Music

[Skipwave]

My only contribution is; I don't know how to pick a winner. Every band that I have gotten really excited about. For whom I've thought, "This band is amazing. They are gonna he huge." Not a one of them has.

I don't have obscure taste, so why is this?

Here's a crackpot theory; I don't think people are wanting to be challenged by the music. At least, not like they used to be. The prospect of an exhilirating performance seems to be too much for them.

There are a few exceptions, but the rule has become it's better to force feed the public the heaping piles of garbage than to go sifting for gold. The real talent has been forced into lesser visibility. All that really means is we gotta work a little harder for it. Oh, and turn off the TV already.

[SaneMan]

the rule has become it's better to force feed the public the heaping piles of garbage than to go sifting for gold. The real talent has been forced into lesser visibility. All that really means is we gotta work a little harder for it. Oh, and turn off the TV already.

Good answer. It's not that there isn't good music out there, it's just that the majority of people don't give a shit about it.

Brainwashed into thinking the Killers are saving rock n' roll

[Girl Toes]

Thats just the point, though. We shouldn't have to find it. Music has completely dissapeared from popular culture, its just gone. I don't think people made this choice, executives did. And hence, the public isn't buying it.

Even the people I know that primarily listen to bad music enjoy some good music as well.

[drmorbius]

Have you heard the story about the British Parliament singing Don't Look Back in Anger back in the 90s? Just kind of phenomenally, spontaneously broke out with it. I think other songs on that disk, Champagne Supernova and Wonderwall are actually proof that good music like you've described has been out there in the past 20 years, but I definately agree that it's been on the decline.

The initial post in the thread is something I've had on my mind for years. I think part of the problem is that we have a dichotomy at work. If it's mainstream, it has to be mindlessly fun, and if it's indie, it has to be intelligent. A lot of the songs named have a way of combining both aspects. And I think the self-hating scenesters have sucked just as much life out of the art as Clear Channel.

[JES]

I totally disagree that good music is on the decline. What's on decline may be your ability to find it. This is one reason why it's so important to make friends with a clerk at a local indie record store who shares your taste. I did that recently, and I also make a point of talking about music with people whose tastes I like. Yes, relatively little of the stuff I like is well known (though I do enjoy a range of "arty" mainstream acts like Radiohead and Massive Attack, sorry if that's uncool) but it keeps coming out, so the musicians are apparently making enough of a living to keep doing it.

Really, we've heard about the death of rock since the 1970s. Maybe people will someday figure out that as you get older, you have to work harder to keep up with music you like.

Best,
--JES

[joelpatterson]

I think the emotional pull of everyone joining in to sing "Wake Up Little Suzie" has got alot to do with their shared histories of growing up with that song as a soundtrack to their lives, more than its intrinsic merit. I remember a band that, between takes, started in on a sizzling, sockin', whiplashlike version of that song. I thought, this is much better than anything they've done today, and I said so. Alas, the break was over and they went back to their pseudo experimental jazz rock.

Was their performance really all so exceptional, or was I just responding to the familiar, an updating and improvement of a favorite? I don't know how you tease out what's powerful songwriting and what's the element of comfort and reinforcement.

Here's a tangent--I started wondering why my dad, as he gets older, keeps bringing the conversation around to the same stories, over and over. And I realized it's because the morals of the stories are what formed him, the lessons were so valuable, they are the gold standard of his experience.

In the same way, I'll drag out "Anarchy in the U.K." every so often and just wallow in the joy of it, the rebellion, my lost youth.

[Dan Yack]

I think several things affect the percieved loss of memorable, long-lasting songs over the past few decades.

1.) Music is everywhere, and no longer shared among listeners (iPod, malls, etc.)
2.) Hundreds of artists release discs every week - geez!
3.) Untrained non-musicians can more easily become music performers (Brittany, Bruce Willis, a lot of so-called indie bands, etc.)
4.) Lyrical irrelevancy
5.) Digital - it's effect on recording, and the ear's problem with that (MP3, synths, ultra high compression - all this shit becomes really hard to listen to after a while)

That said, a lot of interesting things are taking the place of the finer classic recordings - look at these noise bands like Wolf Eyes, the Hip hop stuff, etc....

[drmorbius]

Adding to that list-in order for a band to be successful, they must always visually "rock out" on stage. I'm all for rocking out, and watching it, too, but constant movement limits what a band can do live musically. For example, which is easier to play while jumping around, a boring bar chord or a catchy melody? It's amazing to watch classic footage of Jimmy Page, not just for what his hands are doing, but what his body isn't. I mean he's just standing there, but back then, that was okay. Now people think you're bored or something if you stop to concentrate on what you're doing, which leads to simplicity, and simplicity leads to same-ness. As much as I like punk, I think that revolution is partly responsible, along with soundmen blasting music so loud you can't make sense of it, hence the focus on the stage-show. When will it be about the music again? I'm also tired of another PR campaign convincing me someone's a badass. It seems now that it's more important for you to be perceived as a badass, even if you aren't, than whether you are at all musically creative. And not a badass in a dark Tom Waits kind of way. A bad ass in a break shit like a professional wrestler kind of way.

[Girl Toes]

I think the emotional pull of everyone joining in to sing "Wake Up Little Suzie" has got alot to do with their shared histories of growing up with that song as a soundtrack to their lives, more than its intrinsic merit.

Sorry, but I can guarantee you that when 20 years olds are singing a long with it, its not because its a soundtrack from their childhoods. And Certainly The Gambler is not. People just like those songs.

There are a LOT of great bands out there. Lightning Bolt and USAIsAMonster are both incredible bands who are getting a large draw, and doing something very different. I think its great music, there is a lot of emotion in it, its very powerful. And there is real community around it. My room mate brought the Lightning Bolt DVD back to Corpus Christie texas and every one he showed it to was stunned.

They're big because of buzz. They've both been doing it for 10 years. They won't go on a major label. But they will NOT get played on the radio, because CC won't take any chances. They don't play new artists on the radio, which is why all these established bands are still sustainable. They are all thats on the radio. And mainstream radio is still key. On the the way to work or school is when most people here new music. I haven't listened to satellite radio yet, I imagine they aren't breaking much new music either.

I'm not talking just rock music. Watch TV, or play a video game. Theres very little original music, certainly not very much that yer gonna remember in 20 years. COmpare that to 20 years ago, you couldn't avoid a good melody if you tried. How much TV and and Video game music can you still hum right now from the 80s?? How about from last year?

I'm still finding a lot of great music, because I'm looking for it. It used to just come tome though.

I'd say it all coincides with the Communication Act of 1996, then everything changed really quickly. And I agree, the advent of digital technology. Both soundwise, and because record companies are blaming downloading for poor record sales, instead of being forced to realize that the problem really is shitty music. If the majors were putting out good shit, a lot more people would buy it.

[Meriphew]

I think people are always saying that the "old" stuff is so much better than the "new" stuff. Guys into 60's music said that disco sucked. Guys in the 80's lamented the demise of classic rock and they hated new wave. In the 90's people said "I hate this grunge shit, why aren't there any new bands like the Cure or Joy Division?". In 00 it's just the same thing with a liitle bit of a twist. It will go on forever. There's plenty of good music, you just have to sort through the tons of crap that's (always/always been) out there.

[JGriffin]

I think people are always saying that the "old" stuff is so much better than the "new" stuff. Guys into 60's music said that disco sucked. Guys in the 80's lamented the demise of classic rock and they hated new wave. In the 90's people said "I hate this grunge shit, why aren't there any new bands like the Cure or Joy Division?". In 00 it's just the same thing with a liitle bit of a twist. It will go on forever. There's plenty of good music, you just have to sort through the tons of crap that's (always/always been) out there.

Of course, in the '80s we were correct.

[Fieryjack]

I have been around a couple of decades, and I guess my opinion is that there is still great music out there, but (as somone else said) you just have to look harder for it. I truly believe there is crappier music ALL AROUND.....crappy music is EVERYWHERE.....even in the "indie-world" (god forbid).

Don't mean to sound cynical or be negative, but an anyone tell me why anyone likes Bright Eyes? He doesn't sing in key EVER, the tone quality of his voice sucks, the arrangements are terrible and the instruments sound awful.

"Indie Music" is now a catch-all for anyone who doesn't want to be perceived as part of the mainstream. SO much effort is put into writing oblique lyrics, creating just the right "too cool to have ever been conceived" image, messing up the guitars in such a way that they just don't make ****ing sense anymore.....

My antidote is the Beach Boys....I love Brian's simple (sometimes stupidly) lyrics. And not just Pet Sounds

[syrupcore]

Maybe people will someday figure out that as you get older, you have to work harder to keep up with music you like.

bing! This thread should be called 'Fuck, I'm old'.


Will

[joelpatterson]

20 year olds have been listening to the Everyly Brothers for 20 years, longer, in utero.

[GrimmBrotherScott]

I think there is a ton of great music out there. Have you heard Fountains of Wayne's version of "Baby Hit Me One More Time"? It's a great song, really catchy. I wasn't a huge fan of Britney's version of it, but I'll be damned if it wasn't catchy as all hell too. I can sing all the parts as clearly as I can sing "The Gambler".

The music from the past has all been filtered for us already. It's not hard to just eat the icing of what has already happened since we don't even have to deal with the cake. I am sure when "The Gambler" came out, soon after were 10 versions of artists that were deemed "the next Kenny Rogers" with songs like "The BlackJacker".

I believe the single worst thing that has happened to music in the past 20 years is the role of producer becoming clouded. A producer like Bob Ezrin would sit down with a band and work out their songwriting before beginning to record. Similarly, they would bring in outside songwriters to help finish, polish and tighten songs. Nowadays, often a producer is an engineer who can submit a budget. Artists with nothing are worried about "points" and "publishing" for their music. It's silliness on a grand scale.

All and all, I think it is a great time for music, where even the most slow witted (like me) may turn into a savant with the ability to create and distribute music globally from my computer sitting in my room. It's just a lot of cake to get to the icing.