2011 Music Thread

[BigSqwert]

Foo Fighters protest Westboro Baptist Protester clowns

Pretty sure Balta already posted the video earlier.

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

 

Missed that.

[southsider2k5]

Apparently REM is breaking up... About 30 years too late for my taste.

[Balta1701]

Apparently REM is breaking up... About 30 years too late for my taste.

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening." R.E.M.

I found some of their recent stuff quite good.

[Milkman delivers]

The newest song I've kind of discovered for myself and have grown sort of obsessed with: Till It Shines by Bob Seger.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Milkman delivers

[MHizzle85]

had tix for Black Star tonight but it got moved to November....grrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Going to see them Friday night. Can't wait.

[MHizzle85]

weeknd

 

I always feel like I should be high or getting ready to have sex with a chick whenever I listen to his music. Regardless, I dig it.

[MEANS]

Going to see them Friday night. Can't wait.

 

nice, let me know how it was and what they played as well.

[Cali]

Saw Bright Eyes last night at a Cemetery in Los Angeles. Sounds weird, but it was one of the best shows I've ever been to, and one of the better venues, especially outdoors, that I've been to. It's BYOB and Food, and the sound was better than I could have possibly expected.

[Balta1701]

NPR is now streaming Wilco's concert from last night.

[clyons]

bumping for anyone who might be interested, just started.

 

not bad overall, definitely better than the previous two albums and some songs that are already standing out to me.

 

Not sure what I think of "The Whole Love" yet. Its definitely going to require multiple listens, as Wilco albums (especially the best ones) often do.

[farmteam]

New TI single

 

http://nahright.com/news/2011/09/30/t-i-ft...-i-t-im-flexin/

[Soxbadger]

Saw Weezer last night, good times.

[SnB]

The Head and the Heart are my favorite new band.....and it's not even close.

 

Saw them open up for the Decemberists this summer and I enjoyed their set more.

[BigSqwert]

Enjoying the current Resident Adviser podcast by Martyn.

[Chi Town Sox]

Enjoying the current Resident Adviser podcast by Martyn.

 

I could listen to that first tune 24/7/365 lol, gotta love starting it off with Prince

Edited October 13, 2011 by Chi Town Sox

[farmteam]

An episode of the "The Wikipedia Files" on WBEZ with Patrick Stump. I was a sophomore high school when they first started to get big, so I was almost in their target audience (would've been exactly in it if I were a girl). Also, two of them went to my high school, so I have some sort of weird sentimentality thing with them.

 

Fall Out Boy always struck as me that band people loved to bash but didn't know why. Maybe that sounds defensive, but I thought they were a lot better than most pop/punk/emo (or some combination like that) bands out there. I'm also a sucker for a good melody with decent lyrics...and that's pretty much what they were. They weren't my favorite band, and I'm not even I'd call them good music, but I enjoy(ed) listening to them.

 

Also, Stump strikes me as a rather likeable dude. Very North Shore, though.

[RockRaines]

An episode of the "The Wikipedia Files" on WBEZ with Patrick Stump. I was a sophomore high school when they first started to get big, so I was almost in their target audience (would've been exactly in it if I were a girl). Also, two of them went to my high school, so I have some sort of weird sentimentality thing with them.

 

Fall Out Boy always struck as me that band people loved to bash but didn't know why. Maybe that sounds defensive, but I thought they were a lot better than most pop/punk/emo (or some combination like that) bands out there. I'm also a sucker for a good melody with decent lyrics...and that's pretty much what they were. They weren't my favorite band, and I'm not even I'd call them good music, but I enjoy(ed) listening to them.

 

Also, Stump strikes me as a rather likeable dude. Very North Shore, though.

My buddy's band used to play with them and Plain White T's alot when I was in HS, in the FOB was usually one of the opening acts. I liked them a hell of alot more than the PWT's group, their fans were douchebags.

[bmags]

"but I thought they were a lot better than most pop/punk/emo (or some combination like that) bands out there"

 

if you hate the entire genre, you aren't likely to give credit to its best.

[farmteam]

"but I thought they were a lot better than most pop/punk/emo (or some combination like that) bands out there"

 

if you hate the entire genre, you aren't likely to give credit to its best.

 

I figured this would be the most common rebuttal, and I can definitely respect that one. For me, like I said, I'm a sucker for anything with a decent melody and lyrics that are fun to sing along to, and a lot of Pop Punk bands have that. I won't necessarily think it's good, but I'll enjoy listening to it. It's the equivalent of watching a crappy comedy movie. You might know it's bad, but still laugh a fair amount.

[Felix]

I figured this would be the most common rebuttal, and I can definitely respect that one. For me, like I said, I'm a sucker for anything with a decent melody and lyrics that are fun to sing along to, and a lot of Pop Punk bands have that. I won't necessarily think it's good, but I'll enjoy listening to it. It's the equivalent of watching a crappy comedy movie. You might know it's bad, but still laugh a fair amount.

I still maintain that "pop punk" is the stupidest name of a genre possible. Add in the fact that the music sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, and yeah, I don't have any respect at all for Fallout Boy or any similar band.

[farmteam]

I still maintain that "pop punk" is the stupidest name of a genre possible. Add in the fact that the music sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me, and yeah, I don't have any respect at all for Fallout Boy or any similar band.

 

I can certainly understand not liking the music; there's music you've said you like that I can't get into (most of Ween, for example). But why is the name bad?

[Felix]

I can certainly understand not liking the music; there's music you've said you like that I can't get into (most of Ween, for example). But why is the name bad?

Because the whole point of punk originally is that it was a counter culture to pop and accepted styles of music. The fact that the pop genre has decided to hijack that movement and its sound for their own benefit annoys me to no end.

 

I don't listen to pop music for the most part, so it doesn't really bug me that people don't like the type of music I listen to. Most of my favorite bands (Ween, Mr. Bungle, Zappa to name a few) aren't an easy listen the first time around, which turns a lot of people off of them. It's a completely different musical experience than that of Fallout Boy/any other radio friendly band.

Edited October 21, 2011 by Felix

[FlaSoxxJim]

Because the whole point of punk originally is that it was a counter culture to pop and accepted styles of music. The fact that the pop genre has decided to hijack that movement and its sound for their own benefit annoys me to no end.

 

I don't listen to pop music for the most part, so it doesn't really bug me that people don't like the type of music I listen to. Most of my favorite bands (Ween, Mr. Bungle, Zappa to name a few) aren't an easy listen the first time around, which turns a lot of people off of them. It's a completely different musical experience than that of Fallout Boy/any other radio friendly band.

 

I can't speak to any modern incarnations of pop punk, but it was a powerhouse genre that followed right on the heels of the original punk movement (which really was never as far removed from pop as the original punks wanted to think it was). Buzzcocks were total pop punk and they were very relevant and worth paying attention to. And xtc in particular — one of my all-time favorites — began as a loud, shrill, but strangely fun pop punk band.

[farmteam]

Because the whole point of punk originally is that it was a counter culture to pop and accepted styles of music. The fact that the pop genre has decided to hijack that movement and its sound for their own benefit annoys me to no end.

 

I don't listen to pop music for the most part, so it doesn't really bug me that people don't like the type of music I listen to. Most of my favorite bands (Ween, Mr. Bungle, Zappa to name a few) aren't an easy listen the first time around, which turns a lot of people off of them. It's a completely different musical experience than that of Fallout Boy/any other radio friendly band.

 

Part of the original ethos of NYC punks was not necessarily to rebel against the mainstream; it was to embrace their own outcast culture. A lot of it was to say, "Oh, you don't like that I'm weird? Well let's see how weird I can be!" Even using "outcast" is perhaps too strong of a word -- it was also about just describing their daily lives. Legs McNeill (one of the original people behind "Punk" magazine and a guy who was heavily involved in the early NYC punk scene) said, "I mean the great thing about punk was that it had no political agenda. It was about real freedom, personal freedom. It was also about doing anything that’s gonna offend a grown-up. Just being as offensive as possible. Which seemed delightful, just euphoric. Be the real people we are." Of course, many segments of the punk movement did have a political agenda -- this one more describes the early CBGB scene (which became more political, but the west coast hardcore movement was much more political as a whole).

 

Even the stuff that could be construed as rebelling against the mainstream was sometimes (even often, perhaps) wasn't rebellion so much as taunting/criticizing the mainstream. Concerning the Ramones sporting swastikas, Mary Harron, the first American journalist to review the Sex Pistols and the person behind "I Shot Andy Warhol" said, "But in the hippie days, styles of dress or symbols were used unironically. It was, This is what you are; you have long hair; you wear this; you are a peace person. So if you wear swastikas you are a Nazi. And suddenly a movement comes along with no transition, nobody saying anything, and they’re using swastikas and it’s not about that; it’s about gesture, and shock tactic." Interestingly, here she also touches on the disdain some punks had for the counterculture.

 

This is why a lot of early punks (which is a vague term, really) loved/were inspired by blues music. They were fascinated both at the fact that this was music that was almost entirely ignored by the mainstream, and that it was music that was so raw. Iggy talked about hearing Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker and realizing he couldn't listen to the British Invasion anymore.

 

A lot of this seems self-contradictory, and that's intentional. There are some general themes, but the punk movement (however you define it, which can be done in so many different ways) can't really be pinned down to one original idea or thought structure. Some say it was the direct descendant of Burrows; other hated beatniks and thought they were too associated with the counterculture, which they rejected. What it all boils down to is that punk can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it's intrinsic to you. So yeah, when Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump were teenagers and went down into their basements and just shredded the music they wanted to play, just getting their emotion out that was unique to them then yes, I consider that "punk." Maybe it has more of a pop sensibility, but that's ok, and doesn't make it any less punk.

 

Now that I finished that mini-rant, I'll say that watching Zappa conduct his band on stage is f***ing awesome. Also, the fact that he and Captain Beefheart (Trout Mask Replica is one of my favorite album covers, and it's creation is one of my favorite stories) grew up together is mind blowing.