We're Plastic But We Still Have Fun

May 29, 2009 4:03 PM

Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" music video has been leaked.This mini-movie, in which a disabled GaGa patiently exacts revenge against the boyfriend (True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård) who betrayed her, is directed by Jonas Åkerlund and was intended to debut on UK TV on June 4th. GaGa goes on the record as being unimpressed.
posted by hermitosis (104 comments total)

I'm unimpressed by the bastard child of Klaus Nomi and Dale Bozzio.

She sure does know how to market, though.
posted by pinky at 4:10 PM on May 29, 2009 [5 favorites]

Stop leaking my motherfucking videos

Ah yes Youtube, the service known for never taking down copyright videos.
posted by geoff. at 4:15 PM on May 29, 2009

This is a debacle of GaGa proportions. And unfortunately, it might get in the way of her taking a ride on my Disco Stick.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:20 PM on May 29, 2009

Stop leaking my motherfucking videos

Why?

No, really. I would like to know.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:20 PM on May 29, 2009

Who is this repellent person?
posted by felix betachat at 4:22 PM on May 29, 2009 [12 favorites]

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), who performs under the stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, dancer and musician. She began her career as a songwriter for established artists, including Fergie, Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears and New Kids on the Block, as well as American singer and producer Akon. After Akon recognized that Gaga also had vocal talent, he signed her to a joint deal with his own label, Kon Live Distribution, and then she started to work on her own new material for her debut album.

Gaga got her stage name when the music producer Rob Fusari compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury, and took the name Gaga from the 1984 Queen single "Radio Ga-Ga". (meta-source)

In short: someone that, if you didn't care about before, you won't care about now.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:27 PM on May 29, 2009 [7 favorites]

I liked her better when she was called Lady Don't Try Suicide.
posted by Item at 4:35 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

She wrote for New Kids on the Block and was born in 1986? That's some pretty impressive work by a 4 year old. Or, I guess, possibly explains a lot of about their music.
posted by malphigian at 4:35 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Steam Punk meets vinyl.

Do. Not. Want.
posted by mrmojoflying at 4:36 PM on May 29, 2009

This mini-movie, in which a disabled GaGa patiently exacts revenge against the boyfriend (True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård) who betrayed her

If it takes more than three minutes after a music video begins for the actual song to start, you it's going to suck.*



* Unless the song is Thriller.
posted by burnmp3s at 4:41 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Gaga got her stage name when the music producer Rob Fusari compared her vocal style to that of Freddie Mercury, and took the name Gaga from the 1984 Queen single "Radio Ga-Ga".

Let me see if I follow this correctly: The singer who took her stage name from a song about radio being supplanted by television - with the subtext about pop music devolving into music videos - is now complaining about her disposable music video being leaked on the 'net?

We watch the shows -- we watch the stars
On videos for hours and hours
We hardly need to use our ears
How music changes through the years {...}
All we hear is Radio ga ga
Radio goo goo
Radio ga ga
All we hear is Radio ga ga
Radio blah blah

posted by Doktor Zed at 4:49 PM on May 29, 2009 [17 favorites]

You know who she does not sound like? Freddie Mercury.
posted by penduluum at 4:52 PM on May 29, 2009 [9 favorites]

...is now complaining about her disposable music video being leaked on the 'net?

Rather half-heartedly, yes.

This particular song is mostly just okay, but I think the video is pretty rad. The snooty "Lady who?" reaction from mefites all too predictable. Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.
posted by hermitosis at 5:00 PM on May 29, 2009 [20 favorites]

GaGa goes on the record as being unimpressed.

She's not the only one unimpressed.
posted by tighttrousers at 5:03 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Are you sure she didn't get her nickname after Mark E. Smith heard her sing and said her voice made him 'gag -a'?
posted by Flashman at 5:04 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Needs less dead chicks.
posted by Monsters at 5:05 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

So far she has just one breakout hit - Just Dance

You'll forget about her, but most likely in a few years her name will pop up in the news because she either a) showed her cooter or b) had a sex tape leak*

*The same way this was leaked, by her.
posted by P.o.B. at 5:07 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.

Jeez, I have a hard time when dance clubs play music I DO like. You're making me feel good about staying home.
posted by mkb at 5:07 PM on May 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

Burnmp3s, I can think of one other instance in which you may be wrong.
posted by Bageena at 5:19 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Lady Spears
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 5:20 PM on May 29, 2009

The snooty "Lady who?" reaction from mefites all too predictable. Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.

Yeah. Not a big fan, but I've heard of Lady GaGa, which puts her one up on most bands mentioned in a Mefi music thread. I realize that being popular is the kiss of death to your cred on Metafilter, but not everyone can sit around listening to Arcade Fire or whatever.
posted by Justinian at 5:21 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

She wrote for New Kids on the Block and was born in 1986? That's some pretty impressive work by a 4 year old. Or, I guess, possibly explains a lot of about their music.

New Kids on The Block got back together in 2007 and released a new album in 2008.

The video was horrible. Way too many dead chicks. Not enough venagencance. I was looking forwaded to some dude getting his ass kicked by a woman in a wheelchair. But she only spends like 30 second's disabled before she's walking again.
posted by nooneyouknow at 5:22 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

The snooty "Lady who?" reaction from mefites all too predictable. Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.

So the music I don't care about is being played in the places I wouldn't be caught dead in? Excellent.
posted by doctor_negative at 5:26 PM on May 29, 2009 [11 favorites]

So far she has just one breakout hit - Just Dance

Actually, as near as I can tell, my students really love her other huge hit "Poker Face" also. I think two big hits in a year earn her the right to be considered as a potentially lasting longer than many of the last 50 years worth of disposable pop stars.

That said, yeah, she sounds nothing like Freddy Mercury - but really,who does?
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:27 PM on May 29, 2009

This particular song is mostly just okay, but I think the video is pretty rad. The snooty "Lady who?" reaction from mefites all too predictable. Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.

You mean at closing time, to empty the place out, right? Because dear lord is that awful.

Also, ga-ga-get off my lawn.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:32 PM on May 29, 2009

I realize that being popular is the kiss of death to your cred on Metafilter

what
posted by Sys Rq at 5:37 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I heard "Poker Face" in the middle of a spin class. Ugh.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:38 PM on May 29, 2009

Oh, and one more thing.

Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" music video has been leaked.

I don't think that word means what you think it does. The YouTube account that "leaked" it happens to be that of Cherrytree Records. You'll never guess who's signed to Cherrytree Records.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:48 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Music today needs more Dee Snider dressed as a paraplegic, Jewish C3-PO.
posted by fire&wings at 5:48 PM on May 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

I realize that being popular is the kiss of death to your cred on Metafilter

what

I spy Lady Gaga down at number 243 with eight plays this week! Who are you, dear MeFite, with such poor taste? Reveal yourself and your dance club of choice so that we may avoid you and the anniversary meetup you may try to elbow yourself in deejaying!
posted by youarenothere at 5:55 PM on May 29, 2009

She's actually a great singer: check out this live acoustic version of Poker Face. It's fun to play this for people without telling them who it is btw.

Why they use ProTools to make someone who can sing like that sound like Rihanna on a bad day is beyond me. I also don't understand wingers don't wear pants anymore so maybe I am just out of the loop.
posted by fshgrl at 5:55 PM on May 29, 2009 [7 favorites]

wingers+ why singers.
posted by fshgrl at 5:56 PM on May 29, 2009

*Into* deejaying, of course. Also I have no real feelings--strong or otherwise--about Lady Gaga's music. The idea of Akon identifying and nurturing musical talent cracks me up, though.
posted by youarenothere at 5:59 PM on May 29, 2009

Lady Gaga pretty much had me at her "bluffin' with my muffin" line in Poker Face. Bonus points for pointing directly at her crotch to emphasize her point in the video for the song.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 6:01 PM on May 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

I quite like her. Apart from the fact that she reminds me that I'm too old. Oh, and the fascination with fame is a bit disconcerting too, but I like her.

Hey item...
I preferred your snowclone when it was called "a joke".
posted by seanyboy at 6:09 PM on May 29, 2009

I spy Lady Gaga down at number 243 with eight plays this week! Who are you, dear MeFite, with such poor taste?

Yeah, it's probably me. Her music is catchy and fun, fascinatingly horrible in its sexual frankness, and about 1000% better than anything Madonna ever did, which I realize surely means little around here. But I'm happy to listen and enjoy unironically. How's that for resisting peer pressure?

Don't you nerds have some sweatervests to don and Sufjan Stevens listening parties to attend or something?
posted by trunk muffins at 6:14 PM on May 29, 2009 [7 favorites]

Being that I have a pantyhose fetish, she is by far my favorite current pop star. I can only hope that she becomes enough of a trendsetter that it leads to me seeing more hosiery in real life.

It is true that I have never actually heard a song by my favorite current pop star. This is among the many downsides to having a fetish.
posted by flarbuse at 6:15 PM on May 29, 2009

in a few years her name will pop up in the news because she ... had a sex tape leak

From this weeks popbitch...

Despite the desperate sucking up to the
tabloids by wandering around everywhere in her
pants, we're starting to like Lady GaGa.
Currently down under, promoting her album in
Australia, GaGa hit it off with a Popbitch
reader and took him back to her hotel room.
As they arrived she took his mobile phone
off him, and only gave it back to him on his
way out. So no porny photos or videos are
going to be finding their way to the net
or the tabloids without her knowing. Clever lady.
posted by seanyboy at 6:21 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think she's fun. But then again, I'm not in her target demographic, so what do I know about pop music anyway?
posted by cazoo at 6:22 PM on May 29, 2009

Wow the "I liked [x] better when it was called [y]" snowclone is a good 3 years old. Maybe more. Who knew? It's certainly getting a lot of traction recently.
posted by seanyboy at 6:31 PM on May 29, 2009

Is she wearing pants? I'm only going to watch the video if she's wearing pants, and the volume is off. This is only because I like that vampire.
posted by sugarfish at 6:37 PM on May 29, 2009

Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them.

Any club that plays radio songs (or shitty DJ remixes of them) is - by definition - not a club I would ever go to, so yeah, you're probably right there.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:40 PM on May 29, 2009

Is she wearing pants?

By 2009 standards, she is.
posted by hermitosis at 6:55 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

"This video is not available in your country."

Whoever leaked it obviously made sure to provide all the right metadata.

Oh well, I'll go watch my favourite Åkerlund video instead.
posted by effbot at 7:08 PM on May 29, 2009

She's actually a great singer: check out this live acoustic version of Poker Face. It's fun to play this for people without telling them who it is btw.

I should know better than to look at youtube comments, but they really need to work on that ringtone spam situation. It's ludicrous.
posted by juv3nal at 7:12 PM on May 29, 2009

Is she wearing pants? I'm only going to watch the video if she's wearing pants

She's wearing a .. dress? coat? giant sheet of paper? I'm not really sure.
posted by fshgrl at 7:24 PM on May 29, 2009

seanyboy: "Wow the "I liked [x] better when it was called [y]" snowclone is a good 3 years old. Maybe more. Who knew? It's certainly getting a lot of traction recently."

It's definitely older than that. David Spade used it during his Hollywood Minute bits on the Weekend Update segments of SNL, and he apparently left in 2002. If I remember correctly it was immediately snowcloned, at least among people I knew.
posted by squarehead at 7:49 PM on May 29, 2009

and about 1000% better than anything Madonna ever did

Woah, easy there tiger. Let's not go overboard. I do like most everything I've heard GaGa do, and I think she has quite a bit of talent (after listening to that acoustic version, thanks for that) but I don't think she's hit Madonna level yet.
posted by P.o.B. at 7:49 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Which is not to say that I haven't been hearing it more recently.
posted by squarehead at 7:50 PM on May 29, 2009

Eight minutes of my life I will never get back.

Is there a point? What does she want? Will someone please give it to her, so she'll go away?

Could this be her Swan Song? Please? Please??
posted by Cookbooks and Chaos at 7:52 PM on May 29, 2009

Also, where have I seen that body armor before?
posted by Cookbooks and Chaos at 7:55 PM on May 29, 2009

Meh. Needed more Skarsgard.

Best use of Lady Gaga is here.
posted by hopeless romantique at 7:58 PM on May 29, 2009

Metropolis, Cookbooks and Chaos. Metropolis. I thought it was brilliant, and I think that the way GaGa has her grip tight around the reigns of fame and knows exactly what she's doing with it, even when you think she's tearing through her own work for the hell of it, is absolutely fascinating. She's smart, has a fine set of pipes to go with her applause-worthy rejection of pants, and is making this whole pop star thing her bitch. It's wonderful.
posted by Mizu at 8:00 PM on May 29, 2009 [4 favorites]

You know, that last.fm aggregration of MeFi users is pretty spot on what I would expect it to me. Oh, hive mind, hold me.
posted by cavalier at 8:05 PM on May 29, 2009

expect it to be. 3 minute edit pony, god damn it.
posted by cavalier at 8:05 PM on May 29, 2009

The first time I saw Lady Gaga was when she performed "Just Dance" on an episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" (which, shut up, is great except for the homophobia/masculinity issues) last summer -- she wore those crazy glasses from the cover of "The Fame," and they lit up with the sentence "Pop Music Is Never Lowbrow" and she wasn't lipsynching, and she had a giant disco stick, and it was pretty much love at first sight. (Bear in mind I was in the midst of writing a masters thesis that involved postmodernism so my pretentious-meter is kind of wonky.)

Anyway, Gaga is hilarious and awesome and fun, and when they played "Just Dance" at my cousin's wedding last weekend, everyone danced, from my punk rock brother to my middle-aged parents to my boyfriend who hates dancing. Everyone.

I guess I'm just too old to pretend I like Fleet Foxes.
posted by SoftRain at 8:07 PM on May 29, 2009 [7 favorites]

Thanks Hermitosis. I liked it.

And I agree with everyone above who actually has any taste. Lady Gaga is perfectly the art of being a modern pop star. She's doing what Peaches wishes she could do and what the Pussycat Dolls desperately tried and failed. And her reasoning about why she doesn't wear pants is genius. Grandma Gaga, I salute you.
posted by Stynxno at 8:12 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wait, wait, wait ... who leaked her video? Cherrytree House TV? Isn't that the same Cherrytree House studio where she performed Poker Face acoustically? (Thanks fshgrl, she really does have a good voice behind all those FX.) The same Cherry Tree Records she is signed to? The same label who have her "leaked video" as the featured video on their website?

It's kind of like being an author and telling your publishing company: hey guys, stop printing excerpts of my books! Those are my words that you paid me to write!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:12 PM on May 29, 2009

Holy shit, I have no idea what everyone else is bitching about, but I just watched the video and it's fucking great. There was no way I was going deny have the outfits in this damn thing? Especially just the ridiculous/crazy/absurd to the point of awesomeness crutches part...it just gets better from that point as we move into an Alexander McQueen photo shoot meets roccoco space opera version of "Brave New World" filmed in 2578, if the costumes were designed by a electronic reconstruct of Edith Head, except due to some poor storage of the ROM, it's been corrupted. Then again I guess I'm one of those lame Mefites who actually enjoys Lady Gaga. Shit, if I could look good and have all the things she wore in this video, I'd snatch them off of her in a hot minute.

...I would also want to have the making out with Alexander Skarsgard =(
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:14 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, this is total shit.
posted by GavinR at 8:22 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, and to delve further into the fact that my brain likes to retain weird things, and why yes, I do not mind watching ridiculous things sometimes because I don't give a shit about what other people think: Around 4:45-4:50 that's TOTALLY the Swedish triplets who were on "Daisy of Love" for a grand total of one episode (more specifically the first episode that I just had to watch for posterity's sake). I think they're trying to bring back the heyday of hair metal in LA, except I feel like they were simply zygotes or barely born during that time. I'm sorry, but that's just fucking hysterical to me.
posted by kkokkodalk at 8:25 PM on May 29, 2009

I like Fleet Foxes, I like Peaches and I like this song, although the video wasn't quite as Fifth Element as I had hoped it would be. But I swear, once the chorus came around the second time, the hook was well and truly set in my brain. I think I know what the summer of 2009 is going to sound like.
posted by maudlin at 8:38 PM on May 29, 2009

I like confident outrageous fun pop stars; she reminds me of Grace Jones at her early freaky peak. And yeah, that crutches thing is totally going to be a craze. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but sure do wish I could spend a weekend at the club she stole it from.

(not hating all the best moves start at clubs)
posted by mediareport at 9:29 PM on May 29, 2009

Speculating about whether the video was really leaked seems to be sort of missing the point. Kind of like saying you have strong evidence this Ziggy Stardust fellow isn't *actually* from Mars.
posted by ManInSuit at 9:43 PM on May 29, 2009 [6 favorites]

For what it's worth, she seems like a smart kid. Give her some time to grow into her brain and enjoy the fantastic fashion (non)sense til then. But why all the glamorous dead girls? Goddamn it, being murdered is not glamorous.
posted by Monsters at 9:53 PM on May 29, 2009

Eh, I prefer her to the wholesome crap being peddled by disnyified teen bullshit like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. The music is OK, I mean it's generic pop music. It's not good but it's not bad either. But the fact that she's popular means people still have a taste for decadent, slutty pop stars.

So the fact that she's popular means America has reversed it's dangerous slide into puritanism, and regardless of you're musical taste, that's something we can all celebrate.
posted by delmoi at 9:53 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Why they use ProTools to make someone who can sing like that sound like Rihanna on a bad day is beyond me.

I read something about this - apparently she said that she recorded it with all the vocal "enhancement" because that's what The Kids are used to.

I think she's awesome. I'm sort of fascinated with the way she mixes super-danceable pop dance music with avant garde fashion elements and hard-core business acumen (hello, she's a successful producer and now pop star at 23 - that's crazy!). Reminds me of early Madonna.

Also, "Just Dance" makes me, well, dance.
posted by lunasol at 10:01 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

The YouTube account that "leaked" it happens to be that of Cherrytree Records. You'll never guess who's signed to Cherrytree Records.

Actually, it was uploaded and deleted several times off of Youtube yesterday. I guess Cherrytree just relented and uploaded it themselves instead of fighting. Since people want to view it.

As far as the video goes, it's just okay. It's badly paced, overly pretentious, and lacking fun.

The music is fine though. I've been working out to her album lately.
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:09 PM on May 29, 2009

Man, I usually love what a harsh audience MeFi can be, but the sheer joylessness on display here is... wow.
posted by Baron Kriminel at 10:10 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

hello, she's a successful producer and now pop star at 23 - that's crazy!

Not really crazy. Christina Aguilera had more success as a singer, songwriter, and producer at a younger age, to name another modern young pop star.
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:11 PM on May 29, 2009

(And no, I didn't name Aguilera because of the silly controversy where people were comparing her and Lady Gaga's clothing choices. Merely the first person to come to mind that fit the criteria.)
posted by cmgonzalez at 10:20 PM on May 29, 2009

Heh. Just checked the video for "Slave to the Rhythm" and one of the related videos is a clip of Lady Gaga saying that being compared to Grace "is probably the best and most amazing comparison I've ever been given" (~36 seconds in). So yeah, if you like GaGa you should probably look into Jones' early 80s stuff with designer Jean-Paul Goude.
posted by mediareport at 10:26 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Aguilera was a product of the Disney machine, though.
posted by delmoi at 10:26 PM on May 29, 2009

Man, I usually love what a harsh audience MeFi can be, but the sheer joylessness on display here is... wow.

I think you misunderstand most of us: we find joy in criticism, nit-picking, and general snark when it comes to most forms of pop culture. Because someone has to question the motives of kids these days. If no one does, they'll assume what they're doing is actually correct or generally a fine way to go about things. Now, if there were only some way the youth would stop by, so they would read our detailed rantings on their so-called culture, our efforts would be validated 1000-fold.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:38 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm getting whiplash from this thread. Half of me wants to scream at you damned kids to get off of my lawn. The other half wants to insist that there is such a thing as good dance club music and that Lady Gaga is just insipid trash. Yes, being compared to Grace Jones is the biggest compliment someone could give to Lady Gaga. Grace actually has presence and talent.
posted by crataegus at 10:45 PM on May 29, 2009

In other words, someone has to provide the foil to Mtv's gushing praise and the thousand comments from Perez Hilton followers for this "epic" video, pointing out that nothing is truly original in this day and age, especially when the current trends look more like the rebirth of the 1980s.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:49 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

@Filthy Light Thief (yeah I said @), I'll take your word for it and assume I misread the tone of (most of) the thread.

And of course, as I suppose Lady Gaga must be someone's favorite artist, she must, to a certain degree, suck.
posted by Baron Kriminel at 10:51 PM on May 29, 2009

FAMOUS PERSON SINGS ABOUT BEING FAMOUS PERSON.
posted by katillathehun at 10:55 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

I don't think she's hit Madonna level yet.

You've got that right, I'll bet she hasn't slept with Vanilla Ice or Jose Canseco much less both of them.
posted by MikeMc at 11:21 PM on May 29, 2009

Thank you Hermitosis!

So you know those videos that show the girls crying and screaming just based on their proximity to The Beatles? Yeah, that would totally be me for Lady Gaga. And I can't tell you how strange it is to be on *this* side of that phenomenon. I've always been on the side of most people in this thread: tepid indifference mixed with a little exasperated dissatisfaction.

I promise this side of fanaticism is more fun.
posted by greekphilosophy at 11:31 PM on May 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

My take on folks like Lady Gaga and Ziggy Stardust era Bowie and early Grace Jones is that they are real. Earnest and real in a way that entertainers rarely are these days. Most mass culture entertainers seem to be up on stage pretending to be regular folks, pretending they are just like the rest of us except a little more beautiful and a little more awesome. This is most always a lie. And it is not someone's singing or acting that we fetishize, it is the person, their very existence. This is unnatural and leads to a strange and unnatural kind of existence. So it is the artificial pop star that is hiding nothing, that is plainly giving us what we want without the coy pretense that they could do this and be normal. Can we expect someone to live so unusual and unnatural a life and be regular folks just like us? The real pretentious stars are mostly in the country and western acts, with their mock-up rural accents and Sarah-Palin-fauxyness. (yeah I think I just invented that word)
posted by idiopath at 11:31 PM on May 29, 2009 [14 favorites]

Superstar pretends to resent superstardom and mimes human sacrifice! Film at 11.

(I was more entertained tracking down the various fetish artists ripped off by the video... Soriyama on crutches, indeed!)
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:45 PM on May 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ever since I saw her video for Poker Face those video glasses just keep reminding me of those dudes in Flash Gordon (at around 1:30). And I've always found that film delightfully cheesy.

Not a fan of this new video though. Song doesn't seem very catchy - maybe trying for the "oooo controversy!" angle? Which gives me a few flashbacks to Madonna and her cross burning/black Jesus/Like a Prayer (hmm, can't seem to find the original to link) controversy, but it's probably just the "blond pop star" and "this is Art!" vibe that's doing it. That and I'm probably too old to be in the right demographic.
Also I have to admit to enjoying what she wears. I have high hopes for her to out-Cher those old Cher outfits of the 70s that used to send my parents into fits of laughter.

Oh and thank you for the Dale Bozzio reference - I was wondering if I was the only one who was reminded of her!
posted by batgrlHG at 12:28 AM on May 30, 2009

Maybe it's because I know she used to be a songwriter for boy bands, but her songs all sound to me like they could be boy band anthems. Listen to them and imagine* various parts being sung by the cute one, or the serious one, or the older one... she's a single-woman boy band!


* I realize that this may not be something you want to do. My apologies.
posted by vanar sena at 1:20 AM on May 30, 2009

the sheer joylessness on display here is... wow.

If only it were sheer that would be something. The problem is that is acid washed denim worn ironically.

I really enjoyed Lady GaGa's appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse that was too stupid to realize that it was just food that the cat didn't even want.
posted by srboisvert at 1:40 AM on May 30, 2009

I really enjoyed Lady GaGa's appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse that was too stupid to realize that it was just food that the cat didn't even want.
I'm not completely clear as to who you're intending to be the cat and the mouse in your analogy, but if you mean that she came off as a vapid, unintelligent bint, wholly lacking in charm, intellect or - dare I say it - talent - then, well, I agree with you.
posted by metaxa at 5:25 AM on May 30, 2009

She's actually a great singer: check out this live acoustic version of Poker Face. It's fun to play this for people without telling them who it is btw.

Watched the video, had to turn it off. Reminded me of the excruciatingly self-aware vocal stylings of kids in college a cappella groups. She's not a great singer. She's an incredibly affected singer, yet another entry in the "smirking, privileged bitchez who think affecting a gospel style makes them 'soulful'" category, à la Maroon 5. This style is the pop counterpart to Nickelback's "hard rock."

I don't find her artifice "delightfully campy," either. This is just another otherwise-uninteresting 23-year-old using a fairly decent set of pipes to poor effect, with lots of preening "diva" affectation and vocal wankery thrown into the mix. Gag me.
posted by limeonaire at 8:28 AM on May 30, 2009

"Ignore her if you must, but her music is going to be played at all the dance clubs you're (apparently) not going out to this weekend. All of them."

Pssh, no. DFA has a new set of remixes out; there are actual hip hop clubs here; I don't expect Gaga to show up in any Carl Craig or Fabriclive mixes anytime soon. Don't mistake twink pop for all of dance clubbing.

(Though to be fair, I am totally not going out to any dance clubs this weekend.)
posted by klangklangston at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

And yeah, this was totally underwhelming. I'd rather listen to Girls Aloud or Spears. Comparisons to Madonna (seriously, you think this is better than Into The Groove or Borderline? You're fucking insane.) or Grace Jones just show a dire lack of familiarity with either of those artists. It's on par with Jones' early disco stuff, pre-Sly&Robbie, but that's because the beat's not punchy, the vocals aren't distinct and the hooks are barely there. I can say this as someone who just listened to all of Jones' catalog last week in a used record store (Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing are all you need).
posted by klangklangston at 9:31 AM on May 30, 2009

But your lawn is so lush and green, klang. I likes to feel the grass between my toes.
posted by trunk muffins at 9:48 AM on May 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Where have you gone, jonmc? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
posted by Justinian at 10:01 AM on May 30, 2009 [3 favorites]

I have nothing to contribute to this thread other than something I read on a message board I frequent:

girl 1 to girl 2: hey have you heard that one song by lady zsa zsa called boner face? It goes my my my boner faaaaaace?

girl 2 back to girl 1: um, are you talking about lady ga ga? The song is called poker face?

girl 1 back to girl 2: no you're wrong, that doesn't even make sense.

the end.

posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 10:48 AM on May 30, 2009 [5 favorites]

Consider me to be out of the loop. Never heard of her before now.

Well, her act is pretty interesting. I like her schtick. But the music is pretty lame. Grace Jones kicks ass, because she was (still is) her own kind of freak with a unique expression in music and otherwise, although definitely straddling disco and the avant garde world at the time. It wasn't as deep and exploratory as Laurie Anderson, but it wasn't pure euro pop. Maybe Lady GaGa will get there, but she can't even touch Grace Jones' cover of Demolition Man. And she's still got it. Bowie and Jones had the audacity to be outrageous pop stars which could still throw out the catchy hooks, true, but there was a sinister, intellectual element to their music which is absent from Lady GaGa's. Madonna's music wasn't all that brilliant, but she was out to take over the world from the start, and you could tell she was going to do it.

Honestly, I sorta like Vitamin C better for shiny pop, though it's definitely on the overdone side and I think she only has about three songs that really work, but it works the same way that Abba's music does. IMO, M.I.A. is a better example of a revolutionary pop star for this age. Lady Gaga is fun and probably is the kind of person who throws legendary parties and I wouldn't turn down an invite, but she's not challenging at all.
posted by krinklyfig at 12:46 PM on May 30, 2009

Wow. That video is insanely stupid. Stupid on an epic scale. Almost Monty Python lampoons without the satire... more irony.
posted by eatdonuts at 3:44 PM on May 30, 2009

Huh? Didn't think anybody bothered to make music videos any more. And who would watch it? Is this the last vestiges of the recording industry still trying to pretend that their business model is relevant? Now that would be entertaining.
posted by gallois at 4:28 PM on May 30, 2009

she came off as a vapid, unintelligent bint, wholly lacking in charm, intellect or - dare I say it - talent - then, well, I agree with you.

I've enjoyed your playfully ironic offensive sexist role playing coupled with overt classist moralization! The juxtaposition is an artful deconstruction of the colonic worldview of indie rock criticism. It's GaGa'esque! Bravo.
posted by srboisvert at 3:33 AM on May 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård

He was also in Generation Kill.
posted by homunculus at 12:47 PM on May 31, 2009

I don't know about the rest of it, but the shot at ~6:08 with the spoon is delightful. The whole MM commentary etc...
posted by sneebler at 4:49 PM on May 31, 2009

Lady GaGa is okay, but my favorite revolutionary pop star of the post Madonna/Grace Jones era is Janelle Monae.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:01 PM on May 31, 2009

pxe2000, thank you for bringing Janelle Monáe to my attention.
posted by crataegus at 6:31 PM on May 31, 2009

I saw Janelle Monáe with Of Montreal. She's a fantastic performer. I had never heard her prior, but I left a fan. Unfortunately, Metropolis: The Chase Suite doesn't capture what made the live performance so great. Here's hoping her next release is better.
posted by defenestration at 8:08 PM on May 31, 2009

This pepsi disco stick, she vibrates, eh?
posted by jkaczor at 11:25 PM on May 31, 2009

I adore Monae, and I agree that her live stuff is superb, but I have gotten a lot of mileage out of her Chase Suite. I seem to wind up listening to it at least once a week, even months later. I can't wait to see what she does next.
posted by hermitosis at 7:57 AM on June 1, 2009

Hey seanyboy -

I liked your comment when it made sense. That is to say, I liked your comment when it wasn't... nevermind. I didn't like your comment. I lied.
posted by Item at 12:02 AM on June 8, 2009