The state of music today

I agree that there isn't much good popular music out today. But there is definitely some very good music in all genres. Bands like the Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Modest Mouse, Stars, the Weakerthans, Iron and Wine, the Weepies, etc. etc. have put out new, really good stuff in the last year. Also, as far as hip-hop, yea a lot of it's trash but two cd's on heavy rotation in my car are "Ear Drum" by Talib Kweli and "Below the Heavens" by Blu Exile which are both fantastic. "Finding Forever" by Common, released earlier this year was fantastic as well.

 

To find good new music today you need to scope out the independent radio stations - like WXPN (xpn.org) in Philadelphia, WFUV (wfuv.org) in New York City - and similar stations.
Plus you just need to find out what other fans of the bands you do like are listening to. For instance, on the Springsteen fan boards I read I've discovered a bunch of artists I like (and found some I don't like) based on others' recommendations.
So the state of music today is mixed. You just need to look harder to find the quality music.

 

I'll echo those who say there is plenty of good music out there today. It's just a lot harder to find - but if you know where to look, this is a great era for a music fan.

The record companies have essentially committed suicide over the past several years by (a) fighting a losing battle with the internet and (b) refusing to develop artists at all. Unless you're a new hip-hop artist where they can load your album with "special guests," they're not going to make an effort. Combine that with the death of terrestrial radio and MTV and the old music industry is gone.

But that doesn't mean the great bands aren't out there -- and in a way, the playing field is more level now. If you're finding music on the internet, through blogs, myspace, emusic, or whatever, good music can get out there without industry promotional bullshit behind it.

XM and Sirius are great for music fans too.

A great link -- the Hype Machine: http://hypem.com/
It's a site with links to mp3s that have been posted on music blogs recently. Read about a band that sounds interesting? Search for them on the Hype Machine and listen to the mp3s.

Also, I highly recommend eMusic for anyone who listens to indie stuff. It's $9.95 a month for 30 song downloads with a deep catalog of indie music. (They're rumored to be getting the major labels soon as well.)

 

say what you want, but "modern music" died when axel and the boys disappeared into the night.

i thought 3 doors down showed promise, but then i learned that they sucked, too.

 

PC - i think mr. floyd and mr. aerosmith would have jizzed all over themselves if they would have had as many platforms to showcase their music in the early '70s as the "stars" of today depend upon.

 

I could never get past Rage raging against big business and corporations while recording for Sony. I always thought they willingly part of the Machine, and that pissed me off.

 

That does seem a bit hypocritical, but Tom Morello's guitar made that easier for me.

 

I hate what "alternative rock" has become today.

I have a Napster account (priceless by the way when you are trying out new bands), and trying to come across new bands to try out has been hard.

Oh, I love college rock.

Here a few possibilities.

Check out whatever band Dave Letterman has on his show. It is a great resource.

I used to look at the 91X playlist out San Diego online and build playlists off of it. It's been lacking recently.

Paul Shirley's blog on ESPN has some great band recommendations.

Bill Simmons (I know, ugh) has great taste in music IMHO.

And this board is a great resource.

Some bands that I have been impressed with in the last few years.

The National

Built to Spill

Voxtrot

Bloc Party

Spoon

Band of Horses

and of course, The Hold Steady

As for the state of rock, well college rock, I think it is right where it should be. Sure it pisses me off when a local alternative station does not play any of the above bands, but that just makes discovering them so much better.

Just the way it was when I first heard The Pixies in 1988.

 

I never got into any of the bands Morello was in. However as a solo artist under the moniker "The Nightwatchman" his album "One Man Revolution" released earlier this one of my top 4 albums of the year.

 

I think you're exactly right. The Who, too.

 

who?

 

I think it all comes down to everything being so damned specialized anymore. The days of the rock 'n' roll community agreeing on anything are over.

After the last gasps of these geezer rock reunion bands sometime in the next 10 years, there will be no one left to fill a stadium. Bands who can fill arenas will also go extinct. It's essentially what punk rock wanted in the first place ironically.

I see new groups pop up all the time who I think are going to be huge, only they never seem to get there. Take CSS out of Brazil for example. A totally brilliant pop/punk/dance group. The minute I heard "Music is my hot, hot sex" last year, I knew it would be a hit anywhere and everywhere. The best it could do, though, was to end up on an i-phone commercial.

I was turned on to a band out of Toronto last year called Kill Cheerleader. If ever there was a reincarnation of GNR this was it. The debut album was hailed in the music press and Lemmy even gave the boys a big stamp of approval. The song No Lullabies off that album is a career-launcher in my mind. BUT...I have yet to hear them on radio here. I have yet to see a video here. Tour? Nope. Major label interest was supposedly heavy too.

A third example I would point to would be Alice Smith. She's got an R&B and rock sensibility about her that escapes her peers. I discovered her when one of her songs was on Entourage. Here's another artist who's loved in the press and would do fantastic if she made it on radio or MTV...but she'll probably be just another niche artist who will only sell albums to a dedicated but small fan base.