What the hell happened to music???

This is my first rant, so I'm going to make it a good one.

On other sites I've read of this 'Skrillex' character. He seems popular, so I checked him out on youtube. Apparently what he creates is called 'Dubstep'

And what it heard disturbed me.

Basically all I heard was the sound of a dozen fax machines vomiting to the beat of a drum machine. I admit it was a catchy tune, if you enjoy hearing 'schrreeech-grrrrght-squeal-rowwwl-tisssch-boom.'

Is this a new thing? I thought it was bad enough for modern 'musicians' to sample ( plagiarize) older classics, while singing what can loosely be described as lyrics.

But I sympathize with these modern day pop stars. It must be hard to press buttons on their laptop to insert drum loops and sound FX's, and let's not forget the hard work of the voice modulators that make these pop stars voices coherent.

I thank God, Yoda, etc for these stellar musicians. I know the really talented bands practicing day in day out are rooting for all the Keshas and Chris Browns, who's three days of hard work has really paid off. And what great role models they are as well.

I can't wait till these pop stars release acoustic versions of their greatest hits, of course they'll need to consult a dictionary to find out what acoustic means before they can do it.

I pray that this music is not a part of the music curriculum taught in school. I might seem like a grizzled old burnout, but the truth is I'm 28, and I play an archaic instrument known as a 'guitar'.

All joking aside, I hate what popular music has become. You don't need to know how to sing or play an instrument anymore, It turns out the Buggles 'video killed the radio star' was the most accurate prophecy ever predicted.

Am I right or am I jaded?

reply to post by Thecakeisalie

There is still good music released this year... contains large amounts of 'guitar'.



Like?

reply to post by Thecakeisalie


You know what happened to the music, is you got old.

Yeah nothing beats this class from the early 20th century, they have nothing on Radiohead, Massive Attack or Soundgarden...LOL

Dubstep isn't really a popular thing. It is gaining momentum but not all that mainstream. Some pop stars have been putting the sounds of "dubstep" in their songs. But you also have to know what dubstep is. Its just music being made in half step. And maybe they are "pressing buttons" but when you play a piano you are just pressing keys. No?
I like skrillex some of his stuff, but there are so much other stuff out there that isn't like robots having sex. Adventure club is one of my personal favorites. Here are some examples that may win you over a little bit.







I listen to everything. I am 30 years old, I like oldies, I like hip hop, jazz, classical, I like all forms of music. Because it is just that, music.

It get's worse
I write songs for Cody time it relaxes me.
I just mess around with my thoughts and my guitar. Mrs C loves it (even in my times of frustration looking for the next line or chord or how to take it to the bridge) , I reckon the difference is life experience Justin B
a song should be from the soul not the record label. Oh dear showing my age.
The best songs are written in moments of pain or joy. If there's no real emotion there's nothing to express. Cue the boybands.

Just one example of Monumental 21st century soundscapes.

reply to post by Thecakeisalie


So if your 28 that puts your teen years right around the peak of the grunge era.

I'm sure you loved that music but you might be surprised to learn how many people thought it was worthless. Playing 3 chords over and over while repeating unitelligable sounds into a microphone.

Too bad they no longer have great role models like Kurt Cobain I guess.

Oh well

Producers. It's the same thing that happened to movies.
Talentless corporate fat cats have taken over both industries and are injecting their bad ideas into everything that's being released. This is why all of the best movies and music now are indie, or at least are connected to people who were around when film and music was still about art and not "image."

In regards to image, it's my personal opinion that MTV in the 80s is what killed music. Before then, no one cared what a band looked like. It was all about what they sounded like. Average looking people with big talent (then) versus beautiful people with average talent (now).

Fear not. It may take a little digging, but there are still good bands around.

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by Thecakeisalie

 

So if your 28 that puts your teen years right around the peak of the grunge era.

I'm sure you loved that music but you might be surprised to learn how many people thought it was worthless. Playing 3 chords over and over while repeating unitelligable sounds into a microphone.

Too bad they no longer have great role models like Kurt Cobain I guess.

Oh well

I don't have a gun
Guess he did great loss, as for roll model ? I'll take Someone non suicidal and with soul in his/her music

reply to post by Thecakeisalie


I agree with you completely. People got to realize that a lot of bands out there are controlled by corporate interests that have control over the lyrical content and the way the band sounds.
People have been duped by the modern music industry.Only mostly hot models get to be sighed. Do you think a band like the Mamas and the Papas would get signed today, probably not. They would say to loose the big one or something like that.

We don't pick the bands the bands are picked for us. Just listen to the radio only certain songs get played always.
And its usually the artist they are trying to ram down our throats.

reply to post by cody599


That was kind of my point. Many people thought he was extremely untalented, myself included.

Your claim that he or others in that music scene had soul is simply subjective. He wrote crappy poetry and put it to bad music.

Kids today may identify with a new generation of music the same as you do with what you grow up with. But to say its meaningless is a bit presumptuous of you when people said the same thing about your stuff. These kids today will say the same thing about the next generation of music.

Just reread my post
Why do the greats die so young ?
The easy answer is drugs, I was lucky enough to see Amy Winehouse at her peak and Paulo Nutini at the same festival with the rolling stones (what a weekend that was)
Did music die ? Nah
It just evolved before us oldies.
I remember my mum and dad being horrified at my music and my peers loving it.

Don Mclean
The day that music died ? I don't think so
The day that music influenced youth culture to violence possibly
The night I'm gonna play for my wife ................ Tonight
Got an idea for a song (thunder storms in the desert)
Thanks

Originally posted by enament
reply to post by Thecakeisalie

 

You know what happened to the music, is you got old.

edit on 9-2-2013 by enament because: (no reason given)

So very true. It seems as though the older generations always have qualms with the younger generations choice in music.

Skrillex is awful.

Don't let Skrillex turn you off from electronic music or especially dubstep. (Skrillex BARELY counts as dubstep)

That being said, I can't stand most of today's mainstream music. I love mainstream 80s and 90s, but after that... blecch.


This is the kind of dubstep I like.

Originally posted by enament
reply to post by Thecakeisalie

 

You know what happened to the music, is you got old.

edit on 9-2-2013 by enament because: (no reason given)

Dubstep is to music what a computer virus is to music.

Originally posted by kimish

Originally posted by enament
reply to post by Thecakeisalie

 

You know what happened to the music, is you got old.

edit on 9-2-2013 by enament because: (no reason given)

So very true. It seems as though the older generations always have qualms with the younger generations choice in music.

Except that at some point in time music ceased to exist. I think 90s grunge was the first blow. Music is something that is played on instruments that takes actual talent and years of practice to master. A turntable is not an instrument. Sure, you can learn to be 'skillful' at using a turntable, just the same as you can be skillful at running a floor polisher at WalMart.

reply to post by enament

You know what happened to the music, is you got old.

Using that logic, I'll be a grumpy old fart by forty.

My point is that there are many good, talented bands or artists out there that are being drowned out by talentless corporate flag bearers, who's talent extends no further than the length of my pinky.

For instance, imagine if Stephen Hawking's views were ignored in favor of Jack Black quoting Wikipedia, and all of a sudden he becomes the authority on all things astrophysical.

The problem I have is with the popular music (if you can call it that) being drilled into us, while genuine talent has to take the back seat.

Although there is still decent music being made today, generally music pushed into the mainstream has been going down the toilet for years, from cheesey boy bands to dumbing down lyrics promoting sex and violence.

I stumbled across this the other day on the FBI vault, a number of letters to J Edgar Hoover from a concerned citizen regarding the lyrics of The Doors: vault.fbi.gov...

Interestingly, J Edgar agreed with him:

reply to post by Hopechest


Oh yeah every musician knows that more chords = more better!

Anyone who thinks that a song can be judged on its' chordal complexity obviously don't write songs!