tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post4682731617312115624..comments2024-03-28T21:56:51.675-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Songs that "embody the '80s"agnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-25543311566918968322011-10-17T18:29:05.118-04:002011-10-17T18:29:05.118-04:00Hey, sorry for taking awhile to get back. Yeah, al...Hey, sorry for taking awhile to get back. Yeah, all those new wave and synthpop songs are awesome, probably my two favorite movements.<br /><br />The whole Rebel Yell album is one of the greatest ever, and has a stylistic variety that you only find with a King of Pop kind of album like Bad.<br /><br />I was listening to the Talk Talk album It's My Life yesterday, and you'd like that one too. More introspective lyrics, cool vibe, but still with that anxiety / paranoia and fun hooks that characterized new wave. Dum Dum Girl, Such a Shame, It's My Life, Call in the Night Boy -- all worth getting the full album for.<br /><br />I couldn't say what the most sincere kind of music today is. I started tuning it out after that post-punk revival trend died out. That was a brief moment of somewhat carefree music, and now it's back to self-aware irony and commercialism like you said.<br /><br />The whole Franz Ferdinand album was fun, parts of Silent Alarm by Bloc Party, that one song Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Libertines album, Chain Gang of Love by the Raveonettes aka Psychocandy rebooted, Logic Will Break Your Heart by the Stills...<br /><br />I guess the most recent one would be Lust Lust Lust by the Raveonettes, probably the last new album I've bought. They're more like an easy-going cover band, not addicted to navel-gazing irony, and they're imitating a very fun-loving and good-humored period of pop music.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-75301916276871370882011-10-15T20:59:24.280-04:002011-10-15T20:59:24.280-04:00Nice recommendations. I dig the Paula Abdul track...Nice recommendations. I dig the Paula Abdul track but it's about one step short of going all out Madonna, which puts my masculinity in a dangerous position.<br /><br />What are your thoughts about these, off the top of my head:<br /><br />-Human League "Human"<br />-Billy Idol "Eyes without a face"<br />-Gary Numan "Cars"<br />-Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls"<br />-LCD Soundsystem "I Can Change" (actually a 2010 track, I forgot about it in my other comment...one that critics considered a top song of the year)<br /><br />As a separate question, I've heard you praise the 80s for authenticity/sincerity. I see a lot of current radio music as insincere in one of two distinct ways: either blatantly commercialized, or self-aware and ironic. What do you think is currently the most sincere music being made? <br /><br />Shit, on that note, one more and I know I'm starting to get obnoxious, but check out the video for St. Vincent "Cruel" -- melodic but dark and weird. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itt0rALeHE8&ob=av2eMild Speculationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17896987391288790731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-26691610606357520602011-10-15T06:28:53.326-04:002011-10-15T06:28:53.326-04:00Never heard that Sophie B. Hawkins song before. Sh...Never heard that Sophie B. Hawkins song before. Shades of "Stand or Fall" by the Fixx...agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-42438632102332970282011-10-15T05:58:32.305-04:002011-10-15T05:58:32.305-04:00The sound textures are neat-sounding, but that'...The sound textures are neat-sounding, but that's just the skin. The melody, harmony, etc., is the life force underneath.<br /><br />You see the same superficial imitation of the '80s when people who can't loosen up and have fun (like people used to) then put on American Apparel clothes, instead of changing their attitude.<br /><br />I actually bought the album that "Heart and Soul" is on over the summer, and the Gen X guy at the record store recognized it too. If you like that and dig R&B, "Knocked Out" by Paula Abdul is right up your alley.<br /><br />There are lots of hidden gems from the late '80s because by then rock was about to move into alterna territory, so new wave, punk, and post-punk bands didn't sound so up-and-coming anymore. I've been meaning to do a post on all those guys sometime.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-16013917595367936032011-10-14T23:19:24.697-04:002011-10-14T23:19:24.697-04:00Fair enough. I think the whole question of what m...Fair enough. I think the whole question of what makes music sound good to different people is an extremely interesting one.<br /><br />I'll admit that the vocal ranges are limited. Maybe it's readily available technology that allows people to get away with mediocre singing skills. However, I personally love the instrumentation of the new synth-pop stuff. You have to give them credit for rich, multilayered sound texture.<br /><br />I guess if I had to describe in a single word what I go for in music, at least lately, it's "cool." True late 80s/early 90s songs with this sort of vibe that immediately come to mind are Sophie B. Hawkins "Damn I wish I was your lover" and T'pau "Heart and Soul." For you, it sounds more like "fun" or "excitement", which is legitimate. <br /><br />I'm also nostalgic for the early 90s gangsta rap and grunge. Although, at that time I wanted to project "rebellious" and "bad", being the suburban 10 year old that I was.<br /><br />I still won't give up totally on current music, if you dig deep enough into indie stuff, you're bound to find something you like.Mild Speculationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17896987391288790731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-85017976538875517842011-10-14T17:36:48.715-04:002011-10-14T17:36:48.715-04:00Well I've been disappointed with pop music mor...Well I've been disappointed with pop music more than lately, like since the early '90s. Even in middle and high school I was mostly listening to college rock, punk, and arty rock from the later '70s and '80s.<br /><br />To be honest, all five of those songs are soporific. Nothing against them specifically, the whole music culture has lost its pulse.<br /><br />- Languid tempo<br /><br />- Plodding march-step drum rhythm<br /><br />- Little or no syncopation on bass<br /><br />- Keyboard melody used for drowsy, heroin chic effect, rather than building tension<br /><br />- Limited octave range of the voices, and emotion restricted to oozing the words out of the mouth like a Play-doh factory<br /><br />They may have instrumentation similar to an '80s band, but the basic composition sounds nothing like it, belonging clearly to the just-droning-on zeitgeist of the past 20 years.<br /><br />I thought the "post-punk revival" bands who hit it big in the mid-2000s did a decent job of imitating the original sound, though. Probably the last time I'll go out twice a week to dance to new music! But at least there's still '80s night.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-57352899493887809952011-10-14T09:23:51.325-04:002011-10-14T09:23:51.325-04:00I know you're disappointed with pop music late...I know you're disappointed with pop music lately, but there is a sizeable contingent of 80s-inspired, current indie pop artists (who you won't hear about unless you're a music junkie because people don't care about good music any more). Maybe you could call it copy-catting, but most of them have an original spin.<br /><br />Here are a few artists and choice tracks, I'd be curious what you think.<br />Destroyer ("Kaputt")<br />Cut Copy ("Need you now")<br />Twin Shadow ("When We're Dancing")<br />Neon Indian ("Fallout")<br />M83 ("Midnight City")<br /><br />Also, if you haven't seen the movie Drive, it's steeped in 80s aesthetics and has a nice soundtrack too.Mild Speculationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17896987391288790731noreply@blogger.com