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1.43am
5 February 2014
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Matt touched on a couple of things that lend themselves to my own perspective of modern music, particularly rock. I’ve had a thing for the sound of amplified electric guitars since I was old enough to hold a portable radio. Have a collection of guitars now and love to cut new calluses every now and then.
I think, in any era, the thing that separates good songs from the bad is simply the lyrics. A band or artist can have the most bad ass musicians in the universe (and musicianship is a vital ingredient) but if the lyrics are drivel, the song is crap. That’s pretty self-explanatory. And that doesn’t mean the lyrics have to be profound or conceptual or whatever. In fact, when songs are too intellectual, they become the property of those who deem themselves the only ones capable of divining their meaning (when they usually can’t). Lyrics can be deep, thought-provoking, or just plain goofy. But if you remember them, if whatever the song is about speaks to you, than the writer was successful and has done their part in possibly creating good music.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve had this ‘conversation’ a time or two, with people who claim that all new music today sucks. I can’t accept that on face value because of the ridiculous odds, and you have to measure in that ‘all’ music contains genres many never liked in the first place. So careful examination should be made before coming to an agreement with such an accusation.
There are still plenty of people out there making good music, I’m following a handful or two of breaking bands that I think can make a difference. Their hindrance is the music industry itself (or lack of one). I also think one of the difference is, the demographic we would expect to be the most interested -or moved- by music…
*sigh*
…isn’t.
It’s like this; I was putzing around on Youtube and watching video of some of my favorite bands. I’m one of those who also likes to read the comments.
On one, there was a post by a young man who was lamenting the state of the genre he follows and how he envied his dad and that generation…
“You guys don’t know how good you had it.”
Hundreds of replies of “Yes, we do.”
—
I also agree that 1965 was a pivotal year.
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Matt Busby9.16am
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20 August 2013
Offline meanmistermustard said
I was in a pub last week for about 2 hours that had the music channel ‘Smash Hits’ on. It played around 8 or 9 different songs in that period. The songs themselves varied between the bearable with laughable lyrics to the bad to the truly abysmal.
Was this some odd form of penance? Surely you couldn’t have done anything bad enough to make yourself sit through 2 hours of torture.
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1 May 2011
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I can blank out music and background noises or zone in and out, i learnt to do so in school when teachers would prattle on for ages about nothing of interest. You would have to ensure you were tuned in enough to be able to give the impression you were paying attention yet zoned out just enough so not to slip into another dimension and fail to return before the bore shut up.
All pubs in my local town play music so its unavoidable, i dont go very often. I had a pint, read ‘Tune In’, and played some pool; the pub also sells the most incredible ‘Ox’ flavoured crisps.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
12.54pm
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20 August 2013
Offline I’m glad you had other reasons to be there.
These look interesting.
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12.56pm
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1 May 2011
Offline The crisps are amazing. Seriously amazing.
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12.59pm
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20 August 2013
Offline meanmistermustard said
The crisps are amazing. Seriously amazing.
Will you buy me a bag when I come to visit?
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1 May 2011
Offline Ahhh Girl said
meanmistermustard said
The crisps are amazing. Seriously amazing.
Will you buy me a bag when I come to visit?
You’re coming back!?
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1.53pm
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17 December 2012
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meanmistermustard said
Ahhh Girl said
meanmistermustard said
The crisps are amazing. Seriously amazing.
Will you buy me a bag when I come to visit?
You’re coming back?
Oh God !
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20 August 2013
Offline Oh, yes, you two. I will return.
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2.44pm
8 August 2014
Offline There is good modern rock music, that much is undeniable.
The problem is that it doesn’t get featured at all on the radio, and the rock music that does get featured is usually trite and extremely formulaic. My biggest concern, primarily for rock, is that there is no band that really defines the era like there was in the 60s/70s/80s and 90s. Yes there are the likes of Tame impala and Arcade Fire who have come out with brilliant albums in the past ten years, but nothing that could be defined as a true classic or as one of the greatest albums of all time.
More than this, these bands don’t seem to have personalities that endear them to the wider population like all the greats did. You have to want to be the biggest band on the planet, but a lot of the current generation don’t seem to have that ambition.
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Matt Busby, Beatlebug, ewe22.29pm
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20 August 2013
Offline @KaleidoscopeMusic, I noticed your question about modern music in the FourFiveSeconds thread. I thought you might want to browse through this thread. Enjoy.
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15 February 2015
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Ahhh Girl said
Oh, yes, you two. I will return.
Yes, she will return. She’ll come back for the crisps… and you!!! 
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6.07pm
3 November 2015
Offline I posted these questions on the FourFive Seconds thread and decided to paste it over here:
I’d like to get some opinions on the pop music scene lately since I haven’t been listening much. Are these songs really doing well? Most of my friends and I just listen to music with actual instruments, but that’s because they have similar tastes as myself. Do people enjoy these techno beats and auto-tuned voices? Songs don’t seem to have the same heartfelt qualities as the older music because a lot of people don’t seem to be as interested in the aesthetic art involved in writing music.
The most important aspect involving this is that the Beatles were the ones who started experimenting with these new inventions in music. Why do we enjoy their “primitive” use of electronic music and voice enhancers but not the ones today? Were they eventually aiming for today’s type of “instrumentation”? If their music was given a chance to continue to evolve, where do you think it would end up?
I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions on this.
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6.17pm
1 November 2013
Offline KaleidoscopeMusic said
Do people enjoy these techno beats and auto-tuned voices?
I like some songs with techno beats and auto-tuned voices.
Why do we enjoy their “primitive” use of electronic music and voice enhancers but not the ones today?
I’m not sure. Maybe now their is an association with laziness that didn’t exist back in the day.
6.28pm
11 November 2010
Offline To be honest, this thread title really bugs me because “modern music” could mean thousands of different things.
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Most likely to post things that make you go hmm... 2015, 2016, 2017. 
6.37pm
28 March 2014
Offline Macca’s last LP wasn’t that bad……. 
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BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms! 
6.57pm
18 October 2013
Offline Necko said
To be honest, this thread title really bugs me because “modern music” could mean thousands of different things.
Would you call it a pet peeve?
If so……..WRONG thread….banned for life and off with his head. Make him live up to his board name….
But I so know what you mean.
I think all times produce some good stuff………Right now Ed Sheeran stands out for me. His one man Stevie Wonder covers are bleeding brilliant….But I don’t fully appreciate his fast raps. I thought some of Eminem (sp) stuff was good a few years back.
Here in Thailand they have a lot of K pop………very little of it appeals to me……But I’ve come to like Thai Country music…..or ‘Mo Lam’ Like Country music anywhere the slow ones have the stories and are full of tears……..The fast ones are really great to do their naff wafting arms dance to. Though the girls look good doing it……I’ll nip off and get an example.
Thais don’t take themselves too seriously…….
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8 January 2015
Offline KaleidoscopeMusic said
I’d like to get some opinions on the pop music scene lately since I haven’t been listening much. Are these songs really doing well? Most of my friends and I just listen to music with actual instruments, but that’s because they have similar tastes as myself. Do people enjoy these techno beats and auto-tuned voices? Songs don’t seem to have the same heartfelt qualities as the older music because a lot of people don’t seem to be as interested in the aesthetic art involved in writing music.The most important aspect involving this is that the Beatles were the ones who started experimenting with these new inventions in music. Why do we enjoy their “primitive” use of electronic music and voice enhancers but not the ones today? Were they eventually aiming for today’s type of “instrumentation”? If their music was given a chance to continue to evolve, where do you think it would end up?
I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions on this.
I’ll bite because I do have an interest in the dance, electronic, ambient and electronica genres of music. Simply put, a lot of the best and influential stuff flies way below the pop radar. The odd Chemical Brothers track will have a moment and disappear but those guys will get to mix a Madonna record, that’s where some influence ends up. There are folks who are way more up to date on this stuff than I but you can look back over 5-10 years and you can see that despite the robotic pop parade of tin pan alley look/soundalikes, there’ll be a sample or a production sound they steal from the innovators. It’s just that the true innovators are no longer part of the pop scene, and I think that’s not going to change much for a while. If you’re interested in those genres, you’ll have some idea of what’s going on and what’s cutting edge and it doesn’t make a dent on the Beyonce’s of this world.
And speaking of the “primitive” many bands that still use traditional instruments are more than savvy about dropping in electronic elements, which is how electronica got started, effectively a retro-progressive movement in indie pop. Songs with the kind of old progressive “patchwork” of melodies and time signatures, with bits of dance rhythm or even metal dropped in have also been part of the scene (think Tool or Muse). It’s just not pop, but some of it sells quite well. Radiohead don’t even bother with record companies any more, Thom York going so far as to tell musicians to simply avoid record labels. It’s a time of transition, and no one knows where the next big thing is coming from, but I have a strong feeling it’s not going to be “industry” or “pop”, and it will be new and maybe, as I’ve said elsewhere on this site, there’ll be a new social movement to go with it and that is going to be amazing. So stay positive and keep listening! 
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4.42pm
3 November 2015
Offline I’m not sure. Maybe now their is an association with laziness that didn’t exist back in the day.
Expanding on that: it’s probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. You have to get the perfect combination of lyrics, melody, and rhythm ( those are just the biggest), and you’re still not even close to being done. More people used to craft a song carefully because there were no other options, but now certain songs are more basic because it’s just the melody with a few bass notes inserted. Of course, not all music is like this: Sam Smith, Adele, and Hozier are a few that are popular because every note they create is molded with care.
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8.44pm
1 November 2013
Offline I think some of the modern music bias is that over time, the bad stuff from the past fades from peoples minds and what lives on is the good stuff. In 50 years, people will be doing the same positive portrayal of modern music that people do with older music.
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