almost constantly disappointed...

SER19

Full Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2008
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14,502
...by music at the minute. do you now when you need a new injection of music, something fresh and quality? keep being tod about these "great" new bands and end up being disappointed beyond belief by what is usually some sort of generic tat involving high pitched sounds, crap lyrics and squeaky indie singers masquerading as something different. animal collective, cut copy fall into this category while a band like tv on the radio fall into the category of lots of noise and barking at the microphone desparately trying to be cool and unique. anybody else find this? should i give up hope on getting something new and just keep playing dylan?

edit: if these are the bands that are going to define this decade or the next then we're in for a nightmare few years and may as well just leave the radio on all day and listen to rihanna, britney, beyonce et al because they are no more than a stones throw away from this absolute wank of music
 
There are plenty of great bands out there; Radiohead, TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, Spoon, The National, Modest Mouse etc. It just depends what kind of music you're into. If you like Bob Dylan, then maybe you're looking for something more folky?

Bon Iver - Re: Stacks


Devendra Banhart - A Sight to Behold


Joanna Newsom - Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie


Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why


Okkervil River - For Real


The Shins - Caring Is Creepy


Band of Horses - The Funeral
 
SER19 said:
...by music at the minute. do you now when you need a new injection of music, something fresh and quality? keep being tod about these "great" new bands and end up being disappointed beyond belief by what is usually some sort of generic tat involving high pitched sounds, crap lyrics and squeaky indie singers masquerading as something different. animal collective, cut copy fall into this category while a band like tv on the radio fall into the category of lots of noise and barking at the microphone desparately trying to be cool and unique. anybody else find this? should i give up hope on getting something new and just keep playing dylan?

edit: if these are the bands that are going to define this decade or the next then we're in for a nightmare few years and may as well just leave the radio on all day and listen to rihanna, britney, beyonce et al because they are no more than a stones throw away from this absolute wank of music
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The music industry is rubbish now. If you go back 30 or even 40 years to the likes of the Beatles, Stones and so forth you will find a better selection of music.

Idols won't appear any more due to the way records are sold in so many different formats and the opportunity for the unknowns to make it has become more of a reality. The downside to all of this however is that artists of years gone by struggle to capture an audience now due to the wide and diverse market which is available at the touch of a button. Elton John is a classic example of this. His last few records (which were released) have been considerably poor compared to what he produced maybe 30 years ago because he's trying to keep up with the sound of today.

It's quite a sad and sorry situation to be honest, but the charts have always been dominated by the sound of what the youth want as they are the ones buying / downloading records, and that's the same for the likes of the 60's and 70's. The difference then however is music appealed to a wider group rather than just a small selection.
 
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Probably my favourite band from this decade and I'm not that into indie/alternative music. Get their self-titled album, and give it a few listens. It'll take some time to get into, but once you do, you'll love it. I hope. :D

Also, the leading vocalist's voice is probably the worst I've heard (and I listen to Dylan, Cohen, Neil Young, etc) but it becomes oddly addictive after a while.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Details of the War (ignore the video)
 
yaps said:
The music industry is rubbish now. If you go back 30 or even 40 years to the likes of the Beatles, Stones and so forth you will find a better selection of music.
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Yeah, that's right. I've got into countless converations with my few friends who have a decent taste in music, about the current music industry and why the hell it is the way it is. Music is just entertainment now. There's no point looking at the charts for anything decent. I'm only 20, and I end up going back to the 60s-70s for anything decent. Pretty sad really.
 
Oranje said:
Yeah, that's right. I've got into countless converations with my few friends who have a decent taste in music, about the current music industry and why the hell it is the way it is. Music is just entertainment now. There's no point looking at the charts for anything decent. I'm only 20, and I end up going back to the 60s-70s for anything decent. Pretty sad really.
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Well I'm only 25 and feel the same. I can no longer listen to radio 1 anymore due to the amount of garbage that is played over and over again.

There's a tune from the 60's which I hum absolutely loads - look it up:

The Strawbs - Lay Down
 
Oranje said:
Yeah, that's right. I've got into countless converations with my few friends who have a decent taste in music, about the current music industry and why the hell it is the way it is. Music is just entertainment now. There's no point looking at the charts for anything decent. I'm only 20, and I end up going back to the 60s-70s for anything decent. Pretty sad really.
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exactly how i am..theres good new music that you have to look for but staistically id estimate that about 98% of music nowadays is fecking shite and even the stuff thats marketed as not pop is shit thats made for radio and clubs. dizzee fecking rascal? :wenger: rihanna is an absoolute joke, kings of leon who oncehad a good sound write sex on fire which was purely for sales and not music and are now what i would call a teenage girl/boys type band.

also i hate how the sogwriters of nowadays seem to think they have to be totally abstract and different and people aren't recognised unless they have a slighlty pretensious marketing aspect, eg i quite like a couple of bon iver tracks but in all honesty his high pitched trembling gets irritable and you cant go anywhere without reading about how he recorded the album in a remote cabin somewhere, that shouldnt make a fecking difference to the music itself and he neednt be portraed as some sort of troubled recluse it makes it no more appealing.

mgmt: one of the biggest bands of the last year or so, have 1 or 2 catchy pop songs and feel the need to dance around on stage like theyve been taken from a scene in the wicker man. music is not about music anymore, but image and ego of the musicians.

flaming lips: an absolute travesty to music. huge acclaim but really they may as well just not have music and roll around in a plastic bubble or stay on stage telling jokes. they are light entertainment not "geniuses" of music.

modern female singers: see the dell advert with that song that goes "i am green today..." why do they feel the need to sing as if they are waiflike angels with these soft timid fairy voices, another example of this is the brutal cover of "true colors" that was floating about recenty or lots of muck on the juno soundtrack which was praised beyond belief but sounds like it has been written and sung by a 14 year old.

leona lewis: pathetic almost comic mess of a person that whines and screeches anything that she is told to sing. the x factor single being a cover of arguably the greatest song ever written emphasises the tragedy that is modern music.

:(
 
The problem most people seem to be having is that they're judging todays music in general, mostly on the basis of what's popular on the radio.

MGMT? Leona Lewis? Nobody with any credible taste in music rates them amongst the pioneers of the current sound.
 
Easy V said:
The problem most people seem to be having is that they're judging todays music in general, mostly on the basis of what's popular on the radio.

MGMT? Leona Lewis? Nobody with any credible taste in music rates them amongst the pioneers of the current sound.
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this is true but the question is why is this popular on the radio? when people only have the radio to choose from of course theyl ove this when theyre pre disposed to it
 
I feel kind of the same.

This new band people are raving about, White Lies. Had a little listen to them the other day and I just feel like I've heard it all before.
 
SER19 said:
im 19!!!!
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I was 26 years old, 10 years ago. Not a whole lot older than you.

Basically everyone feels this way as soon as they start to realise what a massive industry music is and how marketing is actually more important than talent. Twas always thus though. Even Motown was basically just a triumph of manufactured pop music and clever marketing.
 
SER19 said:
this is true but the question is why is this popular on the radio? when people only have the radio to choose from of course theyl ove this when theyre pre disposed to it
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With the levels of piracy taking money from the production companies' pockets, the industry has to favour its most "marketable" bands; that means bands that make radio-friendly, accessible music that the teens can get their heads around. The music has no density, no interesting sounds or structures, it's just the same few pop songs basically tweaked slightly and released as a new single. The radio eat it up because it's what the kids have come to accept and seem to want.



A few more songs;

The National - Ada


Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb


Interpol - Leif Erikson


Wolf Parade - Grounds for Divorce


Tv on the Radio - DLZ


Radiohead - Reckoner
 
I was just like you and decided to downloaded a whole bunch of rock albums based on the year end list for best albums of 2008. Some great stuff on that.

TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, The Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend (havent heard it yet), Paul Mccartney's Electrical Arguements etc.
 
kps88 said:
I was just like you and decided to downloaded a whole bunch of rock albums based on the year end list for best albums of 2008. Some great stuff on that.

TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, The Hold Steady, Vampire Weekend (havent heard it yet), Paul Mccartney's Electrical Arguements etc.
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The Hold Steady are great. You should try their previous album, Boys and Girls in America. "Stuck Between Stations" and "First Night" especially are superb tracks IMO.
 
Hopefully music is on the verge of a huge rock revival. We lack musicians out to change the world at the moment, what defines the 00's is hyper-reality the post-modern world of individuation and so forth. I.e. everythings abit shite at the minute aside from United.
 
Bringing some new things to the table :

The Middle East :

http://www.myspace.com/visitthemiddleeast

Fantastic Austalian band I came across recently. Blood in specific is really well thought-out song.


Weerd Science

http://www.myspace.com/weerdscience

Josh Eppard's baby. New album Sick Kids out soo... Well, at some point. He also has a rock project which sounds a lot like Coheed, who he used to drum for. Which is :

Mours

http://www.myspace.com/themours



The Builders and The Butchers

http://www.myspace.com/thebuildersandthebutchers

Recent discovery for me. Very good at what they do with their acoustic sound.


Santogold

http://www.myspace.com/santogold

Brought out one of the best albums of the past year. Excellent.

Santi White says of her work with Santogold, “We began trying to write pop songs to sell, which made us depressed, so we started writing songs for ourselves instead.”

Thank god.



The Honey Brothers :

http://www.myspace.com/thehoneybrothers

Another recent discovery. "New Wave Folk"



Forgive Durden :

http://www.myspace.com/forgivedurden

Something a little different.



Two bands who used to be one and are instead now two fantastic bands

The Dear Hunter :

http://www.myspace.com/thedearhunter

The Receiving End of Sirens :

http://www.purevolume.com/thereceivingendofsirens




Heavier stuff now.

Protest The Hero :

http://www.myspace.com/protestthehero

Canadian Mathcore/Metal band who write concept albums. Some of the best technical guitar out there without doubt.

And of course



The Fall of Troy :

http://www.myspace.com/thefalloftroy

Dance Gavin Dance :

http://www.myspace.com/dancegavindance


As a general rule of thumb, anything worth listening to will get no exposure in the U.K. So if your ears work properly, you'll have to work a little harder to appease them. Bands/artists who describe themselves as experimental are usually the ones you want to be looking for.
 
I just read the opening post again. SER19 mate, did you actually just dismiss TV on the Radio and Animal Collective as "generic"? They're the most innovative, original and experimental bands in recent years. Their songs are filled to the brim with dense textures and sounds, creative structures and atmospheric production. Panda Bear from AC writes some of the best, pure melodies you'll hear right now (try his solo album, "Person Pitch"), while Tunde Adebimpe from TVotR is without a doubt the best frontman in Rock ATM. His songwriting and vocals are incredible.

Try "Return to Cookie Mountain" if you want to hear TVotR at their best. "Hours" and "Wolf Like Me" are great tracks.

Give AC's new album, "Merriweather Post Pavillion" a listen too. "My Girls" could go down as the best song of the year, even at this stage.

Both bands take some work at first, and I hope you haven't dismissed them after just a brief listen. Because that's largely the problem with music fans today, they accept music that's easy to figure out, rather than having to take everything in and see all the levels involved in the production.


If you want good lyricists, other than Tunde, try Paul Banks of Interpol, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, Matt Berninger of The National, Dan Bejar of Destroyer etc.

There's plenty of talented musicians out there.
 
With the radio and the charts being so poor you have to use the Internet to discover new music. Last FM for me is easily the best way to do this.
 
Well, having just come back from Big Day Out in Melbourne, what I saw only reaffirms what's been said in this thread. The best act, by far, was Neil Young's. He was fecking insane. As in, literally insane. He just kept going, crazy solos, ripping up his guitar strings, so full of energy. fecking Neil Young, you crazy motherfecker.
 
SER19 said:
modern female singers: see the dell advert with that song that goes "i am green today..." why do they feel the need to sing as if they are waiflike angels with these soft timid fairy voices
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That song from the Dell ad is from an album for children. I can't think of a more appropriate voice for a children then something like that.
 
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