mainstream

[jck_dnls_26r]

i don't think that the charts nowadays (or in the past for tht matter, but i can't really say considering i've only been around for about 2 decades) mean a thing. way back in the day maybe, but i think tht the best music will always be underground. tht is where reality chills - not on the mainstream. mainstream has little to no true emotions, and is simply made to sell to the average teenage want-to-be who follows the latest fad created for whtever large production company, whether it be fashion, lifestlye, or even music, which is sad.
anyonw with a great underground band they know of, fill me in. has anyone else noticed tht eversong on the radio sounds like the same guy? i don't know, but there's about 12 bands tht i can't for the life of me tell the difference. i think i'll get mostly replies agreeing to this, if not, i'm afraid u allready are the average teenager. or just older. lol.

[Bardsley]

There is more than one type of conformity. Are you sure that you are not just being a typical "anti-mainstream" teenager whou conforms every bit as much to what is expected of you as those who follow the mainstream do? That might sound a bit harsh, but it's a fairly typical kind of post, and though it may be unfair to say this to a new member (welcome, by the way, hope you get something out of this site) I think it's a little easy and thoughtless to so discard anyhting that a majority of people your age may like. Yes I tend to find most music that gets in the top 10 fairly boring, and I rarely listen to top 40 radio stations. However, I do try to keep in touch, because good things come along, and you can get something out of any music you listen to, if you have an open mind.

[Christoph]

Originally posted by Bardsley
Are you sure that you are not just being a typical "anti-mainstream" teenager whou conforms every bit as much to what is expected of you as those who follow the mainstream do?

LOL . . . I never thought I would read such a pro-establishment post from you Bardsley. Down with the non-conformists!

The truth is that everybody conforms to something. It's just a matter of choosing what.

As for me, I say down with pop music and push-up bras!!!!! Ok . . . that made no sense, but it's late.

[hrckid]

Does it really matter if bands are in the charts or not? To me it's more important if I like their music. Does it mean that if one of your undergroung bands start getting a good following that they are no good? I'm up for giving any kind of music a chance.Provided they stick to making the music they want to make and it sounds good then I couldn't care if they are played on the radio 24/7 or play one gig a month in a pub.

[ZackyH]

Good music used to be on the charts. Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. People used to actually care about getting music that was creative and original. Now, when I look at what's on the charts: Britney Spears, N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc; it just makes me sick. Even the lamer pop bands of the 70s and 80s weren't this emotionless and devoid of meaning.

On occasion there are still great bands on the charts. U2's new album did pretty well. The Pink Floyd and Beatles compilations...um...that's about it for this year and last year.

As for the underground scene just go to some concerts in your local area. There's a chance you might hear a good band. Around here there are a few people that have talked about a group called Widespread Panic. I haven't heard them yet but I'll look into it.

Back in the day I used to listen to a lot of Industrial bands. Industrial is basically electronic music that's actually good (I bet you didn't know that was possible but it is) but you should know they still use the guitar in a lot of Industrial. The only Industrial bands that have actually reached a large audience are NIN and Manson (Industrial fans will argue over whether those two are actually industrial). The rest is underground and a lot of them aren't around anymore :( Check out Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Pop Will Eat Itself, and KMFDM. Songs you should look into: Skinny Puppy-Worlock, Ministry-Psalm 69, Pop Will Eat Itself-Wise Up Sucker, KMFDM-Juke Joint Jezbell . KMFDM and Ministry are still around. PWEI is gone but Clint Mansell has a solo career. Skinny Puppy broke up and formed several different bands.

[PonyOne]

You want under ground, you want Refused. Check out the songs New Noise, Return To The Closet and Burn It. Econoline Crush is pretty good, too; I don't know if I'd actually count them as "underground" but certainly "unpopular."
There still is, from time to time, something good that pops up in the mainstream. Something good will pop up in it sometime, I'm sure of it, but at the moment it's just Britney, N'Sync and whoever else is "big" at the moment.

Pop culture is capitalism, and capitalism is quite adept at keeping itself alive. It provides you with all these wonderful things and services as well as an image of what it will be like if you try to live without them: hell.
Pop culture subsists by making the people who run radio, TV and magazines play their stuff. They make deals that state that if they don't push this NEW band, then they'll revoke their rights to play the OLD band with ten hits that still drag in requests.

If you watch a show on the WB here in the US (Buffy, 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Dawsons Creek, etc), notice how the "dumb" guys are always wearing jeans and flannels. Same goes for Saturday morning cartoons: the imagery around kids named "Stinky" is also the imagery around your archetypical rock band (at least in most peoples' psyches): jeans, t-shirts, flannels, and either boots or Converse All Stars.

With the watch on racism what it is nowadays, the networks wouldn't dare name a black guy Stinky and make him listen to Megadeth, that would be racist. So they relinquish the role of the black guy (looks like Usher) to being the "best friend" of the Sensitive White Guy® (looks just like a member of N'Sync) and have him dispense wisdom, say "damn" at opportune moments, etc. and always get glassy-eyed when someone names Destiny's Child.

So you get a whole genreation of people who think that following rock makes you dirty and icky and stupid, as well as having this mindset of a totally fake, ill-integrated world where there will always be a benevolent black guy to go "damn" when something goes wrong. It freaks people out when I'm wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a blue adidas windbreaker, standing there with my best friend, a 6'6 black guy, and we both converse rapidly about why we're vegetarian and play hardcore industrio-rock and "alternative" stuff.

At some point or another, when the boy bands are old, they'll market them as just that: old. Yucky, stupid, hokey, whatever you wanna call it. They'll need something to replace it. It could be rock, it could be rap, it could be house techno; maybe even some neo-blues (yeah right). Whatever it is, you'll have the genuine article, and then you'll have the corporate bands who were created to fill a niche and nothing more.

[lalimacefolle]

Britney Spears has good songs... well orchestrated, well recorded and everything... Now please don't be rude with me...

[educatedfilm]

Some great bands I've discovered, the names between brackets are examples of songs:
Smog (Dress sexy at my funeral)
Ten Benson (I dont buy it, robot tourist)
Llamma farmers (get the keys and go, snow white)

These are the american ones (I'm asumining you come from the US) and so should be easier to get hold of..

i'm gonna Have to agree with Bardsley here... The whole sixties rebels with out a cause are making a come back, or shall already have... People are saying things to be different, but really they're all bleating the same thing...
For example anti-capatilism... You ask most teens today they'll tell you "capatilism sucks man!!". You ask 'em about Karl Marx or Trotski, or heck even Che Guevarue (sp?) (when they're wearing a Che T-shirt!!! an example of capatilism selling anything even what's destructive for it for ya Poney one lol) and they just shrug!!!!! You ask 'em exactly what are they pissed off with they say "the governement man!! they dont represent no one best them selves!", that's as far as it goes with out an example or even a single valid point... I think it's this kinda culture that has lowered voting turn outs (*strokes chin*... hmmm sound like a consperisy lol... God how many conseravatives would love me to really say that!)...
there's an anti-conformist trend which is kinda an oxymoron...
Well I've had my say... OH no I HAVEN'T !!!! MANSUN AREN't INDUSTRAIL!!!! not the mansun I know (the poeple who did "she makes my nose bleed", "wide open space" etc etc)...
If you like industrail you should really listen to primal screams album "exterminator" (ignore the cheesy name)...

[Bardsley]

lol, Christoph, isn't it up with miniskirts? Don't think you've made me love the old establishment just yet though, just trying to accept that if something is mainstream it might not be bad. Of course, if you met me, you'd probably see a normal middle-class happy white college kid, so I think I'd be a wee bit hypocritical to bag the system that much.

[fendermonkey77]

You gotta love what you love and leave the rest to whomever loves it. To each his own right? BRITNEY SPEARS FOREVER...he he he...had to throw that it.

[Raskolnikov]

"Mainstream" is basicly whatever is selling at the time. Maybe it's the real deal, maybe it's not. Sometimes you hear something and think "oh, what is this crap?" then you look back a year or two later and think "woah, they were trying to make a point, weren't they?" (see: Reel Big Fish).

So I try and keep an open mind. Right now I'm listening to a band out of Gainsville Florida called Rolling Buck 7, maybe the next song that iTunes randomly plays will be Billy Joel, maybe it'll be Five Iron Frenzy. Actualy, now that the song has actually changed, it was Primus (suprise, suprise). Anyway, my point is "keep an ear open." You hear things better that way.

And now for some linkage...
The Bocce Wagon (http://redrival.com/macboy/boccewagon/) (Shameless self promotion).
Clutch (http://www.pro-rock.com)
Scissorfight (http://www.scissorfight.net)
Bruce (http://www.silkwurm.com/bruce/)

Anyway, root around your area, check out flyers, see who's playing, you'll find cool music, I swear.

[pstring]

Wouldn't everybody just love it if they're favorite "underground" band was in the top 10, yes, some would and the rest would accuse them of being sell-outs. The big problem is not lack of good music, the problem is the lack of variety that the Big record companies are willing to offer and is pushed thru radio and tv, when I was a kid, radios were from Japan, had 1 tiny speaker and picked up 1 rock&roll AM station, but the 1 station played the Beatles, Stones, Jackson 5, Billy Joe Royal,Guess Who, the Who, Arethea,Sam the Sham, Simon&Garfunkel, etc, etc.., I can't imagine being stuck with only 1 station today,, today you can go thru all the top 40 stations and find 2 or 3 playing the same song at the same time, thank God we do have so many alternatives to what the big companies push and I do agree that most good music stays underground, if and when it goes mainstream, be thankful and be prepared for 30 more bands to imitate them immediately.

[Andrey^]

Well, as I have only recently bought a guitar my speed is really bad and I could not dream of making really good music. So when I hear Britney or Outa'sync I think, hey, if this passes as music I'm an artist!
While on the other hand listening to Dave Murray's solo from The Trooper makes me dizzy and wonder how in hell can he move his fingers so fast.

[Incidents Happen]

the mainstream music is pushed by deep bass beats ( for the people who love to dance) and lyrics that are either a. filled with sexual stuff...or b. against something, meaning something.

personally i would not want to have...say, Trey Anastasio Band, make top 10. I would not want 8 year old girls going to his concerts, as the screaming and the high pitch and the...oh god, thank god that wont happen.

oops, almost forgot

andrey- how old are you? and how long have you been playing? even though mainstream music is pretty bad right now, they still (mostly, i think) have decent guitar players. not GOOD by any means, not at all, but decent. some are horrible, but alot are decent. now, if you want to get real good and fast, practice your ass off. not a day goes by that i dont get my 3-4 hours in. sometimes up to 7 or 8. the most important thing is to be on a path, im 14 and i believe im on a path...Theres so much to get into, for the past few months my social life has gone down the tubes, but my guitar playing has improved so much since i got my acousctic guitar (nice DCE1 Guild, worth like $1000- i did have an electric before, but it was a ****ty squier). Scales scales scales! i dont know what the vets say about scales, but right now im takin the whole major scale on (well , in A, then gonna move it back to G then F then well u get the point)and andrey if you do the 1234 thing with your fingers, which is boring...plus you try making melodies with a major scale, you'll be on your way.

[Edited by Incidents Happen on 02-01-2002 at 06:57 PM]

[Andrey^]

I'm 23 and new at guitars. My point, however, is that there's no such thing as a guitar in the bands I spoke of. There's electronics. The keyboards are by no means easy to master, naturally, but I don't think that matters anyhow. It did back in the old days, I mean, all respect to Jon Lord of Deep Purple and the other rock organ players, they really knew (and still do!) how to play. However, nowadays it seems it's all about sequencing a midi and lipsynching to playback. And well, I am no Ludwig Van Bethoven and I can still sequence a midi.

[educatedfilm]

hmmm... the whole electronica thing has brought us some truely amazing music... Like Underworld, orbital etc (I seriously recomend poeple listen to a track called "8 ball" by Underworld... It wouldn't be unrealistic to call it a work of genius)...

[Andrey^]

Well, to each his own, I guess. I am not saying electronic music is no good though, it takes work and patience to sequence a midi as well, if anyone likes it it's good, however I am no fan of electronic music. It can be good, but still I think that what the mainstreamers use is bollox.

[friskynibbles]

I'll always hold a special place on my lap for Brittney Spears; that doesn't mean I think she's a good musician.
*shrug*