I think it comes down to a vastly lower userbase than we had a good decade ago.

You spelled aging weird. Not important, but funny.

Most hip-hop is utter shit, just like most of everything else. I’m not of the opinion that the genre is at all “cutting edge.” Just some great artists in the sea shitty ones.
Boring ass.

You’re boring, Genteel Death. More or less (more).

Just to clarify, I wasn't giving The Breeders any crap whatsoever; I just thought the "Archangels Thunderbird" cover could and should be a portal for NR to check out something fabulous with which he wasn't familiar due to spending so much time letting Billy motherfucking Corgan wipe out his neurons. I love The Breeders, I've seen 'em live (Kim to audience, about Kelley [who was standing right next to her sister]: "She's impossible!"), the new album is bitchen, and Kim strikes me as the kinda gal who listens to Yeti while watching a lava lamp. :D

SNOB!


i was listening to “damn” on this morning’s hike, and i like the music. but i found that the least i understand the words, the more i like the whole thing. the beats and loops and samples etc.— great. the way he applies words to the beat like an instrument is great too.

but the words themselves not so much. i mean i get that what he’s saying is important for the culture. the guy is not in some rarefied dungeon of pure guitarness (or whatever) with his head up his ass— he’s talking about police killings and extermination and other serious shit. so, yeah, it’s important stuff, socially or whatever.

i’m just... ha ha ha im, i just... i don’t like the poetry slam i guess.

the shot though at the beginning fucking it shook my spine. twice.

ok.

what is “dna” about? i need a translator.

Rock wasn't created as a tool for social justice, despite what the writer of "Sorry rock fans, hip hop is the only genre that matters now" seems to think.

Rock only really got political in the 1960s as a response to the Vietnam war. It never was the entirety of what rock music was about. And if "Won't Get Fooled Again" sounds aged, well yeah, because the Vietnam era is long over, fella.

Another thing: rock used to be about singles. The Beatles, The Smiths, a lot of great rock bands started out as singles bands.

But yeah, it's hard to argue that rock music is in the dumps right now. My favourite new band is one that makes retro 80s music. It's a lean time for rock.

Well, there's girlSperm. And they FUCKING ROCK.

https://thrillingliving.bandcamp.com/album/12

https://www.thrillingliving.com/collection/gsp-12

I would need more time to talk through this with you in a way that does justice to the material.

But... YES! It’s amazing. It’s better than TPAB. It’s representative of a “moment” — not for hip-hop because SO much of it is SO shit — but for Kendrick. Who is now very realistically a Dylan figure for rap music.

“DNA.” is about what he is and what he’s supposed to be. Half of what he says is deliberately mercurial, about a quarter is genuine answer-seeking, and the rest is him reflecting back at the world what he thinks the world wants him to be.

The lyrics are good. They require multiple listens. The highlights are DNA and XXX and DUCKWORTH though. Those songs tell a story.

It’s the Finnegan’s Wake to TPAB’s Ulysses.

We’ll talk more later. No time. Gotta go waste my life writing poorly for a living. Right, boring ass? GD? Never mind, don’t care.

Dinosaur Jr - Don't

in the most brilliant live version.
(even though it's not the one with Kim on vocals)

Big Audio Dynamite, 1st LP

One of the most underrated LPs of the 80s and a great summer album. E=Mc2, Bottom Line and Medicine Show aren't obvious summer anthems but somehow always manage to evoke, for me, London in a heatwave without ever trying to be remotely 'sunny'.

he doesn’t think that. he’s talking about cultural relevance. and maybe exaggerating to make a point, but his point i think is valid.


he wasn’t speaking exclusively about politics. rock (and at times roll) used to be the soundtrack of many many many many young people’s lives.

when the sexual revolution came around it was about sex. when the war happened it was about war. when everybody was experimenting with drugs it was about drugs. when everybody got cynical about the broken promises it was cynical. and so forth.

and you could dance to it at parties too. well, some of it.

now however shit is different.

the last time you can say that rock was historically at the middle of some kind of “youth” movement it was the 90s.

that was 20 years ago, or more— say if you take kurt cobain’s suicide as the death of the last rock icon, it’s been 24 years already. full quarter century on april 2019.


well times are also lean for jazz and classical music. but it doesn’t mean that you can’t listen to any of that.

you can listen to whatever you want these days. nothing is hidden anymore. the future and the past are wide open to everyone. you need no pope’s blessing. the present is an orgy.

just... enjoy whatever you want.

Good points, symbols.

And interesting question, was Kurt the last ROCK icon?

i think he was chronologically. there are other “icons” that have survived him, but their glory time came earlier.

if you recall kurt’s suicide it was a huge deal globally. kids crying, street memorials, conspiracy theories, the end of an era.

when chris cornell killed himself decades later sure was a bummer to hear the news but it wasn’t a culturally defining moment with children weeping in the streets.

now when mick jagger dies in 2070 it will sure make the news as a medical miracle that he died at all, but i don’t think a bunch of kids are gonna be all shook up about it or anything.

Kurt was also the last real rock star to emerge before the internet properly took hold. I'm not sure why that makes a difference but I'm sure it must.

What about Manson? He's not relevant now, but I feel like he was an "icon" after Kurt?

Still, symbols example of Kurt's death and people being affected by it is a strong example.

manson lol not even close

next you’re gonna say dave matthews? bha ha ha

kurt was the last rocker to change the mainstream world

when i say icons i mean icons. people for the history books.

after kurt died rock started to get smaller. and it will keep shrinking.

like jazz in the 50s and jazz now. jazz didn’t “die”, it just shrank. it will go on forever.

speaking of mainstream rockers changing the world... bono tried to end world hunger. how is that going? lol

Yeah I guess I'm thinking more like rock STARs, like what's fashionable or just household names as opposed to actual icons. You got me there.

As much as I don't care about his music at all and never really did, I would have to say that Jack White probably counts for being someone who really should have remained underground and somehow busted out and everybody's dad knows who he is now and he's doing some things with his money to further the actual physical production of music media. I was as surprised as anyone when the White Stripes became a super big deal. Musically, not my bag really, but I think he counts as a rockstar, at least by today's sense of the term. He's the Gen Xer that boomers like for some reason too.

Yeah but he sucks now.

I didn’t like the Stripes for the longest time either, but they won me over in concert. Kicked some ass, seriously.