Post Random Music-Related Thoughts You Have

[Matters]

We don’t know any of these people. The accusations in the suit against Steven Tyler last year were bad.

I listen to what I enjoy and separate the art from the artist.

[Rangi Guy]

Given all the shit that Till Lindemann has been up to - do I need to stop listening to Rammstien?

Really depends where you stand on separating the art from the artist.

Michael Jackson was definitely a creeper, but he had some bangers. Kanye West is a bona fide crackpot... bangers. Jimmy Page, David Bowie and Anthony Kiedis fucked 14-year-olds, but you guessed it -- total banger merchants. I can fully understand wanting to distance yourself from the art of these troubled individuals, though. It's a tough one.

Bangers it is then!!!

[Leatherhead]

Should I check out Manchester Orchestra?

[epilogue]

Should I check out Manchester Orchestra?

YES

[contamination]

That Rammstein post reminded me of something I was supposed to rant about once, but ended up not doing it because nobody would've cared anyway. Well, I feel like ranting now so here it goes:

begin rant/

It's incredibly sad how great music is being made all over the world, but it doesn't get international attention or airplay if it's not sung in English. I'm sure there are tons of great artists out there, some of them with careers spanning over decades, which we never hear about because they sing in Spanish, French, Italian, Swedish, Japanese etc. A song doesn't have to be sung in English to have great riffs!

I mean we have all these beautiful languages which are dying little by little because English dominates everything. And I don't think the issue is that people want to understand the lyrics either, because I know lots of people who love Rammstein's music even though they don't understand anything about the lyrics outside "Mutter".

Anyways I'd love to see the day when there's a review of an album sung in e.g. Slovakian in Pitchfork or Rolling Stone. Luckily we now have Spotify which has some great playlists to discover bands and artists that don't sing in English. I've been listening "The Sound of Slovak Indie" today and there's definitely some interesting stuff there.

Here's some Slovakian indie for you all:





/end rant

[Rangi Guy]

That Rammstein post reminded me of something I was supposed to rant about once, but ended up not doing it because nobody would've cared anyway. Well, I feel like ranting now so here it goes:

/begin rant

It's incredibly sad how great music is being made all over the world, but it doesn't get international attention or airplay if it's not sung in English. I'm sure there are tons of great artists out there, some of them with careers spanning over decades, which we never hear about because they sing in Spanish, French, Italian, Swedish, Japanese etc. A song doesn't have to be sung in English to have great riffs!

I mean we have all these beautiful languages which are dying little by little because English dominates everything. And I don't think the issue is that people want to understand the lyrics either, because I know lots of people who love Rammstein's music even though they don't understand anything about the lyrics outside "Mutter".

Anyways I'd love to see the day when there's a review of an album sung in e.g. Slovakian in Pitchfork or Rolling Stone. Luckily we now have Spotify which has some great playlists to discover bands and artists from other countries. I've been listening "The Sound of Slovak Indie" today and there's definitely some interesting stuff there.

Here's some Slovakian indie for you all:





/end rant

[Ello Sailor]

Jorge is pretty good about sharing Spanish-speaking bands. I will always pay attention to his recs.

My favorite Japanese bands (Boris, Toe) are largely instrumental, so possibly not a great example for this conversation, but still. If it slaps, it slaps.

France has an incredible stoner/doom/sludge scene, but very little of that is reliant on singing in x language. If it slaps...

I don't really care much about lyrics unless they're really fucking good -- then it becomes an embellishment. But bad/forgettable lyrics are rarely a dealbreaker for me. For the most part I couldn't care less about what language is being sung, as long as it's done with conviction. The Hu is another example. Fucking Mongolian throat singing. Sounds incredible!

As Frank Zappa said, "Shut up and play yer guitar!"

[contamination]

Oh I'd love to find more French music, now I've been listening mostly French pop music which I also discovered from a Spotify playlist. This is one of my favorites from that one:

[Matters]

It’s sung in English but Christine and the Queens are French and have a new album that’s pretty good.

[Matters]

Answer: They’ve given the world more iconic songs than any other act in popular music history.

Question: ___ ___ ___ _______?

[Ello Sailor]

Beatles. Yawn.

[contamination]

Jorge is pretty good about sharing Spanish-speaking bands. I will always pay attention to his recs.

My favorite Japanese bands (Boris, Toe) are largely instrumental, so possibly not a great example for this conversation, but still. If it slaps, it slaps.

France has an incredible stoner/doom/sludge scene, but very little of that is reliant on singing in x language. If it slaps...

I don't really care much about lyrics unless they're really fucking good -- then it becomes an embellishment. But bad/forgettable lyrics are rarely a dealbreaker for me. For the most part I couldn't care less about what language is being sung, as long as it's done with conviction. The Hu is another example. Fucking Mongolian throat singing. Sounds incredible!

As Frank Zappa said, "Shut up and play yer guitar!"

Let me just add here that I do care about the lyrics but they're not a dealbreaker for me either. When I listen to something like Prince I don't really pay much attention to the lyrics because I don't expect them to contain any life wisdoms anyways. Then on the other hand when I listen to something like Dylan, Purple Mountains or Tom Waits I somehow naturally gravitate towards them.

Then again I don't speak French but I absolutely love how the language sounds. When I was a kid and didn't speak English, and knew only few words music was one big thing besides tv and movies (we had subtitles, no dubbing) which made me wanna learn the language - I wanted to know what is being said in the songs. But if you only hear songs in English everywhere how can you even get interested about other languages? So not understanding what's said in songs sung in French is not an issue for me, I just love how it sounds, but at the same time it does make me wanna learn the language too.

The older I get the more I tend to appreciate bands who have chosen to sing in their native non-English language. I know there are various motives to do this, but I know that for some it is a sort of activism to try to keep their language alive.

[Ello Sailor]

Well said. Do you fuck with Edith Piaf?

[Jorge]

There are some musicians here in Argentina who sing in English, they're usually looked down on in the local scene but they also tend to have pretty high listener numbers on Spotify

[contamination]

Well said. Do you fuck with Edith Piaf?

Yeah I like some of her stuff. Edit: and while I'm still here I wanna say that your heart is much appreciated Rangi.

[bodysnatcher]

Police found 7 men hog tied in Clay Aiken’s basement but I still enjoy some of his music

[wease]

Police found 7 men hog tied in Clay Aiken’s basement but I still enjoy some of his music

[Higgs]

Jorge is pretty good about sharing Spanish-speaking bands. I will always pay attention to his recs.

My favorite Japanese bands (Boris, Toe) are largely instrumental, so possibly not a great example for this conversation, but still. If it slaps, it slaps.

France has an incredible stoner/doom/sludge scene, but very little of that is reliant on singing in x language. If it slaps...

I don't really care much about lyrics unless they're really fucking good -- then it becomes an embellishment. But bad/forgettable lyrics are rarely a dealbreaker for me. For the most part I couldn't care less about what language is being sung, as long as it's done with conviction. The Hu is another example. Fucking Mongolian throat singing. Sounds incredible!

As Frank Zappa said, "Shut up and play yer guitar!"

Let me just add here that I do care about the lyrics but they're not a dealbreaker for me either. When I listen to something like Prince I don't really pay much attention to the lyrics because I don't expect them to contain any life wisdoms anyways. Then on the other hand when I listen to something like Dylan, Purple Mountains or Tom Waits I somehow naturally gravitate towards them.

Then again I don't speak French but I absolutely love how the language sounds. When I was a kid and didn't speak English, and knew only few words music was one big thing besides tv and movies (we had subtitles, no dubbing) which made me wanna learn the language - I wanted to know what is being said in the songs. But if you only hear songs in English everywhere how can you even get interested about other languages? So not understanding what's said in songs sung in French is not an issue for me, I just love how it sounds, but at the same time it does make me wanna learn the language too.

The older I get the more I tend to appreciate bands who have chosen to sing in their native non-English language. I know there are various motives to do this, but I know that for some it is a sort of activism to try to keep their language alive.

Spoiler: show

[zeb]

I don't seek out non-English bands or music but the latest Deerhoof record is sung completely in Japanese and it rules.

[Jorge]

That new Fall Out Boy version of "We Didn't Start the Fire" is one of the lamest things I have ever heard

Yes it shouldn't be surprising, it's a bad band covering a bad song, but it's somehow even worse than you'd think