REAL music for real people

[derby378]

You won't find any media-hyped no-talent hacks in this post, DUers - escape the mundane and support real musicians for a change.

I'm confident that you'll find at least one musical act listed below that will help broaden your musical horizons a wee bit.

[Munificence]

1. Bump for Waits!

[derby378]

2. Bonus Tom for you!

[Munificence]

15. I heard Waits

for the first time doing "On the Nickel"...been a casual follower since.

I've been a musician for nearly 30 years and wrote a few songs, wish I could write like Waits.

[2naSalit]

3. Big points for

Tom Waits and Gil Scot Heron!

Thanks

[derby378]

4. Hey, glad to be of service

Austin Peralta would have been a great one to list - such a shame he died so young.

[2naSalit]

5. Heck

I've turned off the classical radio station to listen to those!

[derby378]

6. Classical, eh?

This is all my fragile little mind can come up with on short notice - unless you don't mind a little dark ambient.

Edited to add: You know what? Let's push the envelope just a little bit more.

[2naSalit]

7. Oh, a little dark is okay

once in a while. But that was well done. I was a classical vocalist for many years, I have performed that piece. It made me think of Bach's Hymn for a Dead Child (or something like that) that was so moving that it made me cry every time we did it, even in rehearsals. This wasn't quite that sad... I'm glad to say.

But now I need to listen to something a little more cheerful, and I thank you for your selections above, I'll choose from the ones I've never heard of for a little spice!

[derby378]

8. I gotta get some supper, but let me leave you with this

I've contributed a few musical podcasts to Mixcloud, and many of them tend to be dark, even scary dark at times. But this suite was inspired by a terrific photograph taken by a fellow DUer, and I think you'd enjoy it on a cold autumn night.

http://www.mixcloud.com/derby378/stilled-life/

[Mojo Electro]

9. Nice!

Speaking of broadening horizons a bit, mind if I throw one on the pile?

[derby378]

10. By all means, please do!

[SomethingFishy]

11. I bitched on a Miley Cyrus thread about corporate music so I guess

I should add something to the list...

This is a band called Snow Patrol the song is The Lightning Strikes...

[derby378]

12. Welcome aboard!

[Jamaal510]

13. Bobby Hutcherson- Little B's Poem

[derby378]

14. Very nice!

Got something for you - a little slower, but it reaches me in a personal way. Enjoy.

[cynatnite]

16. Don't tell me what "real" muscicians or "real" music is...

I like what I like. Everyone has their own personal taste. Labeling who you don't like as media hyped no talent hacks won't change what I like.

I like a lot of top 40 songs. I like independent rock, folk. I like old classic music. I also like to listen to new stuff that I've never heard before.

What's nice about todays world with the internet, is that I do have the opportunity to listen to music that I would otherwise not have access to.

But, please, don't dismiss what music people do like because you think it's "corporate" or the singers are hacks.

[derby378]

18. I have a soft spot in my heart for Lady Gaga

And you have a valid point - just because someone is Top 40 doesn't mean they automatically play bad music. In fact, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was one of those Top 40 hits back in 1976, and it was one of the most glorious and eccentric musical influences on my childhood.

But I would counter that there is an attempt to homogenize music today, and that push is being driven by a few suits in the highest echelons of the music business, the kind of people who can make or break a singer or a band with a single phone call.

Yes, everyone has their own tastes in music, and I respect that. But I also remember what Noam Chomsky once said about "created wants," and that is what I'm pushing back against.

You might be interested in this - it's just a trailer, but I found the movie itself worth watching:

[cynatnite]

28. "Created want" implies that I'm too stupid to know what I really want or don't want...

Nothing I despise more than someone telling me that I don't know what I want or don't want and that I'm too stupid to know the difference.

Given the wide range of music that we have access to these days I assert that homogenizing music is impossible. I also look to artists such as Nirvana, REM, and many others who bucked the trends and became huge. In the end, it's the consumers who decide what they like and don't like.

Just because there is a hit song that you or Noam don't like doesn't mean that those who do are mindless sheep that are too stupid to know that they're not supposed to like it.

[SomethingFishy]

21. Why not? Facts are facts...

You take a shower singer, put them on a TV reality show. You assign them people to tell them how to dress, how to sing, what to sing, how to stand and what expressions to use. All determined by "focus groups" telling record labels what is going to "push units".

I have been working in the music industry for years. When your art is created by a focus group, produced and homogenized by a group of songwriters and producers, mixed down and compressed so it sounds good on an iPod, then performed "live" with the use of backing tracks, Pro Tools, Auto Tune and Pitch Correction, I have every right to say the creators are creating "corporate music" and are just "hacks".

Yes you may enjoy it. It was designed that way. To be easy on the ears to as many people as possible. That doesn't mean it's not corporate, and it doesn't mean I'm not going to call it what it is.

There are truly great bands out there that go completely unnoticed because they aren't busy shaking their ass and wagging their tongue in front of some teddy bears. Why is "Miley Cyrus" on SNL and the cover of Rolling Stone? Because she is talented? No, because she sells units. Do you really like her music? Does it speak to you? Or is is just some catchy stuff that after listening a couple times you can't help but sing along?

For some of us, music isn't just background noise, it's life. For some of us it was a lifeline in troubled times. For some of us it speaks volumes as to who and what we are. For some of us it's a vital as breathing. And we have every right to call it as we see it.

[derby378]

25. I would say, however, that Pro Tools and Ableton Live have their place

My brother used Pro Tools to create commercial music beds - one of them wound up in heavy rotation by Sleep Number for their recent ad campaigns. But you can get really experimental with music software like this, too.

[SomethingFishy]

27. Yeah but I'm talking about using it to cover up

a lack of talent. I know of at least 3 ex-Idol performers who run a Pro-Tools backup of their entire show simultaneously including every instrument and every vocal. This way if they suck worse than usual, the FOH guy can just fade down the band and fade up the tracks. and they can just lip sync...

I love Pro-Tools and what it can do. But I like my live music... live. And that's not to say I mind some pre-recorded stuff during the show, the tour I am currently on has a number of guest video appearances, all pre recorded, but there is still the highwire "live" act where the whole thing could crash and burn if one little thing goes wrong.

[cynatnite]

32. How many songs were pushed to the moon and back turned out to be flops?

Just because YOU have determined that a song is "corporate" or a singer is a "hack" doesn't negate the fact that some people just like it because they like it. Sometimes focus groups are right. Sometimes they're wrong, too.

If that's your complaint, then you and your industry are to blame for the "state" of music today. Not me and not the listeners.

Music is ALWAYS designed to elicit a response whether it's soothing, romantic, angry, a call to action or whatever the case may be. That is how it is always designed. Yes, it's an expression of self, but it's also eliciting responses from the listeners.

The industry of music goes after a wide base of consumers. Miley is there for the young adults and teens. Beyoncé, George Strait, Barbra Streisand, Dixie Chicks, Loreena McKennitt, Metallica, Godsmack, and loads of other artists and bands have their sounds which go after their particular niche audiences. It's been that way for a hell of a long time.

I find that my taste in music isn't defined by what others tell me it should be. It's my own niche, my own personality, and my moods. Music has been background music. It's also been my comforter, my friend, my way of remembering someone I loved, my memories of years past and endless other parts of my life.

No one person is the definer of what is acceptable and not acceptable tastes in music. Tastes in music is as unique and varying as we are as people.

[derby378]

37. Very good points. (n/t)

[SomethingFishy]

39. You are correct in that

just because I say it's corporate hack bullshit, does not mean people won't like it. I tried to explain this in my post it's designed to make you like it. It's not as you say "designed to elicit a response" it's designed to separate you from your cash. There is no thought given to artistic expression or artistic value, it's all about "how much can we make off of this".

Just because you like something does not mean it wasn't created by committee in a corporate hack environment for no other reason than to separate you from your money. The truth is, no one is immune to a catchy tune.

Me and my industry are to blame for the state of music? Well sort of. The music "industry" is purely about money. How many seats did we fill, how much merch did we sell, how many albums were bought...
I hang out and jam with guys who play in front of 20,000 people a night, yet they are most happy down in the basement, where no one is getting paid and music is made for the pure joy of it. That should tell you something about the "industry".

Just as much to blame for the state of music are the "listeners" sitting on their asses in front of their TV set claiming they are supporting the music industry by watching X Factor and American Idol and The Voice instead of going out and supporting live music at your local bar or theater or arena.

What does this all boil down to? Simon Cowell is the devil.

[cynatnite]

40. I only agreed with your last sentence....

I think you made a lot of good points and I think this would make for a great discussion, too. Music has always been a slave to moods, tastes, styles, what's in and what's out...and so on.

Completely agree about Simon Cowell.

[Erose999]

17. SuperFurry Animals

So far ahead of their time. Stuff they recorded in 1996 sounds like it could have been released today.

[hughee99]

19. They were good before they sold out.

I feel like I'm supposed to say that here. I think that's the standard response whenever someone tells you what "real music" is.

[derby378]

24. Cute...

True, a lot of musicians change their sound and style over time. Bob Dylan went electric, Metallica filed off its sharper edges, Linda Ronstadt won a Grammy for exploring mariachi music, and do I really have to cover what happened with the Beatles?

Then again, what King Crimson did to its own sound in between Red and Discipline is perhaps best described here:

[Puzzledtraveller]

20. Robyn Hitchcock

[SalviaBlue]

22. K&R... I love music threads!! Thanks. nt

[el_bryanto]

23. RJD2's latest came out today- "More Is than Isn't" - sounds really fresh. nt

[yuiyoshida]

26. Hope you don't mind some Japanese...

When someone's wish comes true
English

I've lost something important because of small things
The cold ring showed its glimmer to me
I said, "All I need is today," but that wasn't the case
The door to you vanished without a sound

The more I wish for your happiness, the more selfish I become
But still, I want you to stay, and I always did
When someone's wish comes true, she'll be crying
That way the door won't make a sound

I wanted to become the only one who can heal you, who is needed by everyone,
and I've endured it a little too much

To wish for own happiness is not selfish, right?
If that's so, I want to hold you as tight as I can
When my tears dry up, she'll be crying
That way, the ground under us won't dry up

The more I wish for your happiness, the more selfish I become
But you never hold me back, you never did
When someone's wish comes true, she'll be crying
Everyone's wishes can't be granted at once

As the small earth rotates, I learn to become more kind
I want to hug you once more, as soft as I can

**UTADA HIKARU**

[BlueJazz]

29. Nothing for me there but that's OK.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. No one is bigger on Tom Waits or Gil-Scot Heron, than me.

That said, my initial take on this thread is it'd be more appropriate for Entertainment, or the lounge, than GD.

[HooptieWagon]

31. A very dear friend of mine...

Here:

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

She's played/recorded with Tim Reynolds and Jeff Coffin of Dave Matthews Band, Stanley Jordan, Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, David Bromberg, and Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane, among others.

[derby378]

36. You shared a friend of yours - let me share a friend of mine in return

[HooptieWagon]

38. Wow, she's got one hell of a voice.

Here is another one of our local jewels:

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[bunnies]

33. Im not clicking anything until you promise me theres no country.

[B Calm]

34. Tom Waits reminds me of Leonard Cohen

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

35. I'm a big Tom Waits fan

With the exception of Gil Scott-Heron I haven't heard of the rest.