Fave Band - son of...

[The Dutchman!]

BSA, Grendel we really need to have a beer sometime when I'm next in Melbourne - probably won't be for at least a year but hey?

My all time faves:

1. Go Betweens (particularly Spring Hill Fair, Liberty Bell, Tululla period)
2. Pulp - His n Hers particularly
3. Zep - Pretty much everything that doesn't involve druid references...
4. Velvets - Everything - even the shite stuff
5. 4 Stones records - you know the ones...
6. REM: Chronic town - Out of Time..
7. Triffids - particularly Born Sandy & field of glass period
8. Pixies - Surferosa & dolittle
9. Curtis Mayfield - particularly Back to World time
10. Radiohead - yep - these guys are THAT good...

Could go on with the usual suspects but I reckon we'd have pretty massive record collection cross overs!

God I miss the indie scene when it was really indie....

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

shit yeah

Remember when 'alternative' pop music really was alternative ?

These days it seems this kinda music (or a pale imitation of it) is played all over the place, all the time.

Yet Record companies still like to call this stuff 'alternative'

alternative to what ? reading a book ? wanking yourself ?

dunno - can't figure

 

[Eagle_Fan]

Alternative to the mass-produced 'boy bands', 'pop princesses' and 'latin heart-throbs' that are so prevalent, and marketed so shamelessly. Music dubbed as "alternative" may not have the same meaning it had whenever you guys were young

but it does have meaning. Maybe it's sad that "alternative" now includes actually writing and performing your own music (shock!), and not having dolls made of you, but that's the way it is....
Anyway, I apologise if that makes no sense.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

you mean any band that writes and performs their own material is 'alternative' ?

Ouch ! - Now that is TRAGIC

 

[BJ]

No she never said that.


Alternative has just become mainstream...it gets played on 92.9 and 96fm and not just on triple J. Because of this alot of people reakon its not cool anymore. thats just stupid because who cares whats cool and whats not, its just wether u like the music or not. You cant just change the name of alternative music just because its gone mainstream.
Heaps of people say they like bands just coz they are 'cool' then once they get played on stations like 92.9 they dont like them anymore. Thats what happened to Blink 182 (punk rock i guess). When Blink first came out on like triple J all the 'alternative' guys thought it was so good and then once the teeney boppers began to like it the 'alternative' guys didnt. Thats just stupid, coz that just goes to show that some people just like certain music because they think its cool to like that music. Its all about image for them.
anyway got off the track a bit sorry.
BJ

------------------
Eagles Rock!Go Ben and Jaxon!

 

[Shinboners]

An "alternative" to the mass marketed boy bands, pop princesses, and latin heartthrobs hey Eagle Fan? I'd argue that bands like Limp Bizkit, Enemin, Korn, and other so-called "alternative" acts use just as much marketing as your Fives, All Saints, and Ricky Martins.

The point that us old fogeys (or old skool as you kids like to call it

) are trying to make is that when we were kids, alternative meant "alternative to the mainstream". It was more or less a DIY spirit that came from punk. Gradually though, the DIY ethic gave way to marketing (hey Alan McGee?), and eventually, "alternative" became part of the mainstream and just another label to slap onto the CD covers. The whole irony is that this punk DIY ethic came to prominence via the Sex Pistols who were, in fact, one of the most successful marketing exercises in the UK music scene.....but despite the birth of this bastard child, it did inspire people to take up guitars, start record labels, and (for talentless gits like me), do fanzines.

Marilyn Manson and his friends are part of the mainstream. There is an alternative...but if the label on the CD says "Alternative music", then you're probably looking at the wrong CD.

 

[Bluey]

Thing is, more production goes into a record as the equipment and skills have become more readily available. Listen to Blink 182 live and you probably won't recognise them from the album.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Thanks heaps Shinners

this is what I have been trying to say all along, but you summed it up nicely.

cheers

 

[sainter]

Friends of mine who are into 'punk' bands and other forms of current alternative music get very annoyed when music they had liked for years suddenly gets commercial airtime and becomes widely known.

They accuse these bands of 'selling out' and just becoming another mainstream musical act.

Can't understand it myself, I would have thought that they would welcome the increased popularity of their favourite music acts.

 

[Shinboners]

Sainter

Yeah, that's something that's been written and talked about so many times in the independent music community. My own personal view is that I'm happy for bands to become successful and I will still listen to their music, but what happens is that I eventually move onto listening to other bands. A band like Belle And Sebastian were indie darlings until they got a UK #1 album, and plenty of the "indie-cool queens" got stuck into them for becoming successful. Personally, I thought their latest album was among their best stuff. The "cool kids" practiced a sort of elitism over everyone else (ie the mainstream), a music snobbery if you like. But I remember Clare Wadd (half of the much missed Sarah Records) once wrote that instead of looking down on everyone else for having "crap taste in music", you should just be happy to be listening to something that is special to you AND share it around. There is a buzz I get when I make a tape for a friend and they tell me later, "What was that song? What was that band? I loved it!".

The thing for people like me is that part of the music experience is chatting to the musician (or writing letters/e-mails to overseas bands) after a gig. There was a US band that I once wrote to, and they were amazed that they had a fan in Australia. I was amazed that they wrote back....and we became friends and I stayed with one of the band members when I travelled the US. I guess that for someone like me, we enjoy having an involvement that is more than just buying the records and listening to them.

On the other hand, I've never had the interest to write to or chat to my favourite footballers.

 

[Stealth bomber]

Live performance is a lost art.

I wish I had a dollar for every one of these post-grunge bands I see playing live on the tube. They're all just so horrible...they look like they were plucked from the local high school dance.

Studio production is getting so formulaic right now. Every band uses the same drum sounds (the few times that it's not a sequenced loop or drum machine), guitar sounds (and always in dropped "D" tuning), vocal effects.

 

[sainter]

Shinboners,

That's the first I have had a decent answer to that question.

I have to confess that I am not a big music fan. I just usually listen to MMM or K-Rock, depending on where I am, or download whatever song I like at the time from Napster (Wrong I know)

For that reason I probably don't understand the music scene that much.

It has just always puzzled me how my friends just switch from the band they are listening to because they had suddenly received chart success and gained acceptance amongst the mainstream public and as a result became known as 'sell outs'.

On the other hand, I guess people heavily into the music scene don't understand those of us who are not.

 

[Grendel]

Dutch,BSA,Shinners guys ive got no gripes with whatever they call it, alternative,prog rock,house,rap etc etc. We know what we like, hopefully someone can show the kids (no offense to those said kids ha) what great stuff we had to listen to at the same sort of ages. I listen to some stuff of my nieces to try and 'keep up' *NO CHANCE* with current music. I admit most of it bores me, but there are a few lost diamonds out there still. Gotta give it a go at least once, like my bit from W.C.Fields in the quotes thread, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things".

But ive still got my Graham Parker,Joe Jackson,Specials,Clash (you know i dont think anyone mentioned the Clash!!) I really know im getting old now!

 

[The Dutchman!]

Don't know about Graham Parker Grendel - Gram Parsons sure - particularly in the Burrito bros or the Byrd's Sweetheart of the Rodeo period but.... sheeesh!

I'd rather listen to Exodus if I want to listen to reggae than London Calling... (in joke there obviously)

 

[Grendel]

you dont have 'Howling at the Wind' or Squeezing out Sparks' then Dutch? Gram Parsons will admit to not ever hearing very much of so will bow to your judgement. How about Radio Birdman as a substitue for the Clash then?

 

[jod23]

Dont boy bands and girl bands piss you off though!! They have no talent except for a decent voice which a lot of ppl have and there god damn squillionaires!!! Pisses me off and here i am slaving away at the guitar???

 

[Shinboners]

BSA, Dutchy, Grendel and all the other old fogies,

Y'see the thing I hated as a teenager were all these old critics from the 60s waffling on about how great it was during those years with all the sex and drugs and a new Rolling Stones single out every week. The thing that scares me is that I'm about to turn into that type of person

I've listened to stuff like Limp Bizkit, Slipknot and all that, and while I can hear its appeal, it doesn't do anything for me.

Hmmm......speaking of Gram Parsons type music, who here listens to Big Star? "I'm In Love With A Girl"....it still brings a tear to the eye.....

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

yeah - I'm acutely aware of this myself Shinboners.

Thats why I don't really like to criticise the music the kids like to listen to these days, otherwise I start to sound like some of the people I used to hate when I was a teenager.

Besides today's pop music isn't so bad, its just like back in our day really, you have your good, hot bands who are genuinely talented and create good, solid music. Then there are the not so good performers who can't sing, can't write music, can barely play their instruments and get by on good looks, good marketing and good publicity. Then of course their are the other performers who are very talented but play a 'style' of music that most of don't care for.
Remember The Carpenters ? - well these guys were around in the 70's and early 80's when we were teenagers and we couldn't stand them right ? - right. But that dosn't detract from the quality of their songs, or the quality of their performance, both of which are top-class, we just don't like the style of music they sing.

At the end of the day I always tell myself thats only pop music and its really not such a big deal anyway, there are lots of different kinds of music in the world and I guess Western pop music isn't really deserving of all the attention we pay it all the time.

cheers

 

[elt]

I think you guys are spot on about the Alternative v Mainstream thing. There seems to be a certain smugness for some people to be able to say "oh I am way past listening to them, I used to like them before they sold out."

Personally I listen to a wide variety of stuff and the radio is usually tuned to JJJ. But I think it's great watching bands develop, I get a bit disappointed if they constantly churn out the same stuff album after album. As for recognition the more they get the better, the only downside being when you go to see them live. Nothing better than seeing a band you like in a smaller venue imho

 

[Shinboners]

A case in point about how the so-called "cool kids" in fact no nothing at all. Frente (remember them?) once did an in-store at Gaslight Records. Two "cool" kids standing next to me commented about "they've sold out...this new stuff they're playing is crap". I pointed out that the "new stuff" they were playing had been in their live set for the previous two or three years. Cue to red faces.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

Indeed

Isn't the whole purpose of embarking on a career in rock 'n' roll to make money ?

To sell your music, to get paid for playing your music ?

Since when did rock 'n' roll have anything to do with with acts of charity ?

So what if a Rock Band 'sells out' - isn't that what they are supposed to be there for ?

sorry guys - just being a bit narkey and a bit cheeky here, but I do like the topic ...

 

[elt]

Exactly BSA

Imagine producing music that is liked by so many people that they buy it! Why on eartch would any musician want to do that?

I know I just do my job for the love of it

 

[Shinboners]

Sainter

If you ever want to get some idea of the mind of an obsessive music fan, just read Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity". The number of people I know who are like the main character in that book is frightening. But in many ways, a fanatical music fan isn't all that different from a fanatical sports fan.

BSA

I know what you mean about the quality of musicians like the Carpenters. People do like music for many different reasons, but I do remember as a teenager (who went through the obligatory goth stage) hating the 60s and especially hating the Beach Boys. At the time, the Beach Boys seemed to me to be American fairground music with silly lyrics. But now, I think Pet Sounds is an amazing album...the production, melodies, sounds, and everything about that record is mind boggling. But I got into listening to the Beach Boys because so many bands that I like now say that they were a big influence on them. So, as a kid, I was something of a snob when it came to music, but these days, I try to keep a much more open mind about it all.

 

[Bloodstained Angel]

yeah - you get older and wiser, and mellow out a bit I guess.

I'm actually in the middle of re-appraising ABBAs music at the moment.

You don't realise just how good these guys were - untill you try to cover one of their songs, or see some punter in a Karaoke Bar try and fail miserably to even get close to the standard of their performance.

Perfect pop - performed to perfection.

But I still don't like them ...

cheers

 

[Shinboners]

ABBA? Been there, tried it, don't waste your time.

You can't take this open minded business too far.