mms said:
The very being of music is created by cognitive attributions made by individual perceiving or conceiving imaginers, in individual acts of perceiving or conceiving - that, in fact, the only real music 'theory' is the creative-intellectual transaction which ontologizes music itself.
mpc said:
now you''re just being boring.
instead why not say why you thing bloc party are so amazing, why are they so important and how do they make you feel in 2005 (seven years after 1998) ?
thats one thing you haven't said and i'm interested to hear why you have picked them as your number one band, you seem to have good taste in music
but i don't understand your hardline defense of this lot, i'm genuinley not a snob i think.
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what's annoyed me in this thread is people writing off new bands because they've been influenced by previous bands and/or mentioned in the NME.
there will never be another band that doesn't, in some way, resemble what has gone before them.
you don't collectively refer to RnB, hip hop and grime all in the same breath because these genres are mentioned in RWD magazine, so why do the same with every band that the NME mentions.
i like bloc party because they have nice riffs (not just catchy, but affecting) ; their drumming is interesting/exciting, ie. lots of drum rolls etc. (in most of their songs, i'd be quite content even if there were no vocals); their songs evoke emotion. That's enough for me.
there will never be another band that doesn't, in some way, resemble what has gone before them.
you don't collectively refer to RnB, hip hop and grime all in the same breath because these genres are mentioned in RWD magazine, so why do the same with every band that the NME mentions.
i like bloc party because they have nice riffs (not just catchy, but affecting) ; their drumming is interesting/exciting, ie. lots of drum rolls etc. (in most of their songs, i'd be quite content even if there were no vocals); their songs evoke emotion. That's enough for me.
mpc said:
i don't think that is the problem though at all.
it's when new bands sound like watered down lo rent idealess utterly cynical versions of old bands and are blanketly heralded as 'the best band of the last seven years ' or whatnot.
lots of these bands are like a lenny kravitz with more 'edgy'record collections for fucks sake.
the other thing is you've just described 3 things that rwd cover in their mag, whilst nme almost completley just cover new rock bands that sound like older better bands (usually on major labels,as the magasine is now almost completley ad driven) at the cost of everything else, rather than opening up to other music, except for the odd gesture towards hip hop, pop or grime. it's almost a stalin-like piece of pr work, cutting the life out of the picture, the real hope, with decadent drunken lowest common denominator rock n roll boy slavering.
just imagine how things could be, think about how great the greatest pieces of music you've enjoyed affected you, how you reacted, what they actually meant, how they propelled you to spend time discussing music on boards like this.
the anti-bloc party feeling you have is more of an anti-anything-the-nme-mentions feeling.
i don't read the nme, so i've got no idea what they mention or don't mention.
the comment about bloc party being the best band of the last 7 years was not a serious one.
i am not sure which older bands you think bloc party are trying to imitate.
it's been said that they take in influences from the fall, joy division, the cure, gang of four etc. Maybe you've grown up listening to these bands, but they are well before my time. I have heard a good deal of music from all of these bands, as well as bloc party and I certainly wouldn't say bloc party are a watered down version of these bands. I'm guessing you hold the bands you grew up listening to in very high esteem, but they hold very little relevance to me now.
bloc party certainly aren't the best band ever, but they certainly are one of the best bands around now.
if i did this for every piece of music I hear from now on, then i doubt I would like much of the music I hear.
i don't read the nme, so i've got no idea what they mention or don't mention.
the comment about bloc party being the best band of the last 7 years was not a serious one.
i am not sure which older bands you think bloc party are trying to imitate.
it's been said that they take in influences from the fall, joy division, the cure, gang of four etc. Maybe you've grown up listening to these bands, but they are well before my time. I have heard a good deal of music from all of these bands, as well as bloc party and I certainly wouldn't say bloc party are a watered down version of these bands. I'm guessing you hold the bands you grew up listening to in very high esteem, but they hold very little relevance to me now.
bloc party certainly aren't the best band ever, but they certainly are one of the best bands around now.
if i did this for every piece of music I hear from now on, then i doubt I would like much of the music I hear.
don_quixote
Trent End
not sure i hear the fall, joy division or gang of four in bloc party, but i certainly hear boys dont cry cure. and the wedding present.
Just to throw in my opinion: I really think Bloc Party are one of the best bands of the last five years. I agree that Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs etc. don't deserve all the attention, but Bloc Party definitely do. I am a student, so perhaps my opinion doesn't count for anything on this board, but I did do a four-part series on grime for my student paper so I don't think I can be accused of rockist nostalgia or whatever. I think they do owe a lot to post-punk, and their lyrics certainly aren't as good, but I can emotionally engage with Bloc Party in a way I have never be able to with e.g. Gang of Four.
Also Kele, the singer, said in an interview recently that if he thinks the real innovation is going on in grime. I know that's not a reason to like him but it does show that Bloc Party aren't living in this smug NME bubble like a lot of other current bands.
Also Kele, the singer, said in an interview recently that if he thinks the real innovation is going on in grime. I know that's not a reason to like him but it does show that Bloc Party aren't living in this smug NME bubble like a lot of other current bands.
Ness Rowlah
Norwegian Wood
oliver craner said:
What is disappointing with a lot of these bands (and Tom Vek) is that they all
SOUND the same. It's like the post-postpunk meatgrinder has just one hole ...
(having said that: I don't have much against Bloc Party, but if I hear another band
with "angular guitars" it's time to turn the power off on that grinder and put some
other things in (ACR/Defunkt?))
S
simon silverdollar
Guest
i guess the thought is that a lot of baggage comes with this new 'post-punk' stuff that's coming out, that can make listening to it very depressing.
if a band presents itself as exciting, and takes its cues from music that is/was exciting, then the fact that the band are not exciting can be very sad, sadder than than other non-exciting music that is not presented, and influenced, in the same way.
also, there's the thought that aiming just low enough can be worse than aiming high and failing miserably. even, travis, who i don't like at all, do aim pretty high: they're always striving to be epic, to do this ultra-serious, poignant stadium filling music. now, you can say that those aren't worthy goals, and i'd kind of agree, but even aiming high at the wrong targets can be better than just aiming to be an inoffensive, catchy take on music made 20 years ago.
but i'd rather not use dissensus as a comments box for defending my blog, so may be PM me or e-mail me if you want to continue this.
if a band presents itself as exciting, and takes its cues from music that is/was exciting, then the fact that the band are not exciting can be very sad, sadder than than other non-exciting music that is not presented, and influenced, in the same way.
also, there's the thought that aiming just low enough can be worse than aiming high and failing miserably. even, travis, who i don't like at all, do aim pretty high: they're always striving to be epic, to do this ultra-serious, poignant stadium filling music. now, you can say that those aren't worthy goals, and i'd kind of agree, but even aiming high at the wrong targets can be better than just aiming to be an inoffensive, catchy take on music made 20 years ago.
but i'd rather not use dissensus as a comments box for defending my blog, so may be PM me or e-mail me if you want to continue this.