Random Music Thoughts

[METALMAN]

I’ve become a bit more relaxed in my old age.

Also I’m no longer running an audio department where our entire shop floor consists of CD racks with CD sized shelves and dealing with a head office that said “you need to order in lots of vinly it’s cool now” EVEN THOUGH WE ONLY HAD CD RACKS SO I HAD TO STACK ALL THE VINLYS PRECARIOUSLY ON SHELVES THEY WEREN’T DESIGNED FOR WHERE THEY COULD FALL AND POTENTIALLY CREATE A TRIP HAZARD FOR OUR OVERWHELMINGLY AGED CLIENTELE JUST TO SATISFY A BUNCH OF HIPSTERS THAT HAD PROBABLY ALREADY DOWNLOADED A TORRENT OF IT ANYWAY.

I’m far more relaxed about it now.

[Colly]

I'm slightly older than you and my only "backstage" HMV experience  was doing my work experience when I was at school. Vinyl hadn't become cool again yet, but they did let three 15 year olds open a big box of new porn VHS's. Simpler times.

[VerbalPuke]

The more I hear "King Buzzo" of the Melvins talk, I wish he wouldn't. 

He's a cringe ass edge lord.

[Krabby]

Mrs. Krabby was listening to a Halloween playlist today and a song by a group called The Meteors came, turns out they are from the UK - are they (or were they) big over there?

[Hobo]

Willie Nelson was on The Late Show last night.

I know he's 90 but I was shocked at how rough his vocals were compared to other recent performances I've heard from him.

Maybe it was a bad night or maybe time is just catching up to him. I had a quick look at his 2023 and 2022 Farm Aid sets and he certainly sounded better in 2022. I do think he had an illness sometime recently that forced him to postpone shows.

Again, he is 90 and his voice has lost a lot of oomph over the years. But I hadn't heard it so ragged before.

When you start to hear age in the vocals of a performer it's always a little strange.

EDIT: After a bit of googling, he was diagnosed with emphysema in 2019. So that'd explain a lot.

[Hobo]

I am listening to Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman, the men who brought us 2 Talkin U2 2 Me, R U Talkin' REM RE: Me and U Talkin' Talking Heads To My Talking Head, latest show Springing Springsteen On My Bean.

Its the first time I've really realized how much of a construct Bruce Springsteen is. I knew there was a lot of gimmick about how he presented himself but he seems to also have had a lot of people directing him and pushing him to go against his, occasionally not great, instincts. As well as the impact of his depression.

Im learning a surprising amount from the comedy podcast where they spend half the show doing bits and not talking about the music.

[Hobo]

 

[gunnar hendershow]

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/hall-and-oates-lawsuit-restraining-order-1235805425/

I can't go for that news...

[METALMAN]

I like that Daryl is inviting pretty much every 80s musician apart from John round to his house just to spite him.

[VerbalPuke]

Jaco Pastorius is my new obsession. 

I've always thought of myself as pretty knowledgeable about music, yet somehow I only heard this name this year. 

Anyway, he's a great jazz bass player. He played a fretless fender jazz bass and did some really neat stuff with it. 

He worked with Weather Report then did a solo thing with both being really cool. 

 

 

[Hobo]

continuing on the Springsteen thing: I learned there is a terrible Rage Against The Machine version of The Ghost of Tom Joad.

[GhostMachine]

Any thoughts on KISS' virtual avatar reveal at the end of their last concert?

[K]

19 hours ago, GhostMachine said:

Any thoughts on KISS' virtual avatar reveal at the end of their last concert?

absolutely none

[Bobfoc]

I'd rather be in the presence of a virtual Gene Simmons than the real one.

[GhostMachine]

5 hours ago, Bobfoc said:

I'd rather be in the presence of a virtual Gene Simmons than the real one.

I'd rather not be in the prescence of Gene Simmons at all.

I read about it, and the first two things I thought of were a. What a joke/way to rip off fans down the road, and b. Most likely Gene's idea.

Their `shows' will probably just be a pre-recorded show with clips mentioning the city its in edited in, so that everyone watching is seeing the exact same show. Might as well just do a concert film. They must've paid ILM cheap or had it done as a rush job, because the avatars are kind of shitty. I've seen the video clip and a picture, and Paul's face doesn't look right. 

On the other hand, this could lead to a way for artists who are injured or just too physically unable to perform on stage (old age, or illness that doesn't affect their voice or ability to play instruments) to still do shows: Sit somewhere comfortable in the back and peform whle the avatar does all the work.

(Sadly, and morbidly, this could also be a way to have shows with deceased musicians, like when they had that Tupac hologram at Coachella.)

Edited December 7, 2023 by GhostMachine

[Colly]

It's just ABBA again but with shitter songs and no Little Boots.

[METALMAN]

I'm only really in favour of these avatars if you can repurpose them to sing other peoples' songs like when you could make Kurt Cobain sing Hungry Like the Wolf and Sex on Fire on that Guitar Hero game.

[Bobfoc]

7 hours ago, Colly said:

It's just ABBA again but with shitter songs and no Little Boots.

The thing with ABBA is that there are loads of people who love singing along to their songs in any context. That's why there are regular ABBA tribute shows in every theatre in the country and why people would see the Mamma Mia films at the cinema multiple times. It's no wonder that their hologram show has been selling out for months and months in London.

Kiss don't have anywhere near that kind of popularity. They were eventually giving away tickets for their most recent UK tour for under £5. Even if their live show is spectacular, they've been performing and touring the same one for decades now, and seeing the same thing with PS3 avatars probably isn't going to hold the same appeal as it does for ABBA, who stopped touring many years ago.

As much as people are suggesting that this technology could allow people to see virtual concerts in their local village halls, the technology is dependent on the venue having exactly the right layout so that all the lighting effects work properly. That's why the ABBA show has its own custom-made building that they will eventually dismantle and take somewhere else once it moves away from London. Either you do that and spend a mountain of money you'll never recoup unless you're a massive act or you settle for sub-standard projections, and at that point, you might as well just watch a VHS.

[Benji]

Y'all, why is LaRoux's debut album so fucking good and why did it take me 13+ years to check out the songs outside In For The Kill and Bulletproof?

Am I a total moron for leaving it this long because it absolutely smacks?

[GhostMachine]

I don't know why, but for some reason I feel we need more hard rock/heavy metal bands that use either bagpipes, violins, or both.