Any other Sia (Furler) fans out there? She is one of the lead vocalists for Zero7 and has recently done some excellent solo work. “Breathe Me” remixed by Four-Tet is one of the great singles of recent time. Her performance on KCRW (easily googled) was also amazing. Somehow I think she rises up to the great artistic problem of the moment: to be simultaneously utopian & slightly ironically self-conscious & yet earnestly romantic.
Now, by contrast, I also had a brief admiration for (Leslie) Feist, but it is very instructive to compare the two side by side. I recently listend to Sia for about an hour and then the same for Feist - Feist now seems utterly weak and thin in my estimation.
I hadn’t heard of Sia until now, but I like her a lot. I like Feist too. I’ve seen her in concert a few times and have met her a couple of times. She’s great in concert and is nice to meet. I happen to think “Mushaboom” (which is on her MySpace page) is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded, and the fact that it wasn’t a massive hit in America points up to the sad and idiotic state of American radio (that, and the Great Ignoring of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”). I also like the other song on Feist’s page, “Let It Die.”
I’m listening to and enjoying Sia quite a bit. “Sunday” and “you’re My Flame” are especially cool. Thank you for bringing her to my attention, but I don’t think there’s any reason to diss Feist, who’s very talented and worthwhile. You may enjoy Sia more now, but Feist is in no way “weak” or “thin.” I could play the game too, because there are tons of artists who’d make Sia look weak and thin in comparison, but I don’t like to do that. It’s mean and useless. There’s enough room for them all. Enjoy what you enjoy, but don’t beat down others to do it. Besides, Sia doesn’t need that. It looks like she’s going places. Feist is probably too quirky to ever be a big star, but I’ll always be interested in the music she puts out.
Interesting tidbit from Sia’s page: her uncle is Men At Work’s Colin Hay!
I like both, but I must say I prefer Feist more; she seems to suit my taste better. It didn’t even occur to me to compare them because I think of them as totally separate; Sia seems more R&B, Feist seems more mellow and “indie”, if you use that as a genre, which I do, regardless of how much sense it makes (sorry). I wish I had more intelligent things to say on the matter, but it is what it is.
And Equipose: Every time I turn on the radio (which, admittedly, isn’t much) I hear “Crazy”. I’m almost scared of overexposure, since I really like that song.
Wow, I take that back about Gnarls Barkley! Shows out out of it I am. I never listen to the radio and I never watch TV, so how would I know anyway? I should have looked it up. It got to #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100! I had no idea. #2 - Hot Dance Airplay, #2 - Pop 100, #7 - Modern Rock, #27 - Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, strangely, only #53 - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs which is where I would have thought it would rule. It was a bona fide crossover hit!
Teach me to spout off about something like that without checking. On the other hand, I’m delighted, because I called exactly this a few month ago. I should have followed up on my own post.
