The music business has its fair share of complexities, as you would expect from any business with such a long history, and that is, at its core, built upon international law (i.e. copyright). That complexity is almost always hidden from the listening public. However, one piece that is curiously exposed every year when the Grammys come around is the separation between what is a "record" and what is a "song". The second and third most prestigious awards at the Grammys are, respectively, "Song of the Year," and "Record of the Year." What's the difference? Most people, including most musicians, wouldn't be able to tell you. I couldn't either until I took a music industry course in college where someone finally explained it to me: A "song" is melody and lyrics. The best way I have to think if it is, if hear someone play a faithful-to-the-original, acoustic cover, the "song" is what would be the same between the orig
It's probably been a good half year since I've posted anything here. With work and all, I feel like I barely have enough time to listen to music, let alone indulge in amateurish music criticism. Still, a song just got released that I can't help but write something about: Sia - Chandelier Sia's made a name for herself in the past few years writing slightly odd pop songs for other people (ex. Flo Rida's Wild Ones , David Guetta's Titanium , and Rihanna's Diamonds ). Always interesting, sometimes good. None of that's even came close to preparing me how astoundingly good Chandelier is. I'll admit, overall, the song's not perfect, but that chorus could be the greatest 50 seconds of music ever recorded. It is head and shoulders above everything else I've heard in a long time. It's not even close. It's like comparing Chipotle to every other fast casual tex mex chain out there. People can tell you Chipotle's not the best. That's a