop music it makes me laugh for some reason.

she's so meta

... I bet she thinks her song is about her.

this

LoveGame is great guys. Admit it.

Every part of the song is comprised of some sort of catchy vocal hook. The concept of a 'disco stick' is obnoxious, lyrics suck, it's total inane bullshit, etc etc. Who cares

i spit hot fire

The part where she sings "a love game, a love game" I always think she's singing "I love game, I love game" and it reminds me of Brick Tamland and I change the lyrics to "I love lamp, I love lamp". Improves the song a whole bunch.

Lady Gaga is interesting on paper—born in gay clubs with admitted Bowie and T. Rex influences. You expect her to sound like Jobriath, and yet her music is the weakest sub-Britney shit. It's not even good pop music. Her music just doesn't come within miles of the exuberance of her personality. It's music for my mom's water aerobics class. Literally. I mean, Colby O'Donis? WTF.

Just Dance and Poker Face are virtually the same song.

Her whole "omg I'm a popstar but I'm also an artiste because I'm influenced by David Bowie and Andy Warhol rah rah rah" schtick is just annoying. Seriously, her songs are catchy but I don't find them particularly enjoyable unless I'm very intoxicated.

Also, she should think about putting some pants on. She's not particularly attractive.

I laughed.

Pokerface is a good song on the first few listens, then it gets old pretty quick. As does this thread.

do you rockists need Gaga to go No Doubt on you guys?

i enjoyed this article a lot

Love playing her music on the dance floor. Works nearly every time.

She's trash, and so is her music. I'm apalled at the fanfare she gets.

Sascha Frere Jones is ok when he's writing about pop music, but typically he just meanders around his assignment until he hits the right wordcount.

Sort of exactly what that article felt like. I'm not sure he made any real statement at all besides "Lady GaGa might be smart because she probably isn't dumb."

Overheard on the radio during Firestorm 2009 coverage

Q: How do you wake up Lady Gaga?
A: Poke her face

You realize there's a relatively popular song with some pretty big names that samples Poker Face called "Poke Her Face," right? I think it's a fairly established, um, pun by now.

Just another example of why 00s pop stars are joke city compared to 90s pop stars.