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Topic: Today's music isn't any good. |
Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 3:26 am |
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This article by Bob Guccione Jr. (Spin Magazine) hits the 20 penny nail right on the head....
http://nypost.com/2015/08/08/spin-magazine-founder-todays-music-isnt-any-good/
I agree with him. Across all genres, gospel to rock, good music is hard to find. Most singers a a repertoire of 5 notes, and all singers try to sing in the same high pitched squeaky range. And the actual notation? Ugg...
_________________
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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 4:32 am
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Funny that he says it. "Spin" favored a lot of rap artists in the late eighties. Maybe there's intelligent Rap also. I just don't know. I thought Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were pretty good, but did they ever get into the charts?
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube.
Last edited by Joachim Kettner on 11 Aug 2015 10:30 am; edited 1 time in total |
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LJ Eiffert
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 4:45 am
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Would the word for SPIN Magazine be CONFUSED and or did (He)they just do this article to start more RAP out of Crap?  |
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Larry Carlson
From:
My Computer
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 7:19 am
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I also agree with him.
I listen to a classical radio station all day at home and of course steel music (mostly lap steel and Weissenborn) on the internet.
Most of what I hear on popular radio etc. is so overly processed and enhanced and auto-tuned and compressed it doesn't even resemble music.
When I hear a live recording of "Night on Bald Mountain" or listen to Troy Brenningmeyer or one of the other many active steel players
I know it is the real thing. It has depth, warmth and emotion behind it, not a processed drone of artificial noise.
Just my opinion of course. 
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 8:20 am
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Sorry you guys feel that way, but are you really looking for good music outside of your comfort zone? It does exist. Listeners need to grow, too.
I think if I felt that way, it would be pretty depressing, like a world without hope.
_________________
http://www.steelinstruction.com/
http://mikeneer.com |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 8:24 am
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| Does no one search out the good music that's out there or do you just listen to what spoonfed to the public and make the call from that? I've been listening to some great music that was made in just the last year or 2. You're not going to hear it on the radio but that's ok. They'll never serve a decent burger in a McDonalds either. |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 8:46 am
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After reading some of these comments, I'm left wondering if some of you even read the article. Maybe it's a short term memory thing..
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 9:00 am
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I think you're underestimating us with your comment, Mike Neer. Out of our comfort zone? I've listened to music as diverse from Claus Ogerman to the Clash. I grew up in the sixties and a lot of good music leaked over from England and yes, France. I've seen some great Bands from Mighty Baby, Jackie Lomax to Eric Burdon and the Animals to the J.Hendrix Experience.
The difference for me is, that there was something in the air then and I terribly miss it today.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Larry Carlson
From:
My Computer
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 9:45 am
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
Sorry you guys feel that way, but are you really looking for good music outside of your comfort zone? It does exist. Listeners need to grow, too.
I think if I felt that way, it would be pretty depressing, like a world without hope. |
Well I am sorry you feel that way about about being sorry about me feeling that way. Or whatever.
But I had an opinion and I voiced it. I get opinions about once every 3 years and just can't hold them back.
You know, sort of like your post is just an opinion.
I'm sorry we can't all like the same things.
Wait........no I'm not. 
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 10:05 am
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| Barry Blackwood wrote: |
After reading some of these comments, I'm left wondering if some of you even read the article. Maybe it's a short term memory thing..
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I read it, but I was commenting more on the comments. The article itself didn't really say anything new. Yes, commercialization and commodification of music sucks, except to the people making the money. We get it.
_________________
http://www.steelinstruction.com/
http://mikeneer.com |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 10:23 am
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| Joachim Kettner wrote: |
The difference for me is, that there was something in the air then and I terribly miss it today. |
That is something altogether different, Joachim.
_________________
http://www.steelinstruction.com/
http://mikeneer.com |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 10:42 am
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| Joachim Kettner wrote: |
I think you're underestimating us with your comment, Mike Neer. Out of our comfort zone? I've listened to music as diverse from Claus Ogerman to the Clash. I grew up in the sixties and a lot of good music leaked over from England and yes, France. I've seen some great Bands from Mighty Baby, Jackie Lomax to Eric Burdon and the Animals to the J.Hendrix Experience.
The difference for me is, that there was something in the air then and I terribly miss it today. |
We are in a bit of a "post-music" society. Music is everywhere. Not just current music but all music that has ever been produced is available now. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 11 Aug 2015 10:59 am
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Yes Dustin, I always make sure that I get my monthly copy of the "Record Collector" magazine. It's very nostalgic I admit, but they also write about new music, so I'm also a little "up to date".
Mike, I miss those times as I said. 
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Ian
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 12 Aug 2015 1:52 pm
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Scott,
You are right about one thing, good music is hard to find - through commercial outlets. I listen to the local college and community radio stations and hear loads of great new music. I'm a big fan of KALX, which also streams its broadcasts online, check it out sometime.
Ian |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 12 Aug 2015 3:34 pm
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I think in terms of overall quality on a scale of 1 to 10 there might be more good music being made now than at any time in history. But there is such a huge volume of music being produced it also means that there is a tremendous amount of bad music as well.
I think Guccione is right on in the paragraph I quoted below, and I think it ties in somewhat with Joachim's comment about there was something in the air back in the day.
Guccione talks about "blowing the lid off" and in a musical sense I take that to mean anything from The Beatles, Hendrix, The Band, Traffic, James Brown, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings when his "outlaw" style began, Miles Davis, Coltrane, and on and on.
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| “The problem now is that nobody’s blowing the lid off anything,†he says. And it’s not just music that’s in the ditch — it’s pop culture, too. “TV ads aimed at kids all have a perfectly diverse group of perfectly attractive people jumping up and down, appearing to be perfectly happy.†|
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Mark |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 13 Aug 2015 9:23 am
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I'm with you, Neer, I don't have any problem finding tones (woops, typo) tons of music, inside and outside the comfort zone.
I can't imagine either the feeling that something is lacking, I just don't look where it lacks, like radio--
and even then, there's usually something great or challenging one way or another.
Plus, when I can't find something I like, I write it. I have lots of music that I've done because no one else has.
Those tunes are among my favorites, Whether someone else would like it or not....
_________________
Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Aug 2015 9:42 am
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Last summer I took a long drive with my 16-year-old granddaughter. She plugged her phone into my car's sound system and we listened to her favorite music for about 2 hours.
I have to say I'm impressed with the quality of music that many young artists are making today. It's different from our music, though. It's tight and very carefully arranged. There are no "mistakes" in their recordings, and no slop. The songs are meticulously crafted and the lyrics are often profound.
I think that we often object to the overall sound - the compression, the beat, the computerized "tricks". In doing so, we are missing the art. I'm sure that my parents felt the same way when I brought home The Yardbirds. We can't relate to it. We're from a gentler, more organic generation. To record, we set up a couple of microphones and just play. To us, the computer workstation is just a better sounding tape recorder. The artful techniques of modern studio wizards don't appeal to us. Their music sounds alien to our ears.
I think that a good musician has to listen to everything. I'll admit that I don't "get" a lot of new music, but I'm always willing to listen when a true music fan plays it for me.
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Aug 2015 10:51 am
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| b0b wrote: |
I think that we often object to the overall sound - the compression, the beat, the computerized "tricks". In doing so, we are missing the art...The artful techniques of modern studio wizards don't appeal to us. Their music sounds alien to our ears.
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I think that's the problem. The "art" has been shifted from the performers and musicians to the studio guys. It used to be GIGO, now it's AISPI (anything in, saleable product out).  I often scan the entire AM and FM spectrum when I'm driving, and the only thing I find listenable is oldies, jazz, or classical. Everything else is an aural assualt, and I can't handle it. |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Mark Carlisle
From:
Springville CA
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 10:42 am Re: Today's music isn't any good.
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Stella's been covered a bazillion times and while I appreciate Kurt Rosenwinkel's approach, it's just too gimmicky for my taste. I'll take Jimmy Bruno's version of it any day. There is a ton of good music being made today-just not much good pop music. How many variations of I-IV-V and catchy melodic hooks are there? No one knows for sure.
Aaron Copland stated that he went the direction he did because he wanted there to be more to American music than "the blues and the snappy number". Try playing a CD with a Charles Ives composition on it at your next party-it will probably clear the room fast. There is music-and then there is musician's music. Always has been, always will be. |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 12:19 pm
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i feel ya about Stella, but i do dig that version, a lot...
for another young jazzer, original tune, check Gilad Hekselman. very compelling music, to me.
http://youtu.be/epfW_L9cfVM
or, julian lage:
http://youtu.be/c_sKqUysqt4
also, i posted two 'pop' tunes.
the melody to that Sufjan tune is georgeous.
also pop: http://youtu.be/wUL8NklXDsw
i'll have to be honest though, i'm not much familiar w/ Charles Ives. let's change that, where do i start?
re: party music, sure, who knows. my friends don't let me pick party music...
j |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 12:35 pm
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bOb wrote:
| Quote: |
| when I brought home The Yardbirds... |
It's hard to imagine that they were in the charts once.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 2:30 pm
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The writer is a rebel against his own upbringing, and so, to him, MADONNA was the paragon of "real?" Nitwit. Maybe if he stopped watching car commercials to find music, he'd start roiling up warmer goodies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnTHwLnearg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a1zU0yxk6c
Even without asking them, I'm confident that way over 1/2 the people making new great music wouldn't sell it to Chevy or Ford. Ferrari, possibly.... for all those Ferrari car ads you see on TV, like.  |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 3:23 pm
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The thing that gets me, is on America's Got Talent there is a white man and a black girl (two different acts) that absolutely sing circles around a lot of the "pro" singers. A lot of the folks on that show say it's their "last chance" to move ahead, meaning many have submitted stuff to producers, only to be passed over.
Folks doing music today need to be themselves. Stop trying to imitate others. If the producer says it won't sell, find another producer.
Look at the past... Willie sounded and played like Willie. Floyd Cramer was Floyd Cramer. Man, people surely have more talent than what we are seeing and hearing.
I attempt to play steel guitar. Sure there's a certain amount to it that will be similar to other players before me, but I want to sound like Scott. Not Buddy, or B0b, or any others, even though they are fine players. But each one of them sound like themselves. That's what I want to hear.
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 14 Aug 2015 3:54 pm
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| David Mason wrote: |
| to him, MADONNA was the paragon of "real?" |
What is real? |
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