Band trends that need to go away

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah, I loved everything up to Holy Wood but haven't really dug anything after that. Those earlier albums are still great though.

[gunslinger_burrito]

Marilyn Manson needs to go away. This is coming from someone who loved his first few albums.

And Billy Corgan. As influential as both of those artists were to me, the shit they're doing these days is shameful....

[dase]

I'm with gearmond although I gotta say it's not a gender specific thing, here anyway. I hate that cutesy K records beat happening/kimya dawson. An argument can be made for it being relevant in the early 80s but these days it just comes across as trite, cynical and annoying.

its a novelty that got overblown because Kimya Dawson or whichever "quirky" darling did it, then everyone decided to do it, learn the same four chords, and write songs about the same things and sing the same way. 99% of all girl ukulele acts follow the same exact formula to a sickening degree

I'm assuming you're basing that solely off of watching Juno?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsubHmx2Pws[/youtube]

And Calvin doesn't play the uke.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kamgf85aspQ[/youtube]

yeah it's not just playing a uke, it's the whole cutesy vibe. It's always annoyed me and seemed insincere the fifteenth time it gets rehashed by people in their 20s.

[Achtane]

Regarding noise music, I found a post I agree with...

To some of your original questions, in the states I find that there is a still a big performative aspect to noise music as shown by costumes and displays of 'violence' and 'toughness'. This tends to go along with a general lack of knowledge of the technology they are using. It makes a cool sound=end of thought. There is also a general lack of critical review of anyone's work. Unless you are patting someone on the back, everyone gets real sensitive when you have something less than praise to say. This is a real limitation to any scene. When people are unwilling to critique anything how do things change?

I wish there were more practitioners of noise that actually 'played' an instrument as opposed to setting up a system to playback or run on its own. I cringe every time I hear at a show "So... I'm working on this new set". Noise has been stuck in the same mentality for some time now and it would be great to see it move to a more gesture/instrument centered outlook. Is it any wonder that many noise acts are solo and you don't see many people playing together unless its their 'band'?

While most of this sounds negative I honestly feel that noise has potential as a very dynamic and rich music. Being tied so heavily to technology and performance art is a hurdle at this point. I would love to see more Noise Musicians as opposed to Noise Artists. More burning solos!

If I post something in the "share your noise" thread, please feel free to honestly tell me if it's nothin', if it's cool, whatever. I would really like critique in the future so I know I'm not just masturbating via synths and pedals. You're not gonna hurt my feelings.

[gunslinger_burrito]

Regarding noise music, I found a post I agree with...

To some of your original questions, in the states I find that there is a still a big performative aspect to noise music as shown by costumes and displays of 'violence' and 'toughness'. This tends to go along with a general lack of knowledge of the technology they are using. It makes a cool sound=end of thought. There is also a general lack of critical review of anyone's work. Unless you are patting someone on the back, everyone gets real sensitive when you have something less than praise to say. This is a real limitation to any scene. When people are unwilling to critique anything how do things change?

I wish there were more practitioners of noise that actually 'played' an instrument as opposed to setting up a system to playback or run on its own. I cringe every time I hear at a show "So... I'm working on this new set". Noise has been stuck in the same mentality for some time now and it would be great to see it move to a more gesture/instrument centered outlook. Is it any wonder that many noise acts are solo and you don't see many people playing together unless its their 'band'?

While most of this sounds negative I honestly feel that noise has potential as a very dynamic and rich music. Being tied so heavily to technology and performance art is a hurdle at this point. I would love to see more Noise Musicians as opposed to Noise Artists. More burning solos!

If I post something in the "share your noise" thread, please feel free to honestly tell me if it's nothin', if it's cool, whatever. I would really like critique in the future so I know I'm not just masturbating via synths and pedals. You're not gonna hurt my feelings.

YES. As someone who plays solo noise (more out of necessity than for the sake of playing solo) I myself get tired of playing the same things over and over. I'm always looking for new settings and combinations that I can use to compose, and while some of what I put out here in the internet is just me "experimenting," I do try and compose something, or use the pedals as instruments in their own right. We're lucky to have so many interesting pedals makers out there that allow this. Not to mention that noise, basically by definition, means that you can create something entirely out of scratch. I like the sound(s) of drone and tape loops, etc, but at the end of the day, it does mostly sound the same to me.

I totally agree with the performance art part. Watching someone twist knobs is not the most stimulating show....


Speaking of....another thing I am getting tired of seeing is the "80's hipster dude" with the laptop, crappy drum machines and/or stupid "DJing" rig who does whatever all that crap entails while a disco ball spins..... anyone else seen these fuckers?

[Gearmond]

im saying this after having half my social circle consist of twee indie white chicks

[dase]

I don't play solo more than once every couple months but yeah, I have a rule of never playing the same stuff twice. Always gotta be different setup and a different vibe.

[WeHuntKings]

Regarding noise music, I found a post I agree with...

To some of your original questions, in the states I find that there is a still a big performative aspect to noise music as shown by costumes and displays of 'violence' and 'toughness'. This tends to go along with a general lack of knowledge of the technology they are using. It makes a cool sound=end of thought. There is also a general lack of critical review of anyone's work. Unless you are patting someone on the back, everyone gets real sensitive when you have something less than praise to say. This is a real limitation to any scene. When people are unwilling to critique anything how do things change?

I wish there were more practitioners of noise that actually 'played' an instrument as opposed to setting up a system to playback or run on its own. I cringe every time I hear at a show "So... I'm working on this new set". Noise has been stuck in the same mentality for some time now and it would be great to see it move to a more gesture/instrument centered outlook. Is it any wonder that many noise acts are solo and you don't see many people playing together unless its their 'band'?

While most of this sounds negative I honestly feel that noise has potential as a very dynamic and rich music. Being tied so heavily to technology and performance art is a hurdle at this point. I would love to see more Noise Musicians as opposed to Noise Artists. More burning solos!

If I post something in the "share your noise" thread, please feel free to honestly tell me if it's nothin', if it's cool, whatever. I would really like critique in the future so I know I'm not just masturbating via synths and pedals. You're not gonna hurt my feelings.

YES. As someone who plays solo noise (more out of necessity than for the sake of playing solo) I myself get tired of playing the same things over and over. I'm always looking for new settings and combinations that I can use to compose, and while some of what I put out here in the internet is just me "experimenting," I do try and compose something, or use the pedals as instruments in their own right. We're lucky to have so many interesting pedals makers out there that allow this. Not to mention that noise, basically by definition, means that you can create something entirely out of scratch. I like the sound(s) of drone and tape loops, etc, but at the end of the day, it does mostly sound the same to me.

I totally agree with the performance art part. Watching someone twist knobs is not the most stimulating show....


Speaking of....another thing I am getting tired of seeing is the "80's hipster dude" with the laptop, crappy drum machines and/or stupid "DJing" rig who does whatever all that crap entails while a disco ball spins..... anyone else seen these fuckers?

Yeah, there's a guy named Cousin Dan in Atlanta that is pretty much just what you described. Disco ball, lasers ridiculous stache, laptops...it's so trite it hurts. He's got quite the following now, too.

[mathias]

Shoegaze moment at the end of their most well-known song where everyone bends down and turns up the feedback knob on their analog delays together.

I'm just tired of seeing this move. Do something different for the noise freakout at the end of your big song! Do it with feedback while someone else explodes a synth or the bass player goes some octaves down and into a huge distortion + reverb to make thunder, I dunno. Something other than "here's what all our analog delays' clock signals sound like"!

[Gearmond]

Shoegaze moment at the end of their most well-known song where everyone bends down and turns up the feedback knob on their analog delays together.

I'm just tired of seeing this move. Do something different for the noise freakout at the end of your big song! Do it with feedback while someone else explodes a synth or the bass player goes some octaves down and into a huge distortion + reverb to make thunder, I dunno. Something other than "here's what all our analog delays' clock signals sound like"!

too many bands do this in general. the "noise freakout" is no longer a freakout so much as it is a ritual for the benefit of the musician rather than the audience

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah. I hate how many bands seem to do the noise at the end of the last song thing just because they can and not because it works organically. If the song hasn't built up to the point where a huge noise jam is inevitable and awesome then don't waste all of our time being self-indulgent. It's still always great when done well and it fits though.

[GardenoftheDead]

Oh, here's one:

-Metal bands with guitarists who use amp modeling without bothering to EQ the "amp modeling sound" out of it. Guys, that stupid harsh treble and lower-mids looseness does not make you sound unique. It makes you sound like $3000 of processing power going to waste because you didn't learn how to use it.

[RR Bigman]

Sounding like shit because it's "punk as fuck" but spending 200 bucks on your combat boots and taking 3 hours to get your Mohawk up to par. This was a huge trend in my small town when I was growing up.

[mathias]

On the noise freakout: if we ever have another concert of all ILF bands, you better have a noise freakout on an appropriate song. And it BETTER be more interesting than just turning your analog delay feedback knob up.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

^damn i just started a new band where that is all we do...ALL THE TIME lol