SFK Rants About Modern Music

[SuperFireKirby]

Now, this sn't a OMG I HATE MODERN MUSIC or an OMG I LOVE MODERN MUSIC. It's both.

I think music of the popular and non-video game/classical/orchestral/etc. variety does get treated unfairly on this site though. SO I SHALL EDUCATE YOU SILLY FOOLS. This is going to have reviews as well as rants. So I'll start with a countdown.

[SuperFireKirby]

THE TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2012:
2012 was another kinda, sorta bad year for music. Sure Gagnam Style was pretty coll, but for every good song we had something along the lines of Nicki Minaj bullshit to outweigh goodness. But there was good music in 2012 and here's the top 5 albums. BTW, since the point of this thingy is to exalt modern music, I'm trying to keep away from all the fantastic jazz, blues and WE ARE NOT OLD PEOPLE rock n' roll albums released. It's really freakin difficult though.

5. Transcendental Youth
The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats have been around since the dawn of "indie" music and they have kept with it ever since. Leader singer/guitarist/lyricist/only real band member John Darnielle has yet again put together a fantastic album that effortlessly combines rock, folk, and some bluegrass and jazz elements. If you enjoy a good acoustic rock album, these guys are brilliant. Another note would be that even after 14 freakin albums, the songs still song fresh and original and the lyricism is some of the best you'll hear in music today.

Album Highlights:
Cry For Judas
Night Light
Transcendental Youth


4. Shields
Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear is just odd. They're kinda of hard to define, though it almost seems like they're not. They use elements from tons of different genres, including alternative, folk, surf rock, jazz, pop, and others. They're absolutely great. Even Stephen Colbert thinks so. That's why he gave them the Colbert Bump. Honestly this is just something you need to listen to, it's brilliant, just take my word for it.

Album Highlights:
Sleeping Ute
Yet Again
Sun In Your Eyes


3. Skelethon
Aesop Rock

In case you don't know, this is a rap album by a rapper who makes raps. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "HOW THE HELL COULD A RAP ALBUM BE GOOD?". I would be thinking the exact same thing, if it weren't for one little fact. AESOP ROCK IS A FUCKING GENIUS. Seriously, he is. I honestly would put him as one of the best lyricists of the past 20 years, in the same league as Isaac Brock(Modest Mouse), Tomas Kalnoky(Streetlight Manifesto), and John Darnielle(see above). He doesn't talk about bitches or money or drugs at all, except in a NEGATIVE way. And despite a little hiccup with his last album None Shall Pass, which was good but not great, this one is full blown awesomeness. If you're a fan of sweet beats, cryptic lyricism, and beards, this album is for you!

Album Highlights:
Leisureforce
Cycles To Ghenna
Zero Dark Thirty


2. My Head is An Animal
Of Monsters And Men

I absolutely LOVE this album. It's hard to say why. Maybe it just feels right. The trumpet and accordian certainly don't do any harm. OMAM have managed to make one of the best records of the year by doing what a lot of other "indie" bands are doing, but doing RIGHT. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir voice sounds like crystal, and she easily has one of the best voices I've heard in a long time. And it sounds especially good accompanied by Ragnar Þórhallsson's very smooth and mellow voice. A fantastic contrast that makes the co-frontman/woman excellent. Are you going to find super special awesome lyricism here or super creative mind-blowingness? No, not necessarily. What I think is so great about this album is that Of Monster's and Men have achieved something I didn't know was possible. They made a pop/folk album that I ENJOY. And that's pretty fuckin' special. And not to mention this is their DEBUT album. So it can only get better. Or worse. It all depends.

Album Highlights:
Little Talks
Mountain Sound
Lakehouse


1. Blunderbuss
Jack White

Did I say there wouldn't be any blues on here? Okay, I lied a little then. Jack White has been involved in numerous projects over the years, from The White Stripes to The Dead Weather to The Raconteurs. But this is his first solo project, as well as the only one that doesn't start with "The". Both are pretty monumental. Mr. White has brought to this album exactly what you would think. But the only thing is he didn't. Where the White Stripes were pure, furry induced, primitive garage rock and The Raconteurs was almost the same thing, except slightly more refined and with a bass guitar, Jack White's solo debut takes it to a whole new level. It's like The White Stripes turned into a country gentlemen with an exquisite taste in white suits and a fancy mustache. And it's really, really good. With a full-blown band consisting of a good 15 members, White shows how his guns canblaze when he isn't confined to writing for just a guitar and drumset. If you like blues, rock n'roll, piano ballads, or music in general, CHECK THIS ALBUM OUT.

Album Highlights:
Blunderbuss
Freedom At 21
Sixteen Saltines
Love Interruption
Weep Themselves to Sleep

Other honorable mentions:
How To Destroy Angels - An Omen EP
Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
Toh Kay - The Hand That Thieves
No Doubt - Push and Shove

There.

[Waddle Bro]

1. Blunderbuss
Jack White

Did I say there wouldn't be any blues on here? Okay, I lied a little then. Jack White has been involved in numerous projects over the years, from The White Stripes to The Dead Weather to The Raconteurs. But this is his first solo project, as well as the only one that doesn't start with "The". Both are pretty monumental. Mr. White has brought to this album exactly what you would think. But the only thing is he didn't. Where the White Stripes were pure, furry induced, primitive garage rock and The Raconteurs was almost the same thing, except slightly more refined and with a bass guitar, Jack White's solo debut takes it to a whole new level. It's like The White Stripes turned into a country gentlemen with an exquisite taste in white suits and a fancy mustache. And it's really, really good. With a full-blown band consisting of a good 15 members, White shows how his guns canblaze when he isn't confined to writing for just a guitar and drumset. If you like blues, rock n'roll, piano ballads, or music in general, CHECK THIS ALBUM OUT.

SFK just earned me respect with this. <3

[SuperFireKirby]

Now, next to the hip-hop/rap and dubstep genres, it's been pretty much unanimously agreed by people with good taste that pop music is an abomination, and that it' only getting worse. Extremely repetitive, unoriginal, annoying, overproduced, void of any real talent, these are terms that describe most pop music and pop artists. But unlike Dubstep, which is flat out terrible and hip-hop, which has only a few good artists left and they aren't the ones making headlines, Pop could still have a fighting chance. But only if it follows the example of these 5 songs:


5 Songs That Make Me Want to Believe in Pop Music:

5. Bulletproof - La Roux

With an electronic sound reminiscent of 80s electropop(in a good David Bowie kind of way), no actual instrument, and a singer with a whacked out hairdo and make up combo(in a weird David Bowie kind of way), this seems like the least drastic route pop could take, while still being able to call itself decent. Is it all that super good? No, but it manages to be like a lot of other pop music while still being an enjoyable song. The verses are fucking catchy as hell though.

4. 1234 - Fiest

Now, admittedly, I hated this song at first. Because I only knew it from that Apple commercial that played all the god damn time. But after giving it a legitimate listen through, I thought it was perty coll. Feist did an important thing for pop music. She helped bring interestingness and creativity in the actual fucking music back to the forefront, putting it over a pretentious self-image of being a god(though she does playing an angel in Stephen Colbert's christmas special) which it seems every fucking pop artists thinks they are(see: Lady Gaga). Her voice is pure, the music is pure, the lyrics are well-thought out, what more could you ask for from music's third worst genre?

3. Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men

Yep, they're making an appearance on another list. Is this pop? Or rock? Or folk? Yes, it is. That's what makes this song brilliant. I can't put an absolute genre label on it. I wish more music did that. The duo of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson shows what it's made of in Little Talks possible better than any other of their songs. The trumpet line is sexy, the accordion is cool, but the best part s that none of the instruments really take the forefront(well, except the trumpet). Everything blends together in a very nice way. The electric guitar is almost solely used for texturing purposes, something you almost never find in popular music. Over all, a great song and I hope they inspire some more budding musicians to follow in their footsteps.

2. Back In Your Head - Tegan and Sara(or practically any other song by them. They fucking rock)

Tegan and Sara are far more than living proof that homosexuality is genetic(They're twins. And both lesbians.). They're one of the best pop groups you'll find anywhere. This isn't even one of their better songs, but it's very poppy, so it fits well into this list. And it's still a fantastic song, which possibly lies in it's simplicity. It does have that repetition you usually find within the genre, and I think that's why this song is great example for what pop SHOULD be doing. It doesn't have to be that drastic of a change to make the genre good, and Back In Your Head proves that.

1. The Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

Florence + The Machine. Wow, what a group. Florence Welch has one of the most powerful voices I have ever heard, and back that up with booming bass drums, harps, and people clapping and this is the song you end up with. Florence + The Machine is the climax of what pop can be. They show that you don't need a million idiotic electronic noises, to be wearing almost absolutely no clothing, and the fucking autotune knob cranked up to eleven. All it takes is super awesome voice and a micro orchestra to back it up. The sheer beauty of Florence + The Machine's songs gives me a glimmer of hope for the world of pop. Even if the hope is futile.

[Ricky]

A few years back I used to listen to hip-hop actually. I listened to underground/alternative/independent hip-hop (for example I used to listen to Aesop Rock quite much eventhough I didn't understand the meaning of most of his lyrics) which I considered far better than mainstream hip-hop. The reason was that the lyrics were much better and made more sense. I can understand why people choose to listen to (non mainstream) hip-hop. I did it for the lyrics. Some people say that hip-hop isn't music but why wouldn't a musical pattern repeated over and over with a form of fast speaking on top of it not be music? The definition of music is a matter of personal opinion though. For example John Cage's (a late modern classical composer (not modern as in popular music but modern as in modernist)) music is considered as music by some while most (i.e. the average music listener) would probably not consider it music.

Anyways, as I got more and more into classical music I eventually stopped listening to hip-hop, it simply wasn't interesting anymore. Back in the days I did listen to some non hip-hop popular music but I never got into it. Nowadays I listen to classical, video game & TV music and sometimes also ragtime. I actually dislike most popular music. You're probably wondering why. I will give you a few reasons why (ofc there are exceptions but I give the general picture):

1. The instrumentation. The lack of variety in instrumentation is enormous. Most popular music bands consist of a singer, one or two (most often electric) guitarists, a electric bass player, a drummer and sometimes a keyboardist. In most cases it is a song but instrumental music expresses much more, it expresses things that can't be said with words. Besides most pop style singing sounds ugly to me. And there's also the almost always present drum set keeping the pulse. I like percussion but in popular music it is pretty limited to the drum set and the constant pulse keeping is boring. In classical music the percussion has a much more varied role as decoration, emphasis, melody, accompaniment, pulse and so on depending on the circumstance. Why is there such a lack of other instruments like flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, horns, trombones, tubas, violins, violas, harps and so on and so on.

2. Length. Most popular music pieces are between 3 and 5 minutes (just look at the videos below). Why is there such a lack of longer or shorter pieces in popular music? Doesn't it fit the radio or the recording companies?

3. Harmony. Same old chord progressions over and over. Block chords most of the time. Thankfully there sometimes are interesting chord types used (such as sus chords, 6th chords, 7th chords etc. especially in jazz if you want to count that into the broad definiton of popular music) so I give credit to that.

4. Lack of variety, oversimplification. Lack of variety in harmony (see above), forms, instrumentation (see above), length (see above), dynamics (often focus on just loudness) and so on.

With that said I think classical music has its' faults too which include the lack of support for contemporary classical music (old pieces get the most attention and are valued most). The lack of audience is also a problem but it's not the style itself which causes it, rather the attitudes today. Many kids worship Justin Bieber but may not know who J.S. Bach was, not to mention less known composers such as Igor Stravinsky and not to mention today's classical music composers (like Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, Einojuhani Rautavaara or Kalevi Aho). Also personally I wish more post-reneissance classical music would be modal and also that instruments such as guitars, recorders, ocarinas, mandolins, accordions, saxophones, banjos, pedal steel guitars etc. would be used more often. Well, some of these instruments mentioned came quite late and are being used in classical compositions more often nowadays so it's just a matter of time before these will become more standard. The lack of modality depends on many reasons including lack of comprehensive theory texts about modality adjusted to the stylistic changes in time. Modal Music Composition by Stephen M. Cormier is a quite recent and great book about modality.

[SuperFireKirby]

Well hullo there. I very much enjoy your view of things. But let me try to give my view as well.

1. Instrumentation - Yes, you are absolutely correct. 95% of popular music today can't get past the basic guitar/bass/drum setup. But many of the bands I gave example of do just that. Jack White's band consists of: Multiple guitars, bass guitar, drums, piano, Rhodes piano, 2 double basses, organ, 2 fiddles, steel peddle, clarinet, and a mandolin. And that album hit No.1 on the Billboard 200. Florence Welch has a very wide amount instrumentation as well(aka a shitload of harps), and she is becoming ever more present in popular music. Of Monsters and Men is very prevent in pop music as well, using horns and and an accordion. And the reason that there is such a lack of instrumentation? Well, because organizing an orchestra for band practice at your house every day is a little difficult. Drums and guitar are loud, aggressive, and versatile when used correctly. That's why they are and always will be so prevalent in popular music. There are plenty bands that have instruments not ofter found in the genre, but as long as guitar is super dooper popular, it will be EVERYWHERE.

So I think what we may see over the next 10 years is a big shift in the instrumentation of popular music. One half going to be insanely electronified and the other will be made up of small orchestras.

2. Length - There is a good reason for this. Classical music was never designed for the masses. It was written for noblemen and performed for the rich and artsyto be entertained in a fancy music hall. The common person generally didn't have the time back then and doesn't have the attention span today to listen to it. Is the short length something created by radios and such? No, folk and blues songs from way back when were of similar lengths and it's just remained stuck to that archetype throughout the years. But I don't think of this as a big issue personally. When I write a song, I don't care about the length of it. I write what I need to to express the emotion I want to convey or the story I'm trying to tell and then I'm done. Whether it's 5 or 10 or 20 minutes makes no difference, so long as that emotion or story is told. Length, I don't believe, is a major issue in music.

3. Harmony - The power chord essentially destroyed rock music forever. Because of it's simplicity, every band and their mother refuses to think outside the box and just fill anything that isn't a guitar solo with 'em. And I don't see that going anywhere anytime soon. I basically ignore group that don't use instruments in interesting ways, but it certainly is a problem.

4. Variety - When you combine the unoriginality of the three categories, you end up with a shitty generic pop or rock song. And that's generally what popular music is and has been for awhile. Just a whole bunch of unoriginal, thoughtless garbage. That's why I made this thread. To show that while 95% is awful, there is still that 5% hanging on with a vengeance.

And it's that 5% I'm writing this thread about. The 5% that tries to go beyond the typical norm of the popular music world.
Such as Modest Mouse. Modest Mouse is amazing. Listen to Modest Mouse. Because Modest Mouse is amazing. But listen to older 1990s Modest Mouse. That Modest Mouse is better and more creative imo.

[Nebbles]

I'm glad you love Flo + The Machine as much as I do

[Yugi]

Nicki Minaj

I still can't tell weather Nicki Minaj is male of female.

Also, I have found one good rap song, but nobody counts it because its from a Video game.

[SuperFireKirby]

Aesop Rock in one of the few rappers I don't absolutely hate. In fact I really, really like him. Check his stuff out. You might like it.

[Ricky]

I thought you would disagree with most of what I said but I see we agree on many things. It would indeed be more interesting with popular music bands consisting of small orchestras. Well, it is true that most classical music at least until the classical period was written for rich people, nobility or the church as they were supporting the composers. During the classical period and afterwards composers became more and more independent and the concert halls became more and more common (ofc there were opera halls before that too). Sure the music was written to be heard live as there obviously wasn't a way to record it but that doesn't mean that the music isn't for the common person. The lack of audience is an issue caused by many reasons such as lack of knowledge (if the parents don't know almost anything about classical music and the schools don't introduce it then why would the kids know?), wrong attitudes (people thinking classical music is only for rich people or music geeks or that it's only for special occasions), (bad) popular music always on the radio, thinking classical music is only Mozart, Beethoven and J.S. Bach and so on. The reasons mentioned might be wrong as they are only guesses and I haven't really made any survey or anything to really find reasons why more people aren't interested in classical music (would be interesting with such a survey though). On the bright side of things there are positive things happening too. For example sites such as Youtube make lots of otherwise unknown classical music easily accessible (you don't need to buy a recording to hear it). Also plenty of TV, video game and film music is a form of classical music or use classical music. In fact video game music is one of the reasons I got into classical music.


Anyways, since we're discussing the topic of hip-hop I thought I could help out some by giving some tips of hip-hop artists I used to like. So:

[SuperFireKirby]

Of Monster and Men, whom as you may realize I'm a bit obsessed with, just released a new music video for their single King and Lionheart yesterday:

Now, this is an excellent song. But what I am even more impressed with is how visually stunning the video is. OMAM seems to be creating their own little universe in their MVs and this one is excellent. You can easily make out the story and it's very well told for being nothing but visuals. The animation, color schemes,and overall style of the video are exactly my cup of tea. I think this is definitely one of the coolest MV's released in awhile. Check it out!

[Yugi]

I think the killers make pretty good modern music.

[SuperFireKirby]

Ewwwwww.

So apparently this is no longer SFK Rants About Modern Music, but NSM Rants About Modern Music. Maybe I should change the title.

[Jub3r7]

I'm obsessed with the Pandora station "Sum 41 Radio". Feel free to skip the song if linkin park comes on?

[SuperFireKirby]

So two of mah favorite Canadian lesbian twin sister pop/rock/folk musicians, Tegan and Sara, have a new album dropping on January 29th titled Heartthrob. I listened to the songs they've released and it's far more poppy and "modern" and electronically based than anything they've released beforehand. But it's definitely good. Will it be as good as they're other albums? Well, I've got the Deluxe Edition on pre-order and I'll give ya a sexy review of it as soon as I get it.