A nail in the coffin of alternative music?

Now, I've always listened to music that would be described as indie or non-mainstream, and for many years I have found internet review site Pitchfork the ideal place to find good music that you wouldn't hear too often on commercial radio. Over the years, Pitchfork has played a significant role in bringing wider attention to interesting new bands emerging on the indie scene like Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes, and I always thought I could depend on them to champion the underdogs of the music industry.

However, recently a worrying trend has started to emerge at Pitchfork, and if you visit the website now you will find that their top reviews include mainly "MTV" artists like Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West, to whom they gave a perfect 10/10 for his new album. They even have Professor Green advertising Doritos on their main page. I worry that mainstream pop-noodle musak has finally taken over the music industry completely. Even the die hard indie kids are now professing their undying admiration for the creative "genius" of Kanye West and hailing him as the greatest artist of the decade. Well I've listened to Kanye's album and I think it's ok, musically catchy with some good hooks, highly polished production behind it, and typical gangsta bigging up himself up type lyrics, but it's not particularly interesting, challenging or diverse. Of course most people appreciate mainstream music for those simple hooks, catchy beats and cool gangsta lyrics, and not everyone wants to be challenged by unusual music that falls outside of the box, but I'm guessing that I'm not the only weirdo left on planet earth and that there are others like me who crave something different from the standard fare that MTV and radio attempt to force feed us.

With artists like Jay-Z dominating the airwaves on repeat play all day every day, it's hard enough already for new bands with niche or experimental sounds to get the exposure they need to gain an audience and keep the ball rolling in their careers, but with indie champions Pitchfork now seeming to have completely "sold out" it seems that things are only gonna get worse for the alternative music scene.

Am I over reacting? Maybe. Am I the only one who still wants to hear music that comes from the heart and the soul, and not from the wallet and the groin? Probably. But anyhow, I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of others on this subject, so entertain me happy gadders and discuss...

All I can say is I agree. The mainstream music is taking over. Now, I'm not one of those that hates the mainstream, but I love the more experimental/indie music a lot and find more feeling and heart in that.

I have always relied on friends and random people to introduce me to new bands and groups, but recently most people I know are turning to the mainstream.

My only remedy for this is to go to as many local shows as possible and check out the bands there or even youtube has some good people who aren't discovered but finding them is hard. ;)

Those guys are the "Stephanie Ravens" of the music world.... >_>

I'm with you Ungreth, I'm basically fed up with those kind of songs, is all you ccan hear these days on radio, and I'm fed up with it, I want some new refreshing actually thought up music, not the same 'gangsta' rap over and over with slightly different lyrics.

Now you know why I listen to foreign music, much better than the stuff that they show in the U.S. :)

(I reccomend Omnyouza?
Seems like it has music that may be like what you seek. :))

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Originally Posted by Silverleon

(I reccomend Omnyouza?

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Now that's new and interesting. Iron Maiden in kimonos, lol! :)

Mainstream music dominates the radio, tv, and magazines.
It's crap. Calling it talentless and dead is unnecessary, because it's a given.

Thats why I listen to the oldies :p
I don't listen to much modern stuff, if any. I don't even think the 2 that I do listen to are still active right now..

We definately need another music revolution to bring music back, otherwise..music is dead.

You said gangsta, and you're white http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/t...thicameplz.gif

But yes I agree, I was gonna write a long paragraph(notrly)but everyone above me sorta hit the spots http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/t...dntcameplz.gif

Any time I start to like a band they instantly go main stream.

Squarepusher and Passion Pit are the main examples for me.

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Originally Posted by Cysero

Any time I start to like a band they instantly go main stream.

Squarepusher and Passion Pit are the main examples for me.

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The only way I discovered Passion Pit was because I had this commercial stuck in my head for weeks and I HAD to look up the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcnH0h69NY

So this was a year ago o:

I found out about Sleepyhead when it actually came out, it was my ringtone for the entire year..

Ever heard of Daikaiju? Or how about Monkey Magic?

Lol at Onmyo-za! Good stuff there!
I can recommend Norway's Audrey Horne or the latest stuff from Ulver, and you can check 2 awesome discs from the band Arcturus: "The Sham Mirrors" and "Sideshow Symphonies"

Guys, I appreciate all the suggestions for music and you should feel free to post em, but it would be good if you could also try and post your thoughts on the state of the music industry to keep this thread on track. ;)

Well, I've got some points.
1. A lot of things in music have been said, but not everything.
2. In this World the ethics and "values" are on a downfall, and people feel less the need to express their feelings.
3. Very few people wants to risk with their music trying new thing or mixing different things in new ways.
4. Very few people wish to dedicate on the study and practice of a real instrument.
5. Lots of people wants to make money quick and don't want to sweat.
6. Downloading stuff is killing the sense of enjoying music and making it, "just ear" music, just fast food songs to eat and munch for a little while.
7. Once great musicians don't have the urge to speak their internal uneasiness anymore.
8. Record companies doesn't support new talents, but only safe bets.

Mix all together and you get a mountain of poo, that is the music today, and yeah, that's invading even alternative music and heavy metal that once were safe havens.
I only enjoy some mental contorted stuff from really extreme bands nowadays, the only place where you find someone that tries in a way or another to push some boundaries further.

Some great points there Omegaslayer. I guess a lot of it is about easy money, safe bets and quick fixes for the download generation. Also, I think with the advent of downloadable music, album art is another factor that has suffered greatly in the music industry. Most albums in the top 50 charts seem to feature a plain "look at me" photo of the singer on the cover of their own album, and just like the music there's very little imagination goes in album art these days. There are still some exceptions, but few and far between. And I agree that metal no longer seems to be the safe haven it once was either, with even that being dumbed down beyond recognition these days.

Talking of cool album art though, here's one of my all time faves, the cover of Jack Off Jill's "Clear Hearts Grey Flowers"...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...px-JOJCHGF.jpg

and a link to one of their songs if anyone wants to hear it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_9XaBfY8X0

On the note that Omega brought up. I play the Tuba... :hero:

and i was on teh webs and found this.

Maybe its old... idk i watched all 13... spoke truth to me. It is a documentary so be warned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPZztrRWjZ8

You know guys, sometimes it's the spirit that is lacking...
When I was 18 I wanted to wreck into the World, now at 32 I can look back and have a good laugh.
I had that spirit even because there was something in the World to wreck, but I guess that people today won't find useful to wreck into ruins :p
Hope you get what I mean.
I still like to do and appreciate things done with the heart, even the simple ones.

I think we just need another punk revolution.

The reason punk happened in the 70s originally was because of all the rubbish "prog rock" (for Britain anyway) that was going on. Prog stands for progressive, and basically the only new music that was being made was like 30 minute songs of people doing mindless guitar solos which didnt add anything to the music and were there just to show off. This was just boring really so the youth decided to fight back and the punk movement happened, so i suggest making a new punk movement!!
let people with real passion for their music come to the forefront!!
woohoo!! REVOLUTION...

but seriously things should change.

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Originally Posted by Skalio-

I think we just need another punk revolution.

The reason punk happened in the 70s originally was because of all the rubbish "prog rock" (for Britain anyway) that was going on. Prog stands for progressive, and basically the only new music that was being made was like 30 minute songs of people doing mindless guitar solos which didnt add anything to the music and were there just to show off. This was just boring really so the youth decided to fight back and the punk movement happened, so i suggest making a new punk movement!!
let people with real passion for their music come to the forefront!!
woohoo!! REVOLUTION...

but seriously things should change.

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There will be eventually a change, but in the future when the current generation gets old and the younger ones get tired of the current stuff, but no one can assure that whatever comes up again will be good or bad, for me the good music is still on the 90's or 80's, but talking about pop music it has always existed (and has evolved with time into what we see today, pop music is music for the majority), IMO punk, metal, alternative and other styles usually have a fraction of people following it not all.

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Originally Posted by Ragnarok

There will be eventually a change, but in the future when the current generation gets old and the younger ones get tired of the current stuff, but no one can assure that whatever comes up again will be good or bad, for me the good music is still on the 90's or 80's, but talking about pop music it has always existed (and has evolved with time into what we see today, pop music is music for the majority), IMO punk, metal, alternative and other styles usually have a fraction of people following it not all.

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I don't believe that any particular genre (or era) of music is "good" or "bad". Contemporary mainstream music has it's merit and it has it's appeal. The problem is that this kind of music has been pushed so hard on us that it has begun to overshadow everything else. It's like cake. Nice to munch on when you fancy a quick snack, but if that's all you were given to eat then you'd quickly get sick of it.

Punk was a phenomenon that also had its social roots.
I only think that people making music should try to do something new.
In my perception and tastes, mostly metal based, 1995-96 has been a golden year...so many bands reared their heads and started to change their music and the perception of it.
Records like:
Amorphis - Elegy
Moonspell - Irreligious
Therion - Theli
In Flames - Jester's Race
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery
Samael - Passage
Tiamat - Wildhoney

Well, I wait for a year like that, something that changes the things even slightly in a small part of music.
Mainstream will never change