The Year Rock Just Spun It's Wheels
Black Diamond
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Black Diamond
Posts: 25,107
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Get back to PJ radio, and save yourself.
Pearl Jam: Vs/Vitalogy/Orpheum, PJ20 Soundtrack, LO10L, Vault #1
Rolling Stones: Some Girls Reissue, Live In Texas '78, The Brussels Affair
Jimi Hendrix: Winterland Box Set
Soundgarden: Live On I-5
And some other stuff, but those are the things that come to mind. So it was a good year in that respect. And some older artists released some decent new studio albums like RHCP, Primus, R.E.M., etc. It might not have been a good year for up and coming artists, or for currently popular acts (at least according to the article) but there was plenty of stuff that had me excited.
I think if you wait around for a band to sound like stuff you like, you are going to be waiting an awfully long time.
You have via the internet basically the capability to find and listen to every single album ever recorded. If you want to listen to Punk music from Ethopia you can. Or pop music from vietnam. Gypsy music from Belfast.
I think if you wait around for the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam to "sound like" Nirvana and Pearl Jam you will wait in vain.
So many exciting rock bands right now. Radiohead of course. But i think there is exciting stuff going on in so many musical genres, why limit yourself to only being into bands who sound grunge influenced? James Blake is doing some mindblowing stuff with minimalist vocals and sounds. Flying Lotus is on some Jimi Hendrix level with crazy wierd insane sounds. The XX and Bon Iver each in their own way are creating music influenced as much by R Kelly and R and B as rock music. Hip Hop's really spaced and drugged out right now, resulting in some crazy atmospheric music, Shabazz Palaces, Danny Brown and ASAP Rocky are leading that charge. Political Hip hop made a comeback this year with the smoky yet literate rhymes of Das Racist, Kendrick Lamar and Big KRIT. Youve got cool producers like Jamie XX, Clams Casino and Araabmuzik creating beautiful spacey soundscapes. Adele is an artist who is blowing everyone away with her voice, and Robyn is creating some great pop music. youve got a strain of music very focused on harmony and melody ala Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Girls. And R and B seems to be in its golden age with the lush sounds of Terius Nash the Dream, The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. How To Dress Well. And you have this great electronic dubstep scene with Sepalcure, Balam Acab, Burial and more. Burial creates this London-esque rainy day songs, with pitch and time shifted vocals and new age cutting edge beats. M83 just released a double album of 80's inspired synth rock, as have Washed Out, who soundtracked Portlandia.
If you arent finding quality music out there, i'd say you arent looking hard enough. If you want cookie cutter, verse chorus verse, mainstream rock, thats fine, thats on every radio station in america. If you want to challenge your ears and brain and be fed art as opposed to product, i'd check out other stuff.
i think the main point is the bands i just listed sound nothing like grunge. And thats a good thing. If i want grunge i know what cd's to put on.
I agree with all of this, but wouldn't it really belong in a "Where's all the good music these days?" thread?
I think the article is saying "Why isn't the "good" rock music popular?", and I often wonder the same thing.
True, but the author is missing obvious points. Mainstream Rock is an obsolete genre based on the criteria; major labels are drying up (especially on rock) and rock radio stations are switching formats across the country. Rock has become more and more segmented and fans aren't looking to those outlets or charts to find their music. There's no fresh blood because labels can't risk the dough (especially when hip-hop, pop, and country are far safer bets). The new delivery mechanism has either completely passed him by or he needed to poop out something by his deadline. Either way, it's a goofy article.
I think there is SO MUCH music these days, so many good bands, so many great albums released over the course of a year, that its so fragmented right now, so niche oriented. Arcade Fire presumably would be the biggest band in the world. Their first album got the kind of reviews you'd expect from a mid period Beatles album, they won album of the year at the grammys the most prestigious award in music, and their live show is world reknowned and legendary, yet after they won the grammy millions of people posted on twitter and facebook, "who the hell is arcade fire".
the fact is unless you are adele, you aint selling albums or moving units in 2011. You just arent.
I look at it the complete opposite as you. Are Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, The National, Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes, household names and among the most popular artists in the world? no they arent, but they are popular.
I thought that was one of the big moments in music in the 2000's was the mainstreaming of indie. My mom listens to and is a fan of the Decemberists. My mom owned the Suburbs before it won a grammy. My parents saw Blitzen Trapper live. Teen girls got into Death Cab and Modest Mouse and the Killers in 2003 as a result of The OC.
The charts mean nothing right now unless you are Adele. Theres no reliable way to tell how many people own the new Bon Iver album which along with Adele's 21 was the most acclaimed album of the year.
I think its a tricky situation. Are the Fleet Foxes, or Arcade Fire or bon iver selling 20 million copies of their album? no they arent, but they are popular.
Brilliant, simply brilliant. Mr Vedder needs to watch his back!
YOUNG MONEY FOR LYFE DAWG.
I thought 2011 was a great year for music.
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Totally agree....I can't remember a year when I've bought (and still need to buy) so many great albums... 2012 is already looking pretty good as well..