Comment on The radical woke subliminal message in Bad Bunny's halftime performance

• BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, so I love Classic Rock and New Wave. But I also have a degree in music history, so I know classical music inside and out. When I was a teen, and my friends all worked at McDonalds, I was playing gigs in a 15 piece Big Band, so I also love jazz.

  Then I got a job with a major record label, managing all the fun genres - classical, jazz, world music, blues, soundtracks, etc. Since then, I’ve worked for many classical labels, jazz and folk labels, a really cool Chinese label that recorded ancient Chinese folk, classical, and indigenous music in perfect audiophile sound, etc. One of my favorite tracks is an old guy in Yunnan province, who plays a LEAF. Just puts it between his lips, and blows, playing beautiful melodies with subtle nuances, on a fucking LEAF!

  After decades of listening to, playing, and writing about all sorts of music, I don’t really hear it in terms of styles or genres anymore. It’s all just music to me, and while it’s kind of cliche, it’s just broken up between good and not so good music, and frankly, I decide which is which based on my own trust in my own musical taste. You are perfectly welcome to disagree. Doesn’t bother me at all if you like something different.

  BTW, I say “not so good” music, because I would never disparage a genuine musician who is genuinely expressing themselves musically. I may not like it, and it may not be played or recorded well, but they’re a musician so I respect their art. I don’t care much for Metal, but I get it. I can even like a lot of it from a technique perspective. A lot of those guys can really play, I’m just not big fan of the music that results. I feel that way about a lot of country. Great playing, not a fan of the music so much.

  OTOH, scum like Kid Rock, who use their “music” as propaganda to oppress others, including musicians, deserve hatred from the true world of music.

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  • MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I grew up in the 90s and 00s so I’m sure I have a very different relationship with the music of the second half of the last century, but I love new wave with devo being one of my favorite bands of all time. I can also certainly enjoy some classic rock. I also love to listen to high quality recordings of classical pieces and especially love folk and the blues. I’m not very familiar with Chinese folk but would love to hear your leaf guy lol.

    For me punk and other hardcore genres are a huge part of my taste but I also love Latin music, pop, emo, prog rock, psychedelic, most hip hop genres, and a lot of indie genres that are debatably separate from ‘rock’ but that kind of splitting hairs.

    I agree with you that a lot of country is not so great but I think that has a lot to do with the “kid rock effect” you mentioned where many of those artists create propaganda at the expense of artistry.

    But really my main point is there is good to be found in every genre and in the same way you don’t need to be Hispanic to enjoy bad bunny you don’t need to be a Chinese arborist to enjoy a man playing a leaf.

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    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Valid.

      My issue with country is the same as any genre - about 90% of it is actually pretty mediocre, at best. About 5% is pretty good, and 5%, maybe less, is really great. Chris Stapleton? As good as it gets in any genre.

      The main problem with most country music is the lyrics. You can literally play Country Music Bingo, with squares that include Jeans, Boots, Cowboy Hats, Trucks, Beer, Bars, Dogs, America, Country Girls, etc., and that gets old, and stupid, really fast. OTOH, you could say nearly the same thing about Classic Rock, singing about partying, cars, etc., and Metal gets really weird.

      But Country MUSIC? Like the song says"Nashville Cats, play clean as country water…"

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