Is it me or is the current music scene CRAP!

[skankdelvar]

Short thoughts:

* Mainstream media plays 99% pap. X-factor nonsense sells because LCD achieves best sales among people who don't actually like music.
* Mainstream 'Popular' music has always been crap. Look at what was big in the singles charts during 70's heyday of classic rock. Mungo Jerry? Englebert? All sh*te.
* Web now full of good gear. But too difficult to find. Need uber-site
* Too many bands everywhere, mostly derivative. Cull required.
* Radio 2 has two country shows but no proper 'rock' show.
* Big 5 Record companies playing it safer than ever, rely on under-funded indies to develop talent
* 'Rock' has lost it's danger. Used to be about 'rebelling' - sex, drugs, alternative lifestyle etc. Now it's an HND career option. Neutered, toothless. Gareth Gates.
* We've run out of chords / melodies - all been done. Jazz only answer, all hail King Bilbo

[YouMa]

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='463594' date='Apr 16 2009, 02:36 AM']Another reason bands today don't sound as good is because we are used to listening to them on MP3's.

As I'm sure you all know over 90% of the auditory information of a music recording is lost when compressed to MP3.[/quote]

Yes Vinyl rocks,as well as the full size art FLAC stuff is ok though.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='AM1' post='463558' date='Apr 16 2009, 12:20 AM']I have not seen one guitarist on youtube who can nail the solo in The Rover with that perfect phrasing on the original.[/quote]

Could this thread be summarised as simply "The kids don't understand that metal is better than what they listen to because it's harder to play"?

Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.

[ARGH]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='463600' date='Apr 16 2009, 04:20 AM']Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.[/quote]
Words spoken from someone that knows f***all about Metal there.

[OldGit]

[quote name='ARGH' post='463578' date='Apr 16 2009, 01:06 AM']Im sorry to say,Seth Lakeman is coffee table folk...He looks good in a Polo neck all sweaty..and yeah He can belt a tune out..but its not dangerous....its summat for Radio 2 evenings and Sunday mornings.[/quote]

Oh sorry, mea culpa.
I didn't realise the "music scene" had to be dangerous.

Yeah Seth looks good as do the other "young" folksters getting radio play. In case you are wondering this is what he does

The way they looks is undoubtedly a key factor in their success (as it ever was). However he also recorded his first album in his kitchen and "released" it himself and he's tearing up Uni crowds with a violin and tenor acoustic guitar...

I'm no great ambassador of folk but this shows that it isn't all factory pop/pap that's being successful.

Incidentally isn't there a huge metal scene where great riffs on bass and guitar still survive?
Trivium for example?

[4000]

[quote name='AM1' post='463445' date='Apr 15 2009, 10:05 PM']That's exactly what I mean by commercialised. It's not about talent, it's about marketability. The quality is dire...unless you really, really dig around.

All the bands I liked as a teenager are what I'm still listening to! Purely because there's so little around that can match up it in terms of musicality.

This is a truly crap time for good music, compared to the late 80s/early 90s..[/quote]

I once had an online argument with someone about this; his era was was the 60s and he was saying exactly the same thing you are, except in his case nothing lived up to the 60s/70s. As I said at the time, my dad says a similar thing; anything after Count Basie is junk, and that includes the Beatles. Personally I much prefer the 70s to the 80s/90s, because that's when I discovered music. For most people it's all about what era you grew up in and the music that moved you most at that time. The music you liked most as a teenager is normally the music you like most ever after, unless you have a very open mind or are easily bored, or simply weren't into music at all as a teenager. That doesn't mean there isn't good music out there, it just means there might not be music that does it in the same way for you out there. Every decade will have its followers because they'll grow up with the music of that decade, and every decade will have music that you may like and music that you probably won't.

What I find depressing is the complete lack of availability of gigs for originals bands, certainly in our area. We're averaging about a gig a year these days, which is pathetic.

Edited April 16, 2009 by 4000

[Adrenochrome]

Hmmm, I'm still convinced that the good music is there... just undiscovered so far.
As regards musicianship: when I started attending gigs regularly in the 80s, it was usual for half the band to be so p1ssed/stoned that they could hardly play at all - contrast this to now when the playing at most gigs is absolutely spot on, it's a huge difference!
I do agree that the gigs seemed more dangerous and edgy. I think the current accessability of instruments and technology has been a good thing (more people can be involved) but has also taken away some of the mystique since almost anyone can now play/record music.

[4000]

[quote name='AM1' post='463560' date='Apr 16 2009, 12:24 AM']No, it's not nostalgia, it's just disappointment at the lack of outstanding musicianship, in most genres.



I am open minded enough to be able to recognise great musicianship, whatever the genre, even if I don't like the music, I appreciate on a "musician" level.

For example, I absolutely hate Moby's music, but I can recognise that he is an extremely talented musician.[/quote]

In terms of technical ability, musicians now are probably better than they've ever been. When I started playing I used to scare people in music shops. Now I'm not even 10th rate; there are teenagers out there way better than me.

[OldGit]

[quote name='ARGH' post='463633' date='Apr 16 2009, 08:28 AM']Words spoken from someone that knows f***all about Metal there.[/quote]

Yeah I know very little about metal too. Learning though...

Whatever brand of metal it is they pay at my gym to help the body builders get angry enough to lift 16 tons , I get to hear about 3 hours of it a week.
The English language ones are all about kill kill kill, fighting battles in the Dungeons and Dragons way, my sword is bigger than yours and we will kick your head in. You will know us by the trail of the dead, etc....
The rest I assume to be in Swedish or German.
The musical prowess is clear (especially the drummers amazing bass drum playing) but the music is largely interchangeable between tracks. When a melody breaks out it's quickly squashed.

Mind you it's better than the misogynistic rap that gets played in between ...

[OldGit]

[quote name='4000' post='463647' date='Apr 16 2009, 08:45 AM']What I find depressing is the complete lack of availability of gigs for originals bands, certainly in our area. We're averaging about a gig a year these days, which is pathetic.[/quote]


Been down this one before (regularly) - fill the venues with drinking punters and your orginal band will get as many gigs as you want.
Alternatively put on yoru own gigs.

[alexclaber]

[quote name='4000' post='463647' date='Apr 16 2009, 08:45 AM']What I find depressing is the complete lack of availability of gigs for originals bands, certainly in our area.[/quote]

That and the collapse of the recording based business model due to illegal downloads being the way most people acquire their music. And that the venues in Brighton have a habit of being filled during term time by the automatons from BIMM.

I don't think the music scene is any better or worse than it's ever been - the benefit of time is that the mediocre stuff gets forgotten.

Alex

[Twigman]

[quote name='4000' post='463647' date='Apr 16 2009, 08:45 AM']What I find depressing is the complete lack of availability of gigs for originals bands, certainly in our area. We're averaging about a gig a year these days, which is pathetic.[/quote]

We have not played in the UK for 20 odd years.

They're still mad for original bands in Italy and Spain and Greece etc and they pay well too.

[Tee]

True, a lot of music today is cack. The internet can be good for finding new bands, but today you have to wade through an almighty river of sh*t, because well, there are just more bands around nowadays.

Ignore the 'music scene' that is pushed upon you. I for one, do not listen to the radio and haven't for more than a decade. Might i suggest checking out podcasts in particular genres of music, generally made by enthusiastic music fans with their fingers on the pulse and a huge vinyl/CD collection. Or alternatively, websites, blogs and labels. You can discover a whole world of new bands you had no idea existed.

[Moody]

This is really interesting! Personally, as I think a previous poster mentioned, it's so much easier to get stuff "out there" these days via the likes of MySpace/Last.fm that I suppose you need a really good "crap filter". Having said that, one persons load of old crap is someone else's pure genius. I also thing ‘the kids’ are perfectly entitled to find their own Led Zeps and Beatles. Stuff I find absolutely cack (Klaxons and CSS spring to find), the kids love and fair play to them.

It did however remind me of a story from my youth, when GnR were massive and on the front of Kerrang! every week, a mate at school and lent me a tape. I had it on my walkman for ages, my mum quizzed me as to who it was, nonchalantly I said "It's this new band, you wouldn’t know who they are", "Is that right son?" "Yes mother, they're called 'Alice Cooper'". She then went to her record collection and pulled out a couple of Alice Cooper albums - I died.

Keep an open mind and the crap filter fully engaged you’ll still find some crackers out there.

[Bilbo]

Too much competition. I am told that PC/PS3/X-Box gaming is now bigger than music and film. AT £40+ a game, this is money that previously would have gone on music. There are musicians out there that earn a better living composing for games than they ever did for playing live. I guess a lot of these gamers are also less likely to go out to watch bands.

When I was a young developing player, I could go out and see name bands doing 40 date national tours and each tour would present you with a new support band (or two). There also seemed to be more festivals etc. Nowadays its a night or two at the big, big venues. Ticket prices are prohibitive (£100+ for some gigs - what the hell is THAT about). My point is not that the opportunities to see live music are not there, simply that they take up a lot more of your disposable income than they did when I was a kid. I used to go out 3/4 nights a week watching live bands, many for free. Now, despite earning more than 90% of the UK public, I can't afford to go and see the major bands (tickets plus travel).

Rock is no longer the voice of youth but the voice of corporate America. If you don't sell big, you don't sell at all. This process only serves to homogenise things (like tv; hundreds of channels all basically targeting the same demographics). All this is, however, changing and new options are presenting themselves but, as has been said, it is no longer enough to be a passive consumer. You have to go looking.

Like all art forms, the avant garde becomes mainstream and then conservative before assuming its righful place as a minority interest.

PS - I saw Mungo Jerry at The Cartoon in Croydon in 1988. They rocked.

[Golchen]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='463600' date='Apr 16 2009, 04:20 AM']Could this thread be summarised as simply "The kids don't understand that metal is better than what they listen to because it's harder to play"?

Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.[/quote]


er ........... yeah ................ thanks for that educated opinion.

[OldGit]

Ah I remember now ..

It really was like a scene from Hi Fidelity


We used to go into the local Music Shop (they weren't "Stores" then) and ask the Record Shop Bloke (they weren't "Guys" then either") what he had in that was new that was like a band we liked.

He'd say "if you like them you may like these" and send us off to the listening booth with some record or other.

Re-live those days this Saturday, 18th April, [b]Record Store Day[/b]
[url="http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home"]http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home[/url]

Find what's left of the local record shops from the list here:
[url="http://www.recordstoreday.com/UnitedKingdom"]http://www.recordstoreday.com/UnitedKingdom[/url]


I'll be buying Easy Star All Stars new album: Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band from [url="http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venue/5277"]Spillers in Cardiff,[/url] the oldest record shop in the world.

[Geoff]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='463600' date='Apr 16 2009, 04:20 AM']Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.[/quote]

I love my band, but you have just summarised the lyrics of our whole set. Our singer is a big geek though.

I think there is loads of good music out there, you've just gotta know where to look and youve gotta look hard. Lets face it, generally people dont want to be listening to music that they have to think about, they want it on in the background with a simple beat they can dance to, or simple lyrical patterns they can sing along too. Hence why most of the highly marketable music is like that.

I wouldnt say people cant play well now either. Most shows I play with have young metal bands on the bill, with 13 year old players that a ripping through solo's etc. Technically were The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath really that good? What they had were feeling, which is what may be lacking now, but I dont think anyone can say that younger musicians now are lazier/worse then musicians back in the 60s and 70s.

Maybe its just because of the scene im most interested in, but checking out magazines like Terrorizer, Zero Tolerance and even Metal Hammer seems to be throwing up some interesting bands to check out.

[Hamster]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='463600' date='Apr 16 2009, 04:20 AM']Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.[/quote]

You say that like it's a bad thing!

[BigBeefChief]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='463600' date='Apr 16 2009, 04:20 AM']Metal does itself no favours image-wise, with all the stupid songs about dragons and satan and pixies and hobbits or whatever. It's only ever going to appeal to people who read fantasy novels and attend sci-fi conventions.[/quote]


I agree.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind rockin' out, but when some dude with long hair starts singing about slaying dragons, or a dude with make up starts shouting about taking a dump in a church, it kinda turns into self-parody.

[alexclaber]

I blame Robert Plant - "In the darkest depths of Mordor..."

Alex

[escholl]

wow, lots of cynicism here. maybe we're just very lucky, but my originals band has had no problem getting gigs lately, and i've had no problem finding amazing musicians to listen to.

i don't even know where to start to be honest, so i'll just say this -- the internet has changed things, get used to it. stop whining, and learn how to use it to your advantage. the music scene, both live and recorded, is better than ever in my view, and...yea. i could rant all day about this, but i won't. musicians today aren't better or worse than they were 20 or 50 years ago, they're just not playing the exact same stuff. good musicians are good musicians, regardless of the era. and there's plenty of them about today.

but really, it's all been downhill since the mid-romantic era anyways.

[BigBeefChief]

I think we peaked at Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.


I think it's an age thing. There are probably some great bands and musicians around today that I would have loved in my teens. Life has turned me into a bitter old cynic who hates everything now.

If you think all modern music is crap, the music aint the problem, YOU are.

In 200 years time people will be having the same conversation and ranting how good bands were in their youth were.

People cite the Beatles as a great pop band. Indeed they were. Listen to a lot of their albums in their entirety and there's a lot of crap on there. We forget about these though.



In my day you could leave your front door unlocked and Bobbies were 7ft high, but you don't hear me complaining.

[escholl]

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='463733' date='Apr 16 2009, 10:31 AM']In my day you could leave your front door unlocked and Bobbies were 7ft high, but you don't hear me complaining.[/quote]

i remember when all this were fields, mind you...

[BigBeefChief]

...jumpers for goal posts, the sound of leather on willow and Boney M riding high in the charts.