Author Topic: Taylor Swift  (Read 61210 times)

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Offline Stadler

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Taylor Swift
« on: December 03, 2020, 08:26:53 PM »
I don't know where to put this so I'll start a thread.  Just watched the "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions" on Disney+. 

Holy crap.  Really good.  REALLY good.   Her, Aaron Dessner (from The National), Justin (from Bon Iver, on one song) and Jack Antonoff.   It's all 17 songs from the album, played in order, with a little explanation/commentary before each one.   Set in a log cabin in upper New York (about an hour and a half from me, as it turns out).   Most songs are just her and Aaron and Jack and it's AMAZING.  Rich, warm, and cozy, it's a very powerful performance.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2020, 08:43:17 PM »
Taylor Swift is a national treasure and I am in love with the albums 1989, Red, Lover, and Folklore. The Disney+ film is awesome. I love her. Finally a music thread for me  :biggrin:
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Offline The Realm

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2020, 09:10:34 PM »
Awesome, really wanting to check this out. May do so tonight. Big fan of her latest album.

Offline HOF

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2020, 09:15:02 PM »
I am not a Taylor Swift fan, but I do think 1989 is a really good album.

Offline faizoff

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2020, 09:21:35 PM »
Saw her live during the Reputation tour and it was a show to remember even if I knew like 2 songs from the whole set. I was entertained through and through. The concert for that tour is on Netflix. I have to check out the new album and this Disney+ show.
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Offline Zook

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2020, 10:00:27 PM »
I don't know if I would call myself a fan, but I like Red and 1989. I don't care for her albums before those two, and I despise the two after those two. Folklore is inoffensive background noise, but boy am I sick of it. My wife is a total fangirl, so I'm subjected to her music a lot.

Offline Stadler

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2020, 06:52:22 AM »
Zook, if you're looking to throw your wife a bone, watch this with her.   You might enjoy it; it's kind of Taylor Swift without all the "teenage", if you know what I mean.   No doubt the material has been processed, but the initial filming was simply her, her two collaborators, and an engineer, filmed by robotic cameras, in a cabin in the Catskills.  The song arrangements are different, and I found it really...  mature, for a lack of a better word.  Not sure this is going to convert a "hater", but if you're willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, it's REALLY good.  Better than it has any right to be, actually. 

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2020, 07:09:03 AM »
Zook, if you're looking to throw your wife a bone, watch this with her.   You might enjoy it; it's kind of Taylor Swift without all the "teenage", if you know what I mean.   No doubt the material has been processed, but the initial filming was simply her, her two collaborators, and an engineer, filmed by robotic cameras, in a cabin in the Catskills.  The song arrangements are different, and I found it really...  mature, for a lack of a better word.  Not sure this is going to convert a "hater", but if you're willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, it's REALLY good.  Better than it has any right to be, actually.

Yeah, for real. All of this. It's a great watch and her singing and the playing in general is really low key but super heartfelt.
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Offline MoraWintersoul

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2020, 07:25:03 AM »
I am completely in love with Taylor Swift, no joke. The albums and the songs, I can take here and there, I definitely don't like *all* of her stuff, especially pre-Red stuff. But I just love watching her perform and talk. She's definitely one of the best pop songwriters out there, and for all the flack her voice gets because she's not Adele or Beyonce, I am very fond of it.

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Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2020, 07:29:46 AM »
I am completely in love with Taylor Swift, no joke. The albums and the songs, I can take here and there, I definitely don't like *all* of her stuff, especially pre-Red stuff. But I just love watching her perform and talk. She's definitely one of the best pop songwriters out there, and for all the flack her voice gets because she's not Adele or Beyonce, I am very fond of it.

Her voice is awesome. Not everyone needs to be Christina Aguilera with the excessive melismatic singing. I'm not quite big on the Reputation stuff but the girl's talented as all get out and I admire her willingness to do new things.
From a Mega Man Legends island jamming power metal to a Walrus listening to black metal, I like your story arc.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2020, 08:11:33 AM »
I am completely in love with Taylor Swift, no joke. The albums and the songs, I can take here and there, I definitely don't like *all* of her stuff, especially pre-Red stuff. But I just love watching her perform and talk. She's definitely one of the best pop songwriters out there, and for all the flack her voice gets because she's not Adele or Beyonce, I am very fond of it.

Based on that, you will LOVE LOVE LOVE this special.  It's exactly what you're writing about.  You get to see her - up close (she's wearing a simple cloth dress and sitting on a couch) - perform her material, and for the most part her discussions are cogent and meaningful.   There's little "gossip" or "tabloid" and while I can't tell if she's telling the whole truth or not, she's certainly authentic and credible.    The ONLY real nods to the gossip was in confirming who "William Bowery" is, and in the last song - The Lakes; she set it up by talking about the poet William Wordsworth, then when singing it - beautifully, and dare I say, sexily - she sang "I've come too far to watch some name-dropping sleaze [Scooter Braun, who is holding her masters hostage] tell me what are my words worth", and looked directly into the camera, visibly spitting the words out.   

Offline Zook

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2020, 08:34:34 AM »
Zook, if you're looking to throw your wife a bone, watch this with her.   You might enjoy it; it's kind of Taylor Swift without all the "teenage", if you know what I mean.   No doubt the material has been processed, but the initial filming was simply her, her two collaborators, and an engineer, filmed by robotic cameras, in a cabin in the Catskills.  The song arrangements are different, and I found it really...  mature, for a lack of a better word.  Not sure this is going to convert a "hater", but if you're willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, it's REALLY good.  Better than it has any right to be, actually. 

She's already watched it, and while I have no doubt she'd watch it again, I don't think I'll ever want to. Thanks for the recommendation though. Maybe if I'm bored and she has it on, I'll sit for a few.

I was surprised how much I liked 1989 (minus Bad Blood, which is one of the worst songs I ever heard), but Reputation and Lover had me questioning her abilities and authenticity. It's really that bad to me.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2020, 08:35:37 AM »
Wow, Lover was legit a top 10 album of 2019 for me. Her best album imo. Banger after banger. That album fucks
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Offline Zook

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #13 on: December 04, 2020, 08:38:27 AM »
Wow, Lover was legit a top 10 album of 2019 for me. Her best album imo. Banger after banger. That album fucks

It can fuck right off. :P it's better than Reputation at least.

Offline Stadler

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #14 on: December 04, 2020, 10:41:55 AM »
i'm indifferent to Lover.  I LOVE the melodies; almost Beach Boy-ish, so there's that.  I thought lyrically and conceptually it was a little very pandering and heavy handed.   I know this is just me and my biases, but I could just picture sanctimonious Jack Antonoff slapping himself on the back for being involved in a project so "enlightened".

But folklore is something different.  It goes deep, and I think her deciding to be less blatantly autobiographical actually allowed us to see even further behind the curtain.   It's almost Springsteen-ish in how it is so of the moment (COVID) and yet transcendent of that moment at the same time.  I know I'm giving it a lot of weight here, but I honestly feel like it's deserving.   There's some real art in folklore, even if you find you don't like the songs.  No, she's not a vocal powerhouse, but like our best artists, she serves the song, and her voice REALLY shines on some of the material.   

Offline Crow

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #15 on: December 04, 2020, 10:44:18 AM »
lover is very inconsistent but it has some high highs (cruel summer, the archer, the title track)
i don't think folklore has highs as high but it's a better album overall

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #16 on: December 04, 2020, 10:45:51 AM »
i'm indifferent to Lover.  I LOVE the melodies; almost Beach Boy-ish, so there's that.  I thought lyrically and conceptually it was a little very pandering and heavy handed.   I know this is just me and my biases, but I could just picture sanctimonious Jack Antonoff slapping himself on the back for being involved in a project so "enlightened".

But folklore is something different.  It goes deep, and I think her deciding to be less blatantly autobiographical actually allowed us to see even further behind the curtain.   It's almost Springsteen-ish in how it is so of the moment (COVID) and yet transcendent of that moment at the same time.  I know I'm giving it a lot of weight here, but I honestly feel like it's deserving.   There's some real art in folklore, even if you find you don't like the songs.  No, she's not a vocal powerhouse, but like our best artists, she serves the song, and her voice REALLY shines on some of the material.

I was playing Exile at the piano last night (and like, every other night for the last couple months) and it's just such a damn good song. Helps that it's about the only Swift song that's somewhat in my register  :lol I agree there is some genuinely great art in Folklore, but I disagree that she isn't a vocal powerhouse.
From a Mega Man Legends island jamming power metal to a Walrus listening to black metal, I like your story arc.
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Offline MrBoom_shack-a-lack

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #17 on: December 04, 2020, 11:52:31 AM »
















Naw she seems cool and has a great voice.
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Offline Cool Chris

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #18 on: December 04, 2020, 09:23:07 PM »
I know one song of hers, the one from Sing. I thought it was horrible.

If you could recommend one song of hers that best encapsulates her and her talents for me to listen to, what would it be?
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Offline 425

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #19 on: December 06, 2020, 10:15:18 PM »
I need to come back to this thread once I actually get around to folklore. I've been derelict in my pop listening the past year or so! But I'm nearly as big a Swiftie as an adult man can get away with being. I like all her albums, and even think some of her best songs are on the earlier albums, the albums many people don't touch at all because they're allergic to country music. I mean, Tim McGraw is just a great song—I think it's still one of her absolute best. Haunted is totally not something you expect from her, but it somehow just works. The piano version of Forever and Always, from the bonus tracks on Fearless, is very good and a serious upgrade over the album version.

Of course, I also like the later stuff a lot. I can't really dispute the consensus view that 1989 is her best album, and I disagree with the negativity surrounding Reputation—I think it has some tracks that pack a bigger punch than much of 1989, particularly the lovely Delicate and, of course, New Year's Day.

Chris, if you're still thinking about trying a single song, I think Wildest Dreams is one that's very good and that most of the Swift fans here would endorse.
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Offline The Walrus

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #20 on: December 06, 2020, 11:30:28 PM »
Wildest Dreams is a BOP
From a Mega Man Legends island jamming power metal to a Walrus listening to black metal, I like your story arc.
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Offline Willthescout7

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #21 on: December 07, 2020, 04:34:39 AM »
I think Reputation was an interesting idea that failed in context. In my opinion her voice is not made for darker sounding music. That's why Lover and Folklore work for me. They play to her strengths.

Offline Stadler

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #22 on: December 07, 2020, 06:59:04 AM »
I need to come back to this thread once I actually get around to folklore. I've been derelict in my pop listening the past year or so! But I'm nearly as big a Swiftie as an adult man can get away with being. I like all her albums, and even think some of her best songs are on the earlier albums, the albums many people don't touch at all because they're allergic to country music. I mean, Tim McGraw is just a great song—I think it's still one of her absolute best. Haunted is totally not something you expect from her, but it somehow just works. The piano version of Forever and Always, from the bonus tracks on Fearless, is very good and a serious upgrade over the album version.

Of course, I also like the later stuff a lot. I can't really dispute the consensus view that 1989 is her best album, and I disagree with the negativity surrounding Reputation—I think it has some tracks that pack a bigger punch than much of 1989, particularly the lovely Delicate and, of course, New Year's Day.

Chris, if you're still thinking about trying a single song, I think Wildest Dreams is one that's very good and that most of the Swift fans here would endorse.

I'm not sure I mean it literally, but I often say to people that Wildest Dreams is the "perfect song".   I think it's her best song, though I can see that maybe others don't agree.   Another good one is "All Too Well" from Red.    I love that lyric:  "And you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest."

Offline HOF

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #23 on: December 10, 2020, 06:53:15 AM »
Really starting to the think Taylor might be a closet prog fan. First Folklore (Big Big Train album), now Evermore (Transatlantic song, and kind of close to Forevermore too!). Not to mention Red!

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1337020334122397697?s=21

“I’m elated to tell you that my 9th studio album, and folklore’s sister record, will be out tonight at midnight eastern. It’s called evermore”
« Last Edit: December 10, 2020, 07:01:20 AM by HOF »

Offline nobloodyname

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #24 on: December 10, 2020, 08:05:31 AM »
Oh, another new album! Excellent. Really enjoyed Folklore although 1989 remains her best album for me. Such perfect pop music.
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Offline MoraWintersoul

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #25 on: December 10, 2020, 08:54:05 AM »
She is an actual psycho. Two albums?? I was thinking she was hinting at releasing a video or a collab single and she made another damn album??

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Offline ShadowWalker

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #26 on: December 10, 2020, 08:58:46 AM »
I don't know where to put this so I'll start a thread.  Just watched the "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions" on Disney+. 

Holy crap.  Really good.  REALLY good.   Her, Aaron Dessner (from The National), Justin (from Bon Iver, on one song) and Jack Antonoff.   It's all 17 songs from the album, played in order, with a little explanation/commentary before each one.   Set in a log cabin in upper New York (about an hour and a half from me, as it turns out).   Most songs are just her and Aaron and Jack and it's AMAZING.  Rich, warm, and cozy, it's a very powerful performance.

This had me curious so I wandered over to iTunes and found there is a version of Folklore that includes the audio from the Long Pond Sessions.

Offline Stadler

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #27 on: December 10, 2020, 09:44:49 AM »
Kind of fired up for this.  More than I should be, actually, but other than Transatlantic, I haven't really been all that jazzed about an album for a long time, so that feels good.

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #28 on: December 10, 2020, 10:28:49 AM »
guess she really is a mad woman

Offline The Realm

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #29 on: December 10, 2020, 01:47:43 PM »
Yeah, I am also kind of fired up for this? Very strange....but I have to admit some of the song writing on Folklore is just really incredible, in all honestly if you are serious about the power of great music it is worth a listen.

Offline Cool Chris

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #30 on: December 10, 2020, 07:55:24 PM »
Wildest Dreams is a BOP

I have no idea what that means. But I did listen to it, and it was... fine. The music was alright, the vocals were ok but I do not care for that style of singing.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #31 on: December 12, 2020, 08:25:09 PM »
Wait, Taylor Swift has good songs?  Who knew?? :lol

I have to admit that when I first heard about her years ago when she was doing country pop, I dismissed her right away and put her in my "don't waste your time" box, but I read good things about her elsewhere recently, and by serious music fans, which made me curious, so I checked out some tunes.  Some of it is boring drivel, but some of her songs, especially from the 1989 album, are fun and catchy.  I am admittedly a sucker for good pop music, when done well, especially in the 80's vein.  :biggrin:  I checked out a few interviews as well and she seems pretty grounded and has a good head on her shoulders. 

Wildest Dreams is a BOP

I have no idea what that means. But I did listen to it, and it was... fine. The music was alright, the vocals were ok but I do not care for that style of singing.

Along these lines, I know what you mean.  Seems like most modern pop has those overproduced vocals, to where they are so drenched in effects and auto-tone that it almost sounds like a robot is singing, but Swift's vocals seems pretty human and not too offensive in that area, at least based on what I am hearing so far.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #32 on: December 16, 2020, 03:43:39 PM »
No more Swift chatter? ;)

I had Gold Rush from her new album stuck in my head all day.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???? :lol :lol

Offline MoraWintersoul

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #33 on: December 16, 2020, 04:41:09 PM »
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???? :lol :lol
BECAUSE IT'S CATCHY.

I'm driving my neighbors nuts singing along to every remix of Willow that comes out. The more that you saaay the less I knoow~~~

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Taylor Swift
« Reply #34 on: December 16, 2020, 05:09:41 PM »
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING???? :lol :lol
BECAUSE IT'S CATCHY.

I'm driving my neighbors nuts singing along to every remix of Willow that comes out. The more that you saaay the less I knoow~~~

Haha, very true.  Music like that on her two 2020 albums can come off as really boring at times, as that style doesn't always appeal to me, but she sneaks in a lot of good hooks.