of course Billy Bragg and The Pogues. they go without saying. which is why i didn't mention them
snipelfritz wrote:Gearmond wrote:snipelfritz wrote:Simplicity is for simpletons.
thats probably the most inaccurate thing i've ever heard on ILF, yo.
I'll stand by it until the day I die.
EDIT: May I note there is a difference between simplicity and subtlety. There's no point in being subtle if you don't give your listeners something to compare it too.
the problem with this position is:
1.) dudes like Defiance, Ohio often have a lot going on in the music, a lot of classical influences contrasting dynamics etc. lots of folk-punk has buttloads of strings and horns so its not even that simple all the time
2.) you're discounting basically any solo performer on any genre, brilliant singer-songwriters like Dylan and The Mountain Goats (unless you're going to backpeddle on them having lyrical complexity), minimalist composers, etc. unless you twist the usage of complexity (technical/musically intricate line) to inevitably contradict itself later on (see below)
3.) there is plenty of complex
sounding music thats actually really simple, like african drumming or any dude layering loops of pentatonic noodling. example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EPn_F61hZA and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d53k6o3MZ_I4.) going back to that, simplicity can/almost always becomes a relative term. If i only listen to Zappa, gamelan, xenakis, the claudia quintet, etc. stuff like Miles Davis sounds relatively simple. but if i listen to say The Mountain Goats, Paul Baribeau, etc. etc. it sounds complex.
5.) maximalism often is superfluous, overindulgent, and/or lost on the listener. case in point recent Mars Volta work
6.) if subtlety is permissible, you have to acknowledge that subtlety often goes hand in hand with simplicity. case in point Miles Davis' Kind of Blue
7.) not everything is best suited to a maximalist approach. example: The Mountain Goats - Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton. if this was given a full orchestral treatment with a choir singing in massive harmonies, it would sound terribly overworked, overblown, and a waste of effort compared to the rawness and realness of the original.
8.) with the above in mind, we illustrate that complexity does not relate to quality in any way.
9.) it plateaus your musical choices if what you listen to must reach a certain level of complexity (or more likely "stuff going on") it probably statistically limits you from hearing the majority of music made, thus closing yourself off from stuff you might enjoy
10.) quality always trumps quantity.
can we be done getting off topic now?
