Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
03-20-13, 10:42 PM
#26
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Re: Dynamic range . . .
Back in the 1980s, I was told that music was mixed so it sounded best on a 4x6 car stereo speaker. That was where people heard it. I suppose that music is now mixed so it sounds best on ear buds.
(I'm glad that young people can still get old people to hate their music.)
Back in the 1980s, I was told that music was mixed so it sounded best on a 4x6 car stereo speaker. That was where people heard it. I suppose that music is now mixed so it sounds best on ear buds.
(I'm glad that young people can still get old people to hate their music.)
03-21-13, 07:33 AM
#28
03-21-13, 08:16 AM
#29
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
It's all part of the emasculation of music. been going on since the '90s. The industry has slowly but steadily drained all the testosterone out of music, except rap. For some reason, rappers can be as thuggish as they want. But the industry will never allow another Robert Plant, Steven Tyler, David Lee Roth or Jon Bon Jovi if it can help it.
The hipster folkies are exactly what the music industry needed at this moment. It was a genre sorely lacking - actual music played by musicians with recognizable melody. As for it being a "drain on testosterone" then it was a drain on testosterone in the 70s with guys like Neil Young and Nick Drake.
"Robert Plant, Steven Tyler, David Lee Roth or Jon Bon Jovi" Really?
Its a disgrace to even have Robert Plant in that lineup but it's not the industry that doesn't want that. It's the listeners. Even still, the folksy hipsters still are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of popular music.
03-21-13, 10:18 AM
#31
03-21-13, 10:23 AM
#32
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
[this_thread] I'm old and I don't like new things because I don't understand them and they frighten me! Now give me something from my youth so I can retreat to a time when things felt safe. [/this_thread]
03-21-13, 10:34 AM
#33
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Very original "this thread " tags there though.
03-21-13, 10:49 AM
#34
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Doesn't matter the style, after a certain age, most (not all) people are closed off to anything new, even if it's not at all different from what they're used to.
Same reason a lot of Led Zep fans don't like Black Keys; of course BK aren't anywhere near as good as LZ, but if you like one, you should pretty much like the other, but that's usually the exception rather than the rule.
Same reason a lot of Led Zep fans don't like Black Keys; of course BK aren't anywhere near as good as LZ, but if you like one, you should pretty much like the other, but that's usually the exception rather than the rule.
03-21-13, 11:01 AM
#35
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
People keep talking about how there's no testosterone in rock and hasn't been since the 80s. Where the hell were you people when all that frat-boy alpha-male crap like Fred Durst and co. was popular? We needed this folk invasion to balance things out because mainstream rock radio got way too alphamale for a few years there. We had a few years of the alpha-male self professed douchebags (Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, etc...) and then we had several years of right-wing rockers so sappy and in touch with the housewife demographic that they made REO Speedwagon look like Pantera (3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Daughtry, Creed, The Fray....). This hipster folk movement is what was really needed after a dozen or so years of alpha-males dominating alternative radio. Because lo and behold, how dare alternative stations actually play artists that Pitchfork/NME/Spin actually report on.
And I agree with Slop, it's funny to see classic rock fans crap on modern bands because "The Stones did it better". Maybe so, but why is it a crime to like something made this century, or better yet, made at a time where the target fanbase upon initial release aren't yet AARP members? I love old stuff, but I also love new stuff. Liking Arcade Fire isn't going to take away the importance of Zeppelin or The Beatles.
And I agree with Slop, it's funny to see classic rock fans crap on modern bands because "The Stones did it better". Maybe so, but why is it a crime to like something made this century, or better yet, made at a time where the target fanbase upon initial release aren't yet AARP members? I love old stuff, but I also love new stuff. Liking Arcade Fire isn't going to take away the importance of Zeppelin or The Beatles.
03-21-13, 11:08 AM
#36
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Doesn't matter the style, after a certain age, most (not all) people are closed off to anything new, even if it's not at all different from what they're used to.
Same reason a lot of Led Zep fans don't like Black Keys; of course BK aren't anywhere near as good as LZ, but if you like one, you should pretty much like the other, but that's usually the exception rather than the rule.
Same reason a lot of Led Zep fans don't like Black Keys; of course BK aren't anywhere near as good as LZ, but if you like one, you should pretty much like the other, but that's usually the exception rather than the rule.
03-21-13, 11:12 AM
#37
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
There was testosterone in the 80s? I remember a bunch of long haired guys wearing makeup looking like women.
03-21-13, 11:31 AM
#41
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03-21-13, 11:32 AM
#42
03-21-13, 11:42 AM
#43
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
No sense hating him here when we can just do it every other minute when his song is played on TV.
03-21-13, 12:13 PM
#44
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Mumford & Sons
Bon Iver
Ray LaMontagne
Iron & Wine
Midlake
The Middle East
Fleet Foxes
Here We Go Magic
Noah and the Whale
Blitzen Trapper
Megafaun
...etc
Some of their stuff is OK, most of it is tuneless warbling. We're drowning in a sea of neatly trimmed beards, bowler hats, henley shirts, banjos and accordians. I can't take it any more. Post REM, post CSNY, post Decembrists folky, strummy campfire sinaglongs straining to feel "real", "epic" and "moving". Driving home the pain of life, the yearning for days gone by, the eternal search for meaning in a crazy world, man. Artisinal bread is baked, a handmade cask of homebrewed mead is tapped, a gingham picnic blanket is spread 'neath the old oak tree. The banjos swirl, the kick drum pounds, the tamborine is struck...won't you join in the merrie danse around the maypole? No Sir, I will not.
/goes to blast "Shout at the Devil"
Bon Iver
Ray LaMontagne
Iron & Wine
Midlake
The Middle East
Fleet Foxes
Here We Go Magic
Noah and the Whale
Blitzen Trapper
Megafaun
...etc
Some of their stuff is OK, most of it is tuneless warbling. We're drowning in a sea of neatly trimmed beards, bowler hats, henley shirts, banjos and accordians. I can't take it any more. Post REM, post CSNY, post Decembrists folky, strummy campfire sinaglongs straining to feel "real", "epic" and "moving". Driving home the pain of life, the yearning for days gone by, the eternal search for meaning in a crazy world, man. Artisinal bread is baked, a handmade cask of homebrewed mead is tapped, a gingham picnic blanket is spread 'neath the old oak tree. The banjos swirl, the kick drum pounds, the tamborine is struck...won't you join in the merrie danse around the maypole? No Sir, I will not.
/goes to blast "Shout at the Devil"
And to defend one of them, I was at this show and if this isn't "real", "epic" and "moving", I don't know what is.
03-21-13, 12:18 PM
#45
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Thread Starter
Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
It's not the folk overtones alone. I love lots of folk. It's not the sentimentality alone, I'm as sentimental as the next guy. It's the artiface, the cynicism, the bandwagoning, the pretention, the humorlessness. It's the complete lack of any teeth or edge to the music or the lyrics. It's the total lack in orginality. It's how they all sound exactly the same. It's how all of their songs strike one note and evoke one mood. It's the late-summer's eve sun-dappled lens-flare effects used in every single goddamned one of their videos.
Overall, though, it the lack of solid songs. There's few identifiable hooks. The lyrics are meandering and anodyne. It's wallpaper. It's worse than the soft-rock wallpaper of the 70s because it's pretending to be something more than wallpaper.
Last edited by Hiro11; 03-21-13 at 12:29 PM.
03-21-13, 12:50 PM
#47
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03-21-13, 12:53 PM
#48
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
Hiro11, that was some mighty fine ranting.
Personally, I like that the Banjo and acoustic guitar have gotten more popular lately. I really like bands like The Civil Wars, Decemberists, Trampled by Turtles, Punch Brothers, etc.
Personally, I like that the Banjo and acoustic guitar have gotten more popular lately. I really like bands like The Civil Wars, Decemberists, Trampled by Turtles, Punch Brothers, etc.
03-21-13, 12:53 PM
#49
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Re: Sick of sentimental, rootsy, earnest, sing-songy guys
It's not the folk overtones alone. I love lots of folk. It's not the sentimentality alone, I'm as sentimental as the next guy. It's the artiface, the cynicism, the bandwagoning, the pretention, the humorlessness. It's the complete lack of any teeth or edge to the music or the lyrics. It's the total lack in orginality. It's how they all sound exactly the same. It's how all of their songs strike one note and evoke one mood. It's the late-summer's eve sun-dappled lens-flare effects used in every single goddamned one of their videos.
