Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

Music in 2017


GLASSJAW

Recommended Posts

11 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

anyway, i don't really care about that sort of thing - we all gravitate towards our own voices of choice, or none at all

but as for my voice: coachella's bold text sure looks lame this year. LCD Soundsystem is good and all,  but reuniting so soon after making a big deal about your FINAL SHOW EVER!!! makes me feel a bit cynical. GnR is a big fat who cares? Ice Cube and Rancid are sorta in that retirement tour category too. Can you imagine Sufjan singing his gut-wrenching songs about death in front of stoned ass Coachella? the rest is like EDM and straight up pop music

CX7GKROUMAAuSTe.jpg?wmode=transparent

There are some great artists/bands sprinkled in the fine print...but I'll admit that I have never heard of 75% of them.

But I gotta say - I wasn't big on music festivals even in my late-teens, early-twenties. It's just too much, all at once. (I don't do anything but alcohol though, so maybe that's the disconnect.) And now that I'm well into my thirties, the idea of attending a concert for any more than half-a-day seems completely unappetizing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All I can say about pitchfork is that their use of flowery language and pretentious tripe leaves a lot to be desired. It's like they are trying to write in the style of Jane Austen but instead, of having wit with observations and metaphores, they are dry and uninspired. I think it is particularly funny when they try to critize lyrics. Personally I would rather watch reviews on youtube by non-pros. They don't tend to have their noses so high in the air, and are actually informative and entertaining.

 

Only ablum I'm looking forward to is King Push by Pusha T. I really enjoyed darkest before dawn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Tsui Pen said:

(1) i don't care how many degrees you have.

won't somebody finally care?

Quote

and it's funny you call out hobbyists for $&!#ting/loving on bands, because this is exactly what p4k does still

what i meant was that a hobbyist blog doesn't have the content stream of Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. so plenty of blogs will just cover "the big ones" so to speak, or ones the reviewer feels passionate about - no middle ground. obviously Pitchfork doesn't do this, since they have a tremendous content stream with a range of scores.

Quote

it's difficult to take someone serious when they laud pitchfork so much and discredit other high quality music sites, such as the quietus and, though small it may be, the wire.

the Quietus is not my idea of a 'high quality music site' - in fact, i think it's frequently downright sh-t, just like most music websites are. for example, their review of Tame Impala's Currents is particularly awful. you probably don't need a class on aesthetics to realize how tacky this brand of criticism is:

Currents is not, I'd guess, a title simply plucked from the ether. It describes the album just so. It is a series of songs in which you immerse yourself, not to be engulfed and swept headlong this way and that, but to be borne along gently, as if gliding in a giant inner tube on bright sunlit streams fed by a deep and distant well of melancholy. It is sparkling and wistful, and it's quite lovely. That, at any rate, is how it feels, which is the first thing, always. The next thing is how it sounds, and why.

it's pretty difficult to take someone's personal experience as a statement of authoritative truth that is valid enough for presumably ignorant readers or listeners. sorry, what does it sound like to feel like i'm being swept headlong in an inner tube on a bright sunlit stream fed by a deep and distant well of melancholy, again?

the guy doubles down on his weird metaphor, mixing it with some psychedelic trip (maaan), you know, to explain how it sounds and why:

In 'The Moment' you find yourself listening to a Tears For Fears record, and 'Yes I'm Changing' might briefly be The Cars. Then the banks of the stream widen, the vista branches outward, and again you're floating and basking in that uncanny place you simultaneously know and don't know. The dream that's not a dream, but certainly isn't the ordinary world either.

this just goes to show that being a full time writer, to me, means jack sh-t when the result is uninformative cheese like that. to think this guy works at The Guardian now is difficult to register. it makes Ian Cohen's review over at Pitchfork read like a Pulitzer nominee

more recently, i was reading through their best of the year list a few weeks back and had a chuckle. how can someone not pause over the fact that a young, white, British writer like Joseph Burnett says that Mantana Roberts has produced an album that is "more important and relevant" than "probably" anything else anyone will ever hear in light of contemporary American racial tension? i positively hate the word 'pretentious' - but there's no other word for a statement like that.

i don't care if someone takes ME seriously, but if they take THAT seriously, then it's really just different strokes.

...meanwhile, as Burnett writes junk like to satisfy anti-pop contrarians, Quietus Editor in Chief John Doran is off sucking Noel Gallagher's nuts on YouTube for VICE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, GLASSJAW said:

more recently, i was reading through their best of the year list a few weeks back and had a chuckle. how can someone not pause over the fact that a young, white, British writer like Joseph Burnett says that Mantana Roberts has produced an album that is "more important and relevant" than "probably" anything else anyone will ever hear in light of contemporary American racial tension? i positively hate the word 'pretentious' - but there's no other word for a statement like that.

i don't care if someone takes ME seriously, but if they take THAT seriously, then it's really just different strokes.

...meanwhile, as Burnett writes junk like to satisfy anti-pop contrarians, Quietus Editor in Chief John Doran is off sucking Noel Gallagher's nuts on YouTube for VICE.

like i mentioned above, p4k's egregious abuses come in the form of bad fact-checking.

in terms of their prose, i understand it's subjective. so, sure, you don't like david's prose and prefer pitchfork's general pretentiousness. but why would a class on aesthetics inform anyone on how to write anything about music or pop culture? this is the second time you reference academia, which really is perplexing because music and pop culture were not born in a school. for your academic tastes, something seems tacky. alright, sure. but what does that really mean? it's an empty descriptor meaning "i don't like this". i find referring to what other bands the music sounds like to be extremely effective. way more than p4k's style of using elusive language. david actually veers far too close to p4k-style of pretentiousness but you'll notice reigns it in a bit by grounding his experience by referring to bands most have already heard. this clarifies the song's/album's sound better than using flowery/esoteric language p4k is known for.

of course you are entitled to your subjective opinion, but my beef is that you make it a point to laud p4k and discredit all arts/culture/music sites, which just sounds like fanboyism. how can you make such a broad statement and not fear of looking kind of silly?

i don't understand why you think joseph's words are so authoritative. i actually feel p4k sounds way more authoritative because many of its reviewers give no real reason for their demands. joseph's words come at the end of his review and you can feel he was pretty heavily affected by river run thee. it would be poor style to always write "in my opinion" or "from my experience" or "i don't mean to generalize but...". it feels a lot more personal than the aloof prose from p4k, but again, it's my preference.

i read some of the quietus' pieces because some of the reviewers have a more personal touch and there is no strong editorial board controlling if the quietus should write favourably or not about an album.

your last thoughts on john doran and joseph just sound really hateful and baseless. it may be kind of bad, but john wrote a book last year on music as therapy and its ability to heal. p4k's ryan schreiber sold his company to conde nast and just stepped away from getting small bands any exposure, like it used to do, straying away from its original idea even though he says they won't. there are consequences that are out of his control now that he doesn't own p4k.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Tsui Pen said:

like i mentioned above, p4k's egregious abuses come in the form of bad fact-checking.

in terms of their prose, i understand it's subjective. so, sure, you don't like david's prose and prefer pitchfork's general pretentiousness. but why would a class on aesthetics inform anyone on how to write anything about music or pop culture? this is the second time you reference academia, which really is perplexing because music and pop culture were not born in a school. for your academic tastes, something seems tacky. alright, sure. but what does that really mean? it's an empty descriptor meaning "i don't like this".

i'm not discussing music and pop culture, i'm discussing criticism. and yes, criticism was born in school. and yes, it was an academic (or at least "serious") pursuit until recently. i'm not saying everyone has to be an academic (hello, i read Pitchfork). i said it DOESN'T take a class on aesthetics to realize why this guy sucks, it just takes experience and exposure to serious, challenging writers - the type you generally can't find in the blog circuit where hype and superlatives are king.

of course it's an empty descriptor. everything is, what do i care? either read what i have to say and respond, or don't. this is getting mighty exhausting, though
 

Quote

 

of course you are entitled to your subjective opinion, but my beef is that you make it a point to laud p4k and discredit all arts/culture/music sites, which just sounds like fanboyism. how can you make such a broad statement and not fear of looking kind of silly?

 

i don't care if anyone here thinks i look silly. but i didn't laud Pitchfork, really - i said they have their sh*t together from a business perspective in comparison to cokemachineglow (was the example i used). i qualified why i think it's a better website: great content stream, relatively consistent quality control and editorial voices. i also said there is not a single website of this style that i think is totally reliable, though - that includes Pitchfork

 

Quote

 

i don't understand why you think joseph's words are so authoritative. i actually feel p4k sounds way more authoritative because many of its reviewers give no real reason for their demands. joseph's words come at the end of his review and you can feel he was pretty heavily affected by river run thee.

 

i'm not saying he was wrong for liking it. i didn't read the review, i only read the little tidbit at the year end list where it said it's the most important album someone can hear in relation to racism in America. i said it's bizarre, to me, that he would declare the massive "importance" of an album to a conflict that he is not a part of. the writer's dramatic disconnect from the conflict in america is underscored by the fact that the album was not at all important to the tensions in America, because nobody was talking about it. maybe a few people here and there, yes, but there was no cultural dialogue about it.

Meanwhile, the album that people in America were ACTUALLY listening to and celebrating at a freakish, unbelievable level was Kendrick Lamar's. but the Quietus placed that at #77. to me, this giant discrepancy just reads like the Quietus taking an opportunity to insert it's own super kooky obscure-music-loving voice on a political problem-- without realizing the subtle irony of obscurity-obsessed publication trying to mark its heroes as "culturally important"

 

Quote

your last thoughts on john doran and joseph just sound really hateful and baseless. it may be kind of bad, but john wrote a book last year on music as therapy and its ability to heal. p4k's ryan schreiber sold his company to conde nast and just stepped away from getting small bands any exposure, like it used to do, straying away from its original idea even though he says they won't. there are consequences that are out of his control now that he doesn't own p4k

my last comments on this conversation: I have no reason to 'hate' joseph - i have no idea who he is, and i doubt i ever will read a word he writes again. see above for more, but if i experienced some trauma and some Russian blogger said "hey, listen to this obscure album about Canada, it's the most important thing you will ever hear about your trauma" - I'd probably kick him in the nuts.

i don't hate John Doran either - if you wanna see real Doran hate, read the comments on his interviews on youtube where he says things like "the Highflying Birds are better than Oasis' Morning Glory" and other kooky, controversial things. I just find it funny how he's used The Quietus to get himself some more big time gigs interviewing pop musicians - guess we all gotta make money somehow, huh?

I also don't hate Ryan Schreiber. I don't know the first thing about him except a lot of second hand information and his terrible early reviews on Pitchfork. I also don't know the details of the deal with Conde Nast and things like creative control or direction.

 

this conversation is too exhausting for me, cya

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's no release date for it yet as far as I know, but I'm really hyped about Mark Tremonti's upcoming album Dust. Should be released fairly early in the year, and if it's anything like Cauterize was it's going to kick some serious ass.

Primal Fear's offering of Rulebreaker ought to be interesting too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/29/2015 at 1:40 PM, GLASSJAW said:

Yearly CDC tradition celebrated by, like, 3 people now. 2015 had a lot of great stuff released. 2016, I expect, will be even better. New albums confirmed or expected from:

Drake, Kanye West, The Shins, David Bowie, Radiohead, MF DOOM, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, The Shins, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Metallica (most likely), Jesus and Mary Chain, Animal Collective, MIA, Tool (lol, maybe). Frightened Rabbit, Sigur Ros, PJ Harvey, Chance the Rapper, The Strokes, The xx (maybe), Lorde, M83, Run The Jewels (RTJ3, probably), Haim, Frank Ocean, Modest Mouse (maybe), Bon Iver (maybe), Elton John, Bloc Party, Megadeth, Wolfmother, Primal Scream

Viet Cong, Alvvays, Wild Nothing, Diiv, Afgan Wigs, Tim Hecker, Ty Segall, The Wrens (lol, maybe) too.

I'm frothing for MF DOOM, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, Chance the Rapper, M83, Run The Jewels, Modest Mouse, Wild Nothing, Ty Segall.

Drake, Kanye, The Shins, Grizzly Bear, Smashing Pumpkins, Animal Collective, Strokes, The xx, Bloc Party, Wolfmother, Diiv will all garner a listen but can't say I'm as excited for them.

I'm still waiting for a year like 2012 to come along again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, I'm Your Huckleberry said:

I'm frothing for MF DOOM, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, Chance the Rapper, M83, Run The Jewels, Modest Mouse, Wild Nothing, Ty Segall.

Drake, Kanye, The Shins, Grizzly Bear, Smashing Pumpkins, Animal Collective, Strokes, The xx, Bloc Party, Wolfmother, Diiv will all garner a listen but can't say I'm as excited for them.

I'm still waiting for a year like 2012 to come along again.

new DIIV already leaked if you're curious. spoiler alert: the new DIIV sounds like the old DIIV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, DoughtysCheck said:

I have mixed feelings about this, on the one hand I really really enjoyed the tracks, on the other hand many are saying this is a return to his earlier college dropout days.  While I enjoy his early work, part of me wants to see the constantly evolving, envelope-pushing Kanye of his last few albums, all of which sound completely different from each other.  I know a lot of purist types want the more old school sound from him but I just want another Yeezus haha.

 

Also from the world of big name hip hop artists, K Lamar's Untitled 2 track is ridiculously good and I desperately want to see it released as a studio version. Kind of interesting how he has 2 distinct on stage personas, for the music festivals and theatres he has a traditional high energy stage presence, performing more songs from GKMC, and for the TV performances, he performs more from TPAB, and sort of spazzes and twitches about in a more theatrical manner.  Clearly the TV performances lend themselves more to a "music video" type approach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, etsen3 said:

I have mixed feelings about this, on the one hand I really really enjoyed the tracks, on the other hand many are saying this is a return to his earlier college dropout days.  While I enjoy his early work, part of me wants to see the constantly evolving, envelope-pushing Kanye of his last few albums, all of which sound completely different from each other.  I know a lot of purist types want the more old school sound from him but I just want another Yeezus haha.

 

i agree 95% - except i'll just say that i don't enjoy a big chunk of his early work. some of it just sounds sorta generic in hindsight. i was a bit nervous when i saw some interviews with him like a year or two ago, when he was basically admitting defeat. as if he was wrong with Yeezus, or wrong with his ideas - i, personally, think he was right. it just doesnt have mainstream appeal. the people who interview Kanye aren't on his level, they don't even seem to "get" Yeezus, and even when he talks to them about it it just goes over their heads (like the Power 105 interviews)

that said... Real Friends is f-cking amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

i agree 95% - except i'll just say that i don't enjoy a big chunk of his early work. some of it just sounds sorta generic in hindsight. i was a bit nervous when i saw some interviews with him like a year or two ago, when he was basically admitting defeat. as if he was wrong with Yeezus, or wrong with his ideas - i, personally, think he was right. it just doesnt have mainstream appeal. the people who interview Kanye aren't on his level, they don't even seem to "get" Yeezus, and even when he talks to them about it it just goes over their heads (like the Power 105 interviews)

that said... Real Friends is f-cking amazing.

I could go on for days about how Kanye is misunderstood by much of the general public, but it's unfortunate that his celebrity status means that so many have a surface knowledge of him without getting into his character and music in depth.  To most he's just another cocky black guy (talented or not) with a wife that has a big butt.  It's crystal clear that many don't even stop to consider that there might be a thought process to anything he does.  His attempts to motivate others and challenge social barriers are seen as the rantings of a delusional egomaniac, or at best he's "talented but eccentric".  Like, as a basic example when he says " I'm running for president" there's a lot more to it than Kanye just waking up and deciding he feels like running for President, and yet this escaped so many people.  I don't know if he's actually serious about running or not, but his message was serious.  Maybe at this point I'm just being a stan but it was almost a generational moment to me, it took on a very inspirational meaning when taken in context with the rest of his speech.

The same concept applies to Yeezus, to the general public (who is accustomed to his hits) the album is just a bunch of loud harsh noise which is obviously off the mark.  I'm probably preaching to choir here but I've been looking forward to Swish mostly to see what new sounds and themes Kanye can come up with, and how these will impact the musical landscape.  If it's a throwback to older material I'll live with it since it'll still most likely be highly listenable, but I will also be more than a little underwelmed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Rihanna 'covered' Tame Impala's "New Person, Same Old Mistakes" on her new album.

Seems all she did was change the melody one or two semi-tones higher and perform karaoke.

I would provide a video link but everything seems to be getting copyright flagged on YT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pixies are back in the studio.

wasn't big on the new Savages album, or Ty Segall

i like the new DIIV, though.

a bit disappointed with the new Wild Nothing album too, after just 2 or 3 listens. i loved the singles, but the album as a whole didn't hit me all that hard

really psyched for SWISHWAVES and that new Star Wars album lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

Pixies are back in the studio.

wasn't big on the new Savages album, or Ty Segall

i like the new DIIV, though.

a bit disappointed with the new Wild Nothing album too, after just 2 or 3 listens. i loved the singles, but the album as a whole didn't hit me all that hard

really psyched for SWISHWAVES and that new Star Wars album lol

Alf likes Jacob Hogart, and his band - Hedley.  Alf does not mind Justin Bieber's new songs either.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...