Why Don't I hear the Genius in these new bands?

[sventvkg]

Like The Avett Brothers, Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Death Cab, or anything really....?? I do compare the songs to the classic artists, it's true. I'm just not hearing the craft and hooks, the musicianship and above all vocal skill. The songs don't burrow into my heart and soul. I just can't FEEL the music. It doesn't speak to me AT ALL.....I'm only 39 and this is very distressing to me. It's EXTREMELY difficult to find anything that Speaks to me out there yet when I go to songwriter's nights in Nashville I hear it in abundance. Classic Great songs with melody, harmony, great lyrics...Believe me, I still like to rock too, but again in that genre I hear NOTHING for me....{censored}, I've gotten old and my tastes are so refined now.....I listen to EVERYTHING That i hear a buzz about out there, so I'm sure you understand how distressing this is to a songwriter and musician like me...How about you?

[Cliftonb]

I'd suggest listening to better bands.

 

Af for me, I welcome the current new Music Renaissance.

[sventvkg]

 

I'd suggest listening to better bands. Af for me, I welcome the current new Music Renaissance.

 

 

I was using them as examples. I like Roots, Americana, Singer Songwriter, etc..Stuff with real instruments and singing. Tom Petty, Steve Earle, Springsteen, Etc...Who can you suggest that I check out. I check out everything I hear of in the press, American Songwriter, Paste, Twitter, from other musicians that I know all over the world, etc...Who am I missing?

[daddymack]

sven, you are too old, and your perspective is all wrong...stop comparing what is being done now to what went before, that was then, this is now, the young reject the teaching of the old, you must embrace the mediocrity, because true mediocrity is the new genius...gray is the new black....constant touring is the new success model...

 

I do agree that I find little I can relate to from anything new I have heard over the last two decades...the music has no message, lacks craftmanship, depth, universality, and on and on...I defy the proponents of the 'new acceptable music' to define it in artistic terms that will stand up against the well-crafted music gems from the 60s and 70s....(obviously there was a ton of junque released during that period as well, but the gems stand out) and I hear no real gems now...and this is not a knock on the musicians or the musicianship (that is another thread on its own ) but the art of songwriting was lost somewhere between disco and rap...

[sventvkg]

I need to be put out to pasteur. It's now clear to me.:wave:

 

Seriously daddy, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said.

[flatfinger]

Someone started a thread over at the GS with a similar take .... You might find it interesting. lots of you tube links .

 

 

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/all-about-music/571137-where-melodies-where-songs.html

[~GOD~]

joe purdy's probably the best songwriter out there right now.

[Cliftonb]

 

I was using them as examples. I like Roots, Americana, Singer Songwriter, etc..Stuff with real instruments and singing. Tom Petty, Steve Earle, Springsteen, Etc...Who can you suggest that I check out. I check out everything I hear of in the press, American Songwriter, Paste, Twitter, from other musicians that I know all over the world, etc...Who am I missing?

 

 

 

Because it's you, I'll give some recommendations. I don't don't usually do this. Personally I listen to a lot of avant-garde/experimental/free improv/electro-acoustic stuff plus a ton of non-western pop and folk, Modern/contemporary classical, underground hip hop, and outside jazz. I'll have to rack my brain for music that has heavy classic elements, but here goes:

 

Try

 

Joe Henry - Pretty much everything from Fuse to Blood From Stones. I especially recommend Tiny Voices. If you like that, you can check further back in his catalog - Trampoline on back. Note: he produced the late, great Solomon Burke's Grammy award winning album Don't Give Up on Me.

 

Pinetop Seven - Alt. Country/Americana with some interesting surprises. These guys can do no wrong so it doesn't really matter where you start, but Bringing Home the Last Great Strike is an excellent choice.

 

My Brightest Diamond - Singer/songwriter Shara Worden's stage moniker. My favorite singer working today. If you like impeccable vocals against a lavishly composed, classically influenced setting, you'll like this.

 

Wovenhand - David Eugene Edward's solo project after 16 Horsepower disbanded [by the way, if you haven't you must check out 16HP (I suggest starting with Secret South) they're modern legends]. Consider the Birds is a great place to start with his work, though I would suggest checking out his former band first. Dark, eerie, atmospheric country/folk music from Denver's finest.

 

Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies - Excellent singer/songwriter from Ireland. Can do no wrong. The Parish Notices is a good intro

 

The Horse Flies - Re-tooling the language of Country since 1987. Until the Ocean is probably the most accessible of there offerings.

 

There's tons more, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head.

[fling the poo]

Arcade fire is 10 years old=not new

Death Cab for cutie is 14=not new

Decemberists are 11=not new

Avett brothers first record came out in 2000 = not new

 

if these bands are new to you then the typical story of mainstream co-opting or finally "getting it" too late or long after the fire went out applies. someone mentioned springsteen. if "born in the USA" was the first record i'd heard by him i'd vomit, asking about the bad 80's keyboards, the pop formula, the reverby snare sound and the COMPLETE lack of rock in the first two singles. i'd wonder what the hype was about.

[flatfinger]

Bands aren't afforded the luxury of a bad album anymore ; ... one and done ....

[sventvkg]

 

Arcade fire is 10 years old=not new Death Cab for cutie is 14=not new Decemberists are 11=not new Avett brothers first record came out in 2000 = not new if these bands are new to you then the typical story of mainstream co-opting or finally "getting it" too late or long after the fire went out applies. someone mentioned springsteen. if "born in the USA" was the first record i'd heard by him i'd vomit, asking about the bad 80's keyboards, the pop formula, the reverby snare sound and the COMPLETE lack of rock in the first two singles. i'd wonder what the hype was about.

 

 

I know those bands have been out a while but I will admit that i had never heard of Avett Brothers until 2010 and I think the music is horrid..I use them as examples of newer music other than the classic bands...Has nothing to do with the mainstream co-opting anything, it's just that they are examples of lauded bands that I'm not hearing anything great from.....I'm fro NJ so I have known and been into Sprinsteen since the first record.

[sventvkg]

 

. Consider the Birds is a great place to start with his work, though I would suggest checking out his former band first. Dark, eerie, atmospheric country/folk music from Denver's finest. Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies - Excellent singer/songwriter from Ireland. Can do no wrong. The Parish Notices is a good intro The Horse Flies - Re-tooling the language of Country since 1987. Until the Ocean is probably the most accessible of there offerings. There's tons more, but this is all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

 

Thanks, I'll check them out. I've heard of only Joe Henry out of that batch you mentioned and he's very very interesting. Should get more attention I think.

[AndThinkOfTexas]

sventvkg -

 

Like you, my tastes tend to lean towards the singer-songwriter types. I listen to a lot of acoustic-driven music, whether it be Americana, Folk, Alt-Country, Indie, Texas Country... you name it. Sure, I enjoy a hard-thumping rock song, too, but I tend to lean in the direction of solid lyrics and a single acoustic.

 

For what it's worth, you might try checking a few of the below artists. I think you'll like them.

 

Rocky Votolato, Portland is Leaving: This is a video from a living-room tour that he did a while back. He does them all the time, which is awesome. It's nice to see an artist perform in such an intimate setting. I've been a huge fan since the release of his Suicide Medicine record. He's nothing but gold, in my opinion.

 

[video=youtube;y5JwjgJbod8]

 

 

Sarah Jaffe, Clementine: Sarah's latest record is great. It's well produced and has solid, honest lyrics. I only know of her music, because we use to be extremely close. We don't talk much anymore, but I really respect the artist that she's become. She's sprouted into a genuinely solid song-writer. Even if I didn't know her personally, I'd still recommend her.

 

[video=youtube;MPOnh6R1cOA]

 

 

Sean McConnell, Looking For A Good Time: A lot of McConnell's songs remind me of Ryan Adams'. I can't say whether it's his song writing style or his voice, but he echos all the things that I love about Adams, which I admittedly find appealing.

 

[video=youtube;2qRtrTUazl8]

 

 

At any rate, those are just a few artists that you may or may not have heard of. Hope you enjoy.

[sventvkg]

Thanks Texas. They are all good. Very much like my friends and I. Everyone I know is this level or so and it's so funny now that the best music is the stuff that is indie and not popular. It's a weird and astonishing time in music!!! I'm digging!

[Grubgoat]

Be patient, its coming. This is why the music industry is dead, too, because there really isn't anything that's all that exciting. It will be here soon...

[Dancebass]

You're not wrong Svent and even if 39 is ancient you're still not wrong. I turn 39 in a month and I'm sorry but all of the new blog-rock, indie rock stuff is absolute {censored}. I have always known that "the kids are always right". It's just a basic rule of thumb, even if they're wrong they're still right. Fighting it is 100% pointless, but that doesn't mean that lo-fi hipster music doesn't {censored}ing suck! It {censored}ing sucks!

 

The reason you hear the void is because you have the ability to hear. You did not grow up on Adderol and you have a soul. The current state of "hot" indie rock hipster bull{censored} is the equivalent of Elvis Costello. It's {censored}ing boring and sackless. It has no sex in it. It is drone {censored} made for drones. Don't worry, it's day is coming soon. The backlash against this boring {censored} is going to be huge.

[Cliftonb]

As I said before - listen to better bands.

[daddymack]

ah, but the secret is finding them. There is just so much chaff out there, how does one find the actual good stuff? The labels, even the indies, and radio are no help. And word of mouth, friends recommendations, trusted blogs are, honestly, hit and miss and too narrowly focused to help anyone find anything that should/could/would be major if it was discovered and promoted. This is where the system has broken down...we watched them balkanize the industry over the past several decades, and now, there is no cohesiveness, no minimum level of acceptability...just a wall of noise tha the average (or even above average) listener is loathe to tackle to find something they like on their own.

[Dancebass]

 

This is where the system has broken down

 

 

Check out most of the national blogs, local blogs, and Alt weekly papers lists for Best Of 2010. There's not a huge range of variety. They all kind of pushed the same things. Listen to what they're pushing. It's unlistenable horse{censored}!

 

I couldn't tell you how many bands, promoters, musicians, club bookers, writers, emailed me around the new year lementing how they simply could not find anything they wanted to listen to. They all mentioned going all the way down these huge year-end lists vomiting on everything that came up.

 

The people promoting "what's hot" are no longer connected to "what sells". It's a dream come true out there for the hunch backed thick-framed vinyl nerd music writers out there. They have the new power and they've decided that the people have always sucked at chosing music. It's their day now, and YOU ALL ARE GOING TO GET SOME ARTSY CULTURE!!!! LIKE IT OR NOT!

[Cliftonb]

 

ah, but the secret is finding them. There is just so much chaff out there, how does one find the actual good stuff? The labels, even the indies, and radio are no help. And word of mouth, friends recommendations, trusted blogs are, honestly, hit and miss and too narrowly focused to help anyone find anything that should/could/would be major if it was discovered and promoted. This is where the system has broken down...we watched them balkanize the industry over the past several decades, and now, there is no cohesiveness, no minimum level of acceptability...just a wall of noise tha the average (or even above average) listener is loathe to tackle to find something they like on their own.

 

 

 

Not how it looks from my end, but I sort of understand your frustration.

[daddymack]

you, however, are, admittedly, not the average, or even above average listener...you are willing to go look/search/seek/discover/try...would that there were tens of millions more like you....

[Matximus]

Well, save for Arcade Fire, all those bands are precious suckbags and great arguments for why popular rock is losing mass cultural relevance.

 

But the other simple fact of the matter is rock music - even high-minded hipster rock - is made for young people and 39 means you aren't young anymore. That is all that it is. It's not them. It's you. And I'm not young anymore either - so I'm not just being mean.

 

But Here's some other semi-new or newish songs - if they don't move you then, yup, you really have lost your pulse....

 

Grounds for Divorce - Elbow (2008)

 

 

 

Home - Edward Sharpe (2009)

 

 

 

General Specific - Band of Horses (2007)

 

 

 

VCR - XX (2009)

 

 

 

Animal - Miike Snow (2009)

 

 

 

Suburbs - ARcade Fire (2010)

 

 

 

Daylight - Matt & Kim (2008)

 

 

[sventvkg]

It's to the point that out of everything out there even on the fringes, that has the least bit of buzz that I hear about I only like maybe 1 in 100. There are LOTS of great artists under the radar.

 

Cliftonb, can you explain your unique perspective on why you seem to know about and are tapped into this tremendous vein of talent that we are somehow all missing? Is is through school, affiliation with famous listen rooms, are you A & R? What's up?

[sventvkg]

You're not wrong Svent and even if 39 is ancient you're still not wrong. I turn 39 in a month and I'm sorry but all of the new blog-rock, indie rock stuff is absolute {censored}. I have always known that "the kids are always right". It's just a basic rule of thumb, even if they're wrong they're still right. Fighting it is 100% pointless, but that doesn't mean that lo-fi hipster music doesn't {censored}ing suck! It {censored}ing sucks! The reason you hear the void is because you have the ability to hear. You did not grow up on Adderol and you have a soul. The current state of "hot" indie rock hipster bull{censored} is the equivalent of Elvis Costello. It's {censored}ing boring and sackless. It has no sex in it. It is drone {censored} made for drones. Don't worry, it's day is coming soon. The backlash against this boring {censored} is going to be huge.

 

Ya know I totally agree and I also have NEVER heard the genius in Elvis Costello either. Other than Allison, it's all pretty much unlistenable to me..

[Matximus]

And the other thing is - Rock Music as we grew up understanding it - IE, music made by white-people for white people - is simply on the downward slide. Bitching about how it sucks is like being a jazz afficianado bitching about how all the new jazz sucks.... in about 1928 or so. Music goes out of style - that's all that's happening.

 

All the real heat in popular music is being generated in Top 40 and in Hip Hop - white guys with guitars are so-dead. Dinosaur rock is gone and not coming back..