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Underground > Radio & Music >

Is this decade the worst for music ?

  
  

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33
11:13 / 30.07.06
Reality shows to create groups / singers..

Covers of Covers that were already being covered..

No rock , punk , industiral , synth of note

No new trends or significant movements

My own subjective observations ..

what do you think ?

33
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
11:53 / 30.07.06
Perhaps, much like the decline in men's fashion which you also perceive to have taken place, it is the homosexuals who are to blame, 33?
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
12:28 / 30.07.06
You don't need to sign posts brah, it's kind of a faux-pas on the Barb'.
It's an interesting question, phrased somewhat idiosyncratically (sp?) but interesting none the less.

Okay, so reality shows to create new musicians... well, why not? The music is aimed at kids, I'd estimate aged 8-13, basically up until they discover Weezer or Green Day or other tween-core. A few others, like the find-a-singer-for-INXS show, are based around bands which are long, long past being relevant. It doesn't take up cultural 'real-estate' from bands for adults so let the kids have their fun.
Covers of covers... I can't really think of any off the top of my head so please provide examples.
No rock, no punk: Queens of the Stone Age, Autolux, Death from aboce 1979, Low, Why?, The Locust, Interpol, The Icarus Line, The Duke Spirit, Blood on the wall, Black Mountain, Broken Social Scene, SunnO))), Isis, Pig Destroyer, Lightning Bolt, BORIS, Jesu, The Black Heart Procession- that's just a little sampling from flicking through my Winamp playlist, all are rock/punk bands who have produced incredible albums during the 00s.

No Industrial or synth: Seriously, I'm weeping masacra laced tears into my welder's goggles right now.

No new trends or significant movements: Good. Do we really want another Grunge on our hands? The lack of 'movements' has meant bands can do what they like without record companies trying to push them into flannel shirts. The lack of trends means a dozen bands don't jump on the bandwagon every time somebody tries a new guitar tuning. Okay, there has been that whole 'New-wave' revival of eyeliner, skinny ties and keytars (The Bravery, She Wants Revenge and other FILTHY, FILTHY HOMOSEXUALS, who like touching each other's willies and stuff like that) and the coresponding movement towards 'I'm well working class me' brit-pop songs about trackie bottoms and getting a pickled onion with your chips (Artic Monkeys, Libertines if you like music, Babyshambles if you like tabloid headlines), but it's easy to ignore. It'll be gone soon anyway.
 
 
uncle retrospective
13:12 / 30.07.06
Well up until 2005 I might have agreed with you on music being shit and dead and stuff. I'd just come into my late 20's and suddenly I couldn't find any new music that I loved (I like some, but loved, no) and I almost had a panic attack. I was sure I had hit that point where all these bands aren't as good as the music in my day, something I swore to myself I would never let that happen. All the Strokes and Franz stuff was leaving me cold and dance music seemed to have died at the bloody hands of Norman Cook. Then 2005 happened and than God below I started to find music I loved again, Isis, Jesu, Vitalic and I'm really getting into Electro pop like Hot Chip. So is music shit and dead? Not on my scale but I'd keep away from the radio or the NME it'll tell you otherwise. Fuck, even Karang! has become a piece of emo crap. (shudder)
 
 
Lugue
13:16 / 30.07.06
Actually, I might as well use the space for a question that's bounced around my mind somewhat recently, and that I've discussed with a friend:

Are bands now more prone to be find niches rather than being swept up in wider aesthetic waves than they were before? Or is this just lack of perspective on the past meaning that things seem more clearly categorized?

Is there a greater overlapping and reexploration of previous music going on, as well as different influences at the same time? Does the Internet and exposure to a number of styles at a time through channels such as MTV relate to this in any way?

...and errm, has this sort of stuff been discussed elsewhere already, ahah?

And this is an honest question, stupid as it may reveal itself, and as such lack of snark would be nice, yes; beyond the music I listen to, I'm not music-savy at all, so I have a hard time identifying general traits in modern mostly mainstream Western music. I'd really enjoy reading people with les better braneeeessss doing the woooordy thiiing!
 
 
33
15:10 / 30.07.06
Perhaps, much like the decline in men's fashion which you also perceive to have taken place, it is the homosexuals who are to blame, 33?

those filthy bastards !!

I havent heard any of their stuff but with a name like that you just know theres something sinister about them

33
 
 
33
15:20 / 30.07.06
No rock, no punk: Queens of the Stone Age, Autolux, Death from aboce 1979, Low, Why?, The Locust, Interpol, The Icarus Line, The Duke Spirit, Blood on the wall, Black Mountain, Broken Social Scene, SunnO))), Isis, Pig Destroyer, Lightning Bolt, BORIS, Jesu, The Black Heart Procession- that's just a little sampling from flicking through my Winamp playlist, all are rock/punk bands who have produced incredible albums during the 00s.


Yeah really pioneering stuff..

watered down reguratation from the few groups i've heard of that list..

the rest i cant say ..

point being none of them got any mojo or spark of intenisty that makes them unique - I mean do you really think they'll be remembered like a smashing pumpkins or nine inch nails ?

I guess you have to accept shit as great if theres nothing else around right ?

33
 
 
matthew.
15:46 / 30.07.06
I think this is a spectacular time for music. If we look at the realm of pop for instance...

With the end of the pre-packaged boy band movement coupled with the pop-tart movement, the individual members splintered off and we had some... experimenting within pop music. Timberlake's Justified was a revelation. Aguilera's Dirrty and her new track that I'm absolutely in love with. Gwen Stefani's solo album (left me cold, but others liked it). Pharrell's In My Mind, a great album, with some fabulous rhymes. John Legend, Kanye West's Late Registration, Divine Brown. The return of Biggie (in duet form). There's Panic At the Disco, Fall Out Boy, The Boy Least Likely To..., Cute is What We Aim For, The Killers. Not all of these people are great, but neither are they teeth-rattling bad.

We also have Gnarls Barkley and Thom Yorke's solo album currently in the headlines of Barbelith.

This "Is this decade the worst for music" question smacks of nostalgia, as if the nineties were soooo much better. Or the eighties. There's always going to be crap. Always.

I've never listened to so much good music before. As aforementioned, I think this is a great time for pop music and other "genres".
 
 
Spatula Clarke
15:49 / 30.07.06
I mean do you really think they'll be remembered like a smashing pumpkins or nine inch nails ?

Suddenly it all becomes clear.
 
 
Jack Fear
15:57 / 30.07.06
watered down reguratation from the few groups i've heard of that list..

the rest i cant say ..

Maybe there's your answer right there, son; for all that you're bemoaning that there's no good music out there, you don't seem to be looking very hard.

Though, that being said, I think maybe that's the real issue here. What's happening in the last five-six years, I think, is not that there are no great bands around—there are—but that the means of distribution and promotion have changed drastically; radio playlists are tightening, major labels are losing money and are thus more likely to sign acts conservatively.

Fewer acts are even pursuing a major label deal; economies of scale and ease of distribution and Internet marketing are making it more and more viable to stay independent—to put out your own records and tour occasionally while keeping your day job.

I think the era of the world-beating supergroup is largely over, at least as a cultural force. I mean, U2 still sells a shedload of records and packs 'em in for the stadium tours, but I don't know if anybody still thinks of U2 as a band that matters.

It's all about niche marketing and the "long tail"—the idea that while there will always be a few giants dominating the top of the sales charts, there is some audience, however small, for nearly anything. We're looking at the return of the underground, in other words. There's more underground music than ever before, and more music quantitatively is underground music than ever before—that is, more bands that would've expended a lot of energy on getting signed are staying independent and defining their own terms for success.

But yeah, there's a ton of great music out there—but you're going to have to find it for yourself, without the resources of the music industry hype machine to shove it in your face. Happy hunting.
 
 
33
16:31 / 30.07.06
bah !!

Where can u look ?

Napster ?

I tried looking and google searching and came up with some stuff that mostly you cant even download or find samples of..

I see what your saying ..

but i am yet to be convinced or hear anything i disocovered of the internet in the last 10 years that blew my mind..

I mean a group like depeche mode still sells inspite of this era so the crossover appeal must be there to some still without being overpopular so it tells me if something where surely good it would get noticed .

I know dp are already established but still..

Christ I am running out of 80's / 90's groups ...

Come to think of it , if what you say is true then why the hell is rnb / rap so pop ?

Have I missed something or am going to get into trouble for suggesting that last 6 or so plus years have been dominated by certain ethnic groups and their influence on culture

33
 
 
33
16:36 / 30.07.06
I mean do you really think they'll be remembered like a smashing pumpkins or nine inch nails ?

Suddenly it all becomes clear.

Really ?

What assumptions lead you to that conclusion ?

33
 
 
matthew.
16:46 / 30.07.06
Have I missed something or am going to get into trouble for suggesting that last 6 or so plus years have been dominated by certain ethnic groups and their influence on culture


OOOoooweee. That's... sommething.

Oh man, Flyboy, do you mind taking over from here? Or Jack Fear?
 
 
Mistoffelees
16:46 / 30.07.06
For my music tastes this decade is satisfactory. I bought the new Flaming Lips cd recently, and it´s as good as always.

Yesterday I bought the new 6 DVD box by Therion and this band also still delivers.

I buy ca 2 cds a month and I don´t see music declining. Music in the charts and on the radio may suck, but that´s often been the rule, not the exception.

Whoever believes music nowadays is on the decline, probably doesn´t dig deep enough for new likable stuff.

My advice:
Write down your five favourite bands, and then use last.fm or amazon, to see what people who like them, also listen to. And soon enough you will have more than enough new music to keep you going for at least the rest of the year.

And you can discover new interesting music by browsing the barb music threads. Just yesterday, I got inspired by reading a thread to buy Illinoise by S.Stevens, and from what I´ve heard so far, the cd was worth the 10 €.
 
 
Kiltartan Cross
17:18 / 30.07.06
Come to think of it , if what you say is true then why the hell is rnb / rap so pop?

If what you say is true, the Wu-Tang could be dangerous...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

And you can discover new interesting music by browsing the barb music threads.

Absolutely. Browse, or ask people, anywhere online; over the last month or so I've had recommendations for good music from a good half dozen different styles and countries just from randomly asking people here and on WoW.

I'm not sure whether music which rocks my world is necessarily to everybody's taste, but, again, there's usually at least one album out every six months that I find myself leaving in the CD player on repeat.
 
 
Lugue
17:21 / 30.07.06
I'm well aware there are plenty of people here much more able to do this. But.

Have I missed something or am going to get into trouble for suggesting that last 6 or so plus years have been dominated by certain ethnic groups and their influence on culture

Can you possibly

a) back that in any convincing way (beyond "Well, look at all them blacks on the teevee!", ideally, which taking in consideration your statements about homosexuals in fashion and being a ballsy ballsy man seems to me the most likely spetacular observation)

and

b) explain how, even if real, such a thing would be in and of itself negative*, as is implied by the statement of the fact within a post (and, errm, thread) deriding the current state of music?

*Taking in consideration that, shucks, I get the slight feeling that a "certain ethnic group" has dominated plenty of years and influenced plenty of the culture you so deeply observe - which might not be an ideal situation taking in consideration, say, all involved throughout all those years and everything that composes that culture. Or is it, 33?

To, you know, avoid being a completely stupid fuck and all.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
17:48 / 30.07.06
I'd advise anyone who's considering trying to seriously engage with 33 about music, let alone music and "ethnic groups", to click the link I provided above and then have a think about how fruitful and fulfilling that exercise is going to prove.
 
 
Lugue
17:57 / 30.07.06
Call it blind faith. Or stupidity.

But if we're not even gonna bother engaging with him... why exactly isn't he on his way to being banned?

Pardon the OTishness.
 
 
Phex: Dorset Doom
18:01 / 30.07.06
33- once again, we don't need you to sign your posts, your name (which is very quickly becoming Mud on this board) is already attached to them.
Secondly, you said:

I mean do you really think they'll be remembered like a smashing pumpkins or nine inch nails ?

Wow, for somebody so concerned with the homosexual infiltration and feminisation of popular culture you sure have a funny taste in music. I mean, Marilyn Manson's ex-boyfriend and this guy:


Hardly Henry Rollins* is he?
And secondly, I hope none of the bands I listed are remembered as whining, solipistic, histironic crybabies still writing lyrics about a girl who dumped them in high school well into their forties with, at best, a diminishing fanbase consisting largely of teenagers and people who wish they were still teenagers.
I won't even bother with your assertation that for the last 'six or so plus(sic) years' 'certain ethnic groups' have been dominating music... no, I'll bother just a little: six or more? Just six? Try closer to eighty, and that certain ethnic group you so delicately skirt around are African Americans- and the whole world bloody loves it. It's so screamingly obvious that all music, even Mr. Reznor's latest hissy fit, can trace it's ancestry to black American music that it goes without saying. Nazi Black Metal bands wouldn't exist were it not for the 'domination' of that certain ethnic group. It's equally obvious that this has been nothing but a benefit to music and to humanity at large.
And look, it's pretty clear from the two discussions that I've seen you involved in that this message board isn't for you. I suggest, in all seriousness, that you wait until you're a little bit older, wiser and have more experience of the world, it's music and the people in it until you start posting here again, otherwise you may find yourself banned and unable to post at all.

*=Ask a grown-up who Henry Rollins is. Listening to 'Damaged' will put hair on your chest.
 
 
33
18:23 / 30.07.06
I'm well aware there are plenty of people here much more able to do this. But.

Have I missed something or am going to get into trouble for suggesting that last 6 or so plus years have been dominated by certain ethnic groups and their influence on culture

Can you possibly

a) back that in any convincing way (beyond "Well, look at all them blacks on the teevee!", ideally, which taking in consideration your statements about homosexuals in fashion and being a ballsy ballsy man seems to me the most likely spetacular observation)

< b > that was a subjective comment I made from my perspective of hearing a million rnb songs and rap every time I turn on tv or radio ..

I dont know the stats I just know that for me thats what i percieved thats why i asked you guys but obviously your getting all testy now because you think I being discriminating..

and

b) explain how, even if real, such a thing would be in and of itself negative*, as is implied by the statement of the fact within a post (and, errm, thread) deriding the current state of music?

It would be a negative for me and if true for most others who just happened to have other tastes

*Taking in consideration that, shucks, I get the slight feeling that a "certain ethnic group" has dominated plenty of years and influenced plenty of the culture you so deeply observe - which might not be an ideal situation taking in consideration, say, all involved throughout all those years and everything that composes that culture. Or is it, 33?

what are you gibbering about ?
If its popular then it means the culture is influenced on some level , i never said it was bad or good for any one I dont care for that style so I dont like it ..period
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
18:32 / 30.07.06
that was a subjective comment I made from my perspective of hearing a million rnb songs and rap every time I turn on tv or radio ..

I wish I could do that! Whenever I turn on the tv or radio I hear a maximum of one r&b or rap song at a time, that's when it's not Orson instead.
 
 
Ganesh
18:42 / 30.07.06
Perhaps, 33, you were simply born too late to a world that doesn't care?
 
 
Lugue
18:45 / 30.07.06
The problem is essentially that you didn't really adress, in the quote I approached you about, r'n'b and hip hop; you refered "certain ethnic minorities", who, implicitly, hold an undesirable hold on musical trends.

It might be fairer to separate "black people" and "r'n'b/hip hop musicians" in your head, you know. A lot of the second category might also fit the first one, on purely statistical terms, but there's something troublesome about jumping from one to the other, and adressing the first, rather than the second, as the issue in the music industry. Yes?

*Taking in consideration that, shucks, I get the slight feeling that a "certain ethnic group" has dominated plenty of years and influenced plenty of the culture you so deeply observe - which might not be an ideal situation taking in consideration, say, all involved throughout all those years and everything that composes that culture. Or is it, 33?

what are you gibbering about ?
If its popular then it means the culture is influenced on some level , i never said it was bad or good for any one I dont care for that style so I dont like it ..period

I was trying to make the point that even if there was a particular predominance of any given minoritarian ethnicity behind the way music was, generally speaking, made, taking in consideration Western history, it's half hard to see how white dominance giving a bit of space to others might be bayud. Which seemed relevant, since again, rather than adressing r'n'b and hip hop, you adressed "certain ethnic minorities". Yes?

Of course, looking at Phex's post, it's a stupid point: indeed, modern western music owes, errm, an awful lot to the influence of black performers. Which makes the whole concept of a particular dominance in recent years somewhat absurd as well.

Oh, and

that was a subjective comment I made from my perspective of hearing a million rnb songs and rap every time I turn on tv or radio ..

Dude, what's that (regarding "subjective comment") even supposed to mean, really? "Well, I got an impression, then I made it into an opinion without expressing the distinction"? Not necessarily the best way of approaching, hum, an awful lot of stuff, non? In particular when discussing pretty much any issue with other people, I'd think.

[Haven't slept for 27 hours; not making excuses, but trying to explain if I don't pick up on discussion strands properly. Light head.]
 
 
33
18:46 / 30.07.06
33- once again, we don't need you to sign your posts, your name (which is very quickly becoming Mud on this board) is already attached to them.
Secondly, you said:

-- " we " I see you work in groups , I notice you wee wees have tendency to pop up when you see an oppourtunity to try exploit someone to your fellow wee wees

I mean do you really think they'll be remembered like a smashing pumpkins or nine inch nails ?

Wow, for somebody so concerned with the homosexual infiltration and feminisation of popular culture you sure have a funny taste in music. I mean, Marilyn Manson's ex-boyfriend and this guy:

well corgan and reznor are both straight , what evidence do you have to say otherwise ?



Hardly Henry Rollins* is he?
And secondly, I hope none of the bands I listed are remembered as whining, solipistic, histironic crybabies still writing lyrics about a girl who dumped them in high school well into their forties with, at best, a diminishing fanbase consisting largely of teenagers and people who wish they were still teenagers.

that because their not and wont even be remembered tough guy " rolls eyes "

I won't even bother with your assertation that for the last 'six or so plus(sic) years' 'certain ethnic groups' have been dominating music... no, I'll bother just a little:

really you shouldnt of

six or more? Just six? Try closer to eighty, and that certain ethnic group you so delicately skirt around are African Americans- and the whole world bloody loves it.

really ? is that why they were such powerhoues in the previous two decades ?

what was the group milli vanili (sp?)





It's so screamingly obvious that all music, even Mr. Reznor's latest hissy fit, can trace it's ancestry to black American music that it goes without saying.

really ? they had synths and samples back then ?

Nazi Black Metal bands wouldn't exist were it not for the 'domination' of that certain ethnic group. It's equally obvious that this has been nothing but a benefit to music and to humanity at large.

Hold on , first of tough guy tr and pumpkins are hardly bloack metal or nazi in any way as far as i know , secondly I am not nazi

And look, it's pretty clear from the two discussions that I've seen you involved in that this message board isn't for you. I suggest, in all seriousness, that you wait until you're a little bit older, wiser and have more experience of the world, it's music and the people in it until you start posting here again, otherwise you may find yourself banned and unable to post at all.

*=Ask a grown-up who Henry Rollins is. Listening to 'Damaged' will put hair on your chest.
henry rollins ?

What the guy who that band black flag that had about as much impact as the other bands mentioned ?

33
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
18:50 / 30.07.06
really ? is that why they were such powerhoues in the previous two decades ?

what was the group milli vanili (sp?)

Words. Fucking. Fail me.

Remind me again why you're not a racist and you just don't like "that style"?
 
 
33
18:53 / 30.07.06
Perhaps, 33, you were simply born too late to a world that doesn't care?

Well i dont think my tastes are shared here thats for sure ..




33
 
 
33
18:55 / 30.07.06
what was the group milli vanili (sp?)

Words. Fucking. Fail me.

Remind me again why you're not a racist and you just don't like "that style"?

actually i take it one stage further and shock you homeboy , I actually did like a lot of ..... musicians in the previous 2 decades

Do u want a list ?




33
 
 
Jack Fear
19:09 / 30.07.06
No, frankly.

Anyway: Google and fileshares are only good if you know what you're looking for. What I would suggest is that you get broadband, if you haven't got it already, and start checking out the literally thousands of MP3blogs out there. Read the write-ups; download tons of tracks; and take the time to listen to them all. Delete the ones you don't like, and keep track of the ones you do. Hey-presto! You've just been exposed to all kinds of great new music, and you've avoided involving yourself in an online pissing contest.
 
 
33
19:16 / 30.07.06
thanks jack..

Perhaps I need to just create my own music...

33
 
 
paranoidwriter waves hello
19:17 / 30.07.06
THREADROT:

33, I've conversed with before (in this thread) and tried to get you to address your use of language, your assumptions, and the prejudices inherent therein. However, I feel that (at best) you are still showing a disturbing lack of self-awareness, which is making me fast lose any respect for you. Also, if you keep this up, there is every chance that people will start to consider calling for a ban.
 
 
Our Lady Has Left the Building
19:31 / 30.07.06
33, presuming that you do indeed rather want to discover new music and don't want to avoid anything that might make you change your ill-advised and offensive opinions:

1) Go to Fluxblog.

2) Download all the functioning MP3s that Flux has up.

3) Go through the music blogs listed down the right hand side. Many of them also have MP3 downloads.

4) If you can't find something that you like then that means you've been trolling this forum because it means you don't like ANY music.

Anyway, what kind of non-gay, non-black music do you like anyway?
 
 
33
19:36 / 30.07.06
severed heads
men without hats

33
 
 
MacDara
19:48 / 30.07.06
I mean a group like depeche mode still sells...

I'm sorry, I just did a spit take right there, reminiscing about my days on the shop floor at HMV, brushing dust off that stack of 'Exciter' CDs that must have been there for a few months before they went back to Mute with the returns. Still, the best-of comps sold like hot cakes.

Anyway, as regards the question: we're in a different climate today, where music doesn't need to be packaged for us or targeted to us by record companies or pop svengalis, at least not like it was before 1999.

It's like the difference between TV in the '70s and '80s, with only a few channels that everyone watched, to today's multichannel-land which spreads out the viewing audience much wider but more thinly; there's simply so much great music (which is not only out there being made but accessible to virtually anyone with an internet connection) that our attention is divided far more than it was in the past, when it was much easier to deify one particular artist as distinct from all others. So it was with U2, so it was with Nirvana, so it was with the Pumpkins, so it was with Marilyn Manson, and so it won't be with most of the artists emerging today. I don't think that's a bad thing, though. Does music have to be iconic to be original? Does it have to be original to be good? Not for me it doesn't.
 
 
Jackie Susann
22:24 / 30.07.06
I couldn't work out if this thread was a joke or not until I got to this bit:

Pharrell's In My Mind, a great album, with some fabulous rhymes.

HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAetc.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
22:48 / 30.07.06
First up, 33, you bold other people's quotes and do not bold your responses. You're getting it the wrong way round, which is making you more than necessarily incomprehensible.

Otherwise... would I be right in thinking that Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins were popular when you were in your late teens? Only, music + teenaged devotion often = THE BEST MUSIC EVAR!

Otherwise, I'd follow the advice above. Fluxblog links to huge numbers of music blogs, which have downloadable or playable tracks. Or you could get a last.fm account and tell it you wanted to listen to songs by artists that it thinks is like Nine Inch Nails or Smashing Pumpkins. Alternatively, you could just listen to Nine Inch Nails and Smashing Pumpkins. There's no law against it, and it might make you happier if listening to new music just upsets you.

Incidentally, you may be surprised to learn that music by black people was quite big in the 80s and 90s as well. I don't know if you've heard of Michael Jackson, but he was doing quite well back then.
 
  

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