All this new whiny, boohoo, hipstery, folky, plinky plonk on my guitar and bells stuff I hear on commercials and in the coffee shop really pisses me off. I'll take all the Dylan and Young you can throw at me over that stuff any day.
That shit is next level awful.
You are all idiots. Especially formby.
Joni is great, Bob is great and still doin it, , Neil Young is fantastic - but only mainly in loud Crazy Horse mode, WM you must love the ode to his car, Long May You Run, if not you are an idiot. Cohen is great,
But formby old buddy pop music is great. I'm no snob. I love one hit wonders and great pop. I'm a man with a collection of versions of the all time great:: Louie Louie and a jukebox that plays only vinyl singles. I do admit at the moment I am listening to Faure Requiems. Wild Sat night hey?
Pop music has some of the best songwriters the world has ever seen. I think "Like a Prayer" is as close to songwriting perfection as you can get outside of some Beach Boys stuff. The drawback is you have shit pop stars like Madonna singing them.
I like 99% of genres. Folk is not one. That stuff s pseudo artistic shit and Joni Mitchell should be beaten with a rubber hose.
Modern pop music can suck a nice, long, hot, wet fart out of my ass. But a lot of pop music from back in the day is utterly brilliant music. Back when it was written and arranged by people that had a knack for knowing what people wanted to hear coupled with a great understanding of music theory and composition. And the musicians employed were at the top of their game too. I'm talking here about "pop" artists like Glen Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, The Andrews Sisters, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Mamas and the Papas, and so on and so forth.
And Dog, one late night when you're bit buzzed off something do me a favor and put on Song for a Seagull or Clouds by Joni. I'm serious. I used to completely discount her in exactly the same way you do - whiny, feminist, folky bullshit. But those two albums contain, in my opinion, some brilliant music. A lot of the songs contain some pretty subtly twisted structures and chords. I would think as a guitar player, you'd find it at least intriguing.
Yep, this is ace:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2rfbuaMXKM
But I still preferred Suzanne Vega when I had a crush on her back in the 80s.
Neil Young takes himself way too seriously. The epitome of a legend in his own mind.
Bob Dylan... completely sui generis. He is beyond music and his many explorations baffle even his hardcore fans. Good sign.
As for Joni, who amongst us didn't ever want to f*@k a hippie chick? So whenever I listened to her I kind of had that in the back of my mind so the experience was never without very pleasant moments.
As for modern pop/country, listen to this by Sturgill Simpson- prized line right up Shooeys wavelength:" There is a gateway in our minds that leads somewhere out there far beyond this plane, where reptile aliens made of light cut you open and pull out all your pain"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWx6csgGkg4
stanshall : Tonights the Night is one of the all time great albums. Rust is good too. WELD is funny and enjoyable.
Modern American "country" music you hear played on the radio, essentially over-produced and cheesy pop rock with twangy voice thrown in to make it really legitimate country (hah), is some of the worst music I've ever heard.