The Death of Rock Music

[Zeuhlmate]

You're not doing it right.

Foster's, maybe. Or, like I did. Good ol' US domestic. PBR, or somethin'.

In Norway it's Ringnes, and its so expensive, and the alcohol % is so low that you will never be drunk enough

[Frankh]

In Norway it's Ringnes, and its so expensive, and the alcohol % is so low that you will never be drunk enough

Ah, that explains it.

Now that I consider the entire incident (for incident it was!), maybe it was the opiated Thai stick...

(I sound like Lloyd Bridges in Airplane...)

[Steve F.]

All you need to know about ANY Skullhead posting ever in five words he said himself

I like the old days.....

Yes, Skully, we know you do!

[Skullhead]

You've just described most rock bands, indie or not. The great ones, with first-rate songs and first-rate players, were always a small minority. Even in prog, where most bands were trying to be original (as opposed to just sounding like every other rock band they liked, or trying to live up to every "authentic" roots-music genre they loved), the genuinely original and genuinely great ones were rare.

I won't hold my breath, but I would love to see a great contemporary rock or prog rock band. I don't see anything on the horizon. There are great chops bands with poor songwriting skills. Good songs without good execution. A lot of over processed nonsense. I just don't see the motivation for a young band to actually do it. There is no audience for them. Rock is basically dead. No money. No scene. A young band is lucky to have someone in their camp that can learn all the latest software updates for their digital work station and be able to keep up with all the new versions etc. Just managing social media pages is too taxing for most yet alone a musician who wants to practice all day, play, record, write, tour.

[Skullhead]

All you need to know about ANY Skullhead posting ever in five words he said himself



Yes, Skully, we know you do!

This one is for you Steve. Happy New Year!

[Frankh]

^ That the one with the FULL Ballet For A Girl In Buchannon?

I dearly love that.

[Steve F.]

This one is for you Steve. Happy New Year!

Never was and still am not a Chicago fan, but happy new year!

[Skullhead]

Happy New Year from VDGG!

[Buddhabreath]

[/video]

Happy New Year from VDGG!

Shouldn't a done that - makes Chicago look like a bunch of shallow twats in comparison, although they had some great stuff early on like "A Song for Richard and His Friends"...

[bigbassdrum]

"There's no end to my life,
No beginning to my death:
Death is life."

[wideopenears]

I won't hold my breath, but I would love to see a great contemporary rock or prog rock band. I don't see anything on the horizon. There are great chops bands with poor songwriting skills. Good songs without good execution. A lot of over processed nonsense. I just don't see the motivation for a young band to actually do it. There is no audience for them. Rock is basically dead. No money. No scene. A young band is lucky to have someone in their camp that can learn all the latest software updates for their digital work station and be able to keep up with all the new versions etc. Just managing social media pages is too taxing for most yet alone a musician who wants to practice all day, play, record, write, tour.

LOL.

I was at a local bar a few weeks back and saw Moetar. Great songs, great musicians, high energy, and a great crowd of lovely folks hanging out. They won't play arenas, nor sell a gazillion CD's. But those days are gone for rock and roll. It's not the dominant musical style. Doesn't bother me at all; I've always appreciated the more intimate, genuine article over the spectacle. Though there's a place for the spectacle.

There is great music being made, and being performed, and recorded. There's a whole lot of "product" out there too, more than ever before IMO, so it takes some active participation on the part of you, the music lover, to find the stuff that floats your boat. But it's definitely out there.

[Baribrotzer]

I was at a local bar a few weeks back and saw Moetar. Great songs, great musicians, high energy, and a great crowd of lovely folks hanging out.....
.....it takes some active participation on the part of you, the music lover, to find the stuff that floats your boat. But it's definitely out there.

And let's not forget Moetar's nieces and nephews, so to speak, from the East Coast: Bent Knee. Both are fantastic bands, Bent Knee tour regularly, and they're both absolutely worth your time. And as many have said, the music is out there, you just have to put in the energy to look for it. It doesn't even take all that much energy, with the resources of the Web at your disposal.

[Skullhead]

And let's not forget Moetar's nieces and nephews, so to speak, from the East Coast: Bent Knee. Both are fantastic bands, Bent Knee tour regularly, and they're both absolutely worth your time. And as many have said, the music is out there, you just have to put in the energy to look for it. It doesn't even take all that much energy, with the resources of the Web at your disposal.

Pretty much makes my point. Rock is Dead. If the two best rock bands in the USA are playing bars, that's a sad state of affairs. They should be headlining Cochella, It's over. Cochella is the biggest music festival now and this year for the first time since it's inception, they do not have a rock band headlining any of the three days.

[Lebofsky]

Thanks for the MoeTar shoutout!

Stadium gigs? Sound like crap. Feel like crap. Absolute garbage lifestyle. Only for megalomaniacs. NO THANKS!

Edit: I should add the best gigs are for 500-1500 audience size, depending on the room. Though I personally tend to mostly enjoy the 200-300 person gigs.

- Matt

[Mythos]

More like death of this thread...

[Jay.Dee]

http://uproxx.com/music/rock-music-dead-2017/4/

[Baribrotzer]

http://uproxx.com/music/rock-music-dead-2017/4/

Worth reading.

He writes from the viewpoint of a critic/journalist, and mostly discusses the issue in terms of modern-day critical consensus. Which is not inappropriate, since "rock is dead" is no more than a critical conclusion that may or may not accurately describe today's reality of music. But he does make some interesting points, including, "the music industry has reverted — as it always does — to a pop-centric focus in response to prolonged economic hardship." And, "opting to making art outside of the industrial-celebrity complex seems to be regarded more often than not with suspicion by the music press."

Although he doesn't bring up the forces that have pushed journalistic coverage toward only the most popular artists: Many papers and magazines are now driven entirely by bottom-line concerns, and have become controlled by their advertising and accounting departments. Who realize that giving any space to, say, The National or Bent Knee means not giving space to Kanye West, in consequence of which the paper will be less interesting to the average reader, will not sell as well, and will not make as big a profit from sales or from attracting advertising dollars. There is also the issue that because they sell more, stadium acts can therefore be measured as objectively superior to those who play theaters or clubs or basements, and thus more deserving of attention and praise.

[Jerjo]

That reminds me, I've got to get the latest National album. I finally got the War on Drugs latest and it's a gem.

A couple weeks ago we were driving around our small town looking at holiday lights. I had our NPR station on (the mainstream stations here play either country, dance pop shit, or Jesus) and it was a jazz program done by a guy who lives here in ND. He was doing a chronological thing, working through the sixties, and whining that a lot of the music he was playing should have been much more popular but rock was just such a leviathan that jazz got pushed off the charts. I don't think jazz ever got popular enough to be considered an equal to popular music. Before the British Invasion, it was pretty much the folk wave and surf music, and before that it was Elvis, Chuck Berry, doo-wop, etc. But anyway it is true that rock 'n roll was the dominant form for baby boomers (although plenty of them moved on to exploring blues and jazz - hell, the best audience for a touring jazz act was to hit a campus - look at what Brubeck did). But we (rock and the baby boomers) had a helluva run.

In a way, rock and indie and Americana being out on the edges instead of dominating serves the rebel nature of the music. Let entertainment rags and TV go on about Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood. I'm a snob and I like that the lowest common denominator is not my favorite music.

[Splicer]

Although I do like some new forms of various genres, I tend to enjoy what fits into the categories my ear recognizes as music that is enjoyable. Do I not want to be challenged? I accept a challenge within certain degrees of separation from what I like; beyond that it becomes an unpleasant job. It's the same with art. I like modern art. I like abstract art. I like some art installations. I draw the line at a video loop of someone punching numbers into a calculator while reciting the keystrokes (saw this yesterday at the Met-Breuer in NYC). It might be art for some, but for me it's what they play in Russian prisons to get people to confess.

Music is my enjoyment and connects with my emotions. If it causes anxiety, I'm not listening to it.

[wideopenears]

However, the frankly tiresome conversation about whether rock is, in fact, deceased isn’t all that concerned with artistic evolution, or with cultural shifts that have occurred in the rock underground. Instead, reports of rock’s death stem from a preoccupation with commerciality and celebrity as the defining metrics for which musical artists are considered worthy or “relevant” in 2017.

From that very good op ed piece.
I am in agreement.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Konstantinos, I think it's about time you came forward and bit to the bitter apple.

Surely recent developments certify your faults. Rock music is incredibly vital, expressive and energetic. It's all over the place, along with the knowledge of its history. Especially among younger folks, who know a whole lot of it and team to its severe importance. Happenings soar to the floor and more. Rock&Roll rules, simply said. Enormous renown and breathtakingly communicated throughout the girth of generations yonder.

Jeff Beck's passing gobbles some bubbles seemingly for reminiscence alone - not because certain Sirs seem to recall him. Here in Norway, he was the "dude who was replaced by the guitar guy in Leg Zepuline while in the Birds". You know, those who gave us "Mister Morocco Man" and "Burn Burn" and "Eightball Height" by Mile David.

But tictock music will for sure endure and produce even new manure.

[Rarebird]

Konstantinos, I think it's about time you came forward and bit to the bitter apple.

Surely recent developments certify your faults. Rock music is incredibly vital, expressive and energetic. It's all over the place, along with the knowledge of its history. Especially among younger folks, who know a whole lot of it and team to its severe importance. Happenings soar to the floor and more. Rock&Roll rules, simply said. Enormous renown and breathtakingly communicated throughout the girth of generations yonder.

Jeff Beck's passing gobbles some bubbles seemingly for reminiscence alone - not because certain Sirs seem to recall him. Here in Norway, he was the "dude who was replaced by the guitar guy in Leg Zepuline while in the Birds". You know, those who gave us "Mister Morocco Man" and "Burn Burn" and "Eightball Height" by Mile David.

But tictock music will for sure endure and produce even new manure.

Manure has always been produced and will always be produced.

If you just look at old hitlists and not just the stuff of it that is still popular, I'm pretty sure you find manure as well. And some stuff I tended to look down upon when I was young, seems still to be more or less popular and some even might give me some warm feelings.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Manure has always been produced and will always be produced.

If you just look at old hitlists and not just the stuff of it that is still popular, I'm pretty sure you find manure as well.

Yep, but that's not the point. The point is that there isn't even an -ideal- of "greatness" allowed anymore, seeing as it's apparently an elitist stance and notion to subdue others. Here in Norway we had the most creative scene of popular musicmaking in the whole world, but now post-covid there's practically nothing left of it except for reminiscence. It's practically all gone.

And in its place is incessantly promoted a rap-hop duo named Karpe whose appeal lessons on how "The West" is bad and that it somehow has to do with a given narrative.

The entire cosmogony of rock music as assessment of cultural latitude is simply missing from message, and there's no way whatsoever that this shit tends to merely "blend". History as academic discipline used to be an overall priority in Northern educational systems; nowadays it's as if folks rather wouldn't want to know about the past at all except for when it affirms their own nails. How the hell did it even get to this? In which it isn't truly "kosher" to be taken by admissions on the concept of truth?

Rock culture/music was literally all-defining of two to three generations of westerners - then where on Earth has its importance gone? Where's the discourse? There's practically not a trace left of it except for random notes or references alluding to some "past" best begone/forgotten. How come?

[Zappathustra]

Hi Richard! Rock is stinking dead, didn't you hear? It died because we stopped needing it. How does your "Dionysian element" fare in post Covid wilderness? More on the subject from my good old cousin Zarathustra and his Last Man. The last man is here to stay!

Five years later, I don't think there are any doubts on the subject. Not for me at least.

[Rarebird]

Yep, but that's not the point. The point is that there isn't even an -ideal- of "greatness" allowed anymore, seeing as it's apparently an elitist stance and notion to subdue others. Here in Norway we had the most creative scene of popular musicmaking in the whole world, but now post-covid there's practically nothing left of it except for reminiscence. It's practically all gone.

And in its place is incessantly promoted a rap-hop duo named Karpe whose appeal lessons on how "The West" is bad and that it somehow has to do with a given narrative.

The entire cosmogony of rock music as assessment of cultural latitude is simply missing from message, and there's no way whatsoever that this shit tends to merely "blend". History as academic discipline used to be an overall priority in Northern educational systems; nowadays it's as if folks rather wouldn't want to know about the past at all except for when it affirms their own nails. How the hell did it even get to this? In which it isn't truly "kosher" to be taken by admissions on the concept of truth?

Rock culture/music was literally all-defining of two to three generations of westerners - then where on Earth has its importance gone? Where's the discourse? There's practically not a trace left of it except for random notes or references alluding to some "past" best begone/forgotten. How come?

Well, perhaps because there are other things more important to people, like computergames. And well because other things are cheaper to make, because less people involved and more is sold. And with history, well it seems to go the same way as truth. There is no one history, or one truth. Of course things depends. Every country's history has it's black pages, which doesn't mean nothing is true anymore.

I often have the impression to me computers and music are a bit double-edged. On one hand, computers make it possible for me to create the music, I wouldn't be able to create without, unless it would only exist as notes on paper. Internet makes it possible to bring my music to some audience. On the other hand, internet often serves as a distraction, keeping my mind of creating music.