[SpectralJulianIsNotDead]

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

I've thought about it some more, and I'm going with "longevity".

maybe it's just the glut of music that's "out there" or maybe it's just not as good, but I really don't hear much today that makes me think "these guys will still be huge in 30 years".

I can see that.

Listening to Wavves or New Age or Sic Alps I can't really see myself listening to them seriously 10 years from now. To me they're this age's "new wave" music: fun, kitschy stuff that isn't very deep that is more reflective of the period than timeless. They might as well be the fucking Cars or Corey Heart or Alphaville, because that's what they'll be to me in the future. Ok, maybe I'll give them a little more credit and say they might as well be the Vapors.

Of course there is stuff that's longer lasting than that. I think Sonic Youth, Deerhoof, and Mission of Burma are doing things that are a bit more timeless.

I really don't think that there is so much of a problem of bands running out of space or things to do, I think the problem is more that bands tend to pigeon hole themselves into one genre or another instead of just trying to do something that is honest and from their experiences.

Playing in bands I see this a lot. I see people go "oh let's make a shoegaze band," or I'll hear about some show that has a bunch of "math bands." Or let's write a "ska" song. It's just silly.

Just pick up your instrument and let it play you and see what comes out.

[Glice]

Originally Posted by sarramkrop

What records did you use to make it? And what records are you adding to it?

I was wondering what happens to all the unwanted shit that people throw away in disgust.

It's all the stuff that sit in charity shops forever - wrecked copies of Blue singles, REM best ofs, Mr Blobby Christmas single...All CDs. I'll post photos if I like it when it's finished.

Originally Posted by Glice

It's all the stuff that sit in charity shops forever - wrecked copies of Blue singles, REM best ofs, Mr Blobby Christmas single...All CDs. I'll post photos if I like it when it's finished.

Nice.

Shape it into a garden gnome made entirely of shit records, then call a teenage girl, sit her on a bench, and convince her to read her secret diary to it.

[Glice]

Isn't that the plot of a David Bowie song?

[Rob Instigator]

 

Originally Posted by Glice

Isn't that the plot of a David Bowie song?

I'm miming to your post. Do you mind?

[afterthefact]

Originally Posted by SpectralJulianIsNotDead

I see people go "oh let's make a shoegaze band," or I'll hear about some show that has a bunch of "math bands." Or let's write a "ska" song. It's just silly.

Just pick up your instrument and let it play you and see what comes out.

Does this piss you off as much as it does me? I have a friend who used to live in LA and was in some band called Amity, and they toured Warped Tour and stuff. Now he is here and he wants us to start a band, and he's all about starting some dance electro-clash band because he thinks that will sell well. I told him I have no interest in making that music, and he said that he didn't either, but we could make money doing it (even that is doubtful in my opinion). He would also talk about this guitarist he knew who left this pretty decent band to play guitar for Ashley Simpson and how cool that is, and I pointed out to him that it wasn't cool. Of course he goes back to the money thing, saying how it IS cool cause he is raking it in.

[GeneticKiss]

I have to agree with many of the points made in this thread but disagree with others. Really, I think the biggest problem with music today is there's too much willingness to either duplicate the past or do something completely out there, and there's far more pressure to do the former. Recording technology has progressed to the point that it is easy to duplicate the sounds heard on your favorite records, and too many young bands are under the illusion that they'll sound "more professional" if they sound like established artists. But all that really does is homogenize (sp?) guitar sounds. In the past, amps did have their own unique sound but the player's touch came through, and recording equipment varied by studio/engineer, so differences were inevitable. Nowdays, amp modeling and Pro Tools have made it easy to recreate sounds already heard, so any guitar/amp sound can be produced from any guitar/amp combo. Combine that with the prevailing attitude that what's been done before was better than anything new, i.e. scooping your amp EQ because Metallica did, playing all downstroked barre chords because the Ramones did, etc, and you get the soulless dreck that a lot of music is nowdays.

[wellcharge]

the responses to this thread have brought a different question to my mind...do you guys have to be right and have the greatest taste all the time?

it seems from the posts i've read here, everything you like is some kind of
timeless reflection of all the truth in the universe

the stuff you don't like.... some completely meaningless shit that the damages the state of music as a whole and has no right to exist

i don't need every record i listen to the most important and groundbreaking thing in the world, and it'd be a huge waste of time to pick stuff out worrying about whether or not i'll like it in ten years.

maybe what's missing is people just liking music and having some enthusiasm for it, instead of wanting to have the best taste and be more of a musical authority than the other guys with soulseek accounts

[Rob Instigator]

re-rteading thsi whole thread, and no one's responses come even close to what you are claiming wellcharge. the thread asked for personal OPINIONS and eprsonal opinions came out. to label it elitist is pointless. OF COURSE it is elitist. I WANT to listen to the best shit, the most interesting shit, the most well-done shit. If that is elitist then thank you for calling me the elite.

[Rob Instigator]

mediocrity is accomplished by those who "like" something and are "enthusiastic." true greatness is accomplished by those that seek to be the best at whatever is chosen.

[wellcharge]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

re-rteading thsi whole thread, and no one's responses come even close to what you are claiming wellcharge. the thread asked for personal OPINIONS and eprsonal opinions came out. to label it elitist is pointless. OF COURSE it is elitist. I WANT to listen to the best shit, the most interesting shit, the most well-done shit. If that is elitist then thank you for calling me the elite.

rereading my whole post, no sentences come close to the word elitist, more like hopelessly pretentious, but you can take that tag if you like, and i wasn't referring to any of your comments i know you just want to rock out and that's fine

if you don't like something just say it sucks, don't predict what people will think of it in the future, predict it's frequent thrift store appearances, or daydream about melting all known copies, making fun of it on sy gossip is enough.

i find it hilariously contradictory that anything using pre existing ideas is somehow shit, pretty much everyone here at least claims to like coltrane, do you guys realise he spent the first half of his career playing scales fast over broadway melodies? formulaic, commercial.....and great, matter of fact people still listen to it seriously and it's been more than ten years. and he didn't "just pick up his instrument and see what comes out" he said "let's make jazz" which apparently is lame and guarantees shit music

[Savage Clone]

Not liking something and just saying "it sucks" is the lamest cop-out there is, and provides no insight into WHY one thinks some piece of art is sub-par. I like to hear why people dislike something. Sometimes the right person describing something they can't stand in enough detail will actually convince me I would personally love it.

Then again, I am both an unrepentant elitist and extremely pretentious.

And you all have horrible, horrible taste.

[wellcharge]

sadly people adding insight into why they don't like something ends up looking alot like this article
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=31223

[Savage Clone]

Well, I didn't say I approved of academic jackasses...

[wellcharge]

well that's what i don't approve of, and what i saw in most comments in this thread

i don't have a problem with someone saying "the lyrics were stupid" or "the synth tone was cheesy" "the guitar solo started getting wanky after about 200 bars" etc. that's fine, complaining that an album didn't remold the universe in it's image is fine also i guess, but i find it annoying

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

mediocrity is accomplished by those who "like" something and are "enthusiastic." true greatness is accomplished by those that seek to be the best at whatever is chosen.

I don't know if that's true. In some instances it is, obviously, but did a band like, oh I dunno, pick any great sixties garage band, want to be 'the best' or were they just a bunch of teenagers psyched at the idea of being in a band? If anything, their greatness seems to have had more to do with their pragmatic desire simply to get on with it than any need to be the best.

[automatic bzooty]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to demonrail666 again.

[ni'k]

why dont we just make a seperate thread for everyone who wants to post "Dont be so pretnesus its just rock n roll fun rock out sonic lyfe!!!!!!!!!!!!!111"

and no wellcharge, you don't find it "hilariously contradictory that anything using pre existing ideas is somehow shit" that's just a failed attempt to pretend you know what yr talking about. noone made that claim because its impossible.

in response to yr instructions that "if you don't like something just say it sucks, don't predict what people will think of it in the future, predict it's frequent thrift store appearances, or daydream about melting all known copies, making fun of it on sy gossip is enough." i'll have to say no, and that i'll discuss music in whatever way i want and simply saying it sucks may be enough for you but it's not enough for most of us who actually enjoy hearing other people's opposing and conflicting viewpoints.

there's a fine line between having a valid disagreement with something and angry anti intellectualism, how surprising that certain people here lapse into the latter when anyone dares critique sonic youth.

by the way, most of the time when someone on this board uses the word pretentious they mean "i don't understand that and thus i don't like it and am trying to look as if i am somehow qualified to dismiss it."

try a bit harder next time.

[automatic bzooty]

most of the time when someone uses the word pretentious, they mean "i don't understand that and thus i don't like it and am trying to look as if i am somehow qualified to dismiss it."

it's not just syg.