KVR :: View topic - What's with all this good music on the radio lately?

KVR :: Everything Else (Music related) » What's with all this good music on the radio lately? [View Original Topic]
There are 26 posts in this topic.

osiris - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:36 am

I hate radio. But it seems lately, at least here in Austin, there's been quite a lot of good stuff on:
We Are Young - Fun
Stronger - Kelly Clarkson
Set Fire To The Rain - Adele
Glad You Came - The Wanted
Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
Wild Ones - Flo Rida
It Will Rain - Bruno Mars
Feel So Close - Calvin Harris
The One That Got Away - Katy Perry

So. What are you listening to now on the radio where you are?

Chuck E. Jesus - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:43 am

osiris wrote:

So. What are you listening to now on the radio where you are?

http://wfmu.org/

dreamkeeper - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:48 am

What's a "radio"? Confused

ntom - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:49 am

I didn't know you were from Austin...actually I bet you mentioned that on that thread I started a couple months back when I mentioned I just moved to Austin.

debra1rlo - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:55 am

Sounds like someone else has acquired a taste for teh Kool Aid. Wheeeeeee

There's maybe one good song on that list but I've even grown tired of hearing that every hour everywhere I go, so... Shrug

heffus - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:56 am

Is this for real?

ntom - Sat Mar 17, 2012 7:59 am

debra1rlo wrote:

Sounds like someone else has acquired a taste for teh Kool Aid. Wheeeeeee

There's maybe one good song on that list but I've even grown tired of hearing that every hour everywhere I go, so... Shrug

I'm going to make a guess and say that's probably either Gotye or Adele.

Oddly enough I haven't heard Gotye played much around here - Austin as well - but I avoid listening to the radio.
Now there have been a couple of times I have gone to a fast food resteraunt - usually a Sonic Drive-In - that is playing Adele...I liked her stuff too, but during the time when I lived in [will not mention that crummy town] I was working at a Sonic Drive-In, and I am not kidding you, during a 4 hour shift, I heard her song "Rolling In The Deep" played 4 times!
I got a little burnt out on her music.

Didn't help that the ladyfriend of that time was obsessed with Adele too....

Bonteburg - Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:03 am

Chuck E. Jesus wrote:

osiris wrote:

So. What are you listening to now on the radio where you are?

http://wfmu.org/

That's an interesting bit on Mike Doghty - thanks!

osiris - Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:27 am

Bobby Bones noticed it Gotye was No. 1 most downloaded and put it on the playlist. The singer sounds eerily like a young Sting.
Oh, don't be radio snobs. I'm just sayin' for teh commercial stuff, I think it's a good year for music.
But no, I don't like hearing music like clockwork.

vurt - Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:08 am

i like that gotye track, reminds me of xtc
need to hear more of his stuff before i make any more comments

i dont really hear the radio at all, except the odd time in taxis, so i dont really get that repetition that most radio stations seem to think is acceptable.
many years ago i worked nights in a supermarket, we used to listen to galaxy, they played the same six songs on a loop every night, for eight hours, and people wonder why i am the way i am. music made me kill...

ntom - Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:11 am

vurt wrote:

i like that gotye track, reminds me of xtc
need to hear more of his stuff before i make any more comments

The one that is played on the radio all the time (apparently) is my least favorite. Don't get me wrong I like it, but I love their song "Eyes Wide Open" and "State of The Art"...of course, I think of my own self and my music plugins when I hear "State of The Art" - watch the video on it, it's very entertaining!

auricle - Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:40 am

ntom wrote:

vurt wrote:

i like that gotye track, reminds me of xtc
need to hear more of his stuff before i make any more comments

I ended up buying Gotye's album after checking out his music on YouTube. I like all the tracks you mentioned plus 'Save Me'

Very talented fellow indeed. He sort of reminds me of a male version of Imogen Heap - interesting, quirky songs with creative arrangements.

heffus - Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:58 am

I stand corrected. State of the Art ain't bad. Gonna check out this Goyte fellow.

osiris - Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:28 am

I'm intrigued as well. I just read a review of the Gotye album and it was mentioned the song on radio rotation was one of many good tracks and possibly not the best one.

herodotus - Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:24 am

osiris wrote:

Oh, don't be radio snobs.

Why not? It's a basic coping mechanism when you feel alienated by the culture that you live in.

I am fairly sure that people would not endure it in polite silence if MY tastes ruled the airwaves. The vast majority of people who are happily bobbing their heads to Katy Perry would put up with 30 seconds of Fantomas before they started texting angrily to the station that had dared to rape their ears in such a fashion.

I don't begrudge people their preferences, but if I don't share them, why should I be silent about it?

ntom - Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:24 am

osiris wrote:

Back to the topic at hand (also, thanks herodotus for pulling this back too - started becoming about Gotye and not the music)
Honestly, I think...well most of this is crap, and of all, I can't STAND Bruno Mars or Flo Rida...besides (childness...) Flo Rida's a stupid name...

I have no idea who "Fun" Is (also apparently I have no idea what fun is either), Kelly Clarkson...meh
Set Fire To The Rain seems a bit out of place, that seems too musically complex and the artist seems far too talented to be on the radio. Yes I don't listen to Adele, but I will admit, this seems like something that really is good that is being played on the radio. Its one of the few I won't say "it's crap" - not that I would listen to it myself, though.
Never heard of "The Wanted". Same thing I said about Adele applies to Gotye. I have no idea who Calvin Harris is and I have a feeling I am glad I don't know, and lastly is Katy Perry. Oddly, I like the person (or at least the person the media portrays) Katy Perry, but I do not like her music.

osiris - Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:22 pm

That's one reason I started this thread - to hear what you're listening to.
Ntom, you have to be more open. I had brushed Bruno Mars off as another piece of premanufactured fluff, and then I saw him on SNL. It was like seeing Jackson moonwalk again. Really impressed.
And I know you may not like Calvin Harris, but like I said the remix of Rhianna's 'Found A Love'(NOT the one you hear on the radio) is a minimalist masterpiece and they don't use teh autotune on the remix. 'Feel So Close' just make me happy every time I hear it. Katy Perry I have a love/hate relationship with. Some of her stuff I love. Some, I will rip the knob off the radio trying to tune to a different station.
I used to cringe getting in tthe car. Most of my trips are too short to listen to anything else. But, for once, I don't mind turning on the radio.
(Although, it IS 2012 and I think we should have buffered radio with songs in queue that you can pick and choose. But that's just me.)

bmrzycki - Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:19 pm

osiris wrote:

That's one reason I started this thread - to hear what you're listening to...you have to be more open.

Since you asked...

Recently I've really enjoyed strong melodic themes presented by artists like Ludovico Einaudi, George Winston, Rada Neal, and Hiroyuki Nakayama (the piano artist of the Final Fantasy 25th anniversary piano operas). It's really made me think more about timing, space, and expressive playing styles. So much of the mood of a piece of music comes from knowing when to add silence. Your city probably has a classical station and I highly recommend listening to it as an alternative. Powerful melodies and harmonies work in many musical genres. Smile

On the synth side of things I really liked Robert Elster's demos of Synth Squad and PocVecem's KVR Diva OSC entry: http://soundcloud.com/pocvecem/pocvecem-panta-rhei-the

The musicians you listed don't do much for me I'm afraid. I probably mind Katy Perry the least of the bunch.

Even so, I'm glad you're finding music to enjoy, that's what it's all about!

EDIT: I just saw that you're here in Austin. Try 89.5 KMFA -- excellent classical. Just avoid it on Sundays unless you're into Operas. Smile

Chuck E. Jesus - Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:18 pm

herodotus wrote:

The vast majority of people who are happily bobbing their heads to Katy Perry would put up with 30 seconds of Fantomas before they started texting angrily to the station that had dared to rape their ears in such a fashion.

I don't begrudge people their preferences, but if I don't share them, why should I be silent about it?

i'll never understand why you think a grown man not liking current pop radio is somehow "controversial", my kids hate that shit too (their crazy daddy gets a fix now and then)...tbh anything with Mike Patton will have me shutting it off quick, i'll also never understand the appeal of that hack...love the Melvins though, to each ones own...

Quote:

alienated by the culture that you live in...

i think all one can do at this point is create their own culture...as far as radio, that shit is over...

osiris - Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:14 am

I hit 89.5 sometimes when I absolutely can't take it anymore.

ntom - Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:39 am

osiris wrote:

I hit 89.5 sometimes when I absolutely can't take it anymore.

In Austin and when I am in the limited broadcast area of 102.7 that's what I am listening to on the radio. I can't remember what station Bob FM is, but that would be a station I occasionally pop by to see if there is anything good.
But for the most part I just put a CD in my car.
Right now this is what I am listening to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTrKiT_berc

osiris - Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:52 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIqul_nF2Ro

I could have died and gone to heaven. The Secret Circle played this on Thursday's show.

I love my Florence and her machine...

herodotus - Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:03 pm

Chuck E. Jesus wrote:

i'll never understand why you think a grown man not liking current pop radio is somehow "controversial"

I don't just hate current pop radio. I hate pop music going back to before I was born. My hate spans the ages.

But the fact is that almost everything that anyone listens to is a form of pop music. What seems to be controversial (though I myself don't understand why) is pointing out that it is NOT the apex of musical civilization. I'm not saying that people who like it are stupid or anything like that. I just don't think that it deserves to be the only music that anyone ever talks about.

And it is the only music that ever gets talked about. Music by people like Boulez and Milton Babbitt and Conlon Nancarrow doesn't even get mentioned (except for the obligatory obituary when they die), while, say, Prince is hailed as a 'genius' over and over again. And no, I am not talking about things written in Spin and Rolling Stone. I am talking about things written (or rather, unwritten) in the New Yorker and the New York Times and other supposedly 'highbrow' publications. A whole musical culture containing some of the most brilliant musicians of the past 75 years is simply ignored by people who should know better, but don't.

And of course the world is filled with non-pop music of every description, most of which is neglected as consistently as Milton Babbitt's music.

Quote:

i think all one can do at this point is create their own culture...as far as radio, that shit is over...

I agree about creating your own culture. But radio isn't nearly over enough for me. I won't be satisfied until it is dead and buried and silent forever.

And I, too, love the Melvins.

spacedad - Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:04 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/

SoundSonicTeam - Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:15 am

spacedad wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/

I hear you spacedad. You want to listen to proper radio? Listen to 6music!

wrench45us - Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:32 am

I only listen to sports talk radio or Public Radio news in the car. I gave up on radio for music over 10 years ago,
but recently was convinced to give Pandora a try.
Last time around I gave up on Last.fm, but Pandora seems a lot smarter and less repetitious
Massive Attack station seems to really capture that atmosphere from mid 90's. Maybe it takes some time to get this right. And Bill Evans station is brilliant.

There are 26 posts in this topic.