Are we in a golden era of music?

[Urethra Franklin]

I'm meeting Pull Tiger Tail at the Kings Cross Scala tommorow. Thing is though I can't think of anything to ask 'em, which is just as well 'cause it's my friend who is interviewing them. I've liked this band for flippin months, in fact they've reignited my love for indie. Also fellow indie lovahs, dontcha think that we are currantly in a era of music that is at least the match of the 60's and 70's? I've been envious of people who have lived through these golden eras of music, until the last few years that is!

[beautifulsorow]

cause no one commented, i'll comment.

::hugs::
:hug:

comments

[atropine]

I'd still prefer to have been a 70's kid - just for all that 70's music... afterall, can this era be golden with the likes of the Pussycat Dolls, and to some point Paris Hilton being part of this musical era? maybe not, hehee.

[~KemicalRain~]

i think we are in a golden era of music i mean indie and shred and progressive rock are coming back all of my fave genres
*runs out of thread with i pod playing various genres of music*

[IamJamesGreens]

Not a golden era, with all the hiphop/rnb tripe that's so popular, but it's better than the 90's easily.

[~KemicalRain~]

yeah but at the moment if you look deeper you can find some really good music being revived i mean even frank gambale is getting the recognition he deserves lol

[LittleBabyNothing]

You only need to look through the NME to find the answer is no.

I saw Pull Tiger Tail supporting the Klaxons, they sucked.

[gypsyroselee]

there are some good bands around but i wouldn't say we were in a golden era.

[~KemicalRain~]

yeah but there are so many retro genres coming back at once it so cool it probably isnt a golden age but its close

[Ratatouille strychnine]

How many groups comparable with Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix etc. are emerging right now? I agree there are a lot og good groups out right now but when compared to the all-time greats they pale into insiginificance. I think music has improved a lot of late when compared to the tripe served up in the 80's but it's not a golden era for me.

[~KemicalRain~]

true there arnt no led zep and jimi hendix'es out there but we have a fair few band who are pushing the boundries just that litlle bit more

The golden era for hip hop was 1986. Makes me proud to be born then.

Indie is dead. Indie means independent,right? NME is no longer "the bible" it's somewhat, a catalogue..or sh*t.

The golden era of music really really isn't this one. Everyone sounds the same. Yeah, there are some bands that sound different and are rather amazing. But the vast majority is boring, and quite frankly-wank.

[of the lore]

Music is getting better, but it still really isn't all that great.
There is a lot of really good indie/non-commercial music.
But a lot of the stuff played on the radio just isn't good.

[Pucianno Lavarotti]

A sort of two-part response here:

It's not even close to being a golden era. In the last seven years I can count the number of bands that I've been genuinely excited about on the fingers of one hand, with fingers to spare. There are certainly bands around that I can listen to and think "yeah, that's alright", but that’s about as far as it goes. There’s nothing new that immediately commands my attention whatsoever, and the bands I do listen to have almost exclusively been around for a while e.g. Super Furry Animals, Mogwai. There were far more interesting bands around in the early to mid-nineties than there are now, for goodness sake, and that’s saying something.

Were the 60s, 70s or even 80s, any better? Undoubtedly, there were some great bands – The Who, Led Zep, Joy Division, The Stone Roses, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, but what generally seems to be forgotten is that the vast majority of popular music is – and always has been – absolute rubbish. Lets take 1967 as an example – The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Hendrix etc. etc. were all arguably at the peak of their powers. So, who were the biggest selling bands and artists of the year? In true Top of the Pops stylee, starting with the tenth biggest seller of the year:

10) Frankie Vaughan
9) Tom Jones
8) The Monkees
7) Procol Harem
6) Sandie Shaw
5) Scott MacKenzie
4) Anita Harris
3) Engelbert Humperdinck
2) Engelbert Humperdinck
1) Engelbert Humperdinck

Yep, good old Engelbert had the three best selling singles of the year and spent a combined total of an astonishing 88 weeks in the top 40 over the course of the year, even keeping The Beatles off the top spot.

In effect, the passing of time weeds out the rubbish. Ten years on, few people would give credence to Northern Uproar, Hurricane #1 or 3 Colours Red despite all three being (briefly) acclaimed at the time, because they were, frankly, not very good. The same holds true of any decade, leading to the inevitable “music was so much better in…” comments.

If you're still reading, congratulations

[Ratatouille strychnine]

I agree that with any decade, you have t weed through a lot of rubbish to find the occasional pearl. To me though, I can't actually think of any groupd I would describe as pearls at the moment. There are groups Ill happily listen to but probably won't even remember their songs in 5-10 years time. They're good but by no means great. You weed through the rubbish this decade and there really isn't a lot there.

[svenn]

maybe i haven't been listening to the right new music, but i have felt that most of the new bands aren't as good as ones that have been around for a little while (rammstein, acdc, aerosmith, violent femmes, kornn pink floyd, presidents of the usa, and i even think bands like metallica and rhcp were better back in the day). maybe i'm just getting old, but i'll take nwa and digital underground over any new hiphop/rap. and don't even get me started on nickleback. *shakes fist and says words not suitable for mixed company*

[Pucianno Lavarotti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by svenn

maybe i'm just getting old, but i'll take nwa and digital underground over any new hiphop/rap.

The problem with rap, as I see it, is that these days groups can release what basically amounts to a backbeat with a couple of tacky samples, safe in the knowledge that millions of teenage white kids will buy it. Add a bit of what I imagine they think is "edgy" rapping over the top of it, and you're onto a surefire winner. But then, most of these people buying these records haven't heard of Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa or The Sugarhill Gang - people that I'd consider to be greats of their genre along with the aforementioned. I'm not even sure that someone who has grown up on a diet of Eminem or 50 Cent would have the time of day for a track like "Renegades of Funk" or "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos", regrettably.

Quote:

Originally Posted by svenn

maybe i haven't been listening to the right new music, but i have felt that most of the new bands aren't as good as ones that have been around for a little while (rammstein, acdc, aerosmith, violent femmes, kornn pink floyd, presidents of the usa, and i even think bands like metallica and rhcp were better back in the day). maybe i'm just getting old, but i'll take nwa and digital underground over any new hiphop/rap. and don't even get me started on nickleback. *shakes fist and says words not suitable for mixed company*

Digital Underground! *high f*cking 5 to you*

:]

[destroy-!!!-infinity]

i just wanted to comment really quickly. i agree with the general consensus being expressed on this thread...especially what Pucianno Lavarotti pointed out. people often forget that what is popular in the present is not by any means what will be remembered or respected in the future. this has been the case throughout the history of music. velvet underground comes to mind.

also i don't personally agree with the comment that indie is dead. if anything it is more alive and present than ever. thanks especially goes to the internet for allowing bands to INDIPENDANTLY make a mark for themselves. i have a friend who also lives in kansas who makes dub records, her biggest success has been in new zealand and italy. she is self managed. another friend of mine from my city has worked with green milk from the planet orange based in japan, all via the internet. what i'm saying is the wide spead availability of the internet has allowed networking in a way that wasn't even imaginable for un-signed musicians just 10 years ago. bands i have worked with have set up whole tours across the states through the internet with other indie bands. myspace can even be thanked for this (no thanks to rupert murdock however, bastard).

and for listeners of music, they are also allowed to be more indipendant. they are no longer confined to only having the radio and mtv as ways of finding music. i suppose that is the only thing "golden" i really see about our current era of music. the opportunities that are contained within our ability to network so freely.

okay, so that comment wasn't that quick.

But bands that people class as Indie are not Indie.
Bands like Razorlight (who suck) and other bland bands are NOT Indie
They are sh*tty comercial bands.

Music lacks soul now.