Garbage music

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bobert
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 02:33 PM

Yeah, festivals are great... That's about all I performed at over the last 7-8 years and have met some fine folks...

CBBaby is an online CD company where just about every "indie" artist sell their CDs but on any given day you might get 30 new CDs come in there so it is hard too keep up...

B~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: PHJim
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 10:59 AM

Bobert,
I've found that I'll attend a festival because of the performers with whom I'm familiar and enjoy, but nearly always leave the festival all excited about someone I've just heard for the first time.
Perhaps it's due to my circle of friends and acquaintances, but I'm constantly having new acts recommended.
I'm unfamiliar with CDBaby and don't believe that I've ever been exposed for the first time to any performer via internet, except by personal emails.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bobert
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 09:35 AM

It really isn't about folks we learned about 10-15 years ago still making music as much as it is learning about new folks making music...

Most folks don't have the time to track down stuff on the internet or even CDBaby for new material and there just aren't old time radio stations that play a variety of music, new and old...

There is definitely a void and it hurts musicians as well as the consumers...

B~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Ole Juul
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 09:19 AM

Thanks for the vote of confidence CS. :)

I would also like to add that even though some "music" may not be any of my business, I could of course make it my business. However, why would I if there was nothing that drew me to it? The OP's comment is indeed quite suspect.

Another important point is that music is not always about what you like or what you think sounds good. That has never been a workable definition. Indeed much traditional music is actually about the words as one can see by the value of some tunes if they were removed. There is also the human need for identity. Much of folk music, and I would include both "traditional music" and rap in the same camp here, is about cultural identity. That really isn't about sound as such - although I suppose one could include the environmental soundscape. In the end people feel comforted by different experiences and different stories.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 08:51 AM

PDQ: "compaired to a drug-crazed Rapper screaming vulgarities over the top of a nauseating drum machine."

Erk. This statement contains so many blinkered and prejudicial presumptions that I've no idea how to respond. And if I did, I suspect it would be worthless to do so.

Nice comment from Ole Jule about people speaking different musical languages though. I fully agree. I believe much music which is lastingly rewarding (like so many things in life) can take time to aquire the taste (learn the language) for.

To this day I find it tough to tune into Opera in any way that makes sense (to me) of it's millions of dedicated fans worldwide. Maybe if I had been exposed to Opera when young, I'd have learned how to understand, and thus, appreciate it more.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Ole Juul
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 05:29 AM

I assume the OP is just trolling for the fun of it. :) Nevertheless ...

The world is so much more accessible, and so much bigger than it ever was. There is probably more good music today than ever before and I pity the person who cannot find it.

I would also like to point out that when I hear two (for example) Oriental people talking to each other, I don't understand what they're saying - I often don't even know what language they're speaking. In such a case I cannot begin to judge what they are saying. Likewise when someone is playing so called music to what is sometimes an enormous audience, how can I judge the message? Are all those people deaf, or are they speaking another language? There certainly appears to be some kind of communication. Perhaps it's in the dance steps, perhaps it's in the subtleties of how they dress or hold their instruments. Perhaps it's none of my business.

My personal tastes may or may not be in line with the OP, but I most certainly work on different assumptions regarding other people's "music".

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bugsy
Date: 23 Mar 12 - 02:58 AM

One person's garbage music is another's 1812. It's all in the ears of the beholder.

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 11:55 PM

Agreed, and well put, Gibb.

PH Jim, that's a good list. The radio station I like has a good many of those names on their playlist, and many others: The Krush.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Beer
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 11:52 PM

Right on PHJim
ad.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: PHJim
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 11:43 PM

Sarah Harmer, Gillian Welch, Todd Snider, Sheesham & Lotus, Vance Gilbert, Old Man Leudeki, Jenny Whiteley, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Jimmy Bowskill, Lesley Feist, Lyle Lovett, Keb Mo, Loudon Wainwright III, Ron Hynes, Suzie Vinnick, Rick Fines, Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster, Flash Lightnin', Amy Millan, Alex Pangman, Ron Sexsmith are all still making records. I just grabbed a bunch of CDs from the living room and copied the names of those who are still a part of today's music scene. They may not all suit everyone's taste, but they do mine. I'll grant you that there's a lot of stuff that I don't enjoy listening to, but there are more good records than I can afford to buy still being made and more great shows than I can afford to attend still being put on. A bonus is that I can see a live show of any of the performers listed above for less than I'd pay to see Justin Bieber.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bobert
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:47 PM

Agree with that, also, Gibb... But if we had more variety then music might be fun again... Of course, many folks do as they have access to avenues that others don't have...

B~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:40 PM

Sorry, last GUEST was me, no cookie.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:22 PM

Problem, in my opinion, isn't of bad quality music per se, it's of too much music. Music, music, all the time. It makes me feel put off of music.

My solution is to treat music more like rich food or alcohol. And give it's space. Listen to music deliberately.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:00 PM

As josepp says, we got the Carolina Chocolate Drops today.

As I remember it from my childhood (and I think we're from the same generation): Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, Perry Como and Frank hyped-up-Mafia-thug Sinatra.

This millennium wins.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:57 PM

"A life strategy of benign indifference also helps manage stress & high blood pressure.."

Amen to that. I find outrage way too stressful these days, so I tend to avoid it. My wife gets on soapboxes about all kinds of social injustices and foibles and works herself into a lather with no resolution, because she is powerless to change them. I have come to value peace and domestic tranquility much more than I used to. (Have I become comfortably numb?)

I don't disagree with josepp's premise. I just don't listen to radio stations that play the "drek" - instead I listen to this station which plays an eclectic variety of old and new, rock to folk, all the new singer-songwriters, and specialty programs focusing on the blues, Americana, jazz etc. You can listen online.

As for contemporary bands, my favorites are Crowded House. They make intelligent, tuneful, well-crafted pop music that can stand with the Beatles and other greats. Check it out!

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:48 PM

So many notes! So little music!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bobert
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:34 PM

I'm with you, joesz...

Check out "Rex Bob Lowenstein" by Mar Germino, BTW...

B~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,C-sharp Miner
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:11 PM

josepp-

One Sunday evening when I was still in school, I was sitting in my girlfriend's parents kitchen, and gradually became aware of a very interesting interplay between the dishwasher, the refrigerator, and the washing machine(which was in the hall).

I got my tape recorder out of the car, set it up, and captured the sound, which was augmented by a glass breaking, then being swept up, and someone opening a bag of potato chips.

Her father thought that I was on drugs and banned me from the house. She was encouraged to date a guy named Dale who was in the Army Reserve. They later married. Though I have pined for her on many occasions over the years, I never saw her again.

The piece was highly thought of in my music composition program, though.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,josepp
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 08:08 PM

As I said, Bobert, I would love to own my own station.

I remember in the heyday of rock radio, one station used to have a free-for-all weekend where they played only what you called up and requested. One DJ cared enough to call all the listeners in for a huddle.

"Listen," he said, "this is a free-for-all weekend, folks, that means this is YOUR chance to get us to play anything you want to hear. Whatever you want--not what we program like we do most of the time. And you know what? We pay attention when you call because we want to give you the best music we can. Maybe we're getting too restrictive and should widen our repertoire but what do we widen it to? Well, that's part of why we have the free-for-all weekends--so we can get an accurate picture. So this is your weekend, folks, to let us know what you want to hear. I mean, I can sit here for the next four hours and play 'Stairway to Heaven' and 'Freebird' if that's all you're going to request. So, come on, listeners out there--call up and give me something else to play!"

After that impassioned speech, I had to call him up. "Alright," I told him, "I want to hear 'Black Mass: An Electric Storm' by White Noise." He said they had it and would be happy to play the whole thing. So I asked if he'd play "Archangel's Thunderbird" by Amon Duul II and he said yes. "What about 'Groon' by King Crimson?" He said they'd play it. Finally, I topped it off with "The Bogus Man" by Roxy Music. It was gratifying to hear him thank me on the air. I was going to call up and ask for "MyHumanGetsMe Blues" by Beefheart but I didn't have the time.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Bobert
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:48 PM

It ain't as much that music sucks as it is the media has the music industry by the balls and they are squeezing as hard as they can...

Lotta good music out there but if you ain't hearing it then what good is it???

Here's an idea... Bust ClearChannel and sell those 1200 local radio stations to locals and music will get well fast...

B~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,josepp
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:41 PM

What's both shocking and heartening is going on Youtube and looking up some old thing you haven't heard in a while and you'll read something like, "I'm 15 years old and I would like to know why we don't have music like this anymore? Everything sounds like shit today."

Once I was checking out The Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog" from 1969 and some kid wrote, "Ever get the feeling this song was way ahead of its time?"

Another said, "If it weren't for Iggy, we wouldn't have what we have today."

The response was, "Don't say that. We don't have anything today."

Which only proves my point. Even many of the the kids today know they have been sold a false bill of goods. When I was a teen, I thought the rock thing would last forever. Not only was I wrong but when it went--WHAM--it was just gone.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:15 PM

But then again what do I know, hell I am a guy that refuses to use a battery watch. Mine has to be a 100 year old windup .. so I am a throwback

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:13 PM

Its the music industry today. funny thing is, I will sit in the park and play some oldies and the HS kids go wow, what kind of music is that, I never heard it before. You see all they get is what the record companies push down their throats. If all you ever hear is rap growing up, you will be a rap fan ... hopefully I gave my kids a wide range of everything from opera to folk and big band and everything else. Today if you are a woman and don't have size D's and a size 3 body you will never get a contract even if you have talent. If you have no talent and fit the above mold, you will get a contract cause others will sing for you ... Likewise with the guys and the looks. You just don't see a mamma cass anymore or very rare.

There is very little modern music I like, there is some great artist out there today but the bulk is pretty much cookie cutter. One Nashville promoter told me that it cost 300K to get started with a new act. Hence the music does sound a lot alike because it is a system that worked and hence profit. Kinda nuts actually

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,josepp
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:05 PM

The above poster being me, of course.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 07:04 PM

This is the kind of stuff I listen to so I can cleanse myself of the putrid, mainstream, commerical filth that pollutes our brains and minds. Join me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGqzaPzrQG8&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFUGdcIgNnc

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 06:26 PM

I was at an early music workshop once where we were doing Italian music from the 1500's and 1600's. One day the professor said that Italian music was brilliant for a while, then it went dead for 150 years.

I think we are in a dead period, too.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: pdq
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 04:05 PM

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,Guest, pedant
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 04:03 PM

Will (22 Mar 05:05):

_Panem et Circenses_.

O Tempora, O Mores. O Bviously.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,C-Sharp Miner
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 03:05 PM

Don't kid yourselves--the people who create that "drek" are smart, talented, and motivated. The music that they make is intended to appeal to a specific audience, which may not be you (or me), but they know what their audience wants, and know how to create it.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 01:36 PM

Never mind what. WHERE is Art?

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 01:16 PM

Next subjective topic:

What is art?

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: alex s
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 12:14 PM

"There are only two kinds of music - good and bad."

Another man said:
"There are only two kinds of music - country and western."

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Acorn4
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 11:50 AM

I call it "Twitch Music" because all you can really do is stand there an twitch to it - it has the same rhythm " rubadubdub dubadubabubub dubadubadubdub, which becomes "dumph, dumph, dumph," when played through the blacked out window of a car pulled up beside you at traffic lights.

Music to Twitch To


You can discover some good stuff though - a singer called Emily Sande is well worth a listen, and I particularly like Greenday's lyrics and some of Radiohead.

Just ignore anything featuring baseball caps worn at peculiar angles.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: pdq
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 11:15 AM

...most everything popular today now sounds the same to me, the beat goes boom boom boom boom boom boom boomity boom and the women singers yowl like Tarzan... (I'm going to lay that at Whitney Houston's door because she was the first singer I ever heard do that)... ~ David E.

That is the "garbage music" that people are talking about. The Grammy Awards mostly go to the pervayors of this drek since it sells and makes lots of money.

The repetitive and formulaic sounds of Ricky Nelson, The Monkees and other PreFab groups sound rather good compaired to a drug-crazed Rapper screaming vulgarities over the top of a nauseating drum machine.

No need to bring in Sinartra, Brahms or Ellingtom. They all made fine quality music. If you don't like them it is a matter of taste.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 10:42 AM

An aside here: I realized the other day why I never learned to like Sinatra- it's because no song of his ever betrayed a discernible emotion. imo

I grew up with country (first called 'hillbilly') and I still like a lot of the old stuff because of it. (Today's country is misnamed; it is country pop.)

But truth be told, much of the themes and lyrics of the old days was simplistic, shallow and just plain dumb.   

I like a good deal of classical and semi-classical music but I think I came to it too late. After awhile I turn it off.

I like a lot of folk music because most of it deals with the human condition. Even the funny pieces at their core tend to be more rueful than simplistic.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: PHJim
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 10:36 AM

"There are only two kinds of music - good and bad." That quote has been variously attributed to Richard Strauss, Duke Ellington, and probably numerous other musical figures, but it's all subjective.
Far be it from me to defend Justin Bieber, Kiss, Rhianna, The Monkeys... It's not my type of music, therefore I don`t listen to it, but I know it`s a waste of time to try to convert their fans to my type of music. I've been in enough car pools to realize that a lot of the music that I love to listen to drives some others crazy. Different folks listen for different reasons and that's fine with me. I'm glad we're not all the same.
It would be great if Karen Dalton, Vi Redd, Oscar Brown Jr., Todd Snider, Bob Snider, Gabor Szabo... had the success of Justin Bieber, but would their music be the same? I appreciate the music that came from the early part of Elvis' or Dylan's careers. I don't begrudge them their success, but I don`t appreciate the music they produced after they became hugely successful. They have (or had, as some folks believe that Elvis is dead) no obligation to play music that pleases me.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 10:24 AM

Nothing I enjoy better than a bit of euphoric electronic dance music, love repetitive synthesised beats. Lots of fun. In this respect I'm much in accordance with artist Jeff Koons who maintains (including through his art celebrating the banal) that nothing which brings one joy should be considered embarrassing or in any way lesser than anything else. Still, I think there is of course much music of ALL genres (and certainly including folk!) which is kinda formulaic, dull and uninspiring, but if genuinely someone digs it, then good for them.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Elmore
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 10:22 AM

Life is too short to subject one's self to garbage music. It can easily be avoided. There's a world filled with great music, be it classical, opera, folk, jazz or something else. If something sounds like garbage to you, turn away from it.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Tootler
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 10:07 AM

I think MtheGM hit the nail firmly on the head with the 90:10 ratio of crap to quality. I don't think today is any better or worse than other times in my memory. The ratio may vary a bit from time to time say between 85:15 and 96:5 but the overwhelming output of popular music of any era is crap. Simples.

I don't get today's pop music either but then my dad didn't get rock music so what's different? I certainly am careful to try and avoid the "Years ago when everything was perfect" mindset which trap I think josepp has fallen into.

You also have to avoid falling into the trap of assuming that just because you don't like it, it must be crap. I don't particularly like Brahms' music but there's no way he could be considered crap, simply his music does not appeal to me. Likewise with Frank Sinatra who I dislike intensely.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:48 AM

So don't listen to it?

It's in almost every restaurant and every store, Will.

My Walgreen's is troubled by hobos who pester customers for money in the parking lot. I say, why not give them microphones and let them sing in their hoarse, damaged voices about how life has treated them badly and they have completely messed up? We could give them money for singing, and they would sound exactly like most male pop singers of today.

The next Bruce Springsteen could be right there at 39th and Main.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:40 AM

I'm not often accused of that!

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: alex s
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 09:31 AM

Richard Bridge is the voice of reason.
So is Will Fly.
Read them and learn.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Megan L
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 05:18 AM

I remember in the sixties and old man who used to visit our family(a first world war soldier) who despised all the muck those oversexed overpaid Johnny come latelys brought over here. Was he talking about rock and roll? NO it was Tommy Dorsey , Glen Miller and thier ilk.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 05:02 AM

The Romans had it: bread and circuses. Panes et circae. Give the masses what they want and the music money-making machine rolls on.

So don't listen to it. Don't bother with most of the radio or TV. Buy records selectively. Make your own. I play with other musicians most evenings a week and we make what believe is great music. Who needs the media?

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 04:20 AM

Joe ~~ Got from googling that Fuckin'A simply means "Fucking awesome". Can that really be all?

~M~

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 03:35 AM

darn tootin'

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 03:26 AM

I hate to admit this, but I have lived a long life without ever understanding what "fuckin' A" means. Can somebody tell me?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 03:01 AM

My late mother told me that her mother used to say to her in the 1920s "I don't know what you see in the Savoy Orpheans, it all sounds the same, just plink-a-plunk-a-plink-a-plunk".

My mother used to say of the Rolling Stones "It's their horrid common voices that I can't stand".

There is some really creative modern music out there. Lots of metal and its sub-genres carry both the eternal fight of the young (ish, in some examples) against their parents and political messages. Mobo I find less admirable - but that's because largely of its socially unacceptable messages: in some cases there are fine harmonies behind, in others creative rhythm tracks. It isn't all rap, and not all the rhythms are relentless four-square.

It's a bit like the folk process in a way - 90% of what gets churned out by the machine is dross, and as time passes we remember the 10%.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,David E.
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 12:48 AM

@Guest999: "Fuckin' A!" Well,I had to look that one up. Thank you internet! (laughing)

David E.

Subject: RE: Garbage music
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 22 Mar 12 - 12:46 AM

seriously.. ok it drives my wife nuts.. but I've developed exceptional ability
to filter out all cultural pollution 'communicational' stimuli I'm not the least bit interested in..

Leaves far more room in my mind to get blissfully lost in vintage guitar rock and classic era bubblegum pop...

Sadly, I had to learn to give up addictive perpetual anger and despair at the wicked stupidity of mankind
back in my mid 30's when the the physiological effects of years of 'carrying the weight of the worlds problems on my shoulders'
came too close to collapsing my health...