The Music Elitist

Source: re1000.wordpress.com

So I recently moved from Florida to Brooklyn, New York and I have been exposed to a bit of the local music around here. A lot of it were bands that I had already heard, but there’s been a few that were new to me.  I have for the most part enjoyed the music I have heard, but honestly, a lot of these bands (and their die-hard hipster fans) need to just get over themselves. I think I have less of a problem with their music than I do with how they act like it’s the greatest music ever created. It just seems like anything that isn’t neo-folk, lo-fi, electronic or psychadelic is considered to be inferior music by these people and it really pisses me off.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of these “hipster bands”. Grizzly Bear’s record is great. I dug some of MGMT’s songs (though ANYONE can make songs in Garage Band on a Mac…it’s not that difficult). But I just can’t imagine listening to ONLY these types of bands. But if you ever mention a band that you like that is outside this little musical boundary these hipsters have created (or rather, websites like Pitchfork have created), you are instantly not cool anymore. Take Thrice for example. It’s not really considered cool to listen to a band like Thrice anymore. But those guys have consistently been putting out great music (especially their newest record Beggars) and most of their old fans have missed it because they have “moved on” so to speak. It’s not cool to listen to a band you may have liked 5 or 6 years ago. But that also has a lot to do with the music A.D.D. that the digital age has created (there’s a post on this coming soon).

I try to listen to all types of music (though country music has just never done anything for me), but my favorite kind of music is the kind  where you can hear the passion and/or emotion in the singers voice. Not necessarily emo, but just anthemic and powerful (Tim McIlrath from Rise Against, for example). While this hipster music is great for just chilling out and listening to in a bar or dancing to in a club, it is not inspiring to me at all. I like distorted guitars and a driving beat. That’s the kind of music that excites me. The only band like that right now that it’s considered “ok” to like is Them Crooked Vultures. And for good reason, they are amazing. But I honestly think most of these hipsters just give them lip service because if you ever talked badly about a band that a former Led Zeppelin member is in, you’d be ex-communicated from the musical community.

I guess the point I am getting at is, hipster music is a trend. Just like everything else that came and went before it. From the fact that all the music sounds generally the same right down to the fact a lot their names make animal references (Grizzly Bear, Bear in Heaven, Animal Collective…etc.), it’s all just a trend and its only a matter of time until it isn’t cool anymore. That usually happens right around the time they are widely popular and everyone in the mainstream is suddenly into it. It may already not be cool to like Animal Collective and I missed the memo. Bottom line is, I don’t care. I’ll continue listening to the bands/artists I like regardless of what some skinny jean, American Apparel hoodie wearing hipster has to say about it. You all just keep thinking you’re so elite and on the cutting edge and I’ll just stand back here and laugh at you like I always have.

Since this is my first posting on here I’ll give you all a quick introduction so you can better understand my views on this blog.

I hate mediocre music. What is mediocre music you ask? Let me give you a better idea of what I’m talking about here.

Tom Petty. I mean does that guy do anything interesting at all, has he ever? What an ass face.

Most Hardcore/Metal/Grindcore/Screamo/Spascore/Death Metal bull shit that you Ozzfest World of Warcraft monguloids love. They’re infesting every mall in america and what do they have to say for themselves other than “WE LIKE BLACK”.

Metallica, wow, there’s the clowns of the metal market right there. After “The Black Album” they SHOULD have called it quits. Only interesting was maybe the goofy looking Cherokee dreadlock sporting bass player who insisted he should have been in Korn.

I don’t even really like The Black Album. Kinda dug that one song, “Three Leaf Clover”, but that’s cause they had the NYC Philharmonic on that shit, and the NYC Philharmonic are classically trained rocket scientists, not a bunch of money grubbing wanna be metal heads.

Fall Out Boy. All things wrong with our day and age can single-handedly be blamed on this band and every Emo/Power Pop/Pop Punk/Jonas Brothers wanna be gazillionaires out there playing that Squier bass just cause that guy with the lame hair cut who likes to put pictures of his junk on the internet so he can be famous and marry Ashlee “my backing track messed up” Simpson. Douche.

So, now you know. I would go off on Contemporary Country and most Rap, but they do a good job of making themselves look like assholes.

So, now we’ll move on.

The world’s greatest super group unveiled their balls to the wall rock opus to the world today. Them Crooked Vultures made up of Dave “I love playing drums” Grohl, Josh “My old bass player was a coke head” Homme, and John Paul “Jesus” Jones. When I saw these guys at Roseland Ballroom a few weeks ago, I had a feeling I’d never felt rush over me.  I felt like I was being shot in the face with a shotgun full of Rock Salt n Roll and loving it. Listen to the album in it’s entirety on youtube.

My new favorite brooklyn hipster band is Bear In Heaven. Listen to them and bask in all it’s wheat grass electronics.

It’s the end of the world, zombies are eating that next door neighbor who never stops blasting the Gin Blossoms at 2am, and the nuclear holocaust wiped out you’re favorite sushi place, what you gonna do?

Listen to J Tillman, and take a nap of course.
With a brand new album of music you can fall asleep too, Tillman does exactly what he’s best at. Harmonies, Harmonies, Harmonies. With a lack of drumming from the Fleet Foxes drummer you’d think on a solo album he’d do more of it. But with him hitting anything he can that’s not a a drum, he gets a sequence of beats that boast his sparse musical arrangements into epic nothingness. I like it, and there’s a great video and vibe to “Though I Have Wronged You.” So watch it here. Best Video…Ever.

That’s all for today. Expect hell tomorrow.