Unpopular Musical Opinions: What are Yours?

[Stub Mandrel]

"I am a very good bass player"

[leftybassman392]

2 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I was really not referring to people such as how you describe yourself. Open-mindedness is great.

It's just the answer "Anything" is uninformative (doesn't give you any idea of what their listening is), and usually inaccurate (as you say, you don't listen to some stuff twice).

 

BTW I'm not a ghetto a dweller.... I listen to a wide range of music. For example the albums I bunged on my MP3 today are : DakhaBakha (Ukrainian folk) Naomi Bedford (English Folk), F**8 Buttons (Electronica), and The Fall (Post-punk) Gang of Four (post punk) and ALbertine Sarges (Indie) , Lorelle Meets the Obsolete (Pyche).

 

In the interest of clarity, the 'ghetto dweller' comment wasn't aimed at you (or anyone else particularly). It's just that from some of the posts I've read on this thread there seems to a bit of a 'I haven't tried it because I don't like it' vibe surfacing from time to time.

 

And while I'm here, it could be that in saying 'anything' to my host I could just as easily be checking out his/her musical taste. Just sayin'...

[Leonard Smalls]

4 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

saying 'anything' to my host

You won't like what's for dinner then!

😁

[Dad3353]

5 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

...I usually put something like this on...

 

Living poetry. 

[Passinwind]

Most of the Motown hits would've sounded much better if Jamerson et al played an Alembic. Or better yet, an upright.

[tegs07]

4 minutes ago, Passinwind said:

Most of the Motown hits would've sounded much better if Jamerson et al played an Alembic. Or better yet, an upright.

Alternatively it’s the quick production and low fi instruments and recording that that made early Motown so exciting.

[Leonard Smalls]

11 minutes ago, Passinwind said:

Most of the Motown hits would've sounded much better if Jamerson et al played an Alembic. Or better yet, an upright.

Or better still, if they'd got Larry Graham in to slap his way through!

 

[Passinwind]

6 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Alternatively it’s the quick production and low fi instruments and recording that that made early Motown so exciting.

I grew up listening to that stuff on a tiny transistor radio under my pillow late at night, never heard a hint of bass content ever. Same with my Mom's car radio back then. Exciting? Nah. Maybe once boom boxes came on the scene around the time the Jackson Five became the big thing, but IMO the production aesthetic started changing in a pretty big way around that time too. 

[drTStingray]

35 minutes ago, Passinwind said:

I grew up listening to that stuff on a tiny transistor radio under my pillow late at night, never heard a hint of bass content ever. Same with my Mom's car radio back then. Exciting? Nah. Maybe once boom boxes came on the scene around the time the Jackson Five became the big thing, but IMO the production aesthetic started changing in a pretty big way around that time too. 

I think this is true of a lot of people from the 60s - the bass was not very audible at that time through the sort of record players and radios people listened to the music on - it wasn’t until the end of the 60s when multi track recording using a lot of tracks became the norm, and in the U.K. at least, people started to seek out ‘hi fi’ stereo systems to play the new stereo records on (prior to that most output was mono). Who listened to it on the hissing coming and going Radio Luxembourg as well - I know I did!! 
 

However there was enough bass for players to be influenced by the Motown style - I certainly was - and in the later 70s you encountered new musicians like Bernard Edwards and Pino Palladino displaying their advanced take on Motown style, on far better instruments through far better amplification and recorded far better also - and these guys showed us the way!!! 
 

The original Motown thing only became major for bass players more generally in the late 80s with the general unmasking of the hitherto unknown players and with transcriptions and playalongs from the ‘Standing on the Shadows of Motown’ book. Along with people insisting on playing it on sunburst elderly Precisions (but forgetting about the Motown interface they played them through and effectively turning the clock back to the 60s)!!! Rather a lot of rose tinted glasses and complete ignorance of the improved instruments and amps, and players who developed from that style in the altogether more bass focussed 70s and 80s!! 
 

I don’t have a problem with 60s stuff - I do with the insistence that this was the be all and end all of everything - it was characterised by pretty poor reproduction of generally mono recordings recorded on embryonic multi track systems - with pretty rudimentary amplification and many cases, instruments!! 

Edited May 27, 2022 by drTStingray

[leftybassman392]

1 hour ago, Leonard Smalls said:

You won't like what's for dinner then!

😁

 

Twerp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tegs07]

18 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

don’t have a problem with 60s stuff - I do with the insistence that this was the be all and end all of everything - it was characterised by pretty poor reproduction of generally mono recordings recorded on embryonic multi track systems - with pretty rudimentary amplification and many cases, instruments!! 

I grew up abroad and the only music I had access to were my parents old ‘60s stuff, a bit of blues, reggae and motown. I loved it then and still do today. Whilst I don’t think its the be all of everything I generally prefer the closest a recording can get to the bands/artists live sound. I’ve lost track of the number of bands Ive seen live and been really disappointed with the album on its release or in many cases the second album after a successful debut that is (imo) ruined by over production and so polished it’s just sterile.

Edited May 27, 2022 by tegs07

[leftybassman392]

Evan Parker.

 

That is all.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

15 hours ago, leftybassman392 said:

Evan Parker.

 

That is all.

Some of his stuff is a little bit out there...

But this is a gateway drug to it!

 

[Fishfacefour]

Love Evan Parker.

He does his thing so well and a lovely guy too.

[Newfoundfreedom]

1 hour ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Some of his stuff is a little bit out there...

But this is a gateway drug to it!

 

 

That's a gateway drug in the same sense as taking crack for a mild headache. 😂

[BassTractor]

It now seems like loving Derek Bailey and Evan Parker is the popular opinion!

Does this thread quickly develop us?
Good, good.
🙂

Edited May 28, 2022 by BassTractor

[Leonard Smalls]

18 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

It now seems like loving Derek Bailey and Evan Parker is the popular opinion!

I suspect that's overstating it somewhat!

I don't think even a noticeable minority of BCers are ParkerBaileyBrotzmann fans!

And talking of gateway drugs, here's one to Derek...

 

 

[BassTractor]

3 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

I suspect that's overstating it somewhat!

Aye, and hence the smiley, but I hadn't expected them to even be mentioned, so the last pages brought a smile to my face.
As for unpopular opinions, I remain of the opinion that Vivaldi was a hack (for want of a better word), and that Bach was one of the greatest composers ever ...
... greater even than people who get singles in the Top 40. 😄

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by BassTractor

[Leonard Smalls]

Just now, BassTractor said:

Bach was one of the greatest composers ever

He could write a good choon, but like with Bob Dylan, covers are better!

👌😁

 

 

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

As for unpopular opinions, I remain of the opinion that Vivaldi was a hack (for lack of a better word), and that Bach was one of the greatest composers ever ...

 

Amongst plenty of musicians this is not remotely an unpopular opinion, but straightforward Gospel truth. After Beethoven and then Mozart, it's now Bachs turn with the title of greatest ever composer, taking dictation from on high blah blah blah. 

[JottoSW1]

24 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

Aye, and hence the smiley, but I hadn't expected them to even be mentioned, so the last pages brought a smile to my face.
As for unpopular opinions, I remain of the opinion that Vivaldi was a hack (for lack of a better word), and that Bach was one of the greatest composers ever ...
... greater even than people who get singles in the Top 40. 😄

Oddly though Bach was a huge Vivaldi fan, hence the Italian Concerto.

They were as different as possible religiously and personally but both had to produce a lot of music in their (religious) working musician context.

Bach towers over all of his contemporaries, if you want a prolific "hack" of the same period Telemann sure churned music out

[Leonard Smalls]

14 minutes ago, JottoSW1 said:

Bach towers over all of his contemporaries

Amazing how many times you hear folks saying "in 1000 years time, folks will still be playing The Beatles songs...

Funnily enough, Bach himself was largely forgotten until re-popularised by Mendelsohn nearly 80 years after JS's death.

So I don't hold out much hope for JohnPaulGeorgeandRingo (at least I hope not to 😁)

[Dad3353]

1 minute ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Amazing how many times you hear folks saying "in 1000 years time, folks will still be playing The Beatles songs...

 

Nah, they're so 'Yesterday'. 

[JottoSW1]

Who Knows. 1000 years might be too much of a stretch for anything.

Remember Tom Petty babbling and comparing Brian Wilson to Mozart (lol)

For all we know they might revere Freddy and the Dreamers or Joe Meek in a couple of hundred years. Even ABBA ?

Edited May 28, 2022 by JottoSW1

[shoulderpet]

On 27/05/2022 at 10:33, SteveXFR said:

 

I know this is unpopular opinions but you've just crossed a line

I like Duran Duran too