whatever.

In the 1970’s people felt the rock was boring and dull. There were people out there who said screw it and went to make their own music, which later became known as punk rock. That died out and music became boring again in the late 80’s. I remember that time very clearly and it was boring as hell. I hated half the crap that was on the radio and the videos sucked. I remember the petshop boys ” Money ” in 1987 being on heavy rotation. It was released in ‘83 and then again in ‘87 with an up dated version….booorrrrinnnnggg! I started to listen to older music from the sixties and fifties….it was my parents music and i thought it was great.

Then in i heard Nirvana’s nevermind album which became popular through word of mouth, I wasn’t drawn in completely, but it lead me to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. This was all great till about 1996 when grunge was dead after it had been marketed to death. And everything was called Alternative….even when it wasn’t alternative any more.

It’s 2008 there’s great bands out there and there playing music that you like, but you have to find them. Half of the grunge bands that came out in the early ninties had already been playing grunge music years before the whole movement. Mudhoney just released a new album, and from what i hear they remaind true to their original grunge sound.

Anyways don’t expect for the radio to hand it to you on a platter….you have to find it, the thing as you get older the less time you have to spend looking for those bands. I wish the Emo look would go away though,can’t get pass the Anime hair and skinny jeans, but i’m old, maybe the next generation.

Let’s also face the fact that it’s all about image now – People are more likely to care about how attractive the ‘artist’ is or how much money said ‘artist’ makes instead of whether or not the music sucks. So, I suppose we can blame the average music consumer as well. Just give them a dance beat and a pair of nice tits and they are happy.

kid rock is ok, minus the antics. I do sorta like rock and roll jesus.

the most real artist to date is NAS and i’m not even a big hip hop fan. there is a massive lack of substance.

Case in point: the rock band Dir-en-Grey regularly sells out shows in the Los Angeles area and tours with other well known rock bands despite being a JAPANESE ROCK band. Due to internet word of mouth and Japanophile acculturation, however, they have a loyal international following.

Consequently, a small Japanese/American Rock scene is growing up in areas like Spain and the U.S (especially L.A). I’ve seen Thee Out Mods (an LA-based Japanese Punk Band) fill up rooms and Random Ninjas (an LA-based Jap/American Fusion band) fill clubs like the Whisky. All the while their American/English counterparts sometimes seem to have difficulty gathering an audience.

In anycase, though I just happen to be into L.A’s music scene, the principle remains the same across the board: you don’t have another cultural/musical revolution by constantly yearning for the past. Today’s audience is increasingly of an global mindset- these kids can still like fall-out boy or whomever they hear on the radio, but just as often they’re exposing themselves to music from other countries, cultures, and niches that the major labels are hesitant to tap.

The niche cultures of today are tommorows revolutions. Just don’t complain if you refuse to see beyond your own limited cultural perspective and constantly seek “the good ole’ days”.

/Sorry, rant off

great acts.