Why I can't stand today's pop music

Dave W · February 27, 2013, 08:48:32 PM

Seduced by 'perfect' pitch: how Auto-Tune conquered pop music

drbassman · February 28, 2013, 05:54:57 AM

Aside from Dave Matthems, I really am not a fan of contemporary pop music. I know, I'm an old fart, but what are these kids gonna do when they're in a nursing home 60 years from now? Sit around a piano and sing tunes by 50 cent and Dr. Dre? Really............

Basvarken · February 28, 2013, 06:02:59 AM

Hmmmm... I guess you are an old fart.

There's plenty of great pop music out there these days.
It's just that you have to dig through an enormous pile of crap to find it.

patman · February 28, 2013, 06:07:43 AM

Any more, we pretty much play what we want...my favorite tune that we have learned in the last 3 years is still "Wichita Lineman"...timeless....

the line "And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time." still makes me tear up 50 years after it was written. I guess when people stop paying money to see us play this stuff, I will be done.

Modern pop music does not do this for me....

Jimmy Webb was pretty darn talented, not to mention Glen Campbell.

drbassman · February 28, 2013, 06:24:07 AM

Quote from: Basvarken on February 28, 2013, 06:02:59 AM
Hmmmm... I guess you are an old fart.
There's plenty of great pop music out there these days.
It's just that you have to dig through an enormous pile of crap to find it.

I agree, too much crap to dig through. The stuff that does have some decent lyrics still doesn't move me. Old fart brains are hard to stimulate with new stuff!!!

Basvarken · February 28, 2013, 06:33:22 AM

As long as Justin Currie keeps making music, the world is still safe

4stringer77 · February 28, 2013, 08:14:48 AM

Quote from: patman on February 28, 2013, 06:07:43 AM
my favorite tune that we have learned in the last 3 years is still "Wichita Lineman"...timeless....

the line "And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time." still makes me tear up 50 years after it was written.

The Meters also did a great version of this song. I think it's on the album Struttin.

4stringer77 · February 28, 2013, 08:30:08 AM

Also there are lot's of interesting cool bands coming out all the time. Cut Copy, Tame Impala, Neon Indian, OK Go, Empire of the Sun, Foster the People, MGMT and so on. They might not be your thing but thats ok. It's natural for people to stop liking newer music as they get older. I think these bands are neat but my favorite music is from before I was born for the most part.

Dave W · February 28, 2013, 08:55:10 AM

Quote from: Basvarken on February 28, 2013, 06:33:22 AM
As long as Justin Currie keeps making music, the world is still safe

True. OTOH Justin Currie is old school pop even when he's making new music.

I'm sure you can find good new stuff if you look hard enough. Problem is, you have to sort through all that obviously autotuned crap to find it.

Dave W · February 28, 2013, 09:01:45 AM

More Ke$ha news

gearHed289 · February 28, 2013, 09:27:38 AM

I did about a two year run playing current pop/dance covers. I just couldn't stand it any more. I hated having to sit and learn the stuff. The arrangements are as weak as it gets. More often than not, you're dealing with one chord progression for both the verses and choruses, and if you're lucky, you get some kind of bridge chord change. It was actually hard to memorize some of the stuff because it was so repetitive, and some of the songs could be very similar. I thankfully played my last gig in that style on the 4th of July. Now, when I occasionally hear one of those songs, I smile and think about how happy I am to not have to deal with it anymore.

New bands - there are plenty of cool newer bands out there. It's just hard to keep up as an older guy with a family and other responsibilities. I've accepted the fact that I don't head into the city to check out original bands anymore. I've got other priorities, and I have a massive back catalog of stuff I grew up with that I love.

OldManC · February 28, 2013, 09:36:07 AM

When I saw the first post I thought of Currie but I'm a broken record when it comes to singing his praises, then lo and behold I see Rob's post.

westen44 · February 28, 2013, 10:49:03 AM

Quote from: Dave W on February 28, 2013, 08:55:10 AM
True. OTOH Justin Currie is old school pop even when he's making new music.

I'm sure you can find good new stuff if you look hard enough. Problem is, you have to sort through all that obviously autotuned crap to find it.

In general, it's easier to find good pop music in Europe than in America. Plus, there are good pop artists in Europe that Americans have never even heard of. To be famous in the U.S. in pop music it's necessary to be untalented, use gimmicks, act like a slut (whether affected or real,) sing mindless songs with no melody, and dance around a lot on stage.

Psycho Bass Guy · February 28, 2013, 02:04:10 PM

Auto Tune has been the industry standard for longer than that article claims and I guarantee you that 99% of major releases across ALL genres in the past 25 years have had some sort of pitch massage, often without the artist's knowledge. I'll use it as an effect, cloning a track and purposefully detuning it for a backing double-track to help place things in the stereo field, but if a lead vocal take is bad, it gets re-cut. I don't even like doing cut and paste edits that are the equivalent of analog punch-ins. Music isn't about uniformity and besides, most "corrected" pitch actually isn't because the software can't compensate for tempered scale since the algorithms are based on mathematical intervals. It works on the same principle as a vocoder. I have no problems with it being used as an artistic tool, but when it's employed to compensate for lack of talent, it's just garbage.

Even worse, but not mentioned in the article at all, is tempo-mapping which is enabled as standard on almost every software sequencer. It's actually quite difficult to disable on many of them. It mathematically "corrects" note locations based on BPM and will kill a natural groove in nothing flat, and it is every bit as prevalent, even among many of the "musician" supergroups. It makes cut and paste editing much easier, so lazy producers LOVE it. That's one of the "lost" virtues of tape recording: musicians actually had to be able to perform to make a song.

godofthunder · February 28, 2013, 04:00:48 PM

Even at the live level we are at much of the competition has some form of vocal enhancement. Frankly I don't know how it's done. I see singers with their phone in hand doing things between songs. I have heard sound guys call out over the PA
band X we need your backing disc. Even pro live acts where I'm backstage and there is clearly stuff going on and singers missing their ques yet perfect cd like backups appear. I'm not a fan