starrynight

I'd rather say most famous than most important.

Rainard Jalen

The most acclaimed. And therefore the most important. To be important necessitates being known. If something is so obscure as to not be somewhat widely recognized as great then it can have no importance in wider circles. Simple as that.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

Unexpect should be releasing an album at the end of the month. They're a tremendous band, so I don't know why they don't get much excitement/coverage.

Fables of the Sleepless Empire - Unexpect

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Al Pacino = God

starrynight

But you don't know what people in the future will consider to be important, why limit myself to what gets hyped now? There's loads of stuff out there. I do listen to some hyped albums because that is what people discuss, but that doesn't mean I agree about their importance.

starrynight

There's a big difference though between what you call 'cult' and being one of the most famous records of the year. And really what does 'relevant' mean? Hip? I don't care if something is hip or not, fashion changes every few years anyway. Same with influence. It's importance is something which is ephemeral and so not that important to me.

Rainard Jalen

Relevant as in it defines a genre or a movement or the like. Relevant to the progression, evolution and development of a scene or tide within the musical arena.

Important as in it's generally remembered and not forgotten.

I do appreciate the points you are making and at times might have put forth the same sorts of arguments myself. Since value is such a subjective notion of course it is easy to say that no one thing is inherently any better than another. It's just what people decide to attribute to it. Quite right, quite true. Still, I think it misses the wider point and isn't really what I'm trying to get at when I speak of relevance, importance and whatnot.

I make my points in full consideration that there's no real inherent value to albums, bands etc. For the meanings I'm using for the adjectives I'm using, however - and I do believe they are widely accepted meanings - I think my usage is correct.

On the same token, I do respect your right to see importance, relevance and whatnot in a different light.

Scarlett O'Hara

As much as I generally like Lady Gaga's album by individual song perspective, it was WAY over hyped. She said it would be the pop record of the decade. What a complete let down.

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djchameleon

Everything about Lady Gaga is way over hyped that's just how she rolls.
I personally like her new album even if it's a bit more of the same with a little world dance twist to it. I notice in some of the songs she added elements from different dance scenes around the world. I would have liked one or two more piano heavy/oriented tracks though.




This OP reminds me that I need to check out the new TV on the Radio

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

starrynight

And who decides what the tide of music is (what perspective they take on that)? Or what defines a particular genre? Some critics somewhere who probably have their own biases.

And I never said "no one thing is inherently any better than another" or that there is "no real inherent value to albums, bands etc". Of course something can be better than something else in that it may be more inventive, but you have to compare things in the same style to do that.

Rainard Jalen

Again, I agree with everything you say in principle. But don't feel it really takes account of what I'm trying to getting at.

Out of interest, and to make this overall discussion a bit more interesting, what are your personal favourite indie releases of the year? I am curious to see where you're coming from in terms of personal taste.