Gwen Stefani

So earlier today there was an orchestral riff stuck in my head. In my mind, I was frustrated that I could not figure out which song it was from. Imagine my dismay when I realized that it was the orchestral riff from "Hollaback Girl"! Oh no! But this is evidence to support my point: Of all the annoying, trashy pop singers in the world, Gwen Stefani is the best.

Why? Because Gwen Stefani is interesting. Compare her to Britney Spears or Lady Gaga or something. They all make fake, glitzy plastic music accompanied by videos of themselves being rich and sexy, all with the intent of making money. But Gwen Stefani's music and videos are both weird as hell. Take "Hollaback Girl"- the words are very irritiating, but the music is made of a sparse drumbeat with weird sound effects, with stabs of a guitar, and orchestra, and a marching band. And the line about bananas- who else can so entertainingly sum up the nature of the universe while teaching radio listeners how to spell? No one.

And have you heard/seen "Wind it Up"? It's another skeletal drum track whose flesh is a sample of the lonely goatherd song from The Sound of Music! Except it sounds almost eerie, and the music video is a creepy fantasy that reeks of robotic S&M. Also, "The Sweet Escape" is a really good song.

So in conclusion, I have only heard those three songs by Gwen Stefani. But I feel like her mission is to crank out the weirdest, most creative possible stuff that she can still sell millions of copies of and use to market her clothing brand. And that is an admirable mission.