6A — Monday, October 5, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

MUSIC COLUMN

A history of the pop 

music canon

T

he Beatles and The 
Rolling Stones took the 
proto-rock ‘n’ roll of 

Chuck Berry and Little Richard 
and made it a global phenom-
enon. Then 
The Who 
and Pink 
Floyd and 
Springsteen 
all took their 
enormous 
ambition and 
played clas-
sic records 
to huge sta-
diums. Then 
punk showed up to cut every-
one back down to size. Then 
Guns ‘n’ Roses and hair metal 
got huge. Then Nirvana sup-
planted that overindulgence. 
And now we’re here.

That was my story of popular 

music for a long time. How did I 
get there?

***

I was reading “A Home at the 

End of the World” by Michael 
Cunningham over the summer, 
and came across a great scene 
where the characters dance to 
Laura Nyro, a singer-songwriter 
I had never heard of. When I 
looked her up, I half-expected 
her to be fictional, but no, Nyro 
was a quite successful songwrit-
er in the ’60s and ’70s — granted, 
a lot of her songs were written 
for other artists, but she still has 
several well-regarded albums of 
her own.

I listened to Nyro and 

instantly fell in love. Her 
voice was soulful, her baroque 
arrangements busy and upbeat. 
She’d written “Wedding Bell 
Blues,” done a brilliant cov-
ers record of R&B songs with 
LaBelle and released classic 
albums like Eli and the Thir-
teenth Confession and New York 
Tendaberry that were simulta-
neously heavy with meaning 
and light with beauty. I was 
elated that I’d discovered Nyro, 
but honestly, I was pissed that 
it had taken me so long.

When I was growing up, I 

somehow got the “classic rock” 
education. I don’t know where 
exactly it started — my parents 
weren’t huge into the genre or 
anything — but for a long time 
The Who was my favorite band, 
and I listened to Guns ‘n’ Roses 
unironically, and I thought 
Pink Floyd’s The Wall was the 
greatest album of all time. I 
got my testosterone-drenched 
history of popular music from 
Rock Docs and Greatest Hits 
album liner notes, and those 
sources really didn’t leave any 
room for geniuses like Joni 
Mitchell or Carole King or 
Laura Nyro.

My point is, if you ask anyone 

to give you a history of popu-
lar music from the ’50s or ’60s 
onward, the answers you get will 
vary wildly based on age, race, 
gender and where the respon-
dent grew up, and that means 
the way we learn about music is 

subject to some crazy biases.

***

Charley Patton and Robert 

Johnson created the Blues. 
Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters 
carried on the tradition. Dylan 
picked it up in the ’60s. Joni 
made a perfect break-up album 
while Nick Drake crafted unap-
preciated beauty. Big Star made 
some transcendent melancholy 
music in the ’70s, and Bowie 
made some great records, too. 
Underground punk and new 
wave rode through the ’80s, 
giving way to mainstream alter-
native rock like U2, R.E.M. or 
Radiohead. Now we have the 
The National, Brand New and 
Arcade Fire.

***

A lot of indie kids (or hipsters, 

whatever you want to call them) 
will cite Big Star as one of the 
greatest bands of all time. Funny 
thing is, absolutely nobody in the 
’70s (when the band was actually 
around) would have even known 
who they were. Big Star toiled 
in obscurity for just a few years 
before falling apart.

But somewhere along the 

line, Big Star got rediscovered 
— bands like R.E.M. named 
them as influences, their 
records got reissued and critics 
kept waving a flag for the band. 
Number 1 Record and Radio City 
are both in Rolling Stone’s “Top 
500 Albums of All Time” list, 
and they’re now cult classics 
thanks to their brilliant songs 
and mythic aura. Those albums 
have sad, longing feelings 
set to absolutely gorgeous 
melodies. Especially if you’re in 
a certain late-night existential 
melancholy, those songs paint 
the perfect portrait of a band 
who always deserved more 
than it got.

Frankly, I love Big Star, and 

I’m so obnoxious about that 
fact I could probably talk about 
them forever. But I listen to 
other bands with similar sounds 
from the same era — like The 
Raspberries or Badfinger — and 
I honestly wonder how Big Star 
ended up in our indie rock canon 
but not those other bands. The 
answer, I think, is simply that 
those other bands were famous, 
while Big Star had no commer-
cial success whatsoever.

***

After Elvis, you had Motown 

and the girl groups. They gave 
way to bands like ABBA, Fleet-
wood Mac and The Bee Gees. 
After Disco, Michael, Prince 
and Madonna dominated the 
charts while hip hop started 
to gain its footing. The ’90s 
were a decade of Biggie, 2Pac, 
Dre and Jay, but as the decade 
closed out and we entered the 
new millennium you’d be hear-
ing Britney, Beyoncé, Justin, 
The Black Eyed Peas and The 
Killers on the radio. Lately, it’s 
Gaga, Kanye or Maroon 5, and 
now it’s Fetty Wap.

***

Most kids born in the mid-to-

late ’90s remember Janet Jack-
son for one incident — the event 
that birthed the phrase “ward-
robe malfunction” in the popular 
lexicon. What I didn’t even real-
ize until this year was that she 
has had ten number-one hits and 
released some of the best-selling 
albums of all time.

Sometime in the last 10 years, 

Janet Jackson got completely 
written out of The Canon. None 
of her songs seem to qualify as 
“throwback jams;” her career 
gets overshadowed by peers like 
Madonna or Whitney Houston, 
and her entire legacy, for at least 
some generations, has been 
reduced to one moment.

Jackson has a “comeback” 

album out now called Unbreak-
able. (I put comeback in quotes 
just because even with her 
recent lack of popularity, Jack-
son is still a remarkably wealthy, 
successful artist.) Buoyed by 
the strong, understated single 
“No Sleeep” she released this 
summer (which was a fantastic 
minimalist jam as long as you 
didn’t listen to the J. Cole ver-
sion), I went back through Jack-
son’s back catalog and stumbled 
upon some huge hits that I had 
somehow never heard. There’s 
classic dance-pop like “If” and 
‘Control” as well as rainy-night 
R&B slow jams like “Any Time, 
Any Place” (which I actually did 
know from its usage in Kend-
rick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice”). 
After even just the most cursory 
look through her hit singles, my 
perception of Jackson had com-
pletely changed.

I like Unbreakable, and I 

would really love it if some of 
its singles could break through 
and reach mainstream radio 
just to give Millennials some-
thing else to associate with 
Jackson’s name besides the 
Super Bowl incident. To some, 
it might not seem like a huge 
deal which artists get recog-
nized by future generations. 
However, I keep thinking about 
how we write and rewrite our 
own histories, and the more I 
think about it, the more impor-
tant it seems that this genera-
tion doesn’t forget about our 
greatest artists just because 
of random chance or biases. 
What if, in 20 years, all the kids 
think Lil B was better than 
Kanye West? Or what if Azealia 
Banks overshadows Beyoncé? 
That wouldn’t just be weird; 
it would be patently unfair to 
artists and listeners. I don’t 
know how exactly we go about 
writing our own Canon for the 
music of our lifetime, but when 
we do, I just want to make sure 
that the Laura Nyros and Janet 
Jacksons of the 2000s don’t 
slip through the cracks and get 
unheard by people who might 
need them.

Theisen is building a 

shrine to Joni Mitchell. To 

send him something blue, 

e-mail ajtheis@umich.edu.

ADAM 

THEISEN

‘Sex’ disappointing

TV REVIEW

By BEN ROSENSTOCK

Daily Arts Writer

Since its second season, “Mas-

ters of Sex” has produced great 
individual moments and episodes 
that don’t hold 
up 
as 
well 

when viewed 
as parts of a 
greater whole. 
The third sea-
son 
finale, 

titled 
“Full 

Ten 
Count,” 

follows 
that 

same pattern. 
Several 
con-

flicts come to 
a head that the 
whole 
show 

has been building to, yet so much 
of the episode is littered with 
the remains of story threads that 
have been lackluster at best.

Still, Bill and Virginia’s role 

reversal has been one intriguing 
thread to follow through the sea-
son, and it’s pleasant seeing Bill 
(Michael Sheen, “Frost/Nixon”) 
acting a more kind, sympathetic 
and honest than his cold, detached 
role in previous seasons. When 
Bill defiantly tells Virginia (Lizzy 
Caplan, “Mean Girls”) that he 
loves her, and later takes a cab to 
the airport to beg with her to come 
back with him, he’s worthy of 
being the romantic lead the show 
always asked him to be. It’s easy 
to become jaded about the cliff-
hanger when Bill stands sadly out-
side, his professional and personal 
future with Virginia uncertain, 
but the show invests the audi-
ence with empathy for him. That 
often wasn’t possible earlier on. 
This season has mostly revolved 
around a love triangle between 
sex researcher Bill Masters, his 
partner Virginia Johnson and fra-
grance industry businessman, Dan 
Logan (Josh Charles, “The Good 
Wife”). Last week’s episode served 
to finally make Logan a real char-
acter with flaws and complexities 
of his own, and “Full Ten Count” 
shows him impressively commit-
ting to Virginia, leaving his wife 
and proposing to Virginia. It’s nice 
to see Virginia actually taking a 
stand against Bill and choosing 
Logan instead of constantly waf-
fling between the two men. Still, 
it’s hard not to sigh at the delay of 
the inevitable resolution when Bill 
and Virginia will end up together. 
Even if there was any dramatic 
tension left in the love triangle, 
history tells us Masters and John-
son get married. By now, new love 
interests and contrivances feel like 
unnecessary wheel-spinning.

Aside from the love triangle 

business, most of the finale 
deals 
with 
cleaning 
up 
the 

various threads left hanging. Bill 

finds himself in jail because a 
participant in his sex study, Nora 
(Emily Kinney, “The Walking 
Dead”), is a religious mole bent 
on framing him for prostitution 
and taking down the study. He’s 
also in trouble because his son, 
Johnny (Jaeden Lieberher, “St. 
Vincent”), made a comment about 
a boy at school that leads the police 
to accuse Bill of molestation. And 
in one scene designed to tie up 
a lingering loose end, Bill’s wife 
Libby (Caitlin Fitzgerald, “Mutual 
Friends”) finds out her lover Paul 
(Ben Koldyke, “Mr. Robinson”) is 
gone for good.

All of these subplots have 

sucked up time that could have 
been better spent taking Bill 
and Virginia’s sex study to the 
next level, and none could have 
been predicted from the season 
premiere, an episode generally 
expected to set up the structure 
and overall arcs of the season. 
The show has introduced too 
many narrative cul-de-sacs to 
actually resolve the overarching 
story. The first few episodes 
promised a deep look into Bill and 
Virginia’s twisted relationships 
with their children, but the roles 
of Virginia’s kids, Tessa (Isabelle 
Fuhrman, “Orphan”) and Henry 
(Noah 
Robbins, 
“Aftermath”), 

proved superfluous. Tessa was 
a mustache-twirling antagonist 
who the story repeatedly failed 
to invest viewers in, and Henry 
signed up for the Army only to 
disappear completely from the 
story. As little as these characters 
ultimately 
mattered, 
though, 

it’d still make sense to conclude 
the season with some closure in 
regards to their relationship with 
their mother. Both characters 
are completely missing from the 
finale. Johnny’s lack of meaningful 
interaction with his father is 
even more frustrating, as Bill’s 
projection of his father’s coldness 
onto Johnny made a potentially 

fascinating story. Much like the 
love triangle, though, this story 
is left unresolved. Maybe it’ll be 
resolved next premiere, or maybe 
it’ll be dragged out for years.

Still, just like any other episode 

of “Masters of Sex,” there are 
enough impactful moments to 
distract from the glaring flaws. 
Dr. Barton Scully (Beau Bridges, 
“The Millers”) finally becomes 
comfortable showing affection 
for another man in public. 
Most prominent, though, is a 
final moment of closure for Bill 
and his wife. Bill and Libby’s 
relationship has been fairly 
one-note for most of the show, 
but this season has added the 
interesting wrinkle that Libby 
is aware of Bill’s affair and 
has accepted it. Finally, in the 
finale, Bill and Libby have the 
confrontation the whole show 
has built toward. After three 
seasons of deception, denial 
and dysfunction, Bill admits to 
the affair. Fitzgerald’s reaction 
is powerful as she laughs at the 
idea that she still wouldn’t have 
known, then hysterically breaks 
down as Bill abruptly suggests 
they separate. “It would be the 
one honest thing we do in years,” 
Bill says softly. After years of lies 
and quiet sacrifice, finally the 
unspoken becomes spoken. It’s a 
moment of pure catharsis.

“Masters of Sex” becomes 

more of an issue each year, as all 
notions of structure are thrown 
out in favor of uninteresting 
stories that distract from the 
sex study that made the show 
so compelling in its first season. 
It’s up in the air whether next 
season will be able to reclaim 
the scientific magic and aching 
human drama of the first, but if 
the show maintains its ability 
to create singular moments of 
beauty despite recurring story 
problems, it’ll always be worth 
watching.

B

Masters 
of Sex

Season 3 
Finale

Sundays at 

10 p.m.

Showtime

ALBUM REVIEW

‘Unbreakable’ a dull 
comeback for Janet

By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY

Daily Arts Writer

Seven years after Feedback, 

Janet Jackson has returned to the 
pop music landscape with her 11th 
studio album, 
Unbreakable. 
The record’s 
title works on 
many levels: 
it may refer 
to Jackson’s 
unbreakable 
optimism, 
which 
is 

pervasive 
throughout the LP; it may refer 
to her ability to overcome life’s 
hardships 
(the 
death 
of 
her 

brother, Michael, a Super Bowl 
nip-slip and the termination of a 
seven-year relationship); or it may 
refer to the unbreakable mold of 
underdeveloped, 
overproduced 

pop R&B tracks that, together, form 
the entirety of her new album.

Moments on Unbreakable fall 

into a few categories: the repetitive, 
the cliché and the wandering. That 
may not sound too blundering; 
however, the repetitive moments 
are not catchy, the clichés don’t 
recognize themselves as such and 
the wandering fails to discover 
anything terribly stimulating.

“BURNITUP!” has potential 

with the heavy bass and a Missy 
Elliott feature, but the repeated 
phrases “turn it up” and “burn it 
up” don’t invite any participation 
beyond some slight head nodding 
(maybe). Even more disappointing 
is the degree to which Missy 
Elliott’s verse is boring. Elliott, 
as shown by her Super Bowl 
appearance, might be ready for 
a comeback, but if this is any 
indicator of it’s content, she might 
be best left in her Greatest Hits era.

Opener “Unbreakable” offers 

an acceptable beat, but amid 
the many layers of vocal tracks 
and the unimaginative chorus, 
the song’s potential is lost. In 
the same vein, every lyric on 
“Shoulda Known Better” has 
been heard on another track. 
At its best moment, though, the 
instrumental build is just enticing 
enough to hear it out. “Broken 
Hearts Heal” can be described in 
the exact same fashion — minus 
the a capitivating production.

However, the metaphor behind 

“Well 
Traveled” 
is 
original. 

Jackson has come a long way, and 
she’s still going, but this song still 
won’t go anywhere. She croons 
about traveling as she sings in 
circles. Individually, the lyrics are 
OK, but compiled together nothing 

greater is revealed. In “Black 
Eagle,” another wanderer begins 
with another metaphor. “Let me 
tell you about the black eagle,” she 
says. And after that initial intro, 
we don’t hear a damn thing about 
that eagle again.

While the album lacks in the 

majority of areas, it does have 
a couple moments of cohesive, 
coherent content. “2 B Loved” has 
the retro/modern feel that has 
been 
bombarding 
pop-culture 

recently (i.e. “Uptown Funk” 
by Mark Ronson, “Classic” by 
MKTO etc. etc.). And despite the 
fact that Kendrick Lamar filled 
the “We gon’ be alright” quota, 
“Gon’ B Alright” by Jackson has 
the heart and enthusiasm behind 
her delivery to make it one of the 
album’s stand-outs.

From the moment track one 

ends, it’s easy to realize that this 
is an album for Jackson’s longtime 
fans as she says “I’m glad you’re 
still here / I dedicate myself to 
you / I hope you enjoy.” I am not 
one of these fans (obviously), 
but their dedication to Jackson 
and 
Jackson’s 
dedication 
to 

them, as well as to her artistry, 
is respectable at the very least. 
“Unbreakable” might not break 
out of the mold, but at least it’s the 
mold Jackson created herself.

C-

Unbreakable

Janet Jackson

Rhythm Nation 

Records

SHOWTIME

“So you’re telling two minutes is a short time.”

