It's evolution, baby!

[brettw]

You know what I'd like to hear? A massive compilation of music chronicling the musical trends throughout the 20th century, linked by explanations of how one trend influenced the next. I believe that something like this (correctly done) would be culturally important. And cool

Comments

Warning: music nerdism ahead

[ourglasslake]

This is something my brother and I talk about a lot, mostly because he really really hates punk of all kinds and likes to tell me how silly it is (not that I really listen to punk). I just wanted to set the record straight about what punk really was a reaction against, because it wasn't really the hippie rock of Jimi Hendrix (that would leave like a decade of no musical change in the middle), but rather against progressive rock (ah, here's why my brother cares!). Prog rock was an attempt to bring classical sensibilities to popular music, hence the really long instrumental sections, etc. Punk was about bringing music to everyone, and this is why my brother hates it; he sees it as talented musicians being usurped by some grungy guys going "hey, we don't need to care about music theory or actually play instruments to make music!"

Which, of course, people don't. But if your favorite music is progressive rock and you're a composition major, it's gotta hurt just a bit. ;)

Re: Warning: music nerdism ahead

[brettw]

Cheers :)

I had missed the link. I had based it off a quote that after the brilliance of Hendrix, musicians went nuts on noodling away at a guitar in massive, pointless solos. Which, as you mention, is more prog rock than hippie rock. I had missed that it was the bit after Hendrix, not Hendrix himself.

I'm not a big fan of punk in any form, but I have a respect for it. And if people felt it was more relevant than prog rock, then that's it :)

Re: Warning: music nerdism ahead

[ourglasslake]

No, it wasn't just you...I felt like the article made that jump without filling much in in the middle. There's ten years of musical innovation there!

I think punk didn't totally trump prog...there are still a lot of prog artists still out there and making music. And coming of the progressive family tree are things like post-rock, like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, etc. So it's not like one trumps the other, but the musical tree did have a huge, huge split there.

Re: Warning: music nerdism ahead

[brettw]

Part of the idea of the original post is that I'd love to see these splits in the musical tree. Not for taxonomical reasons, but to see where you can take a genre. It's a counterargument to the idea that one particular genre is the be-all and end-all. And the interesting thing is, conversely, how genres never really die. Certain genres take the limelight for a while, but not completely and not forever.

The only thing you have to be wary of is people classifying music like it's a Starbucks coffee: post-neo-new-wave-soul-punk with metal fusion sensibilities. But you know, with rap bits. :)