Random Music Thoughts

[VerbalPuke]

4 hours ago, RPS said:

I used to have a drum machine and used to have a bunch of software on my old computer where I would make electronic music and mash ups and things like that. It is really fun. What I really enjoy about electronic music is that it is pretty freeing in terms of what you create. There is certainly experimental rock music out there, but experimental electronic music is so freeing because the conventions of what "electronic" music is so less strict than what rock music is. I also really enjoy about experimental and ambient music that often times the focus can still be to create melodic music, whereas I find that rock music that is experimental often tends to avoid being melodic. I think this is because rock music was conceived with the notion of having a vocalist, guitar, and drums create a melody, which is so often why rock music is fixated on the 4/4 time signature. On the flipside, electronic music is much more focused on the technology used to create the sounds. So a lot of experimental electronic music can be really catchy. 

A great example of this is the band Matmos or Herbert. Matmos are a couple who release albums that have some unifying theme. In 2001, they created an album called a Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure which was made entirely with items or sounds from medical procedures. It is at times an experimental record, but a track like spondee borders on being a house song. Their album Ultimate Care II is an album entirely made from the sounds of a washing machine. Again, you would think the conceit is to make a drone or ambient or purely experimental record. But Matmos is fascinating to me because they still want to find the melody underneath it all. 

Herbert is similar in releasing his album Scale in 2006, except the goal is expressly to be very melodic throughout the whole album, but it is sampled from 635 sounds and items. Some are really standard - there is horn sections and traditional vocals. But all of the sudden something will bubble up and you will be scratching your head about what the sound is. It is really cool.

As an aside on Matmos, they also have a side project called the Soft Pink Truth. Two of their albums are cover albums where they cover punk songs ("Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Soft Pink Truth") and black metal ("Why Do the Heathen Rage"). Their punk covers range from Nervous Gender to Crass to Minor Threat and they turn them into techno tracks. The highlight is their cover of the homophobic Angry Samoans song "Homo-Sexual". It turns it into the most bizarre club song you will probably ever hear. Do not listen when others are around... 

Here is their cover of Out of Step: 

 

Excellent, I'll have a listen to this. 

And yeah, I completely agree regarding the less restrictions with electronic music. In fact, with my sequencer I can throw in random notes and it'll play something cool. If I do that on guitar or bass in a similar way, it'll likely sound like shit. 

I've tried to get a bit weird and do play like my banjo along with my synthesizer. Mostly for curiosity, but I really like combining uncommon things like that. Like can I do a song with banjo, bass, synth, and tambourine? 

But yeah I'm really intrigued by making music with noises that aren't actually instruments, or doing some unconventional. For example....going back to the banjo again. Banjos have a resonate skin on them, like a drum skin, so ideally you could use it as a percussive instrument. So I had the idea of using that for percussion and then getting good enough to hit the strings with the drum stick to play the notes that way (granted the open notes on a banjo are limited to B G and D). Obviously I'd use a shit banjo so as to not damage a good one. It's kind of why some of my other music started to incorporate sound bytes from movies, just a way to try and learn how to do that. 

I might be undertaking too much though. I'm pretty mediocre at everything, then Banjo I can sorta fumble around, and synth is nice but there's so much more to learn than just hitting a key and getting the beeps and boops out. 

Edit - Oh my god, they do a cover of Venom's Black Metal. This is fucking amazing. 

[RPS]

 

I have been listening to Jai Paul constanly the last two weeks. Every winter, I would travel down south for a week and get a break from the cold Canadian winter. I never listened to this song while walking the beaches of Mexico or Nicaragua. But this song is so bright and shiny and feels me with such joy. There is something about the disorientating about the arrangement of the song and vocals that reminds me of being in a foreign country where you barely speak the language, don't know anyone and are just free to explore a whole new place. Maybe it is the time traveling lyrics? 

[RPS]

Is Nine Inch Nails Closer the greatest song that you cannot play in mixed company? I don't mind the odd swear word but the line "I want to fuck you like an animal" is just inappropriate in 90% of situations.

[Schlitzbrille]

36 minutes ago, RPS said:

Is Nine Inch Nails Closer the greatest song that you cannot play in mixed company? I don't mind the odd swear word but the line "I want to fuck you like an animal" is just inappropriate in 90% of situations.

Alestorm's "Fucked With An Anchor" is pretty close, I'd presume.

[RPS]

2 minutes ago, A Businessman said:

Alestorm's "Fucked With An Anchor" is pretty close, I'd presume.

I had no frame of reference for this song and I listened to it and definitely fits the bill. The song is very descriptive of the message of the song. I mean, I personally like Closer by Nine Inch Nails better, but this is a catchy little tune. 

[VerbalPuke]

3 hours ago, RPS said:

Is Nine Inch Nails Closer the greatest song that you cannot play in mixed company? I don't mind the odd swear word but the line "I want to fuck you like an animal" is just inappropriate in 90% of situations.

So, I don't think I can find anything to oppose this. Like, I mean yeah I could get ridiculous and say "WHAT ABOUT GG ALLIN WHAT ABOUT 2 LIVE CREW" but I think the spirit of this question is in line with "What's a an acceptable and atleast somewhat mainstream song that is instantly recognizable and accepted as the top of its genre....but can't play it around my aunt and uncle". Ya know, stuff that's obviously and blatantly offensive is just cheating. One song I can kind of think of is David Bowie's Cracked Actor, but even that is a stretch because when David Bowie pops up on a popular music playlist it's not going to be Cracked Actor but Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, etc. 

I have a question for the audience myself, and this may be hard to convey but here goes. Is there sounds in music, the way instruments are played, the way something sounds that like scratches an itch for you that almost feels physical? Like does hearing some stuff feel like it tickles the brain in a way that feels like that right sensitive touch on the skin? 

I don't know, I heard this for the first time yesterday and something about all of it just sorta does it for me. 

 

[RPS]

24 minutes ago, VerbalPuke said:

So, I don't think I can find anything to oppose this. Like, I mean yeah I could get ridiculous and say "WHAT ABOUT GG ALLIN WHAT ABOUT 2 LIVE CREW" but I think the spirit of this question is in line with "What's a an acceptable and atleast somewhat mainstream song that is instantly recognizable and accepted as the top of its genre....but can't play it around my aunt and uncle". Ya know, stuff that's obviously and blatantly offensive is just cheating. One song I can kind of think of is David Bowie's Cracked Actor, but even that is a stretch because when David Bowie pops up on a popular music playlist it's not going to be Cracked Actor but Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, etc.

WAP by Cardi B and Meagan the Stallion is what I was thinking about. I actually really love the beat and swagger to the song. But there is zero way I would ever play that song in mixed company. There are so many laugh out lines in that song that make me snort when I hear it. But again... I cannot play it in mixed company. 

Quote

I have a question for the audience myself, and this may be hard to convey but here goes. Is there sounds in music, the way instruments are played, the way something sounds that like scratches an itch for you that almost feels physical? Like does hearing some stuff feel like it tickles the brain in a way that feels like that right sensitive touch on the skin?

It is funny you ask this question, because it relates to Nine Inch Nails. I think when music is obsessively produced, which is what I think of when I think of Nine Inch Nails. One song that makes me think of this is the song Only by Nine Inch Nails. You could sit and isolate and only listen to one aspect of the song and I can obsess over it. The hi-hat that plays throughout the song just sticks with me. It hits with razor thin precision and it layers throughout the entire song. But I think about this with every facet of the song. I feel that way with most Nine Inch Nail songs. There is an obsession to the production to the tracks and the way everything is tuned and layered that I can feel. 

Another great example is the band Grizzly Bear. Their 2009 album Veckatimest is probably the greatest example of music production I can think of. Each strum of the guitar, each tap of the drum, each part of the vocals is just perfection. I like every song on that album, but All We Ask is such a perfect example of it. Every inch of the song is meticulous in how it is constructed. It is not my favorite song on the album, but I can feel it each time I listen to it. 

[GoGo Yubari]

Just found out that Francoise Cactus of Stereo Total passed in February. Gonna be bummed about that for a couple hours, that was a very important act for me as a teen.

[VerbalPuke]

2 hours ago, RPS said:

WAP by Cardi B and Meagan the Stallion is what I was thinking about. I actually really love the beat and swagger to the song. But there is zero way I would ever play that song in mixed company. There are so many laugh out lines in that song that make me snort when I hear it. But again... I cannot play it in mixed company. 

It is funny you ask this question, because it relates to Nine Inch Nails. I think when music is obsessively produced, which is what I think of when I think of Nine Inch Nails. One song that makes me think of this is the song Only by Nine Inch Nails. You could sit and isolate and only listen to one aspect of the song and I can obsess over it. The hi-hat that plays throughout the song just sticks with me. It hits with razor thin precision and it layers throughout the entire song. But I think about this with every facet of the song. I feel that way with most Nine Inch Nail songs. There is an obsession to the production to the tracks and the way everything is tuned and layered that I can feel. 

Another great example is the band Grizzly Bear. Their 2009 album Veckatimest is probably the greatest example of music production I can think of. Each strum of the guitar, each tap of the drum, each part of the vocals is just perfection. I like every song on that album, but All We Ask is such a perfect example of it. Every inch of the song is meticulous in how it is constructed. It is not my favorite song on the album, but I can feel it each time I listen to it. 

WAP actually did come to mind for me. I didn't mention it because I'd probably never listen to it (obviously not offended by Wet Ass P Word lol but just not my style of music) so I didn't think it could potentially come up for me. I guess that is short sighted on my part. When you mentioned mix company, are you kind of thinking like "If I had a party, this group of friends and family don't care, this group of family and friends do" as it pertains to "offensive" lyrics? Thats what I figured, which is actually a really interesting topic in and of itself because I can relate it to my exposure to music growing up.

Like, my parents didn't really care what I listened to and just trusted me not to be a weirdo about music ya know (like not emulating the more disgusting fucks of rock and roll)? And I've always been able to play them pretty wild stuff, but like if certain aunts or uncles are around I'm not jamming out to the Dead Boys around them. Where as mom and dad were cool with rocking out to like some of my more sweary hardcore punk. 

[RPS]

Just now, VerbalPuke said:

WAP actually did come to mind for me. I didn't mention it because I'd probably never listen to it (obviously not offended by Wet Ass P Word lol but just not my style of music) so I didn't think it could potentially come up for me. I guess that is short sighted on my part. When you mentioned mix company, are you kind of thinking like "If I had a party, this group of friends and family don't care, this group of family and friends do" as it pertains to "offensive" lyrics? Thats what I figured, which is actually a really interesting topic in and of itself because I can relate it to my exposure to music growing up.

Yeah, I guess it is really about what people find offensive. I would probably take no issue playing Kill the Poor by the Dead Kennedys because it is very obviously satire and for the most part, someone might not even be able to decipher what Jello is saying. However, I would probably feel uncomfortable playing WAP unless I knew everyone was on board. 

[livid]

8 hours ago, VerbalPuke said:

I have a question for the audience myself, and this may be hard to convey but here goes. Is there sounds in music, the way instruments are played, the way something sounds that like scratches an itch for you that almost feels physical? Like does hearing some stuff feel like it tickles the brain in a way that feels like that right sensitive touch on the skin? 

I feel like it might be a bit of a "basic" answer but a good bass line. It took me awhile but I realized that's a pretty significant through line in what I tend to gravitate towards regardless of genre. And the funkier it gets, the more my body decides it wants to shimmy and shake and I can no longer control myself. Which, as someone extremely not prone to dancing, is both great and also a bit of my own personal hell. 

[RPS]

This is my definition of the one of the most perfect dance songs. 

So the song heavily samples an older cut, Can U Dance by DJ Fast Eddie, Kenny 'Jammin' Jason. 

 

Armand, however, transforms the song from a more interesting techno/electronic song into dance floor heaven by just taking that one sample and amplifying the track to a million. The first bit of the song is just building up to the sample. The non-sense vocals French vocals and the slow build up with the Hi Hat kicking in culminating two minutes into the song just hitting that amazing "Can U Dance" sample that he just lets ride for an extra beat. House music has just been chasing that high for the last decade and a half. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Listening to "Damone" by 16

Actually only just now twigged to the fact that the song is about Mike Damone from Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

[VerbalPuke]

 

 

 

 

So my drum machine arrived yesterday, and I've got it sycned up to my Korg Minilogue and Behringer TD03. 

Oh my god is this fun. I'm barely even trying to come up with anything and everything synced up sounds so fucking cool. 

As for a random music thought...

I love noise rock. It became such a huge favorite of mine in the last ten years or so, though I did have familiarity with it being a huge Unsane fan since I heard them in my teenage years. I look at it as the natural successor to punk, and I guess in a way it really was just punk since guy like David Yow, Steve Albini, Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, etc. were kind of the up and comers during the early to mid 80s in the punk scene (I mean, Flipper toured with David Yow as the frontman, would have love to have seen that. Oh by the way, David Yow is the frontman of Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid). There is so much cool music related to it, I'm gonna post some and ya'll can check some out or not, it's all good. 

Probably one of the more melodic and grooving bands. I love them, really really fantastic band. This is absolutely 90s, ya know just has that cool 90s vibe. Oh also they're one of those neat 90s bands to use two bass players. 

I love these guys, they've got a more industrial thing going but definitely fit in with the likes of the bands I'm gonna post on here. Another two bass player band. This was actually difficult to decide what to post because they have so much good stuff, if this song maybe isn't for you I'd recommend their album Ask Questions Later, probably their masterpiece. 

This is some heavier shit, but the name probably gave that away. Fucking love Hammerhead....another band where this is probably not even their best album but a song that I can't help but share. 

Alright...so this is a bit fucking different. Think Flipper but maybe less shitty (I love Flipper)? If nothing else, this song is pretty upbeat and fun. Oh and the album name is wonderful because I always read it as Stunning Cunts (nice job brain).

Once again I'm straying from what might be the obvious picks of Scrape and Committed, but I have always loved this song. That beginning is just so damn cool, this is one of my favorite bands of all-time and I feel so damn fortunate that I saw them live. Also, the singer of this group and members of Cop Shoot Cop (see above) joined forces with a member of Swans to form Human Impact. They kick ass for the record. 

And you all need Jesus. Jesus Lizard. This one I'm going with a live video. I was at this show, this was the greatest show I have ever seen in my life. I told my wife "This the best show I have ever seen in my life" around the 1:21 mark. We were sat in the upper area of this venue (my back was acting up and thankfully this venue had seating upstairs). I've never seen anything like these guys live, and I've been to some great shows. Nothing else has ever had this fuckin energy, with a tight band, with a lead singer with this much charisma/presence/insanity. He sort of pulled his dick out, it was amazing. It was special, honestly it was just that damn good. THEY COVERED THE DICKS

 

Sorry to talk so much, but sometimes sharing stuff makes me happy. 

[RPS]

16 hours ago, VerbalPuke said:

Sorry to talk so much, but sometimes sharing stuff makes me happy. 

Don't be sorry. I am decidedly not in a noise rock or experimental phase at the moment, so not in a head space to listen to what you posted, but I think this thread has devolved into longer pieces that people can write and share whatever. Blogs are dead. So we need someplace to have long pieces about music. 

My head is not into experimental or noise rock because after being in a holding pattern of listening to electronic/ambient music, I have gone down a pop music rabbit hole. I have previously written here that I become hyper obsessed with certain genres/albums/artists and can just spend months fixating listening to the same album. I have probably listened to the same album 20 times the last month. Sometimes I would listen to it, finish it and put it right back on. 

But I am currently obsessed with pop music. I really enjoy pop music for a number of reasons. Firstly, pop music is often times focused on the female singers and/or audiences. I don't think it is controversial to say that rock music is largely created by and for men and that pop music is performed by and created for women. So pop music often times has interesting perspectives. I also really like pop music because I like how the idea of a cult of personality can pervade music. So much of pop music is about who is singing and that provides the context for the audience. Lady Gaga has built a brand around this. What she says in her songs, her videos, her concerts are a reference for herself and what she conveys to her audience. It is interesting to sometimes posit - what does this pop star actually stand for? Uninteresting pop music to me is when the pop star stands for nothing and just slick and happy songs we can bop too. Interesting pop music is asking why did Lady Gaga release a song called Scheibe where she sings:  "I wish I could be strong/Without permission, yeah". Is she singing about society? Is she singing about her record label? Is she singing about her ex? Is she singing about the fictional world that Lady Gaga has constructed for this album? 

I think it is why so many people (often times men) have such a barrier to liking pop music, because if you do not really love the personality, you can only like the music so far. If you do not care about Lady Gaga's meat dress or her music videos and their meaning, you can enjoy a song like Pokerface or 911. But it is the fans who obsess over every lyric, every frame of a music video, every live performance of the songs, every statement made in an interview, every tv appearance, etc. that allows for you to truly appreciate what great pop music is. I am an old now and I have no time to obsess over music like that any more, but it is fun to be 20 something and to do it. 

[VerbalPuke]

On 15/04/2021 at 10:30, RPS said:

Don't be sorry. I am decidedly not in a noise rock or experimental phase at the moment, so not in a head space to listen to what you posted, but I think this thread has devolved into longer pieces that people can write and share whatever. Blogs are dead. So we need someplace to have long pieces about music. 

My head is not into experimental or noise rock because after being in a holding pattern of listening to electronic/ambient music, I have gone down a pop music rabbit hole. I have previously written here that I become hyper obsessed with certain genres/albums/artists and can just spend months fixating listening to the same album. I have probably listened to the same album 20 times the last month. Sometimes I would listen to it, finish it and put it right back on. 

But I am currently obsessed with pop music. I really enjoy pop music for a number of reasons. Firstly, pop music is often times focused on the female singers and/or audiences. I don't think it is controversial to say that rock music is largely created by and for men and that pop music is performed by and created for women. So pop music often times has interesting perspectives. I also really like pop music because I like how the idea of a cult of personality can pervade music. So much of pop music is about who is singing and that provides the context for the audience. Lady Gaga has built a brand around this. What she says in her songs, her videos, her concerts are a reference for herself and what she conveys to her audience. It is interesting to sometimes posit - what does this pop star actually stand for? Uninteresting pop music to me is when the pop star stands for nothing and just slick and happy songs we can bop too. Interesting pop music is asking why did Lady Gaga release a song called Scheibe where she sings:  "I wish I could be strong/Without permission, yeah". Is she singing about society? Is she singing about her record label? Is she singing about her ex? Is she singing about the fictional world that Lady Gaga has constructed for this album? 

I think it is why so many people (often times men) have such a barrier to liking pop music, because if you do not really love the personality, you can only like the music so far. If you do not care about Lady Gaga's meat dress or her music videos and their meaning, you can enjoy a song like Pokerface or 911. But it is the fans who obsess over every lyric, every frame of a music video, every live performance of the songs, every statement made in an interview, every tv appearance, etc. that allows for you to truly appreciate what great pop music is. I am an old now and I have no time to obsess over music like that any more, but it is fun to be 20 something and to do it. 

Great post. 

So, full disclosure, I'm not really a huge fan of pop music. But I don't hate it either. I'm not one of those weirdo punk rock guys that's gonna be like "OH Rhianna sucks, Lady Gaga Sucks, Katy Perry sucks, they're not real music, yadda yadda yadda". I actually really dig Lady Gaga, I love her persona and just all the wild shit she wears/has done/performs etc. She's fucking cool as hell, a total bad ass. 

And I feel you with the pop music being more feminine geared. Is it weird that I don't like pop music necessarily but I find also sexy? Like it sounds sexy, it makes me feel like I want to get into some loving or something. 

Or maybe it's modern pop? I don't know, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. But I appreciate how catchy it is, how you can dance to it, and really kind of love the dance choreography. 

Ok actually that is something, I fucking love watching people that are really good at dancing. And I think like in a video for Michael Jackson's Beat It, the scene where all the tough guys are dancing in sync, it's fucking awesome to watch. I wish I could do it. The Chemical Brothers have a video for "Let Forever Be" has a woman dancing, and it's just great to watch her move and dance to this cool video. It's sexy, it's fun, and it takes incredible talent to do it well. 

My rabbit hole has been more on the electronic side of things, probably since the Daft Punk discussions we had. Maybe that's my ticket to better appreciating pop music? A lot of the electronic stuff I like is really stuff that I think you could dance to, and not just like drugged out rave dancing, but legit like with real style ya know?

[VerbalPuke]

Actually I have a weird fucking essay that I never thought I'd write. 

I have a lot of respect for the Insane Clown Posse. ICP. This isn't some sentimental thing because they're hometown boys, but like their whole cult of personality kind of blows my mind. I'm not a particularly big fan of their music but....I also don't hate it either. 

I don't know, I like the culture and family thing they cultivated even if it is a crew of weirdos dressing like clowns and pretending to be axe murderers is oddly endearing. They've never really been a "mainstream music" act but they have a huge fucking following, they have their own festival, and have just recorded and produced constantly. I don't know, maybe they are mainstream because they've been involved with WWF during both of their peaks, but it feels weird thinking of ICP as mainstream. Kinda wild that ICP had their own wrestler promotion and were sorta well known for the Stranglemania DVD (basically they commentate the 1995 king of the death tournament, same one Foley writes about in his book). 

And I like that their Juggalo followers and such all seem to be based on having a good time and taking care of one another. I respect that, I dig when people come together for a shared enjoyment of something and they're meant to keep an eye on one another. 

Would you rather hang out with Kid Rock or ICP? Well...ICP wrote this in 1991, and I mean back then it felt like the confederate flag was more widely accepted as just being a thing (which it shouldn't have been). 

So yeah, they are fucking heavy handed and utterly absurd, but I dig them. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

I want to hang out with Kid Rock as much as I want to hang out with my uncles, which is to say not at all.

[METALMAN]

I saw a video of Kid Rock hanging out with Billy Gibbons. Seeing them together was upsetting.

[VerbalPuke]

5 hours ago, metalman said:

I saw a video of Kid Rock hanging out with Billy Gibbons. Seeing them together was upsetting.

I'm glad you mentioned Billy Gibbons because I think one of my next big posts will be about ZZ Top and how good they are.