Your walls, where are they now?

[Buskuv]

The MD is dead, and has been for some time; needs moar discussion.

I'm really hard pressed to think of something on the fly, but here we go:

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The modern world of music is one that is not only incredibly diverse, in every possible facet imaginable, but also one that cares less for "genres" and more for making music interesting. As post modern as it seems (rofl), more and more music is beginning to fall under and eclectic sub culture, and I would like to discuss that here.

I hesitate to ask, given the assumed response, but; Do you think music has been enhanced because of the deconstruction of musical, and often social, barriers in Modern music? If so, why do you think this is true; why does the fusion and melding of musical styles help add to the sonic repetoire of our modern maniacal musical masquerades?

For another point of discussion, which bands do you think were key in breaking down any barriers between seemingly incompatible, and sometimes hostily so, genres of music; which bands do you think are essential in the forthcoming musical scene, bands that seem to defie convention, description and fan base? Which bands were essential, and which will add to that?

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If this garners enough attention, I'll do musical stagnation rofl

 

[Perverse]

Do you think music has been enhanced because of the deconstruction of musical, and often social, barriers in Modern music?

I think alot of the 'deconstruction' of genre is just intellectual wankery by music journalists who feel a need to compartmentalise music they don't understand. A case in point here would be a band like Red House Painters. While they fall under the broader alternative rock category, music geeks felt the need to subcategorise them under the ridiculous genre tag of 'slowcore,' because their music is slow. Indeed, the '-core' suffix would often be interpreted as of or pertaining to the hardcore scene, however anyone who has heard Red House Painters know their music is about as close to hardcore as Blu & Exile is to death metal.

As for social barriers, I cannot honestly say how that has affected music so greatly. Of course, I think the fact music is so wide in its range of sound, is great when it comes to fusing different genres, which I think relates to your next question:

why does the fusion and melding of musical styles help add to the sonic repetoire of our modern maniacal musical masquerades?

A case of this would be Mike Patton, an established vocalist in metal, working with the X-Ecutioners, a well-known hiphop DJ crew. While I admittedly did not especially enjoy this, there are many genre-bending albums or bands that I have enjoyed immensely, e.g. Estradasphere, Panzerballett, The Blend, etc. From my perspective as to why this music is so awesome, the answer is as follows; I am a fan of music. While I am partial to some genres more than others, first and foremost I am a lover of music. So, thusly, I am a fan of a great many genres, for example folk, ambient, electronica, jazz and hiphop to name a few. Now when genres are melded together, for example jazz and hiphop to take a well known example, for me it's like twice the awesome. You have the hiphop vocals which I love immensely, and the jazz instrumentals which I also love immensely. And when you combine two things a person loves, then by my logic they're bound to love it even more.

The answer above addresses only fusion genres, I have yet to cover proto-genres and the like. So... here I go! I have quite a prominent collection of music on my hard-drive, and oftentimes I get jaded with music in general, especially if I listen to alot of music in a short space of time. I find it important to vary what I'm listening to so as to avoid monotony and boredom. As such, a fresh take on music makes me sit up and take notice, because I've never heard anything like it. Coming to this forum, I was, to put it lightly, a narrow-minded music nub. My taste consisted of almost exclusively hiphop and r'n'b. Now, when I came here, I was flooded with great music. Some I had experienced to a limited degree, e.g. country, rock, metal, etc. Some, however, like ambient and, for want of a better term, 'fuckin' weird' (Estradasphere), were completely new to me, and as such were a breath of fresh air to me. Thusly, I hypothesise that experimental music often breathes life into what can, at times, be a stagnating industry. That's my take on it, anyway.

which bands do you think were key in breaking down any barriers between seemingly incompatible, and sometimes hostily so, genres of music; which bands do you think are essential in the forthcoming musical scene, bands that seem to defie convention, description and fan base? Which bands were essential, and which will add to that?

This question is so unbelievably broad, I can only contribute my knowledge to it, which is admittedly quite limited. To take hiphop for an example, it has its roots in the reggae/dub scene. In that case, dudes like Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Sugar Hill Gang and guys like that were instrumental in breaking open the industry.

For groundbreaking fusion, I cannot honestly say I know all that much about fusion genres. I believe Miles Davis was pivotal in formation of the 'jazz-rock' fusion genre. But as such, there are always genre pioneers, and I cannot say I know too much about anymore really.

There is no one band which I view as essential in the forthcoming music scene. Music needs a strong base of artists; no one band can carry music, and as such we need a variety of musicians from a plethora of genres, discovered and undiscovered, to drive music forward. As far as genre-defying goes, to list a few: Primus, Estradasphere, Buckethead, Rage Against The Machine, Alamaailman Varasat, to name a few.

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That's my very feeble answer to your very awesome question.

 

[Buskuv]

I'm going to wait on a few more responses, but I'm going to add a few cents to the topic of genres, and such.

I hate pidgeonholing bands, I really do. However, even within the context of a large 'genre, such as a metal, certain labels help to describe them very well. An example would be Behold... The Arctopus; Technical Progresive Metal is, as large of a mouthful as it sounds, the best name I could think describe them. If I called them metal, it would be a far cry from other 'metal' bands, from Iron Maiden to Meshuggah to Slayer to Acid Bath and so on. If I described based soley on sound, I'd come up with something like this jumble of nonsense: They are a metal band, but they play really technical metal, sometimes it's really fast, but not always, but it's also spastic and un repetitive, but it also has melody, and it has musical influences from Classical music, Jazz and Avant Garde, and progressive rock.

I hate pidgeonholing, but certain levels of classification will help me find what I'm looking for, at least.

 

[Catatonik]

You say musical deconstruction, I say musical revolution.

I for one believe that the constant mixing of cultures, and ideas, especially in the form of the internet, is going to take music to places we have not even dreamed of yet.

So to answer the back end of your question Doc. Yes, I think the fusion is a good thing.

The breakdown of the Barriers, and genres is another step in the constant change and flow of that primal pulse we all seek to tap. Only...for the first time, you can get access to any AND all types of music, and the really good stuff WILL shine through.

The ever-growing lattice of influences, and inspiration only continues to bring forth more and more talented artists...Buck 65, Diablo Swing Orchestra, The Blend, and *shels are some of the fastest name to my tongue in terms of fusing multiple (often disparate) elements into glorious awesome.

I want to express myself further, but in the end I do not feel I need to.

If I want my point to be heard, I put the music on, and let the cyclical fusion of cultures and arts speak for itself.

 

[Perverse]

The ever-growing lattice of influences, and inspiration only continues to bring forth more and more talented artists...

The Blend is a perfect example of this. While you can hear their rap-rock sound certainly draws on Rage Against The Machine (I can hear Tom Morello's spirit trying to escape through the guitar riffs), they have molded the sound to suit their talents, i.e. the vocalist is more of a pure rapper than Zack de la Rocha, and this shows through in his MCing style. Zack tends to speak/shout, but Toussaint Morrison is an MC's MC. So, I agree, influences help music grow, and as such without any significant influence a music scene would not grow.

 

[Buskuv]

Well, I was trying to get those who often don't speak to do so, but it seems a rather forgone conclusion as to whom is going to be the one replying; case in point, I knew Cata would respond. He did so wonderfully, however, I do wish that others would do so at some point.

When I said musical deconstruction, I did mean genre deconstruction; music is music, regardless of it's influence. The myriad of bands that mix genres, some to the point where it's incredibly others, and others much more subtley, but not more or less amazing than their boisterous counterparts certainly push those "walls" over.

However, since this thread is pretty much a dead end, I think we could tackle the subject of musical stagnation, and how it effects the musical scene, and to what degree.

 

[Catatonik]

The Blend is a perfect example of this. While you can hear their rap-rock sound certainly draws on Rage Against The Machine (I can hear Tom Morello's spirit trying to escape through the guitar riffs), they have molded the sound to suit their talents, i.e. the vocalist is more of a pure rapper than Zack de la Rocha, and this shows through in his MCing style. Zack tends to speak/shout, but Toussaint Morrison is an MC's MC. So, I agree, influences help music grow, and as such without any significant influence a music scene would not grow.

He is...and he is not. Toussaint has a voice that hearkens back to early and soulful rock. He goes from an almost effortless flow of intelligently layered, complex and passionate rhymes, to vibrant rock opera and blues vocal segments. Above all, Toussaint stands as the face of the Blends ability to effortlessly fashion an intricate weave of styles and influences and make it seamless.