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Blues Rock: �Please, No More of That�


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'The Strokes on Blues Rock: 'Please, No More of That"

 

'Anything that"s been beaten to death, obviously trend dictates those things will be extinct, and you evolve from those things," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said.

 

The Strokes took home the Grammy award for best rock album for The New Abnormal on Sunday, beating out the likes of Grace Potter and Sturgill Simpson and marking the influential garage rock band"s first ever Grammy after forming more than 20 years ago.

 

When asked about the state of rock music in light of their victory, and whether the genre itself was still alive, longtime frontman Julian Casablancas rebuked the notion that rock has died, but added that the blues-influenced rock sound that fueled bands like Led Zeppelin or Cream in the Sixties and Seventies â along with more polarizing acts like Greta Van Fleet today â has run its course....'

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/strokes-blues-rock-grammy-album-new-abnormal-1142405/?fbclid=IwAR1kmr_acSbeRV6hMfjJUGmkCC9MxiyKkX7zSvRhCXoGxyayxUstY6UBqfc

 

ââ-

 

When I was a kid, there was a period of time where southern rock, classic rock, and sub genres had become a bore. I couldn"t listen to it anymore. Burn out I guess. I gravitated to lots of other genres. Eventually enough time passed and I could enjoy it again. So I understand where they are coming from. I think they are right, but also wrong. Tastes and styles go in cycles. And in rock, as in any other genre - it comes around again. Maybe not exactly the same - but clearly influenced by what preceded it (pushing away from or becoming attractive once again).

 

 

Here"s the album:

 

To me, this just sounds like a return to the experimentation we saw in the 80s where rock groups were shying away from the sounds of the 70s. This time modern DAW production and plugin fx are what MIDI, synths and eventually sampling were driving in the next decade.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I play what the audience likes. And they like blues rock. The audience are the ones putting money in my pocket.

 

 

What he said.

 

The audience likes all sorts of things but they want a beat to dance to and something to lift their spirits.

The tip jar speaks.It says "play what we like" and we do that. I like it too, the blues alone is a deep, deep well and not dry by any means.

 

Rock and roll is also endless, truly.

 

Maybe Julian Casablancas has run his course?

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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There is a pretty solid bloodline back to the era Casablancas was referring to, in that group. (Hammond Jr) So I don't think it's ignorance or cheekiness that informed that comment. I think it's them saying, "rock" as a genre has lots of life, as long as you're not just defining it to mean X.

 

I do kind of wonder what 2001 Strokes would think of 2021 Strokes. But I wonder that about The Killers and Panic! At the Disco, and still really like both groups' weirdly boppy current output.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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To me, the blues gave western music a very much needed kick in the pants, and I find myself less interested the further away from blues roots that it gets. I tend to prefer classic metal because it very much embraces its blues roots. The newer stuff is too straight European, it sounds like 18th century classical music played really fast and loud. That's cool for hybridization, but I crave that crunchy "blue note" tritone. I think at its core, blues has a lot of dissonance, and it demands attention and embraces some chaos. I worry that modern audiences, though fine with loud, fast and aggressive, find the harmonic dissonance difficult, and crave a more controlled sound. I find myself at odds with a lot of progrock/metal people, in particular, who I can see their nose turn when I get funky and bluesy.

 

Blues is about embracing a certain amount of organic slop and making it musical. Modern pop music with its quantized 120bpm production, doesn't really jive with that.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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Can I say, though? The Strokes are a New York band. The scene in NY is always about whatever the "next" thing is going to be. When people talk about X style being "dead," they really mean that it's hit the point where it's not going to be where new ideas come from. It doesn't mean people won't like it anymore or that it doesn't have things to recommend it. It just means that in the estimation of whoever is doing the declaring, the form has become too self-referential to be able to surprise. I don't think it's so radical to suggest that the music of 60 years ago may fall into that category.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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To me, the blues gave western music a very much needed kick in the pants, and I find myself less interested the further away from blues roots that it gets. I tend to prefer classic metal because it very much embraces its blues roots. The newer stuff is too straight European, it sounds like 18th century classical music played really fast and loud. That's cool for hybridization, but I crave that crunchy "blue note" tritone.
I think I dislike a lot of newer metal because it seems like an exercise in squeezing tritones in where they don't belong. The tritones are no longer "blue notes", they're midnight black.

 

quote=EricBarker]Blues is about embracing a certain amount of organic slop and making it musical. Modern pop music with its quantized 120bpm production, doesn't really jive with that.

+1000. Just a little "organic slop" is a wonderful thing.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Can I say, though? The Strokes are a New York band. The scene in NY is always about whatever the "next" thing is going to be. When people talk about X style being "dead," they really mean that it's hit the point where it's not going to be where new ideas come from. It doesn't mean people won't like it anymore or that it doesn't have things to recommend it. It just means that in the estimation of whoever is doing the declaring, the form has become too self-referential to be able to surprise. I don't think it's so radical to suggest that the music of 60 years ago may fall into that category.

 

 

Hmmm.... and here I thought that "rock stars" declaring that certain music styles are now a part of the past was a part of the past. Silly me.

 

I'm not from Missouri but "Show me." Or, discuss relevant and important things like why strawberry ice cream is not as good as chocolate, maybe why one might stop using shoelaces and switch to velcro fasteners to save hours of their life for other, more lofty pursuits. That kind of thing...

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I don't know the Strokes but I think it's funny when people try to break down rock with subtle categories as if audiences are really attuned to that sort of thing. I mean, sure, Yes is very different than the Ramones, but once you get away from the extreme ends of the spectrum it's all pretty much a categorical blur.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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Hmmm.... and here I thought that "rock stars" declaring that certain music styles are now a part of the past was a part of the past. Silly me.

 

I'm not from Missouri but "Show me." Or, discuss relevant and important things like why strawberry ice cream is not as good as chocolate, maybe why one might stop using shoelaces and switch to velcro fasteners to save hours of their life for other, more lofty pursuits. That kind of thing...

 

I may be missing a connection. Show you what? I'll do a little brain-dump and hope to stumble on the topic.

 

The Strokes came out of a very particular scene/era in NY that did not sound like "classic rock." The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, the National. The Strokes sounded kind of like the Velvets, who came from the classic-rock era timewise but do not sound like blues-rock in the least.

 

Actually, so does the National, come to think of it.

 

New York absolutely has a certain aesthetic and sound. It's no coincidence that punk, disco, and hip-hop were all born there in basically the same summer. NY is all about "scenes," and the only way that blues-rock is a "scene" now is ironically. Again, that doesn't mean it's not alive and well and being performed and consumed by willing participants. Just that it's not exactly perceived as cutting-edge in 2021.

 

Did you read that whole Rolling Stone article, not just the except that Brother Fudd posted? The quote seems far more benign in the context of where people are casting their ears for ideas, than it's being characterized as in these responses.

 

Also, FWIW, this band is not some "newcomer" being snotty about the established folks. They are so established as to be...well, the sell-out former indie-punk group that just won a Grammy after 20-something years. They just might be new to some folks here.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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They are not new to me. I have enjoyed some of their stuff over the years.

 

However, Julian really is an asshole with a very long history of speaking poorly about every musician or band who is not him. It's like he's still trying to be relevant by "oooh look at me, I will talk shit about the music industry... I'm edgy"

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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The quote reads/sounds harsh if one views it through the prism of how dare he declare that something is dead. That's not what I took away from the article. To me, his point was that musicians should not wallow in the past nor should they be afraid to try new ideas.

 

For many years, Country music had a sameness of sound from the instrumentation to the mix. Nowadays, I'm hearing Country songs with programmed drums, autotuned and effected vocals, block rocking mixes and other aesthetics taken from other styles of music. :laugh:

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with using the Led Zeppelin or Conway Twitty approach to playing music. But, adding a KB part or samples or something else in the mix could yield fresh and hip sounding music too. Cue up "Woke Up this Morning" or "Old Town Road". :D:cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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'The Strokes on Blues Rock: 'Please, No More of That"

'Anything that"s been beaten to death, obviously trend dictates those things will be extinct, and you evolve from those things," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said..

 

Guess he is not a fan of The Black Crowes. :rolleyes:

:nopity:
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'The Strokes on Blues Rock: 'Please, No More of That"

'Anything that"s been beaten to death, obviously trend dictates those things will be extinct, and you evolve from those things," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said..

 

Guess he is not a fan of The Black Crowes. :rolleyes:

To be fair, that band is 40 years old. They were old by the time the Strokes even formed.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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The corporatized music industry is the only thing standing in the way of blues-derived rock. Just look at the abysmal top 40 charts. The gatekeepers are very focused on what they can control.

 

I think it's very telling when you go on youtube and see the sort of indy bands that are pulling in views. There's a massive community hungry for musicianship, funk, blues, rock, etc.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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Guess he is not a fan of The Black Crowes. :rolleyes:

To be fair, that band is 40 years old. They were old by the time the Strokes even formed.

 

Chris Robinson is 54. He must have started the band at a pretty young age.

:nopity:
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The corporatized music industry is the only thing standing in the way of blues-derived rock. Just look at the abysmal top 40 charts. The gatekeepers are very focused on what they can control.

I think it's very telling when you go on youtube and see the sort of indy bands that are pulling in views. There's a massive community hungry for musicianship, funk, blues, rock, etc.

 

Corporate *anything* tends to A) get big things done well or B) done very badly. The latter crops up all too often, because the internal structures are all about monkey dominance after a certain point. People's battles for position, real or imagined, are often what hampers the point of many things. Kissing ass is entropic and nothing runs on puckers-per-quarter like an entertainment arena.

 

ALL rock is derived from the blues, even 70s prog. Its a shame that various music streaming outlets are treating the artists as badly as the classic record companies did. Frankly, I get far more musical enjoyment from Youtube & Vimeo than I could ever get from some AI-curated paywall beast that mainly spits variants of my last Like at me. Fie.

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I've played in more blues-rock bands than I can count and I've been doing it for well over 50 years. (I also have played jazz, country, and other genres.) I agree with the quotes in the OP. "Anything that"s been beaten to death, obviously trend dictates those things will be extinct, and you evolve from those things," Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas said. When asked about the state of rock music ... and whether the genre itself was still alive, longtime frontman Julian Casablancas rebuked the notion that rock has died, but added that the blues-influenced rock sound that fueled bands like Led Zeppelin or Cream in the Sixties and Seventies â along with more polarizing acts like Greta Van Fleet today â has run its course.'

 

He didn't say rock is dead. In fact, he said the opposite. But yes, I agree that I don't see any new or radical changes coming in blues-rock. That's ok. It's what happens in music and all the arts. Many other genres of music have taken over the streaming services and the independent recordings made in bedrooms around the world. I also think that trad jazz has run its course. So has disco. That doesn't mean those genres won't be played, it just means they aren't genres that are continuing to evolve. But there's lots of new genresâI just learned about electro swingâabout which there are predictable debates on this forum and other social media. I don't care for electro swing but other people do. At the same time, there are threads with some people saying reggae ought to be shelved and ska banned. It was ever thus. Time and music marches on ...

These are only my opinions, not supported by any actual knowledge, experience, or expertise.
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New York absolutely has a certain aesthetic and sound. It's no coincidence that punk, disco, and hip-hop were all born there in basically the same summer. NY is all about "scenes," and the only way that blues-rock is a "scene" now is ironically. Again, that doesn't mean it's not alive and well and being performed and consumed by willing participants. Just that it's not exactly perceived as cutting-edge in 2021.

 

Also, FWIW, this band is not some "newcomer" being snotty about the established folks. They are so established as to be...well, the sell-out former indie-punk group that just won a Grammy after 20-something years. They just might be new to some folks here.

 

They are "new" to me, if 4 chords repeated ad infinitum is new. I checked out half a dozen songs on Youtube, some live stuff. They are tight and I've nothing against 4 chord songs, I play them all the time and certainly have written a few. I respect their accomplishments, music is not an easy career and they've had a long, successful run. It is pretty much as I surmised, a band playing their unique version of "same old same old" and proclaiming that "same old same old" is now tired and increasingly irrelevant.

I was addressing the singer of the Strokes when I said - Show me. Talk is cheap.

 

We live in a huge, diverse country where travel is relatively easy. Tracing influences is difficult, impossible or inconclusive, choose your poison.

 

Punk, Disco and Hip-Hop are all evolutionary musics, none of them were "Born" in NYC. I'm perfectly willing to let NYC have Disco if they want it.

 

I'll mention in passing that Hip-Hop comes from Jamaica - https://iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/ "One of the most influential hip hop pioneers was DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant regarded as the founding father of hip hop." There is no denying that it found a home in NYC.

 

Where American Music is concerned, New Orleans is far and away the city with the deepest roots. NYC, Memphis, Chicago, Nashville, Detroit, Los Angeles San Francisco and even Seattle (yes, I missed some cities) are all significant parts of the conversation, of course so is Liverpool and London.

 

In my mind, the most important NYC musician by FAR is Miles Davis. He brought forth new ways of doing things several times and Bitches Brew remains an under-rated milestone, a total game-changer. I do know where the good stuff is.

 

We have to remember the influence of underlying causes as well, like Nat Daniels (Daneletro) and the relationship with Vinnie Bell - a studio guitarist in NYC. Mr. Bell worked with Danelectro to bring the world the first electric 12 string guitar, the baritone guitar (huge in country) the six string bass and the electric sitar.

Off in LA, Leo Fender changed the world of music forever with the Fender P Bass. Jimi Hendrix rose up from Seattle, eventually landed in NYC but his career truly started in England - see how hard it is to track all this stuff? I can't think of a more influential electric guitarist, can you?

 

Punk? Here are three songs from the 60's that were hugely influential on the evolution of punk music. It also found a home in NYC but most definitely did not originate there.

 

1963 - California

 

1964 - England

 

1965 - Los Angeles ( the singer songwriter was from Salt Lake City)

 

So yeah, I still think their lead singer is full of it. Cheers, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I'd add the MC5 as a mid to late 60's "proto-punk" band hailing from Detroit. The MC5's Kick Out the Jams was the first song I played with a band on drums in my friend's basement in 1971. You are absolutely correct in that ascribing the ultimate origin of about any genre of Western music that has evolved since the phonograph record and radio were invented is a difficult if not impossible task.

Gigs: Nord 5D 73, Kurz PC4-7 & SP4-7, Hammond SK1, Yamaha MX88 & P121, Numa Compact 2x, Casio CGP700, QSC K12, Yamaha DBR10, JBL515xt(2). Alto TS310(2)

 

 

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I'd add the MC5 as a mid to late 60's "proto-punk" band hailing from Detroit. The MC5's Kick Out the Jams was the first song I played with a band on drums in my friend's basement in 1971. You are absolutely correct in that ascribing the ultimate origin of about any genre of Western music that has evolved since the phonograph record and radio were invented is a difficult if not impossible task.

 

MC5? Absolutely!!!! Punk before "Punk", no question of it. Good call.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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