01.27.09
“People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case
Neko Case at the Austin City Limits Music Festival 2008 (Photo by Eric Wittman)
Neko Case is an artist I was going to talk about eventually, and what better time to do it than now, because she is donating $5 to Best Friends Animal Society every time her new song People Got A Lotta Nerve is posted on a blog until February 3, 2009. Now that’s a nice charity because I like animals.
Neko Case started her career in mid-’90s, being both a solo artist and part of the Canadian band The New Pornographers. She’s not that well-known outside North America, I think I started listening to her music after reading her remarks against the pitch correction software Auto-Tune, so often used (and abused) in the production of music these days.
People Got A Lotta Nerve is a song from her upcoming album Middle Cyclone, due out on March 3. Download the song as MP3.
If you’re a blogger yourself or have an iLike account, here’s the instructions how to post the song.
plantlet said,
January 28, 2009 at 11:39 am
Great post. Although I’ve never heard of Neko Case before, I was curious about her interview on Auto Tune. I just finished reading it and was like ‘SHIT, I can’t believe this!’
I always assumed they were using some pitch control on people who really can’t sing. Like one hit wonders of American Idol or something. But I was shocked when I read this: “How many people don’t use auto tune?” and he said, “You and Nelly Furtado are the only two people who’ve never used it in here.” F%&%, this makes me so angry!
Anyways, I had to get that off my chest.
I really like your blog, keep it up!
Matt said,
January 28, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Thanks for the comment!
Like it or not, Auto-Tune is the industry standard these days. I don’t think it’s as bad as it sounds. Pitch correction normally used in subtle ways so that majority of listeners can’t spot it, only those who are accustomed to what the effect sounds like. I guess it makes music more listenable to those with very accurate ears. But I always love to hear about singers who don’t use it and are willing to do the work to hit the notes themselves.
A good thing about live music is that no pitch correction can be used, at least not that I know of. Unless it’s playback of course. So it’s more natural. When celebrities who can’t sing record songs the techniques go even beyond Auto-Tune. One that I’ve heard of is using background singers who are singing the exact same thing just to make them sound better…