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Old 06-17-2013, 07:39 PM   #1 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by DriveYourCarDownToTheSea View Post
@Surell,

Those are definitely interesting songs. That said, it's pretty much what I would expect of "progressive" pop/rock nowadays - lots of electronics, de-emphasis on melody. "Interesting," but not "beautiful" or what I would call "emotionally moving." I'd give them credit for technique/technical prowess, but lacking emotion/passion.

I found myself listening to the 2nd song more intently. Hard to tell, but it sounded like some interesting time signature changes were going on - like, 3/8 with interruptions of ... something else.

If pop music were to go in this direction, I would consider it a step in the right direction, but would still yearn for the 1960-1990 years.
The stuff you yearn for is still around, it's just not in the pop charts.
And nor should it be.
If the current generation of kids were interested in listening to 40 year old country ballads I would be seriously worried about the future of music.
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Old 06-17-2013, 07:45 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Perhaps I should have said, "I would still prefer the 1960-1990 years."

As an aside, I'm surprised at how many teenagers and 20-something I encounter not only like, but prefer that 40-year-old music. When I was a teenager it was almost unheard of to prefer 40-year-old music. The fact that so many young people these days like this stuff, is one more reason why I suspect there really is something to the notion that popular music then had something today's music lacks.
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Old 06-17-2013, 07:50 PM   #3 (permalink)
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I remember people saying the exact same thing in the 80s and in the 90s.
It's not unusual at all.

When you first start to look at music past what's in the charts the big names from the past are nearly always your first reference to non chart music.
Some people stick with that, others decide that they don't want to listen to old music all the time and then go out & find music that appeals to them that's being made today.
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Old 06-17-2013, 10:13 PM   #4 (permalink)
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None of these points are new to me, and all have some validity.

Here's my position: there was always low-quality pop, but great stuff (mostly with regard to lyrics) rarely is made anymore. There has been a noted decline in the percentage of ballads among hit songs in the past decade or so (compare Katy Perry and Lady Gaga with Madonna), and ballads in my opinion comprise most of the great pop songs of all time. The loss of great pop includes reasons mentioned by others, along with the MTV-fueled increase emphasis on appearance, (research-demonstrated) greater narcissism among today's young people (I mean fans and musicians, with less of an ability to go emotionally deep), the replacement of rock with rap on major stations and channels, more emphasis on the not-very-fluent-in-English part of the international market (which almost automatically limits lyrical complexity), and the decline of quality musicians among male pop stars. I'm not going to open one can of worms from that list. Instead I will expand on the male thing with the risqué point that men generally write better love songs than women do, probably because men 'need' women more than women 'need' men and male pop artists have trouble getting fan loyalty without strong ballads - but the industry has shifted toward the other way male artists can get loyalty (albeit not as much as female pop stars can), which is through widespread sex appeal. I am oversimplifying things, because it's a complicated subject and I don't have enough free time.
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Old 06-22-2013, 06:34 PM   #5 (permalink)
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Alright Surell, you can pat yourself on the back. On Friday I listened to 3 Animal Collective albums at work, and it was interesting enough that today I bought two of them (Meriweather Post Pavillion and Centipede Hz). When I listened to Strawberry Jam at work I liked it too and am about to buy it from amazon.com.

Merriweather Post Pavillion is definitely the best album. I noticed in the Wiki article about it some reviewers noted it was 'Beach Boys-esque.' In spite of the vast differences between the groups, I could actually understand their point. The first 3 song on MPP are definitely the best - and the 3rd is the best of all. Maybe this will eventually be regarded as the Pet Sounds or Sgt Pepper of the early 21st Century? Or, being as the band is more akin to a 21st Century version of Yes, maybe it's the Fragile of the early 21st Century.

That said, it's still not as good as the 60's-70's stuff. It's very interesting and complex music, but doesn't have the emotional impact the BB's or Beatles, for example, have. On the 3 albums, only 1 song (the 3rd on MPP) had any emotional impact on me.

Also, because so many of the songs are so busy and musically dense, I found myself feeling tense after a while (especially after listening to Centipede Hz). I had this urge to put on Surfer Girl to relax myself after listening to that stuff after a while.

Anyway, if I buy 3 albums of a band after listening to their music, that's a sure sign I'm impressed. You have succeeded - at least partially.
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Old 06-22-2013, 09:17 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Well, whad'ya know. I check out the Animal Collective forum, and guess what I find?

CLICKY

I can't help but wonder if Surell knew about that and figure'd I'd eventually hook onto AC because of my BB interest?
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Old 06-22-2013, 11:43 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Can't ... resist ...

This is a new-vs-old comparison where I actually think the new song holds up well to the old one!



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Old 12-15-2013, 02:42 AM   #8 (permalink)
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There have been some artists/bands which have made good songs during the latest 25 years - for example: Madonna, Oasis, No Doubt, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and probably many which I am unfamiliar with (I have been largely out of touch with the new music scene since the early 1980s).
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Old 12-15-2013, 03:44 AM   #9 (permalink)
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One reason that generally the quality is poorer today that (say) in the 70/80s (despite the improvement in studio techniques, etc) is that bands very rarely these days get out and gig and gig and gig and gig and gig.

Nothing shows through more than a band expert in live performance, and nothing exposes the instant superstar more than lack of this priceless thing called 'work'.

Fans today are lazy too. Content to download in ignorance rather than get out and form views on live bands for themselves.

Try it. It is so rewarding.
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Old 12-15-2013, 06:28 AM   #10 (permalink)
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Quote:
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One reason that generally the quality is poorer today that (say) in the 70/80s (despite the improvement in studio techniques, etc) is that bands very rarely these days get out and gig and gig and gig and gig and gig.

Nothing shows through more than a band expert in live performance, and nothing exposes the instant superstar more than lack of this priceless thing called 'work'.

Fans today are lazy too. Content to download in ignorance rather than get out and form views on live bands for themselves.

Try it. It is so rewarding.
So you want bands that don't get out and perform live to do so. It will suck and nobody wants to see sucky live performances.

Live performances/concerts are NOT the end all be all of the music experience. I'm one of those "lazy" fans that prefer to hear quality studio sound than shitty raw sounding live performance.
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