Posted on 11/03/2012 1:38:09 PM PDT by OddLane
Its often said that art appreciation is wholly subjective. Aesthetic tastes naturally differ, de gustibus non est disputandem, etc And if art is a matter of taste, and not subject to critical scrutiny, then so it is with music, which is simply a subset of art. In one sense, the people who posit this argument are correct. Theres no objective, non-arbitrary measure by which you can judge the quality of a musical composition, artist, or genre. In another sense, these people are completely wrong.
I hew to the Adam Carolla theory of musical appreciation. That is, there is a distinct, unmistakable cleavage between music that is good and music which, for lack of a better word, sucks. The problem is that today, for a variety of reasons, many cannot distinguish between the two. It explains why, whenever you enter a club, a bar, or a misguided friends party, your ears are bombarded with an unremitting stream of reggaeton, dub step, and execrable Top 40 hip hop and pop.
Its why you will never hear a single by Iris DeMent, John Wesley Harding, the Carolina Chocolate Drops or any other musician/band who doesnt make you long for the sweet release of death.
(Excerpt) Read more at nyctalking.com ...
Anyone listening to the radio looking for good music is an idiot...
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Our classical station is pretty good, and our jazz station plays jazz sometimes. But thanks anyway.
;0)
I think their voices are unique, but I know they get on some people's nerves.
Pretty much everything, starting with the complete banishing of any semblance of a melody.
True but that’s not “radio radio”... ;-)
Very true. I was referring o commercial OTA radio.
Not a world class musician, but after listening to some of his stuff on Oscar Brand's Folk Song Festival I came away pretty impressed.
i haven't listened to regular radio in the car for years and prolly never will again as like you already know, it's a wasteland...
According to Aristotle, man is the rational animal; his mind is the source of his distinctive actions, including his creative ones. The process of creativity, in this view, does not consist on gaining a mystic insight or in reacting to a neural twitch; rather, it is a form of thought. If so, the thought of artists, scientists, and other cultural creators would be like that of men in other fields; it too would be guided by a method, by a mode of integration. So the creators of really lousy music such as rap and hip hop are guilty of defective methods of thought.
What’s wrong with music today? Well, for one thing, it isn’t “music”.
We worked with the kids in Sunday School, trying to teach them choruses and hymns, but everyone just screamed words. Then I figured out that they listen to rap mostly, and there is no melody or tune.
I like Jerry Lee Lewis, and The Eagles for secular. For sacred, love the southern gospel quartets.
What passes for “music” today has, for the most part, no heart, no soul and not even a tune that you can hum.
While I love the old r’n’r of the ‘50’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’s, I have switched to Texas Country. The Texas music scene is filled with great artists who have shunned the Nashville sound. Max Stalling, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Guy Clark....the list is long and the music is great....helps if you like steel guitars, though.
If I listen to new country music, it's usually Aussies, e.g. Kasey Chambers, Catherine Britt, Ashleigh Dallas, etc...
The Doc Marshalls is another great country/americana band from Nashville.
Almost none are trained musicians who can control their voice. They just belt out, loudly, and they think it's singing.
No thanks.
BTTT.
Technology.
Back in the day, studio time was expensive, so you needed musicians that were good enough to get it recorded in the least amount of time.
Why is rap music so popular with music execs? It’s cheap to produce.
It started with Whitney Houston, but has been aped by her much less talented epigones.
See Mariah Carey.
“throwing in notes that shouldn’t be there”
Yeah; that “scatting” is disgusting. I absolutely cannot listen. Until Obama began showing up so often during election season, my mute button was wearing out mostly from the Jennifer Hudson ads for Weight Watchers. My uncle would say, “She sounds like a sick calf dying in a thunder shower.”
Except on satellite.
Somebody left the c off the front.
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