new sound ramblings
Posted on January 25th, 2010
Posted on January 25th, 2010
There are so many bands and performing artists out there right now. There are so many, it boggles the mind, like trying to imagine all the stars in the Universe. Most groups are mediocre. I haven’t heard something new that I love in a while. When I hear The Beatles, or Pinkerton, or Kid A…..man, it’s just so good. I don’t get that feeling with nearly any internet-age groups I’ve heard. Maybe it’s just psychological, but come on, stupid lyrics, mediocre melodies, no cleverness. Where’s the cleverness? And stick in a solo for crying out loud.
I have dreams of starting a new music scene. They’re only imaginings, but I think something needs to happen in music that unifies people a little bit. Gets them dancing again. In the 90s, it was this ‘grunge’ sound from Seattle. In the 60s, it was this….um, 60s sound. But in both cases it was really just good songwriting. Clever melodies. Lyrics that were a little bit funny or absurd or profound. If I could start a new ’sound’, and unite some great artists, I would put forth the following criteria. The ’sound’ I would create would be something like this:
- Focus on clever melodies, good songwriting. (Like, really good. Like Frank Black good. Like Ben Folds Five good. Brian Wilson good.)
- Consistent use of “weird” time signatures (not in like, a prog rock superfluous way, but in a way that serves the melody, that adds a whole new layer to creative songwriting. Frank Black, again. Radiohead, sometimes.)
- Pianos, man. Let’s hear some pianos. I’m so sick of misused guitars. Let’s hear some wurli, distorted to all hell. Some Rhodes. Organ. And also guitars. What?
- Clever part writing. Good melodic bass parts, clever, weird drum parts. No more 4/4 drum groove just because it’s “supposed” to be there. And distort that drumset to all hell, sometimes, please.
- Vocal harmonies. What happened to these? Let’s go nuts. Beach Boys. Beatles. Queen. I’m always blown away by “musicians” that don’t want to sing. Drummers, I’m looking at you.
- Lyrics that use science, technology, realism, physics, weirdness-awareness. History. Philosophy. I want science fiction lyrics. Oh, and as an added bonus, they should superficially sound like a simple love song or whatever.
- Humor. Weirdness, funny lyrics, ridiculous breaks. Penis jokes. Mistakes on recordings. TMBG-type secret songs.
- No concern for mainstream society. No selling out, little desire of fame, no compromise musically. And no attitude.
- This one is a ‘maybe’ – 8-bit sounds. They’ve been used in such cheesy ways lately though. Maybe they could be used for good. And NO CHEATING – program that crap on a GameBoy. No midi hookups. No DS drum machine things. Use Nintendos or Ataris or emulators. (I don’t care that most people can’t tell the difference.)
Hmm. I think there’s one thing missing. Something simple and instantly recognizable. I don’t know, maybe this is enough. This is incidentally what I’m going for in Virginia Is For Hoverers (Part Two). We’ll see what it sounds like.
Society is getting smarter and artier as a whole, but in this weird, twitter-like, technology-ridden obnoxious way. Mediocrity is exploding right now in popular culture. Oh, by the way, I need a name for this thing, too. This sound. Like Alternative rock had. Any ideas? Grunge, Ska, Techno. Something like that.
14 Responses to “new sound ramblings”
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14 Responses to “new sound ramblings”
Leave a Reply
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Your music embodies everything on that list. That’s why I love it so much!
Hmmm, I’m not really good at names, but I’ll give it my best shot:
poetic-alt
stellar
eccentric-rock
idio (short for “idiosyncratic”)
clavier
:]
Amen, Chris! You are describing music that I love! One thing, though, is that there still IS lots of great music in the world (you included)… you just need to look really hard to find it… but you’re right that most of it is mediocre. I think a big problem is that it’s tough to make a tune “catchy” and unique at the same time… and it’s too easy to write a simple “silly love song”… but when a musician can be both catchy and unique and think beyond the basics… it can be great!
I already describe your music to friends and family as ‘Earfuckingrockabillytoasterbullshitcrumblylove.’
You should also add one more thing to your list:
– regular email newsletters
haha awesome!!!
thanks for the comments, all. @Julie – yeah! what a great comment! And I REALLY like every single name you came up with. I think one of those is a winner.
Yeah, I agree Robbie! There are some great artists out there. I think it’s a shame that they get drowned in a sea of fame-seeker crap bands. I don’t know why, but it seems like there have been times when great artists were given resources to make huge, epic albums, like The Bends or The Blue Album or Abbey Road….I think some of these borderline-great artists, given some resources and time, and power, could come up with some great stuff. Its almost like, some of these groups lack substance…..which isn’t their fault all the time.
@Benny made me LAUGH.
@Robbie – catchy and unique is a hard balance. I think that’s the holy grail of songwriting. most people in the music “industry” seem to forget the latter factor. But people get bored fast with catchy pop.
I hope.
I’ll tell you what I tell everyone when they ask “Where has all the good music gone?” Good music is out there, you just don’t like it.
I love songs which meet your proposed bullet points, but it is important to understand that music is not inherently good or bad, it just “is”. It is your mind which, based on a nearly endless number of internal and external variables, turns sound into emotion; into opinion. So yes, I’m totally down for a movement toward more music like yours, I would just like to point out that I listen to lots of incredible music not like yours or anything you mentioned.
As for names, I like Juliette’s suggestion, “idio”. It has a nice ring to it, granted you don’t “slip” and add a “t” to the end.
Chris:
I think, above all, music has to feel good. It’s all about the groove. I admit that, as a bass player, I might be biased there, but if the song doesn’t want to make you shake one or the other part of your body, if it doesn’t grab you in some way, it’s missing something essential. I’m all for cleverness, and I appreciate vocal harmonies and interesting chords and weird lyrics, but first the foundation has to be grooving.
Fortunately, all kinds of music can groove, each in their own way. I’ve found a groove in a Bach fugue, and in a country ballad, and in heavy metal, and, of course, in the blues and R&B. And, thankfully, in much of your stuff.
As far as why so little good music is out there, or seems to be: music making and the music industry are two wholly separate worlds. While there are a ton of great music makers out there — and, with the internet, with a better way of getting their stuff into the public realm — the industry, which, even today, still determines the vast majority of what is visible (commercial radio, TV, charts, etc.), commodifies music to its lowest-common-denominator. Complexity, cleverness, odd meters, unusual song structure: none of these play well on a transistor radio on the beach (how’s that for a old-school reference?) or in the muzak of a box store, situations where music does not serve to titillate or amuse but instead is intended to provide comfort and a certain soporific je-ne-sais-quoi. This is not a new development, by the way, (although I do think that, with rock and roll being two generations old at this point, its rebellious and original attitudes have been mostly swept away.) Even the 60’s bands were often accused of “selling out” when they simplified their music in the interest of wider sales, and many of the less commercial acts of those days were left to languish in the dust because their music was too hard.
I agree with 100%.
I also believe that you are one of the GOOD artists now. Honestly, I hate most “current” bands, but you’re amazing.
If you haven’t already, you should check out Animal Collective. They’re doing an awesome job of creating original music– with style. Some of it is a bit “out there”, but most of it is just great.
…keep writing, keep singing.
Them Crooked Vultures LP is certainly worth a listen Chris…plenty of kooky tempo changes courtesy of Mr Grohl and some lovely clavinet riffage from JP Jones…lots of solos etc etc etc. I think Simon makes some valid points above…just ask The Zombies (60s), Big Star (70s), [um struggling for an 80s band] and the Posies (90s) about being slightly less commercial and missing the global fame bandwagon! Keep writing and recording. ‘Big Girl’ is on loop in the car to work at the mo!
Yeah- I totally agree with you man. I’m an avid Beatles fan. I probably listen to them more than anybody. (I’m also a huge fan of your music). Anyways, I always liked the Beatles because they had catchy/poppy songs like “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You”. But when I started listening to all of their music, I found songs that I love way more than their most popular stuff like “Dig a Pony” and “Norwegian Wood” and “I Want You” etc… That was when I realized that they weren’t just musicians- they were great artists and I’ve been hooked to them ever since.
The Beatles had a way of bringing together every type of good music that has ever been recorded in their own unique blend. Since them, nobody has really been able to combine elements of rock/jazz/pop/folk/R&B/classical and everything else. In a way- since them, bands have diverged into very different stratified segments that mostly cater to one style over others. There are a lot of great talented musicians, but most of them seem to be trying too hard to be a great guitarist or a great rapper or a great pop band or a great whatever… as opposed to trying to be great artists who use every tool at their disposal to make a sound that uses everything good and also expands what is possible for music.
I would say that the world needs a “Convergence” of great music again. We need more artists like you Chris! Great bands also need popy/catchy tunes to get people to listen to their more experimental/great music. For example, I started listening to “Tower of Sand” and “Virginia”, but now I definitlely prefer your crazy sweet songs like “Cult of Carl” and “Touring Machine” and “Mexican Boarder” etc… Keep up the good work!
Yar, experimental be the way to go…
^To Matthew- The Beatles were kickass for many reasons; their talent, their influences, and also their kickass producer/arranger/studio/engineers. Unfortunately not every band (that deserves it) has such a bitchin’ team behind them nowadays. Hopefully the cream will keep rising to the top though! (the huge) Labels don’t help, but the continued support of fans for their favorite indie artists will make waves that will be felt through their local communities (ie- Tell everyone you know, and their cousins, and their cousins sexual partners about Chris!)!
Chris- I’m with you mang. Currently working on lots of weird stuff, but I suppose I probably do need a piano player. It’s a whole other layer of sonic awesomeness.
I think what the musical world needs is some really rich kids… Not people looking to make huge profits. Who just care about music enough to throw some cheap-ticketed festivals with amazing musicians and bands who just want to play for the people (like what happened with Monterey and Woodstock). Those awesome bands ARE out there. There’s just more junk to sort through since there’s 6 billion people on the planet. I think it could have a very similar effect in aligning folks towards music, away from vanity/corporate culture/etc., and back towards a community of creative beings.
I wish I was able to put one on. Unfortunately I didn’t get a silver spoon. If anybody on here did, drop me a line and let’s make something happen!!!
phenomrockATgmailDOTcom
Chris, Liz from AZ (but in nicaragua) says, “Hi!”
PS- I think your genre described should be called “Surrogate Rock” as it is a substitution for most everything on the radio and in pop culture music. Plus if you’ve got sci-fi themed stuff that sounds really cool.
I COMPLETELY disagree with you Snypod. As a musician (not a great one at all) I believe I have an ear for music, and growing up listening to Radiohead, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana (among others) taught me to have an ear for good music. There is a lot of bad music out there. I don’t know if there’s more than there used to be, but the difference is we have ACCESS to all of it now because of the Internet (and sites like t61) so maybe we’re noticing it more.
Chris, you hit the nail on the head man. I can’t get enough of songs with really weird time signatures. However they can’t be weird just to be weird, they need to compliment the actual song. Take Quicksand by Incubus, for instance. Crazy meter, superb song. Also Pyramid Song by Radiohead – wow, what’s going on there. No idea, but absolutely brilliant
The bottom line is, there is good music and bad music, and generally bad music is caused by one of two sources: 1) amateur musicians (which is fine, they just need to keep developing their skills), and 2) record companies trying to make a profit (e.g. Daughtry, Nickelback, new Metallica). The latter of the two sources is the most detrimental to music in general.
I’m a huge lover! Appreciate your offering this