[Rangers34]

There was a while when I started thinking the same way... but then I realized that I simply wasn't being fair. A lot of what I was doing was comparing the best album that had come out in the last week to the very best albums that had come out during entire decades in the past. When I stepped back a bit I realized that the cream from whatever year I was in really did match up to the years past, I was simply expecting every hot new release to match up to what were the gems of an entire decade's musical production. This may not be the case with you (and I'm a bit inebriated right now, so it may not make any sense at all one way or the other), but that's what happened to me... there's still a few albums every year that are simply too good to be true, same as it's always been.

 

[Cherokee Mist]

markl,
I too have been listening to indie music for 20+ years and have owned over 10k cd's in my lifetime. I would say that the quality of all music in general has declined to some degree. Most major labels use the, "let's throw a hundred bands against the wall and see which ones stick", mentality. Then they sign several other bands just like them and inundate us with the same crap until it loses popularity. It's all about the money now, not the quality. I started revolting against this ideology in GreatWhiteLionSnake era of the early eighties. Now it takes much more effort to find good quality music because you can't rely on the radio or tv to provide any viable choices. I do much research myself. Once a month I will go to the bookstore and read the reviews of all of the music magazines, including the instrument specific rags, and take notes. I then cross reference potential cd's on the internet and most time bands have sound samples. This sounds like a lot of work, but it has worked for me for quite a long time now.

Regards

 

[Zazersmel]

God, people like you really make me angry. How about you try this: listen to the music you like REGARDLESS of "genre". Then stop complaining. But first, just shut up.

btw, classic rock isn't that great.

 

[Orpheus]

so everyone that says something you don't like should shut-up?

(i would think that people telling others to shut-up should shut their own mouths first....... but wait, then you can't tell others to shut-up if your mouth is closed. heh he.... but then i think everything will work out just fine.

)

 

[markl]

Quote:

Ah, self contradiction. "Labels don't matter, unless it's an indie label" is basically what I got out of that.

Apparently, you can't read:
Quote:

OK, I was raised on "Indie Rock", and/or "Punk Rock" and/or "Grunge rock", and/or "College rock", and/or "Alternative Rock"-- it goes by a myriad of names and encompasses a myriad of artists/styles on a myriad of labels, some major, some truly independent.

I'm talking about "indie-rock" as a *style* not based on what label it's on....

Quote:

There was a while when I started thinking the same way... but then I realized that I simply wasn't being fair. A lot of what I was doing was comparing the best album that had come out in the last week to the very best albums that had come out during entire decades in the past. When I stepped back a bit I realized that the cream from whatever year I was in really did match up to the years past, I was simply expecting every hot new release to match up to what were the gems of an entire decade's musical production. This may not be the case with you

I understand what you are saying, but I'm saying that basically, I'm getting off the "indie-rock" treadmill.. I'm no longer jumping on this or that next big thing, I'm waiting til they actually prove themselves to be the true heirs and equals to the greats of the past... It's OK, there's so much music to explore, there's just no need to be hopping on everything new. If it's truly great, it will still be there in 3-5 years time.

Quote:

Now it takes much more effort to find good quality music because you can't rely on the radio or tv to provide any viable choices. I do much research myself. Once a month I will go to the bookstore and read the reviews of all of the music magazines, including the instrument specific rags, and take notes.

Cherokee Mist, I do the exact same thing! Plus I'm subscribed as always to at least 3-4 mags, but I still make the rounds of the bookstores and pour over the reviews. But now, I'm looking more at the sections that cover remasters and re-releases of older material, rather than the brand-new stuff...

Quote:

God, people like you really make me angry. How about you try this: listen to the music you like REGARDLESS of "genre". Then stop complaining. But first, just shut up.

LOL, welcome to Head-Fi. Get your morning cup of coffee and chill, it's be alright, I promise.

And as for your comments on so-called "classic rock" I predict you are a teen-ager. Whether you like it or not, the music you listen to today will one day be "oldies". It happens to everyone... Will you automatically reject all the CDs in your collection after 5 years... 10 years.... What is the sell-by date of your music? And if it does have a sell-by date, can it really be that good? Are you just that fickle? IMO, the true definition of "good music" is the stuff that transcends it's time and lives on. The stuff you can listen to 20 years hence, and it still sounds relevant and still speaks to people. Will much of what constitutes "indie-rock" today still be listenable in 20 years time? We'll see...

 

[Ebonyks]

I haven't read through this whole thread (and really don't feel the need to, i'm sure this has been said many times), but markl, your decision to disqualify an entire genre of music because you're not a fan of one highly-regarded album is no less than moronic. There are MANY albums that the indie scene likes that i think are horrible (The entire pavement catalog, for example), but that doesn't mean i make sweeping generalizations about the scene as a whole.

 

[markl]

You don't have to read the whole thread, just the first post. Maybe you didn't bother to even do that... Maybe you should make it a policy to read everything before you resort to cheap, idiotic insults. It only makes you look like a d*ck flying off the handle, but that's pretty much par for the course with you, Ebonyks...

 

[Tuberoller]

are you guys trying to get this thread closed?

Kiss and make up and stay on topic. Warnings will be issued behind this one if the thread is closed due to personal insults and we all know the next step after a warning.

 

[Ebonyks]

Markl, i'm not going to join you in your name-calling. We're both mature adults and above that.

You've made what is at best, a hasty generalzation, based on perhaps 10 albums. Everyone in this thread pretty much agrees that a vast majority of indie music is bad, but it's about searching for the diamonds in the rough, and really treasuring them. You clearly don't have the patience for this, and would rather just attack the entire genre. That's your decision, but i'm certaintly not going to allow you to justify what is an entirely inapproperate personal attack.

 

[markl]

So, calling me "moronic" is A-OK? You are the one who made this personal. Whatever. Rock on!!!

Mark

 

[Tuberoller]

that's it guys. No more "parting shots". The next off topic post closes the thread and the offender is warned.

 

[Ebonyks]

Markl, if you could answer this question without flaming of any sort, i'm intrested:

What exactly are you trying to get at here? You've made your less-than-love relationship with the current independant music scene more than clear on several occasions, and while we certaintly all find disapointing albums in *any* music scene, how is the indie scene any different? The vast majority of replies in this thread have either been something to the extent of "Well, that's the nature of the scene, especially one as poorly regulated as the indie scene", or "Your ears are just tuned to a more professional sound", and i don't quite understand where you're taking this idea.

 

[markl]

Ebonyks, I don't know how to make it any more clear than I already have, I've said what I wanted to say. It's a comment on the state of modern "indie-rock" in all its guises. Over the last few years, I have become less and less enchanted with the genre, my feeling is that quality level of this stuff is declining. I don't see lots of great new bands emerging (of course there are great new bands, there always will be; I'm saying I don't see them coming out at the same rate as in the past, that's all). But this hasn't stopped the press from hyping this or that crummy new band as if it was the next Who or Rolling Stones (*cough* The Strokes *cough*). Given my experience level (I've seen virtually every great band of the last 20 years live) and general knowledge of this stuff (from reading all the rags religiously), I feel, is such that I am enough of an "authority" on it, that I can say with some certainty that I have concluded that today's bands *in general* don't measure up with those of the past. My experience is that the hit-to-miss ratio is growing at an alarming rate. I feel I have enough perspective to make this claim. Whether or not this is true is a worthy subject of debate and a topic of this thread, but does not warrant personal attacks such as that launched by you.

It's just a discussion, another "fun" topic on music to discuss, nothing more. It doesn't have to descend into personal attacks.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl Over the last few years, I have become less and less enchanted with the genre, my feeling is that quality level of this stuff is declining.

Just a point of curiosity on my part, but do you think the bands are declining or is it that you yourself have become a bit more astute, knowledgeable and sophisticated leading to bands that might have impressed you 15 years ago now leaving you cold?

 

[markl]

Quote:

Just a point of curiosity on my part, but do you think the bands are declining or is it that you yourself have become a bit more astute, knowledgeable and sophisticated leading to bands that might have impressed you 15 years ago now leaving you cold?

Hi gpalmer. I can't deny that I am not the same person I was 15 years ago. My life and interests have changed. But one thing that has not waned is my love of rock music, I feel this is a life-long passion for me I'll be exploring til my death in 16-channel surround 64-bit remasters. It's part and parcel of who I am. I am still open to new music, and music that is "new" to me. I've been having great luck lately mining older more "classic rock" artists I'd never given the time of day before. They are "new" to me, as new as any really "new" band out there. I am finding lately that I am having much better luck exploring older "classic" artists/albums than I am the most recent crop of rock initiates.

Sure that's not "fair" comparing older, established and clearly masterful acts to newer artists hyped to gills as the "next big thing". But I've been doing this a long time. No amount of buzz can salvage a lot of this newer indie rock, IMO. It does not measure up in the main. For me.

Just one music lovers observation...