This one was easy.
As soon as I mentioned ‘Pop Issue’ the ideas for features we could run came thick and fast. The diversity of article proposals presented to me reflected what I felt the central idea behind this issue was: that ‘pop’ means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Before we dug any deeper, a question needed to be addressed: what exactly is pop? Joe Tangari is the person tasked to make sense of it all. His article, appropriately titled ‘What is Pop’, is an in-depth analysis on what defines the genre, if indeed, you could even call it a genre.
While the expression ‘pop music’ can be rather slippery, the idea of the ‘pop star’ is almost universal. Jonathan Bogart gives us his roundup of the leading lights currently living the pop life, and as one particular (and frequently derided) star blossoms into adulthood, Joe Coscarelli digs a little deeper into the evolution of Miley Cyrus.
Elsewhere, Trisha Doyle looks back in time to some vintage pop joints and considers what makes them classics, while Seán McTiernan skips ahead to today and how the Internet is helping to create some false pop idols.
But, of course, music is only part of the story. Pop has morphed to mean so much more than just what we listen to. Visionary artist Andy Warhol was a leading figure in a movement known as ‘pop art’. Even today, he continues to wield massive influence, as Michael A. Gonzales discovers.
That the team felt so comfortable dedicating an issue to pop – so often considered a dirty word – is reflective of the ever increasing appreciation music fans have for it. The term ‘pop’ is often attached to what is popular; that is, a mostly unconnected clutch of songs that make up the singles chart, our primary (if flawed) method of gauging what tracks are currently the most well-liked. As kids these are the first songs our untrained ears embrace because they’re catchy, they’re melodic and, most importantly, they’re everywhere.
My case was probably pretty typical. As I entered my teens and my friends and I began getting into more specific music trends, chart pop became a kind of yardstick we could use to gauge how cool we were. But there’s nothing cool about denying great music and pop has experienced a creative renaissance in recent years with producers like Timbaland, Kanye West and The Neptunes exploring more experimental ways of creating sonically challenging but pleasing music for the masses. If there’s one thing we want you to take away from this issue, it’s to keep an open mind. There’s something in pop for everyone.
I hope you enjoy the read.
For Detailed Rundown on What’s in The New Issue Visit:http://bit.ly/npr0PQ
One More Robot Issue 7 Available to Buy From Tomorrow Afternoon At:
Trout Records, George’s Street Arcade
All City, Crow Street, Temple Bar
The Record Art & Game Emporium, Fade Street
& More Stores as of Next Week
Purchase ‘The Pop Issue’ Right Now on Ebay (Available for 30 Days): http://item.ly/320727699652
Connect with One More Robot on Twitter: http://twitter.com/One_More_Robot
and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=241645485191
Cool.
