Some people are meant to listen others to play

[Zer0PointEnergY]

that site is evil. its just not even funny

I don't think you Understand.

[theblue1]

Man. If I find myself on your station I'm coming after you, fumbling. Don't forget I'm only about an hour and a half away.

[theblue1]

Dude. If the main part of "She's Hot" wasn't hilarious enough (and I laughed out loud at least four times) the ending is one of the most stupefying moments I've come across on record.

It's not that unusual for people who are thoroughly incompetent to produce laughably horrible music.

But this guy has obviously spent a little bit of time grinding his axe in front of the TV (well... where else is something like the outro cadenza gonna make the slightest bit of aesthetic sense?) Truly, truly jaw-dropping. And terribly funny... for a while. But, like Terminator 2, it just keeps coming at you -- long, long after the laughter dies and you just don't care anymore.



But, it's still a bit of a let down when I jump over to War Iz On by Thuggin It (or is it the other way around?). Yes, it's certainly amazingly bad -- even by the standards of what presumably are white suburban MCs fresh from a conscioussness raising trip to hang out under the elevator at the mall. But there's something crushingly depressing about it, too.

If there was any justice in this world the record labels and their execs who got rich off real thug music would have a pair of headphones clamped onto their heads and get a 24/7 pipe of Thuggin It... I think Suge Knight would start getting the big picture after a few weeks steady exposure to these guys. Yo.

[Fumbling on Ecstasy]

"She's hot" reminds of a song I would've written when I was 16. At that age I spent countless hours in front of the TV running scales and arpeggios on my guitar. Don't worry blue, you'll never wind up on any of these stations. I don't think you could be that bad if you tried.

[theblue1]

Fumbling

Don't be too sure.

When I was just a young punk starting out I did this recording using two cassette machines and ping ponging between them. My rhythm track was from an LP called Drum Drops... tracks by a pro drummer you could use instead of a drum machine (which were really expensive back then -- a digital machine (one of the new Linn Drums) was a couple grand and a good analog was half that. Most of the tracks (presumably intened to be edited on tape into a more coherent form) were wildly unusable for my purposes... way too busy, lots and lots of fills everywhere. I finally found one that was a little bit tamer.

My recording ended up with a drum track, bass, lead/rhythm, and vocal.

I knew it wasn't perfect but I was proud of some of the fret grinding. I played the track for one of my new recording program friends (an actual pro drummer and guitarist) and he listened thoughtfully.

Finally, he turned to me and said: "I like how you do that weird thing where you ignore the beat and eventually end up moving the "one" to the next bar. That's very, uh, experimental. You know, assuming you meant to do it..."

Of course, he knew I hadn't meant to do it, that I was just lost in the middle of all those drum fills, a lonely rhythmless voice in the wilderness of musical ignorance.

But I kept on struggling. And after I got a little primitive drum machine (the extraordinairily primitive Dr. Rhythm (1) with it's slide switch hi-hat [off, 8ths, 16ths]) I drilled with it... counting, counting, counting. 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4...

And, within a couple years I was turning out stuff that doesn't even embarrass me today (of course, I still have a very high threshold of embarrassment. )

But that's why I try to not discourage other bozos as they're coming up. 'Cause, ultimately, we're all bozos on this bus.

[theblue1]

Fumbling

Now... my comments about not discouraging young bozos shouldn't be taken as any kind of implied rebuke to the station or the tone of the comments.

When you put stuff out in public, you've got to be ready for critical comments.

And especially people who put their music in public and brag about it.

Sometimes the braggarts are actually good (or good in some ways) but often as not they're the biggest bozos on the bus and need that mirror of reality... too bad their self-perception is so bad they still won't get it.

But sometimes 'tis kindest to be cruel.

[Fumbling on Ecstasy]

blue,
I never took it as an implied rebuke. We all have to start somewhere I realize that. I have no problem with beginners writing bad music. They'll eventually get better. The problem is that the guys on these websites started a long time ago. They just never got better. I particularly have it out for Mike Cantwell because he thinks he is God's gift to music as demonstrated by this quote off his mp3.com site:

"I have the power of music to put life into mere words. To create magic. To touch people. To move people emotionally or move people to dance, I am a songwriter." -Mike Cantwell

This guy is a tool. Is this suppose to be some esoteric statement that should create a sense of awe and admiration in us for Mike. They should torture and anally rape anyone who sells this man a musical instrument.

[theblue1]

That's an amazing quote from Cantwell's page.

One thing... I've never understood the insult of "tool"... after all a tool is good for something.

Yeah... I totally hear you. People who put up ludicrous brags bug the crap out of me, too. Can I say crap here? I mean stuffings. They bug the stuffings out of me.

I grew up hearing really great musicians humbly thanking their audiences and the players who came before them. So when I hear some of these losers who can't sing, play, or write talking about how they're the greatest musician ever (and I swear I'ver read at least 20 or 30 artists on mp3.com and other open music sites who've claimed to be the very best in their genres or at their instruments... or even the greatest living musician, period... it just makes me freakin' nuts!

There's a folk rock guy at Mp3.com who is just barely tolerable at his best. His timing is off, he can't follow his drum machine, his singing is often off-pitch, his guitar playing is really pretty bad (woeful lead work). Even by the broad standards of Mp3c he's well below average, seems to me. But the guy seems to be absolutely convinced that he is the muse's gift to mankind. And if others don't agree he goes off on tirades. Needless to say he's always involved in some incredibly juvenile flame war. (And yes, anyone who has spent any time on the "Artists" BB over there probably knows exactly who I mean.)

The latest attraction over there, though, has been an apparently semi-fictional woman artist in the Kate Bush/Tori Amos camp who spammed the boards for weeks with attacks on the general community and specifically on the "short, ugly men" who control the music industry and keep "talented, tall, gorgeous men" from getting ahead (and that's all through society, too, according to this "individual.") Now, it turns out that this was -- or at least may have been -- a sham, an experiment to see how much publicity could be garnered by being as obnoxious a braggart and as big a nut case as possible. And that's pretty funny. But I was over there earlier and it looked like there are now multiple people claiming to be this "individual"... it just keeps getting wackier and wackier...

[Fumbling on Ecstasy]

Funny thing is before I submitted this thread, I pondered why using the word tool was derogatory. In my many years of using this word I had never thought about it till today. It's funny that you also said something.

I completely agree with you. I think what most people don't realize is that there is always someone better out there. I've never thought my music, thoughts, or acomplishements to be the greatest this world has ever seen. In fact I've never thought they were even unique. To show the pesimist in me, it's the idealist who thinks everyone is unique or special. With age, I think we all come to realize that what we think, do, or feel has been experienced by countless others over the course of the last 10,000 years. There is no such thing as originality and there is no such thing the best there ever was. I think it takes an extreme fool to claim they are the greatest. As Socrates said, "True wisdom is knowing that you know nothing."

[KJDunleavy]

Some good points.

I guess bragging is never a good thing, especialy if you are not very good because it just makes you look worse.

Mike Cantwell strikes me as somebody who cares more about other peoples perception of himself so much that he lacks any credible self criticism. And there are plenty more like him.

Somebody starting off, who obviously will not be very good is perfectly fine as long as they try to learn and benefit from the influence and experience of others. But when you get somebody like Cantwell who tries to generate a false hype around himself to inflate his own self protected ego it can really be insulting to anybody that apreciates true music.

I read some comments that basically rubbished MP3.com. As I have said before this is something that I disagree with. I have spent more hours than I could begin to count, sifting through the garbled rubbish that occupies most of the different charts, and have come across some great innovative and thoughtful music. It is there, and it is very rewarding and inspiring. I also think that when you do come across reall talent you should take the time to send them an email and let them know that you have appreciated what they have created. It gives them a deserved ego boost and encourages the right people to carry on.

err......... I`m rambling a bit here. had a bit to drink so ignore me. Just watched my team Arsenal being held to a goaless draw by Valencia. We created enough chances, should have got at least two goals. Still, we`re top of out table in the champions league.