Music

[Ian Volante]

I was reading some articles on why we go off modern music as we get older and most people suggested that we have more time to discover new stuff when we're younger. I don't buy that argument. I still have the time to search for music I've never heard before but invariably I find myself liking stuff that's years old and hating anything made pretty much from the turn of the millenium onwards. Certainly after 2010. Even the bands I liked in the early 2000s like Muse and Mastodon have gone downhill. There's still the odd tune that comes along that I'll enjoy like Uptown Funk but that may as well be an old song going by the amount of times it gets sued for plagiarism. I definitely think modern recording practices make songs sound worse. I did a bit of audio in college and my lecturer was obsessed with compression. I don't get why you'd bother with it.

I suspect that the change in the way the attention of the listener is seen to be needed to be grabbed immediately is having a big effect, plus the homogeneity of commercial radio and the ease with which one can coccoon oneself into one genre of music all mean that it takes something extraordinary for anything different to break across all of those barriers. Something needs to change (or does it?).

[Jennifer Steadman]

Entirely anecdotally, since I started working I've found that I'm far less interested in music generally, and most of the new songs I do like are mainstream chart #bangaz (New Rules, yaaaas) - things with a beat/riff that perk me up. I have *time* to find new music, but I have so much less time than I had at school or uni because of job/looking after myself that I don't have the patience to actively try and like songs that aren't straight-up bangers.

You could probably argue that people go off modern music as they age because they hold a curmudgeonly jealousy that they're not young, unaffected and flexible enough to twerk to the latest tunes... but I wouldn't want to imply anything about anyone else who's commented

[Mark James]

One of the articles I read made the point that the phenomenon mainly relates to music more so than other forms of entertainment. People still get excited for new books, movies or tv shows in a way that they don't for new music and they demand even more time than listening to a song. And even if you think, as I do, that older movies are still better than new ones, I'm more accepting of a new movie in a way I'm not with new music. Even a bad movie doesn't seem to offend the senses in the same way. I sat through the entirety of the assassin's creed movie but I would have to turn a bad song off within 30 seconds.

[Marc Meakin]

Well I think airplay can have an effect. I hated virtually every song that came out in the noughties, but didn't listen to the radio regularly then. But I do like the odd song in the last five years or so but as I listen to the radio in my job some songs are like earworms. Clean Bandit songs are the best example.

[Gavin Chipper]

I've never been one to really actively seek out music, but I used to listen the top 40 and watch Top of the Pops etc. Now I'm too lazy to seek out the top 40 on the radio, and there is no TOTP, except at Christmas and new year. But anyway, I do sometimes stick the radio on, and from what I've gathered the gene pool of the charts is massively reduced these days. There have always been big names that have featured regularly, but now it takes the piss. Out of 40 songs, there are guaranteed to be ten by Ed Sheeran, and about five each from a handful of other people like Taylor Swift or Clean Bandit (OK, a bit of an exaggeration but you see the point). Whatever you think of these particular acts, it's really unhealthy.

[Gavin Chipper]

I love the Gotye & Kimbra single.

And if we're totting up unlikely number one singles, I'm tossing in The Real Thing by Tony di Bart.

Much more than unlikely than a single week at number one is that One Dance by Drake was number one for 15 consecutive weeks in 2016, which is just one fewer than the consecutive record held by Bryan Adams's (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. It's not just that I think fairly unmemorable; I also never hear it anywhere, nor did I when it was number one. Last year, for example, Ed Sheeran's Shape of You and that annoying Despacito song were both number one for ages, but you also heard them everywhere. So how did this song manage this feat?

Also, Drake's current effort - God's Plan - is the current number one and has been there for nine weeks. What am I missing?

Edit - This article is relevant. One Dance heavily relied on streaming rather than actual sales (which counts these days), and as far as I understand, some streaming things will pick songs for you, so this is a bit like using air time, which is something the charts never used to do. So I think it's a bit dodgy really. And especially with no Top of the Pops these days, the charts isn't even really a thing any more.

[JimBentley]

Much more than unlikely than a single week at number one is that One Dance by Drake was number one for 15 consecutive weeks in 2016, which is just one fewer than the consecutive record held by Bryan Adams's (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. It's not just that I think fairly unmemorable; I also never hear it anywhere, nor did I when it was number one. Last year, for example, Ed Sheeran's Shape of You and that annoying Despacito song were both number one for ages, but you also heard them everywhere. So how did this song manage this feat?

Edit - This article is relevant. One Dance heavily relied on streaming rather than actual sales (which counts these days), and as far as I understand, some streaming things will pick songs for you, so this is a bit like using air time, which is something the charts never used to do. So I think it's a bit dodgy really. And especially with no Top of the Pops these days, the charts isn't even really a thing any more.

Since streaming became a big component of the chart methodology, the UK singles charts have become much more similar to the US singles charts (which have always included an airplay component and have always been susceptible to record label tampering). Static top fives from week to week aren't really that unusual these days; in the past the beauty of the UK chart was that it moved fast. Not anymore.

There's a reason for that. All three major record labels have significant stakes in Spotify. Spotify accounts for a large proportion of the streaming plays that count towards the chart. 50% of Spotify streams come from playlists. The major (i.e. heavily promoted) Spotify playlists are all backed in one way or another by the three major record labels.

It's just payola, but now it's not only legal, it's celebrated as a fantastic new model.

[Tom S]

Drake- he's a good guy and does a lot for charity work, but really, as harsh as it is, a newbie of his vocal and musical ability should really give up on music. There seems to be some kind of Grime Revolution, and I don't like it one bit.

[Mark James]

What's a band or artist that you don't like but people suspect that you should going by your taste in music. I've never liked Rush. I usually love complicated prog rock but I just don't get their appeal. People always assume I like them but I don't. I particularly hate how Neil Peart is held up as this amazing drummer. I reckon he must be the most overrated musician of all time.

[Marc Meakin]

Probably Pink Floyd but as soon as I got into Radiohead I stopped listening.
Another artiste I don't like as a recording artist is Bob Dylan but I do like his lyrics.
Everyone that's ever covered his songs improve them

[Jennifer Steadman]

Probably the Manics?

Just sounds liek they're trying to awkwardly sing a faux-profound A-level essay over music that doesn't fit. Motorcycle Emptiness (despite suffering from the A-level essay problem) and A Design For Life are good but find the rest to be pretty boring and tuneless guff.

[Zarte Siempre]

What's a band or artist that you don't like but people suspect that you should going by your taste in music. I've never liked Rush. I usually love complicated prog rock but I just don't get their appeal. People always assume I like them but I don't. I particularly hate how Neil Peart is held up as this amazing drummer. I reckon he must be the most overrated musician of all time.

This is a weird one to answer, as from my perspective I don't know, but the one I usually get "Wait, what?" from people are My Chemical Romance. Because I like a lot of that slightly verbose pop punk of the mid noughties, it's assumed I'll like them, but I don't. My Mum enjoys playing them to wind me up.

[Mark James]

Probably the Manics?

Just sounds liek they're trying to awkwardly sing a faux-profound A-level essay over music that doesn't fit. Motorcycle Emptiness (despite suffering from the A-level essay problem) and A Design For Life are good but find the rest to be pretty boring and tuneless guff.

100%. All my mates love them and I can't stand them. I wind my mates up saying they should have been a one hit wonder with Motorcycle Emptiness. Although I also liked the one they did with Nina Parsons and the song they did for Wales in the euros was a decent football tune.

Agree with everyone else so far too. When I was a stoner everyone assumed I liked Pink Floyd but they weren't for me. High Hopes was the one song I could tolerate. (I liked their song titles in the early days like Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk, and Careful with that Axe Eugene. Not so much the songs themselves though)

Also MCR are dreadful. Good work everyone. I was in the humour of bashing stuff today. I'll be more positive later.

[Andy Wilson]

Since streaming became a big component of the chart methodology, the UK singles charts have become much more similar to the US singles charts (which have always included an airplay component and have always been susceptible to record label tampering). Static top fives from week to week aren't really that unusual these days; in the past the beauty of the UK chart was that it moved fast. Not anymore.

There's a reason for that. All three major record labels have significant stakes in Spotify. Spotify accounts for a large proportion of the streaming plays that count towards the chart. 50% of Spotify streams come from playlists. The major (i.e. heavily promoted) Spotify playlists are all backed in one way or another by the three major record labels.

It's just payola, but now it's not only legal, it's celebrated as a fantastic new model.

Sigh.

I was taken in by Roisín Murphy's twitter meltdown there a few weeks back where she was freaking out at the lack of response to her music from radio stations. She was harping on about putting so much of herself into making art that she thought was relevant and not getting much help / response from the media or whatever. I thought that it was a bit whiny, although people seemed to be fairly supportive and in agreement. She mentioned that when she contacted some stations that usually playlisted her music they said that they would have been playing it but it hadn't been 'serviced' for radio, so they couldn't. I assume that having your music 'serviced' for radio doesn't mean having it mixed / mastered for radio, and rather means that you have to employ someone who solicits the music to the station. Correct me if i'm wrong, if anyone knows better, but if i am right, well, feck sake like.

I then read an interview with this Northern Irish girl 'Ro' who had gotten some awards or grants or whatever to the tune of 10 or 20 grand or something and was asked about it. She basically said that since she records at home with her producer, that takes the recording costs way down, so she can spend the money on the really important things like plugging and promotion.

Fuck off music industry. Just fuck off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHGDmItNAXg

[Mark James]

https://youtu.be/0UJLtHqPA1E

Song of the year for me.

[Marc Meakin]

Think I will wait for a cover version

[Rhys Benjamin]

Slightly NSFW but this has been stuck in my head for weeks:

Willam Beli - "Unshart My Fart"
Or how about the Club remix featuring dodgy music video?

[Rhys Benjamin]

Thanks to Sophie Ellis Bextor butchering "Crying At The Discoteque" on Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two the other night, I've now decided to listen to Alcazar's entire back catalogue. Forgot how much I love them.

My recommendations would include:
"Start The Fire"
"Blame It On the Disco"
"Sexual Guarantee"
"Don't You Want Me" - a great cover of the Human League's classic
"Alcastar"
"Not A Sinner Nor A Saint"

[Callum Todd]

Anyone who likes hip-hop should listen to Immortal Technique. The lyrics are at times ridiculous or uncomfortably violent, but it's great music.

Tool are good if you like proggy metaly stuff.

Tim Minchin has an album out now, which has some truly great songs on it.

[Rhys Benjamin]

Not everything is a metaphor for the pandemic, but...

# I just wanna go back, back to 1999... #