Sam Smith....evidence rock and roll may finally be dead

Of The Aggie

DewieCox said:

Pop music seems to have more musical talent on display than what is popular with rock music. People like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars are insanely talented musicians. The same can't really be said for the many rock acts that make a big splash.

I don't care if Lady Gaga or Bruno Mars can play an instrument or write their own songs, their music is down right terrible to me.

Tim Simmons said:

Also if this is in reference to the V fest announcement, just go see Kasabian instead. They aren't very good, but there is your rock.

Kasabian are a very good live band. I like a lot of their songs and their show would be 1000X better than any pop act.

mwplum

Very interesting to see the range of opinions. And yeah, Red Lukin, I totally agree, I've seen Ty Segall a few times, and others from that scene like The Oh Sees, and there is some good hard stuff out there. Rock n Roll will never die, but it is certainly at a low right now in terms of headliners.

My reaction was more in response to the Squamish lineup but as I've heard Sam Smith rumoured for Lolla, and popping up on other major lineups like V, I just found it really surprising. Not only because his music is slow and does not have the energy level to close a festival, but because as I tried to communicate in that first email, sugar-coated pop has never been embraced by these types of festivals. You would never see Coachella booking a Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, or Keith Urban, despite how many tickets they could potentially sell. There still remains a line of integrity.

Although I don't like EDM or Hip Hip (anymore), I get their relevance. I can see why they work well for festivals and why the promoters book such acts to sell tickets. They are entertaining, and (in the case of hip hip, have substance/something to say).

However, acts like Sam Smith I see as being like Katy Perry. They sell a lot of tickets, but don't have any substance. It's really their stylists, choreographers, lighting guys, who deserve awards.

I don't buy "then don't go to festivals" argument. I love going to festivals, and have travelled a lot to go to Coachella, Lolla, ACL, Reading, Rock en Seine etc...One of my favourite things to do each year is to monitor festivals and read up on the rumours. I really look forward to trying to make at least one trip each year. I love finding out about new bands on the lower lines/afternoon slots, but I like having a big draw like Radiohead, PJ, Neil, or Paul McCartney as a big draw to warrant the travel.

This year, it's looking like we're going to the UK to do Blur/The Strokes/Beck in Hyde Park (where we'll also get to see smaller awesome bands like Temples and the Horrors)

63schoefflin

Shakey Knees is the best festival lineup by far this year.

Attaway77

63schoefflin said:

There's so much great music out there right now. It's hard to keep pace with it all.

This… Music is for everyone, there's some great music out there. Just have to let down your barrier of taste and go explore, you may be surprised. Every decade/generation has something to offer for us all. MUSIC4LIFE.

Tim Simmons

63schoefflin said:

Shakey Knees is the best festival lineup by far this year.

Your autocorrect messed up the spelling of Pitchfork Fest.

Tim Simmons

Also, I'd love to see Katy Perry headline a fest. So many great singles, it would be so fun.

mwplum

I agree Shaky Knees is really solid....Also think the Eaux Claire festival has a lot of potential.

lolobugg

http://youtu.be/yw8_5OYKQNA

oh man, the irony

vant0037

Wow. I get that pop isn't your thing (not really mine either). But give credit where it's due: this Sam Smith dude has an incredible voice.

PJ_Soul

Yeah, when I saw the lineup for the Squamish festival.and this guy was headlining I rolled my eyes. Wtf?? Everyone I know thinks the lineup is super lame. Fucking Drake, Sam Smith, and freaking Mumford & Sons are the headliners for arguably the biggest rock music festival in the province. What the fucking fuck?

tempo_n_groove

PJ_Soul said:

Yeah, when I saw the lineup for the Squamish festival.and this guy was headlining I rolled my eyes. Wtf?? Everyone I know thinks the lineup is super lame. Fucking Drake, Sam Smith, and freaking Mumford & Sons are the headliners for arguably the biggest rock music festival in the province. What the fucking fuck?

Drake kills it. He's good.

PJ_Soul

tempo_n_groove said:

PJ_Soul said:

Yeah, when I saw the lineup for the Squamish festival.and this guy was headlining I rolled my eyes. Wtf?? Everyone I know thinks the lineup is super lame. Fucking Drake, Sam Smith, and freaking Mumford & Sons are the headliners for arguably the biggest rock music festival in the province. What the fucking fuck?

Drake kills it. He's good.

Not if you don't like rap.

mookeywrench

vant0037 said:

Wow. I get that pop isn't your thing (not really mine either). But give credit where it's due: this Sam Smith dude has an incredible voice.

"Sam Cooke said this when told he had a beautiful voice: He said, 'Well that's very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.' Think about that the next time you are listening to a singer."

- Bob Dylan during his MusiCares Person of the Year acceptance speech

mwplum

mookeywrench said:

vant0037 said:

Wow. I get that pop isn't your thing (not really mine either). But give credit where it's due: this Sam Smith dude has an incredible voice.

"Sam Cooke said this when told he had a beautiful voice: He said, 'Well that's very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.' Think about that the next time you are listening to a singer."

- Bob Dylan during his MusiCares Person of the Year acceptance speech

Isn't this essentially the entire problem with this generation of pop music? They may have great voices, but if those voices say nothing, then they have no substance. Most seem to found on American Idol or through similar talent searches, then supported behind a team of writers/producers, stylists, managers, etc.. to the point where it's hard to give credit. What they put out is not necessarily a reflection of them or their beliefs.

When you put a nicely manufactured, easily palatable, artist like Sam at the top of a music festival bill above other artists who have struggled, written/composed their own music, and toured extensively in dive bars for relevance, it's hard to give the popstars much credit.

I have friends who listen to Sam now, who are the same types of friends who make fun of me for "still listening" to Pearl Jam or Oasis because "better man" and "wonderwall"...."were like so 20 years ago, when we were still in grade 8." They are the same types of people who have adapted their musical tastes over the yeas to include favourite bands like maroon 5, mumford and sons, taylor swift, katy perry, beyonce, etc...I think quite simply, because they want an escape that takes them away from thinking. That's fine, I do the same through vacations, etc... I just certainly don't want that from my music. Music is somewhere that I turn to for thought, for inspiration, for emotion.

Those same friends are the ones who ask me why I don't such artists, since they "are like, so talented" and "have such great voices"....

I think it really comes down to a laziness in our society to search out and find new, original, awesome bands (of which there are tons of them out there).

vant0037

Rock and roll was never defined by a festival lineup.

jerparker20

mwplum said:

mookeywrench said:

Isn't this essentially the entire problem with this generation of pop music? They may have great voices, but if those voices say nothing, then they have no substance. Most seem to found on American Idol or through similar talent searches, then supported behind a team of writers/producers, stylists, managers, etc.. to the point where it's hard to give credit. What they put out is not necessarily a reflection of them or their beliefs.

When you put a nicely manufactured, easily palatable, artist like Sam at the top of a music festival bill above other artists who have struggled, written/composed their own music, and toured extensively in dive bars for relevance, it's hard to give the popstars much credit.

I have friends who listen to Sam now, who are the same types of friends who make fun of me for "still listening" to Pearl Jam or Oasis because "better man" and "wonderwall"...."were like so 20 years ago, when we were still in grade 8." They are the same types of people who have adapted their musical tastes over the yeas to include favourite bands like maroon 5, mumford and sons, taylor swift, katy perry, beyonce, etc...I think quite simply, because they want an escape that takes them away from thinking. That's fine, I do the same through vacations, etc... I just certainly don't want that from my music. Music is somewhere that I turn to for thought, for inspiration, for emotion.

Those same friends are the ones who ask me why I don't such artists, since they "are like, so talented" and "have such great voices"....

I think it really comes down to a laziness in our society to search out and find new, original, awesome bands (of which there are tons of them out there).

Just remember:

the Beatles, Stones, anyone on Sun Records, Motown, Stax, and countless more started out as "pop acts" with other people writing songs for them, telling them how to dress, and putting them on popular TV shows such as Ed Sullivan and Top of the Pops to lip-sync in front of millions of people. These folks are considered "true artists", but if you do that today then that artist is a first -rate hack?!?

I gave up on judging what constitutes what is great music long ago after my wife called me out for being a "music snob." Now I just go with the fact that theres stuff I like, and stuff I don't. If I don't like it, I don't try to tell people that I think they have shitty taste in music. So long as they're enjoying music, hell they may even explore some other great music because of it.

As for festivals, it's the promotors job to sell tickets and put asses in seats. If it takes Sam Smith or Taylor Swift, then that's who's playing. I'm sure there are a lot more people who would like to see those artist versus PJ or some other "true artist" and that's cool.

tempo_n_groove

mwplum said:

mookeywrench said:

vant0037 said:

Wow. I get that pop isn't your thing (not really mine either). But give credit where it's due: this Sam Smith dude has an incredible voice.

"Sam Cooke said this when told he had a beautiful voice: He said, 'Well that's very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.' Think about that the next time you are listening to a singer."

- Bob Dylan during his MusiCares Person of the Year acceptance speech

Isn't this essentially the entire problem with this generation of pop music? They may have great voices, but if those voices say nothing, then they have no substance. Most seem to found on American Idol or through similar talent searches, then supported behind a team of writers/producers, stylists, managers, etc.. to the point where it's hard to give credit. What they put out is not necessarily a reflection of them or their beliefs.

When you put a nicely manufactured, easily palatable, artist like Sam at the top of a music festival bill above other artists who have struggled, written/composed their own music, and toured extensively in dive bars for relevance, it's hard to give the popstars much credit.

I have friends who listen to Sam now, who are the same types of friends who make fun of me for "still listening" to Pearl Jam or Oasis because "better man" and "wonderwall"...."were like so 20 years ago, when we were still in grade 8." They are the same types of people who have adapted their musical tastes over the yeas to include favourite bands like maroon 5, mumford and sons, taylor swift, katy perry, beyonce, etc...I think quite simply, because they want an escape that takes them away from thinking. That's fine, I do the same through vacations, etc... I just certainly don't want that from my music. Music is somewhere that I turn to for thought, for inspiration, for emotion.

Those same friends are the ones who ask me why I don't such artists, since they "are like, so talented" and "have such great voices"....

I think it really comes down to a laziness in our society to search out and find new, original, awesome bands (of which there are tons of them out there).

Well put.

In defense of Pop music which for the most part I think is awful (think Selena Gomez) there is Sam Smith who pours his heart out in "stay with me".

Bruno Mars has been killing it and his latest song "Uptown Funk" is a homage to 70's funk and is hella fun.

Drake, Nikki Minaj, Wayne and the YM crew have been cranking out some great music.

Taylor Swift is just fun, she really is.

All that being said Pop music fades and never really has staying power. I don't recall a "Calssic R&B or Top 40" station out there. We do have Classic rock and College radio though.

Rock music has become a little geeky sometimes but then again you have bands like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees with a different kind of West Coast sound that are just killing it.

The Weeks are a great upcoming band and are developing a following.

There is ALWAYS music out there to listen to, always. Sometimes that "new music ain't got that same soul" but it can still move you.

:-)

Don't lose hope on new music!

buck502000

vant0037 said:

Rock and roll was never defined by a festival lineup.

I can hit it when you throw it right down the middle - Woodstock

Tim Simmons

Pretty sure RnR was around well before Woodstock.

UnthoughtName

Tim Simmons said:

Its not dead. It wont ever be dead. Its just not popular. Its what jazz was in the 60s.

Hahaha....and look how well that turned out.