RPS

Hm, that would be a great idea... ... oh right...

My mind wondered towards LCD Soundsystem. They were instantly attached to the trendy dance-punk thing, but I think they distanced themselves and proved themselves to be a great band. They released three amazing albums and I'd argue two iconic singles (Losing My Edge and All My Friends). I'd say there two thing hindering them, though. First, they don't have a huge moment like Daft Punk and Coachella 2007. The huge pyramid was pretty iconic for Daft and (in my opinion) sort of encapsulated dance/electronic music's rise in the 21st century. Secondly they aren't really all that mainstream. I mean, LCD Soundsystem isn't underground and has chartered higher than Daft Punk in America, but Daft Punk has been sampled by Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson, they performed at the Grammy's and have done marketing deals with people like Coke, the Gap, and Adidas. Daft Punk definitely has far more mainstream recognition and exposure.

Rock has the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Pop music has Madonna and Michael Jackson Electronic music has Kraftwerk and Bjork. Hip hop has N.W.A. and Tupac. You get the point... Throughout the history of music, there have been bands and artists who have percolated to the top, transcended genre, received critical acclaim and their work has been appreciated for decades since. In modern times, hings have changed. The internet has opened up the world to new genres, new sounds and new ways for people to hear music. It has also made discussing music much more interesting - arguably the music industry has moved away from focusing on a few select acts as our world is now opened to hundreds of thousands of more artists that we can access at the tip of our fingers. Given that, I think it's interesting to sit down and think - who are the essential artists of today? Who are our kids going to look back to in 20 years and tell us how they were jealous that we got to see them in their heyday? Who are we going to be lecturing our children into listening when they are buying the Justin Bieber of 2040? Who are we going to still be listening to in 50 years and reminiscing with our friends about how important they are? This isn't really about your personal tastes: obviously your personal tastes will help you choose, but it's more about asking who are the classic, essential, untouchable artists who we hold the test of time and remain vital in the future. So who are they? I thought it might be interesting to pick one or two artists by genre - 1) rock, 2) pop, 3) hip-hop/r&b, 4) electronic/dance and maybe an other category: our personal favorite artists, the artists who may not be like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, but we personally will hold to the classic standard. I'm not a genre snob, so when I say rock, I'm including metal, indie, punk, whatever tickles your fancy and generally involves a guitar and drums. Ditto for electronic and trip-hop, trance, house, whatever gets you off. I'm not limiting people who want to discuss country, jazz, or avant-garde music, but I think it's fair to say that not a lot of people on EWB will really want to discuss them. But yeah. Generally just looking for a list of 5-10 artists from a variety of genres who could be classified as classic, timeless, or untouchable.

I swear all guilty pleasures threads always have a Venga Boy's track within the first 5 posts. I don't believe in guilty pleasures, mainly because I think it's something macho guys invented to describe how they feel when they listen to effeminate music and/or it's something music snobs invented to allow them to like pop music. But for your consideration:

Jesus Christ. People like music for all different reasons. Metallica would probably be pretty awesome if you wanted to go to a concert and head bang and rock the shit out. The Chemical Brothers would be amazing if you wanted to go to a club, drop some drugs and dance all fucking night long. Jay-Z would be great if you wanted to listen to a story teller weave stories in an interesting, funny and boisterous way. Adele would be great if you just had your heart broken by a miserable cunt and you needed to hear somebody else express exactly how you feel. The Scissor Sisters are great if you are drinking a bottle of wine with your mo's and you are off to go get fisted in a sex club. I hate Metallica, but I'm not going to be a cunt about things and act like I don't understand why ANYBODY would like them.

Thoughts?

Is there split screen?

Great first episode. Nobody on the Blue Tribe really wows me outside of Edna and all she did was be nice to Coach. Very very smart move. I think that's probably because they didn't have to boot anybody. My belief is that the alliance formed on the beach won't last. Coach as much as he brags about being loyal as shown that he isn't loyal and is an emotional and unstable player. I think he'll stick around only because of his inability to really stick to a strategy and alliance. The Red Tribe, to me, is the more interesting tribe because you've got so many interesting characters and so many... dull characters. I definitely see a division in the tribe already - the Outcasts/Interesting (Cochran, Papa, Jim and Dawn) vs the pretty people/dull people (Ozzy, Keith, Elyse and Whitney). Jim was down at the beach with the pretty people, heard the plans and immediately went to go and tell the Cochran and Papa was going on. The people who ate up the most time in the premiere seemed to be people who lacked power - Dawn, Papa and Cochran. I think the editing was amplified to make it seem like Cochran was in more trouble than he was and at tribal council had a brief neurotic meltdown, but as Papa pointed out, he was never really in danger. It was probably one thing said that was amplified up. Right now, cheering for Papa, Cochran and Jim and hopefully they form some sort of alliance with Dawn and vote off the pretty/uninteresting people. Last season we saw Ashley, Natalie and Grant lugged around until the last few episodes and they were duds in terms of entertaining us. I hope that Keith, Elyse and Whitney do not serve the same purpose.

Fiji is okay if you can get over the fact the season is premised on a miserable twist and it has probably one of the most unlikeable casts ever. I mean even the likeable characters like Yau-Man are awful at some moments.

I just don't understand the point of reviewing an album from a band/rapper who is two decades old, has a well established fan-base where people have probably already developed opinions on the band and, in the case of RHCP, isn't really relevant to what's happening in music. Who gives a shit about a band's mediocre 10th album that doesn't really have anything interesting or new to say about music? Ditto for Kanye and Jay Z (and I liked that album).

So EWB starts a Music Listening Group and the first two albums they chose to sample - RHCP and Kanye West & Jay Z. Why not do something a bit more obscure, you know, something that people haven't heard. I'm sure many of us have already formed our opinions on Jay Z, Kanye West and RHCP considering they have had multiple number one albums and countless big songs. Just seems a bit stupid to do have a listening group for the new RHCP album when presumably most people are going to listen to it anyway.

Season 24 is still filming, I think. Spoilers generally come out know due to Facebook and Twitter followings, so if one person on the cast is known, easy to figure out everybody else.

Check out Zomby "Dedication" if you liked James Blake and SBTRKT. No vocals, so sounds a bit emptier sounding, but I still enjoy it.

Azari & III - self titled SBTRKT - self titled Little Dragon - Ritual Union All great electronic stuff

I kinda understand why returnees won't get booted right away, especially male returnees. If 18 people all came together and instantly took part in individuals challenges, for sure dump the strong males. However, you split two tribes into 9 people and force them to compete? Sure, Coach and Ozzy are "threats", but not before people who are weak or who fracture tribe harmony. That's exactly why Russell got the boot - he was bound to fracture tribe unity and he wasn't extraordinary in challenges. Looking at those cast this season, it's clear the producers knew putting too many alpha dudes would get Ozzy and Coach booted fast, so they casted a guy with a pacemaker, a 48 year old "daddy bear", a skinny Woody Allen type Harvard grad, a 19 year old hick related to Russell, and some skinny cowboy dude who doesn't seem like much of a challenge threat. Really, only Albert looks to be a alpha dude type guy.

I'd be down for something new and fresh if it didn't sound bad, like discarded AA songs.

And when I'm older, you aint gotta work no more And Imma get you that mansion that we couldn't afford See you're, unbreakable, unmistakable Highly capable, lady that's makin loot A livin legend too, just look at what heaven do Send us an angel, and I thank you. --Kanye West "Hey Mama" I think any mama's boy can appreciate that song. Or alternatively... I say fuck the police, thats how I treat em We buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom We'll buy a lot of clothes when we don't really need em Things we buy to cover up what's inside Cause they make us hate ourself and love they wealth That's why shortys hollering "where da ballas at?" Drug dealer buy Jordans, crackhead buy crack And a white man get paid off of all of that --Kanye West "All Falls Down"

Hm, I'm actually stoked for this season's cast. There are some actually really interesting people who seem to be unique characters - Edna, John, Semhar, Mark Anthony, Stacey all seem like unique, well casted people. John and Mark Anthony seem to be really unique people who we haven't seen before. Not a fan of including people from other reality shows (the pageant queen and the country star), but I'm not overly miffed. Looks like a great cast.

Is Eminem technically proficient and amazing? Who cares! Technical proficiency has rarely been used as an indicator of greatness or enjoyment in pop music. If Poopy Jam the rapper could spit out 80 words per second, it wouldn't really matter if he couldn't connect with an audience. Ultimately, that's a rapper's job. It's not to make people go "OH MY GOSH AMAZING HE IS SPITTING THOSE RHYMES SO FAST". It's for people to be brought together by somebody who is telling a story, either with a guitar or lyrics or electronic blippity-blop. Bob Dylan isn't technically the greatest singer in the world, but people still say he is because he connects with his audience in a way that is unmatched by others in his field. Ditto for Eminem.

Everything?

Sure Eminem is one of the most "technically skilled" rapper (which is bullshit and, even if true, means jack shit), but he only raps about 5 different things. Either he has beef with a family member/some chick, he loves his daughter, he hates the entertainment business or he's doing some juvenile song about poop. It's really pedestrian at this point.

because he's white.