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[colordeaf]

I actually can't stand the slow, dragged-out sound of 11:11. The only two songs that really stand out for me on that album are Buildings and Braille :/
I prefer Songs (with Oedipus), and actually like the production on Begin to Hope (mostly because added backing musicians is my thing, although Fidelity isn't exactly my choice of single).

Hearing live recordings are my favourite, as well as the bonus tracks on Begin to Hope (that are mostly Regina and the piano). Pound of Flesh comes to mind as one of the unreleased songs, along with the actual song entitled Begin to Hope (I need to listen to Soviet Kitsch again...)

[music box]

my definition of sell out is one who starts writing for the industry and not for the fans.

i don't think when regina released begin to hope she expected the response she got. just because people use/used her music for purposes other than personal iPods doesn't mean she's sold her soul to the man.


if i were in her shoes, i'd be enjoying it. not everyone gains the recognition they deserve and i really think she deserves it.

[~*johanna*~]

Gawd, I hate when people start bitching about an artist because they are getting more popular!! So what if Regina is more mainstream now? She is still an amazing artist... I love all of her albums, including BTH.

What is the problem with an artist wanting to make a little money for their music? As long as it's not priority over the artistic aspect, I don't see anything wrong with selling a song for a movie or something once in a while.

Regina is great. I hope I can catch her live someday.

[Holmes]

The bottom line, mainstream or not, is that it's STILL REGINA!

[Brittany]

Oh Christ, just because she's finally broken into the scene and people are finally recognizing the fact that she's a good aartist doesn't mean that she's "mainstream".  I mean, granted, her last album was less quirky than the others, but I think that was more of a matter of the producers' decisions than her own.

Why is it that any time a good artist gets recognition, old fans say that he is/she is/they are "selling out"?!?!?!



......sorry.  I just got into this whole big debate about that.  Sorta ticked me off.

I saw Regina in concert just after "Fidelity" started getting commercial success.  And trust me - she's just as awesome as ever.  I wish she'd played "Oedipus", but at least I got to hear "Baby Jesus" which is one of my favorite Spektor songs.

She hasn't lost her edge.  People have just adjusted to it.  I mean "Uh-Merica"?  That song was crazy.

And I like both "Begin to Hope" and "Soviet Kitch" just fine.  They're lovely, in fact.  If she was just doing the same exact thing as in "Mary Ann Meets the Gravediggers" and "11:11" it would get boring.  They're different from her other albums.  Not better, not worse.  Different.

...okay, maybe not quite as good as "Mary Ann", but my whole "different" point still stands!

I didn't say she was selling out, or that it was bad that she's joining the mainstream, which she is -- at least the shores of the mainstream. 

But I must agree that Begin to Hope sucked.  It was a major disappointment, for me.  But I love the song, "Edit."  I don't like the new version of "Apres Moi," but it's one of her good songs.  Other than that, thumbs down.

my definition of sell out is one who starts writing for the industry and not for the fans.

i don't think when regina released begin to hope she expected the response she got. just because people use/used her music for purposes other than personal iPods doesn't mean she's sold her soul to the man.


if i were in her shoes, i'd be enjoying it. not everyone gains the recognition they deserve and i really think she deserves it.

What about someone who starts writing for the fans, and not for themself?  The fans are the industry.  The fans are the $.

[music box]

my definition of sell out is one who starts writing for the industry and not for the fans.

i don't think when regina released begin to hope she expected the response she got. just because people use/used her music for purposes other than personal iPods doesn't mean she's sold her soul to the man.


if i were in her shoes, i'd be enjoying it. not everyone gains the recognition they deserve and i really think she deserves it.

What about someone who starts writing for the fans, and not for themself?  The fans are the industry.  The fans are the $.

how does one assume that she has started writing for just fans or just industry?

musicians have nothing if they don't write for themselves first. that goes for anyone, not just regina.

[JennieJ]

How is this even a discussion? I hope she made OODLES of money on this... oh, and a soundtrack does not equal overnight success.... not that that is a bad thing in any way. The term "sell out" just pisses me off.

[Kenny Wisdom]

Principles are great but they just don't pay the gas bill.

[Tamora]

my definition of sell out is one who starts writing for the industry and not for the fans.

i don't think when regina released begin to hope she expected the response she got. just because people use/used her music for purposes other than personal iPods doesn't mean she's sold her soul to the man.

if i were in her shoes, i'd be enjoying it. not everyone gains the recognition they deserve and i really think she deserves it.

That first part I must disagree with: if the artist is just writing for the fans and not for the song itself, doesn't that make it just as... sell-out-y?

The other part I definately agree with.  I personally ADORE Music Box (though I like the non-BTH recording betteR) and I'm perfectly glad to know that she's not a starving artist.  Starving artists have so little calcium in their bones that playing the piano would be impossible!

I mean, imagine a calcium-deprived Amanda Palmer playing "Girl Anachronism".  Just the first few heavy-hitting notes...

C F# A C C F# a-
di di di di di di d-CRACK!

That wouldn't be happy.

[jupiter or japan]

OMG she put drums, bass and strings on an album and gave in to da man!!!

Seriously, the album sounds good. Is it edgy to have everything sound like a demo? Fuck that. Begin To Hope rules. If Regina is mainstream, so am I.

[virtual~mary]

How is this even a discussion? I hope she made OODLES of money on this... oh, and a soundtrack does not equal overnight success.... not that that is a bad thing in any way. The term "sell out" just pisses me off.

Principles are great but they just don't pay the gas bill.

OMG she put drums, bass and strings on an album and gave in to da man!!!

Seriously, the album sounds good. Is it edgy to have everything sound like a demo? Fuck that. Begin To Hope rules. If Regina is mainstream, so am I.

you peeps took the words right out of my fingers.

[music box]

so enough people agree?


regina hasn't lost her soul and is still the same cute thing with red hair that everyone loved back when 11:11/soviet kitsch was released.

[$ethie]

Just so we're clear, I was simply stating that there was a swift decline in quality from soviet kitch to begin to hope. It was too pop/rock for my taste.

Also, The Call is on youtube. It sucks worse than Field Below, and I've never been able to sit through that song.

And again, so we're clear, it's not the fact that she's becoming popular. That's excellent. It's the fact that her style is changing in a way that doesn't necessarily suit my tastes.

[yosmark]

so enough people agree?


regina hasn't lost her soul and is still the same cute thing with red hair that everyone loved back when 11:11/soviet kitsch was released.

Yep, we all can have opinions so don´t be a bitch if you don´t like someone else opinion (well you can be a bitch but it is not right, again it is sometimes funny but no always).

edit: i just listened to that song "The call" and .... ehm i like it, but not a lot.

[CeeGBee]

so enough people agree?

eh, probably not...  unless it's "agree to disagree", but as long as the discussion remains civil
and based in substance rather than name-calling and such...

regina hasn't lost her soul...

Gee, I sure hope not...

...and is still the same cute thing with red hair that everyone loved back when 11:11/soviet kitsch was released.

Not bloody likely.  She's older, she's seen new sights, experienced new things, met new people,
heard new songs, played with new ideas, suffered new trials, achieved new triumphs....

Still cute, still red-haired...  Same person? no way... and that will turn up in her music somehow.
If it doesn't, I would submit, she's writing the wrong songs for the wrong reasons.