Ninetales

This is like saying the ocean only has dolphins in it because you saw one jump out of the water once.

Frownland

Undeniable proof that the school systems in this country are worthless: here

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Urban Hat€monger ?

I think a lot of music from the 60s, 70s & 80s is crap. Especially the tons of soft rock/ pop rock that dominated the charts in the 70s.
I don't spend ages making up elaborate reasons for it, it's simply because I think it's crap.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

BTW, if you're into "pure" melody, unadorned stuff, here's some answers to your question.

Even my (70-something) mother likes Jack Johnson!




Then there's Fleet Foxes. 21st Century folk-rock. With the emphasis on the folk.

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Surell

I kinda think of then as like if Brian Wilson made the beach boys folky during his post-Smile abortion depression. At least that's what they strike me as on helplessness blues.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Hmmm. Don't seem to have enough harmonies IMO. I think Brian would still have made use of the group's unparalleled harmonic capabilities.

FF just sounds to me more like a modern-day Leonard Cohen, or any other folk singer.

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Surell

Really? I thought helplessness blues had a remarkable focus on harmonies, as well as densely layered instrumentation on at least some of the tracks. It may not be quite as complex or varied as Brian would have it, of course, but at least on that album (I don't know their earlier work as well) it puts a lot if emphasis on orchestration that I don't hear in a lot of folk or singer/songwriters, though to be perfectly honest those aren't exactly my best points of expertise.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Have you listened to a single one of the tunes I posted? It appears not. You're not even trying to like anything new. You're so insistent on using music to make your political point that you almost seem to be afraid to listen to anything that might prove you wrong.

Music has nothing to do with politics or education.

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galt54

Music has (or should) have nothing to do with politics.

But there is a link between music and education. Education has everything to do with the mind - and the mind has everything to do with music. Where does a piece of music come from if not from the mind of the songwriter/composer and the performer(s)?

And what will happen to a society's music if the schools of that society destroy the minds of the future songwriters/composers and performers?

duga

I think what people aren't realizing is ever since the rise of pop radio, it's been one giant study by the record companies to see which kinds of songs pull in the most listeners. It's been decades and they've successfully honed in on the perfect formula. To people with discerning ears, it is clearly repetitive. Most people just want something to play while they are doing other things...they are not active listeners. So most people don't mind.

I think you can't deny the rise and fall of the album as well. I'm going to use the Beatles as the point in time when albums started to gain credibility as an art form. Pre-Beatles, most pop music was very formulaic. Post-Beatles, the album started to gain popularity and more craft had to go into the music to ensure people bought them. While a single that sounds like 1,000 other singles is fine, an album of the same 4/4 vcv starts to get repetitive. Now we are seeing the rise of the single again. Albums are all but a niche interest. Repetitive sounds are taking over again.

That's not to say I don't think there are some pop songs that will stand the test of time out there. As most people have pointed out, there was crap music in all decades. I'm simply talking about a general trend.

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