Friday, August 04, 2006
Still looking -- nothing to report yet
I'm still trowling the internet looking for good artists to feature here. It is unfortunate that there's so much junk out there, but that's part of the reason why this blog is here. So we continue to sift, and follow many false leads, on our quest to provide our readers (whomoever that might be) with the finest in independent funk and electronic music. If you're curious, I've recently completed a review of the entire funk section on cdbaby and found nothing worth reporting. There are several interesting possibilities, but no one who's really pushing the genre in any direction worth noting.
Not to get too negative, but there is one other thing I'd like to rant about a bit. Why is it that hip-hop is the only musical artform where having new and exciting "beats" is an asset? One of the big disappointments with most music I hear is that everyone reuses the same rhythms. Rock music is especially bad; the newer and currently faddish rock bands don't do much with drums other than use them as a backdrop. Go back and listen, for instance, to the Doors. Now that was some innovative drumming; John Densmore played differently on practically every track. Bands these days, across almost every "genre" of music, seem content to keep reusing the same patterns. The funny thing about it is hip-hop is notoriously a sample-based artform, yet you hear some real innovation with rhythm. Whether it's Kanye West speeding up old soul tracks or the old-school amalgam of different beats to create something new or the Neptunes rolling their own funk, there's a healthy respect for innovative rhythms. Imagine if the same approach to trying something new with beats were to be used in rock music, or funk music, or even jazz (which also seems plagued by this).
O.k., that's enough for now. I will continue to scan for stuff worth listening to, so stay tuned. BTW, if anyone out there happens to hear something they think is cool then feel free to leave a link in the comments. I try to be comprehensive but there is quite alot of music available on the internet...
Not to get too negative, but there is one other thing I'd like to rant about a bit. Why is it that hip-hop is the only musical artform where having new and exciting "beats" is an asset? One of the big disappointments with most music I hear is that everyone reuses the same rhythms. Rock music is especially bad; the newer and currently faddish rock bands don't do much with drums other than use them as a backdrop. Go back and listen, for instance, to the Doors. Now that was some innovative drumming; John Densmore played differently on practically every track. Bands these days, across almost every "genre" of music, seem content to keep reusing the same patterns. The funny thing about it is hip-hop is notoriously a sample-based artform, yet you hear some real innovation with rhythm. Whether it's Kanye West speeding up old soul tracks or the old-school amalgam of different beats to create something new or the Neptunes rolling their own funk, there's a healthy respect for innovative rhythms. Imagine if the same approach to trying something new with beats were to be used in rock music, or funk music, or even jazz (which also seems plagued by this).
O.k., that's enough for now. I will continue to scan for stuff worth listening to, so stay tuned. BTW, if anyone out there happens to hear something they think is cool then feel free to leave a link in the comments. I try to be comprehensive but there is quite alot of music available on the internet...
