Alternative rock act Bidwell is beginning to garner attention with their latest release “Something Real”. The band has upcoming show dates with Vogue In The Movement and One Hot Minute. Check out the track Beauty Queen. Contact: northstarmgr@aol.com
Bidwell
God, I love the irony here. A generic, predictable, by-the-numbers rock ballad drenched in auto tune about finding “something real.” They’ve got the rock star hair cuts, the rock star clothes, & the rock star moves down pat… I’m sure they’re right on the verge of finding “something real.” They’re certainly moving in the right direction.
The recording totally & completely undermines the sentiment. Just once I would love for one of these songs to be about “I’m trying to sell you an image. I would like to be different but I’m afraid of being poor. I’d love to make an honest recording but we paid a lot for this pro-tools guru so we’re letting him do his thing.” At least that’s honest. If you’re up front about it, at least I don’t feel like I’m being treated like an idiot.
These kinds of bands are so insulting. It’s no wonder no one wants to pay for music anymore.
Jon, I think Bidwell is better than most acts, the band has a decent fan base. But I do agree, most of these bands in this genre are insulting and yes, no one wants to pay for music. I wouldn’t blame them. Have you seen the lights video we posted? Auto-tune heaven!
Until artists use their imagination again, they won’t be able to survive. Check out Brittany McDonald – she seems to be an up and coming artist; seems that she actually creates.
I finally saw Bat For Lashes here in Atlanta, and she is definitely something real.
I’m fairly certain Jon, that you have no idea what your talking about. As someone who knows the guys in this band, I can tell you they are guys who earnestly enjoy the music they are playing and who cares what style it is? It may not be for you, but just because you live on some magic cloud of pretentious music elitism doesn’t mean that your taste in music is any better than other peoples. Some people want to listen to Dream Theatre and play what essentially amounts to 7 minute songs containing mostly just various solos. Others want their earnest sounding acoustic indie-rock. Some like an angst ridden hard rock song down-tuned to Drop-C and some just want jazz fusion. All of these people come from the same place, its music that appeals to them and they want to emulate that style. These guys just happen to like the catchy infectious synthy powerpop rock deal. I don’t see the point where your opinion of their music becomes more important than theirs. Beyond that, How do you come to the conclusion that its fake based on genre if you don’t even know the people who made the music? None of this will change your mind Im sure though because to take such a high and mighty stance against a band based on a first impression like that shows a strong lack of reasoning. At the end of the day, in my, and many others out there, opinion is that Bidwell makes some great catchy music that is alot of fun and really sticks in my head, and that’s what I want from a band like this.
whats REALLY ironic here, mr jon cole, is how readily you assume to know things while the title of your blog is “could be mistaken”.
and while you probably shun the pop genre and any struggling bands trying to find footing in a market that is huge and very imperfect, you sit behind your own little bullshit cloak with your own terrible music that you “sometimes” write when you aren’t “sometimes” playing drums for your super REAL band “death on two wheels”. doesn’t look like that band has much going on either. strange how your quest for Real, Really isnt working out.
your myspace status is “scored 100% on the Bob Dylan quiz” wow man, bob dylan was amazing and real and you scored 100% on his quiz, by the rules of transitivity, YOU must be amazing and real!
and if bidwell is insulting to you, i’d say you were insulting to bob dylan and the other greats you keep trying so hard to associate yourself with…on myspace of all places haha. you obviously have nothing to contribute besides a terribly cliche critique.
yea thats right, your critique is more cliche to me than bidwell.
oh and your myspace headline is spot on, and dylan couldn’t have said it better in your case,
“a hard rain’s a-gonna fall”
that “hard rain” is the weight of your own hypocrisy.
keep it real, BRO!
All opinions are not equal, all songs are not equal, all musical genres are not equal, all motives for making music are not equal. The only purpose that politically correct statements serve is to make people feel good about themselves. That’s all bullshit & you should go ahead & unsubscribe from all of those notions.
But I don’t make my comments because I prefer a certain type of music to this type of music. I make them because the recording undermines the sentiment of the song. The production “quality” is a wall between the sentiment, a yearning for “something real,” and the listener. When Nirvana played, the music complimented the sentiment & that’s what made it so affecting. That’s how music can be magical, you can twist melodies & rhythms to make people understand what you’re saying on a deeper, more visceral level.
When I hear this song I don’t get the idea that they’re seeking anything real, I think they’re seeking what’s already been defined in a formula, from their hairstyles to their moves onstage to their youtube videos. If there’s something sincere & honest that motives them beneath all of that, it’s lost on me. It falls flat, it’s an empty sentiment. Like a Halmark card.
I’m sure they’re great guys with good intentions, they’re just misled. Which would be fine, but it’s such a spectacle, so much effort has been put into legitimizing it that people will buy into it. But this formula, the overly-earnest, easily-replicated, “good vibes” tween-appeal pop/rock, has been promoted so much that it’s become a revolving door genre that people only buy into on a very surface level for a short amount of time. It’s easily accessible but just as easily discarded. And it’s a formula that made the music industry tons & tons of money in the 90’s, but now it’s why no one really cares about music anymore. It’s a formula, it’s an unaffecting mass marketed product. And now people don’t buy music. And now bands don’t get tour support. And now even the legitimate bands, my friends’ bands, have to give their merch money to the labels. And now it’s all pretty much a big joke.
Nothing against your friends, don’t take it personally. They want to be pop stars, fine. I don’t have a personal problem with them for that. It’s endearing, really. But realistically, whether or not they intend to be or whether or not they’re aware of it, they’re a part of a cancer that affects a lot of people.
If anything is clear, it’s that sincerity is the future of music. If you aren’t sincere, if you aren’t more than just a Halmark card, people are just going to download your shit & then forget about you a week later when they download someone else’s shit that sounds exactly the same, but was created with the latest version of Pro-Tools.
Ian – Regarding my blog title, that’s the truth, for sure. I’m just some guy making comments on a blog. Take it for what it’s worth. Of course I could be mistaken. That’s to be understood. But a negative opinion is just as valid as a positive opinion, right? Opinions aren’t only valid when they’re positive. And the industry is heading down the toilet, at this point I think that all opinions should be heard because the status quot isn’t getting us anywhere. Do you agree? If you want to offer a counter-opinion, you’re free to express it. I’d rather debate that, though, than defend what’s on a myspace I haven’t updated in 10 months. I’ve got free time, but not that much free time. I do appreciate the critique, though. It’s good to know what people think of you.
And for the record I no longer play in Death On Two Wheels & haven’t for a long time. But I believe in them whole-heartedly because they’re sincere & they’re original, which is how all great bands start, right?
I concur with Jon’s comments. The members of Bidwell should be disparaged for making music neither Jon nor I enjoy listening to. What chance do all the real and legitimate bands have to make and produce truly great music (of course without Pro Tools) when aggressive bands like this spring up like urban sprawl ravaging beautiful countryside? Fans, record companies, and real bands must seriously consider letting Jon or whomever he appoints the authority he clearly and most deservedly is owed to filter out all music and recording methods that fail to comply with his superior standards we must now adopt.
In fact, it would not be too much to suggest that Jon find a way to restrict further publishing of past songs that do not meet his standards; sort of an inferior music genocide project. I have no doubt Jon could formulate the correct and proper methods and software tools to eliminate all unwanted and unnecessary songs. In no time at all the entire recording and music industry could be made to come correct after a slight but terrible detour seemingly led by the devious Digidesign company and Antares. ProTools and Autotune should be made to first suffer and then die. Next Bidwell should suffer the same fate. I’m throwing away my Victrola and getting out the phonographic cylinders so I can hear some real music! If Obama adds National Music Czar as a Cabinet position there’s little doubt about who will be appointed.
haha Very well put, James, but I think you’re missing my point & taking things too personally.
My problem is not with a sound or a genre or a band or a song, & honestly I like that there’s room to move at the shows I go to. I don’t wish that my favorite bands become the next big thing because they aren’t those kinds of bands. And my comments aren’t for a second going to keep this band from being successful, because 1) my opinion is just my opinion & 2) they’ve done absolutely everything right. But there’s a bigger problem with what’s universally agreed upon as “right.” People buy into it, sure, because that’s what you do… it’s such a spectacle that you feel foolish not buying in. And it’s a convincing spectacle, for sure. But can you really believe in it? When the end goal is homogeneity? When things sound so digital & mechanical? When you’ve seen & heard it all before? When the sale is so largely based on the packaging? This has been the path for quite a while now & the resulting big picture is pretty bleak.
The problem here is not whether or not I, personally, enjoy a particular song by a particular artist, whether or not it meets my standards. The problem here is that consumers in general don’t believe in music enough to support it. What caused the apathy? I’m saying the answer is, among other things, homogeneity. Everything in society is becoming more & more disposable in an effort to gain mass appeal, this is how it plays out in music.
But that’s a larger debate, and a fan or a friend of Bidwell isn’t obligated to argue it. Bidwell is is what it is & they do what they do better than most competing bands, I just think there’s big flaws in the formula. Perhaps I should’ve found a more neutral place to make my point.
agreed w/ Jon Cole. all these other idiots have their panties in a twist b/c the band got called out for playing lame, generic music.