jmontroy

Call it what it is? And what is that? It is a simple song. That's pretty much the point, as I'm sure you'd agree. As to Björk singing out of tune, I don't know what you're talking about. The style doesn't necessitate pitch-perfect intervals and such, so she slides around a lot. But as to not singing in tune, well...she agrees note for note with the studio recording, so there it is. Glad you liked it though...the Punch Brothers song is really something else too, if you get the chance.

So if anyone wants one particular definition of "brilliant yet complex pop music" (mine), here's some examples. Gentle Giant: Not totally my thing anymore, but is pretty much the definition of "complex, classically oriented prog rock". The counter-argument for every discussion like the one in this thread. Punch Brothers: Bluegrass reaching its potential. This band has (unsurprisingly) mad classical influence, but this song? Pure, dissonant pop. Hooks galore. SiKth: Warning: death-ish metal with potentially grating vocals. Metal is a fascinating genre simply because of the purely dissonant tonal language it tends towards, and nowhere is that easier to see than siKth. If you get past the potentially annoying vocals and metal timbre of the music (which like, none of you will, I'd guess), the rhythms and tonality is incredibly ambitious and complex. Like, INCREDIBLY complex. Yet still...it's pop music, or at least it uses the form of pop music. Yea, it's metal, but in terms of chorus/verse/bridge sort of structure, it's pop. Björk: You all know her. But particularly on the album Vespertine, she pushes hard. I'm not gonna talk about it, because I think this song in particular speaks right to the soul. If you disagree, we don't have much to talk about. Just my two cents. If you peak harder at pretty much every one of these artists, you'd find that they all love classical music. But times are a-changin', so they don't make classical music. EDIT: Damn, composer phil dude. We joined the same date, yet you been buuuusy post-wise! Already like 13x my post count...

Fair enough. Can't blame a dude for inquiry. Interesting age span on this forum, it seems. That's good...keeps musicians of all generations in touch. Fun personality span too. My take is that a dude is drawn to what he's drawn to. I agree that life is long and tastes develop dramatically, but they also may not. I doubt I'll ever have the palette for pure country music. But I also I thought I could never have a palette for hip-hop/rap, pure pop, dubstep, bluegrass, and, well...classical music! Seriously! It's not even been a matter of 'keeping an open mind' or something. I think that the music that speaks to you will speak to you, regardless of genre or age. Your main task is just to keep looking for that music. And if it's all in one genre, or in every genre, so be it (I love looking through my music library for that though - Ravel next to Rage Against the Machine catches my eye currently. mash-up, anyone?). But I definitely think there's something to learn from pop music. There's a reason people like it so much. And I think it's important to think about those reasons (beyond going 'pff, no taste') and understand them .They might even help your own music. I mean, there are good reasons why Lady Gaga is so huge right now. Some of those reasons have nothing to do with her music...but some do.

Oh my goodness dude, you've never heard of the Backstreet Boys or Eminem? Eminem is coming back right now, you've probably heard something of his. But Backstreet Boys?! That's my childhood right there...any child of the early 90s/late 80s will know EVERY WORD to "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. It's nostalgia city for all of us, like Spice Girls too. Well, fair enough. Man, what did you 2000s kids grow up? I guess you're still in the process, but uhh...dubstep? Bieber? Taylor Swift? Now I feel out of touch. Yea, I'm weird about classical music, but I'll get there. Brahms is certainly a genius and generally the man, even if his music bores me. ^Hey dude above, mind elucidating? Sounds serious, but since I don't know where you come from, I can't fill in the gaps here.

Classically speaking? You'd be set with Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Holst and Whitacre, if he counts. Nothing pre-1850 would be on there. But that wouldn't come close to the whole picture. There would have to be some Björk, Imogen Heap, Radiohead, Punch Brothers, Porcupine Tree, Devin Townsend, Mute Math, and tons of other weird bands like them. I admire the hell out of classical music, and some of it really gets me. But I'm probably gonna end some sort of bizarre pop musician. I mean, come now, my bare roots were Eminem and the Backstreet Boys as a young youngster around 1999. Then I moved onto Dream Theater for a loooong time, until 14, when I discovered my true niche with Porcupine Tree. Hi, I'm new here, and my irreverent opinions on some classical music might irritate. :)

I do hear orchestrations and melodies and such (I get the same floaty cello melody in my head every time I'm in an airplane...), but mostly I hear the corresponding emotion I want the music to generate. I don't have all the theory in hand to know exactly what it is I'm hearing, but I know how it makes me feel, and I know it's right when I reproduce on piano or Finale and I get that same emotion. But yea, stuff is swirling in my head literally all day.