Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Music
In my book, popular music is in free fall decline. I'm trying not to sound like a grumpy old man but between American Idiots Idol and rap music, the quality just isn't there in general. What happened to basic rock n'roll? Who's the next Springsteen, Eagles, etc.? Commercial radio stinks. Oh, you can still find good music; you just have to look much harder. I personally use sites like amazon.com (look for a CD you like and then find links to similar artists) or satellite radio stations like CBC's Adult Alternative, which is available on Star Choice, channel 915. Most mainstream music played on the radio today is either 10 years old, or karaoke remixes of previous hits. As Stephen Fearing said at a concert I recently attended,"The difference between a Canadian singer songwriter and a medium pizza is that a medium pizza can feed a family of 3". Sad but true.
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6 comments:
Spend a week listening to CBC Radio3, I think you are going to find quite a lot there that you like. And the best part is they're all Canadian.
Thanks John. During the Earth Day blackout last year, we listened to CBC Radio's live Saturday night shows and heard Jill Barber for the first time. As we've both agreed, she's great so I'm sure there are many more like her to learn about. Thanks for the tip.
Steve, where do you stand on groups with a heavier sound, such as AC\DC, OZZY, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, even what they classify now as "HAIR BANDS". Are you still a KISS fan. just wondering ps. i am not sure which profile to use but I am pretty sure you know who this is.
I think one consequence of the internet is that there no longer needs to be "popular music." Everyone can find the specific style(s) of music that they like, rather than everyone worshiping the same handful of artists. This makes it harder to create a radio station with enough listeners to sustain it, but then in come sites like Last.fm and Pandora to tailor the music to the individual. So maybe the decline of popular music isn't really a bad thing.
Duane, I find most of the heavier stuff kinda repetitive. I have my requisite copy of "Back In Black" but tha't probably about it. Obviously, I love Zeppelin (espeically the first 4 albums with the heavy blues influence). I have up on Kiss when I turned 15.
Phronk, I hear you. I think what annoys me is that you can't go into a doctor's office or retail store without hearing what passes for "popular" music now, and it's painful for the most part. I am really hoping that the upcoming "Adult Alternative" FM channel in London will play more "my" style of music, but aknowledge that this won't be everyone's taste, even if they do. You are right that the Internet has changed things. It's how I find out about musicians I hadn't heard of previously.
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