Music Feature: Push yourself to listen to something new
Music is something that has always been a huge part of my
life. To me, it's not just a happy melody to enjoy in the car, or a beat to
dance to. It can affect me in truly profound ways; make me feel immense joy,
remind me vividly of past events, give me hope and determination, or even
overwhelming sadness.
Beyond that, I've always found that I tend to enjoy music
for reasons which are often completely overlooked by many others. I hear the
intricacies in complex bass-lines, the depth of multi-part harmonies, the
dynamics that playing in an abnormal time signature can create. As a result of
this, I find myself enjoying a rather eclectic mix of genres: hip-hop/rap,
metal, progressive rock, dance, pop, jazz/blues and classical. I rarely avoid a
band based on their genre alone.
The other odd thing about me is that I tend to overlook
the lyrics in most songs. Not deliberately, but because they almost always take
a back seat to the music in my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy
listening to lyrics, and I certainly respect many artists for the sheer poetry
of them. I simply find myself distracted by the vocal melody. If a band’s
singer is particularly lacklustre, or uses very unimaginative vocal melodies,
they will most likely not interest me. It’s very unlikely that I’d listen to a
song which was essentially a poem, sung with a half hearted vocal melody
composed of only a few notes, accompanied by a few basic open chords strummed
in the most basic 4/4 rhythm.
I've often felt that people can fall too easily in to
listening to only one style/genre of music. For example: they hear an IronMaiden song for the first time through a friend, and are intrigued; they then hunt
down and absorb their entire repertoire. They then decide that they are
officially a "metal-head", and begin listening to other key bands
within that genre like Metallica, and eventually move on to newer additions
like Slayer, Slipknot, Trivium etc.
First of all, I'm not in any way discrediting these bands, or that genre of music. I only use this as an example, as it's one that I've encountered the most. I've met many people who have become so entwined in the work of a select few heavy metal bands, that when someone mentions that they like Radiohead, or The Beatles, they are shot down immediately and dismissed with comments like: "That stuff's too tame.", "Boring...", "Those guys don't shred, they're such bad guitar players!"
This really digs at me. I’ve been playing guitar on and
off for about 7 years now, and I spent most of that time drawing inspiration
from guitar players like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Paul Gilbert
and John Petrucci (to name few). I’m not
claiming to be an excellent guitar player, but I know good playing when I hear
it, and in my personal experience many people just don’t. Many will rave on
about solos from new age indie/rock/pop/whatever the hell genre they are bands
where the lead guitarist will simply play the same chords used tirelessly
throughout the rest of the song, but, wait for it... really fast! Yeah,
I’m not impressed...
This goes one step further, whereby many people can’t
seem to separate what are indisputably the best guitar players on the planet,
from guitarists who are pretty good but write very good songs. An example of
this would be Led Zeppelin. They are undoubtedly an iconic band; they have
produced some of the most important rock songs ever. The problems arise when
fans use this as an excuse to name Jimmy Page as one of the the best
guitar players ever to have lived, when in fact many of his solos were in fact
quite limited on a technical level. I’m not saying that for a solo to be good,
it needs to be complex, I’m simply making the point that any of the guitarists
I mention above could play these “amazing” solos in their sleep. They are more
talented, more technically accomplished,and deserve a lot more recognition.
Anyway, I feel I’ve digressed somewhat. The main point
I’m trying to make with this article is that I feel that often truly
spectacular music is overlooked by the masses; their views, taste, and
understanding biased by the media. The most recent culmination of this problem,
was in my opinion, the outcome of the recent Grammys. My favourite band: DreamTheater, were nominated. They are undoubtedly some of the most talented,
technically proficient virtuosos ever to form a band. They have over their 27
year existence, produced 12 spectacular studio albums, and have truly set the
bar for modern progressive rock/metal music. Their ability appears limitless;
switching seamlessly between style, time signature, rhythmic pattern, tempo,
usually all within one song. The result of this being that every album of
theirs is a magnificent musical journey.
Of course, the Grammy’s being the almighty mainstream
parade that they are; every award in the Rock/Metal category was snatched up by
the Foo Fighters. Now, the Foo Fighters are a good band, with some truly
brilliant songs, but really? Every award in the category? Come on...
It was a similar story in many other categories too. With
“Glee: The Music, Volume 4” being nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for
Visual Media. Now, Glee gets a lot of stick, frequently accused of being
entirely commercialised and fake. This is to some extent true, but the actors
really can sing, and many have utterly brilliant voices and have starred on
Broadway. Furthermore, despite how much they are put down by narrow-minded diehard
fans of the originals, many of the Glee covers of classic songs are actually
pretty damn good. In fact, musically, they are often better realised than the
original tracks, as they are performed by such amazingly talented studio
musicians, and produced to such a high standard (There,
I said it. Shoot me). All of this aside, I’m not convinced that Glee really
deserved a nomination, when so many other great soundtracks were clearly
overlooked.
Another result that annoyed me was the Best New Artist
category. This was won by Bon Iver: a pretty good band, but not exactly ground
breaking stuff. They were nominated along with Skrillex, who varies in quality,
but is generally just substandard drum and bass akin to the sounds of Transformers
on steroids. Also, Nicki Minaj, who is responsible for such unforgettable
classics as “Stupid Hoe”. This bugs me
because bands like Haken and Aspera/AboveSymmetry have come in to being around the same
time, showcasing extraordinary ability and promise in the progressive rock /metal scene, and the latter doing so at only 19 years-old.
This is the sad truth about the music industry: raw
talent simply isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. The awareness and
success of artists who push the boundaries of musicianship and creativity is
diminished by over-hyped celebrities with very little aptitude, who rely
heavily on excellent studio musicians, computers and audio mastering wizards to
produce anything vaguely good.
It’s not all bad news, though. Bands like Dream Theater
still exist and continue to flourish in their own way. Those determined enough
will continue to break through the restrictive walls of the media, and seek out
and enjoy truly good music. It’s all too easy to sit back and allow Radio 1 DJs
to feed you what they have decided is the
must have music of the time. Given, sometimes they do actually get it right.
But if you regard yourself as a true music lover, and find your ears craving
for more meaningful and exciting sounds, then you must take things a step
further and try new genres.
Go in to a music shop, whether it is physically or via
the wonders of the internet, and pick up something from the opposite side of
the shelf. If you normally plod straight over to the chart section, why not try
some metal? If you enjoy dubstep, why not find out where it all came from and buy
a drum and bass compilation? If you enjoy guitar driven hard rock and metal
like Metallica, why not listen to Kirk Hammet’s teacher, and guitar superhero:
Joe Satriani?
Perhaps these are bad examples, and I’m not promising
that this strategy will work every time, but eventually you’re bound to uncover
treasure troves of musical delights you’d have never imagined yourself
enjoying. There is so much good music out there to be discovered, and if you
are like me, a musical explorer, I salute you. If you are stuck in a rut, bound
to a single genre, or struggling to find new things to listen to, then I hope
that this article has in some way helped. I hope that this will only be the
beginning, and I intend to write more, showcasing both my all time favourite
bands/songs, and updating you on any and all interesting new finds as they
happen.
Farewell, and happy listening.
- Michael Palmer 
