Kasabian - "rock n roll dying out"

Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno claims that Rock & Roll is dying out and claims his album is an effort to try and inspire another generation of rock bands, according to news articles released everywhere to promote an upcoming album release. 

At first, I viewed Serge's comments with some derision, being that they are less the wild-child rock and roller and more a whiny hippie trying to "keep the spirit alive", no doubt upset that EDM has popped up to steal his fans, their money and chart positions. I suppose it's okay to get a little sour about that sort of thing, but I will also admit that rock and roll doesn't hold the masses like it used to.

There's only a certain amount of the same chords and guitar sounds I can take, but I am also sure that Rock would not have lasted as long had it not had its fans who still enjoyed these aspects of the genre and more, which in turn spawns more bands that may not have the same fan base as, say, Greenday but still...er, rock.

Musical tastes travel in waves, with genres holding sway at a given time based on what is simply popular at the time, with so-called EDM and Bass Music¹ making a big impact over the last few years² to doubt this is at the detriment of the popularity of other genres, but when you consider how long rock has had its place in the sun - as long ago as the late 1940s and early 1950s - it has had a pretty good run. 

To suggest that Rock and Roll is dying and will completely gone is ridiculous, clichéd and silly - music won't ever die, it will just become more or less popular. To my mind, rock isn't dying, it's just maturing to a vintage where only the better examples of the form last. 

Perhaps David Byrne sums it up best:

“As I define it, rock and roll is dead. The attitude isn't dead, but the music is no longer vital. It doesn't have the same meaning. The attitude, though, is still very much alive - and it still informs other kinds of music.”

No longer vital, but it's the same message as always: evolve or die.

Subnotes:

1. These labels I hate them as much as the catch-all "electronica" genre. What's wrong with "House" "Drum&Bass" "Dance" "Techno" "Dubstep" and so on? Why the need to have a name that encapsulates these?

2. All this despite America's uneasy relationship with electronic music and their rich heritage in house/techno. Shame really!

Original article in NME:
http://www.nme.com/news/kasabian/77558

I'm on Discogs now!

I've started adding my CD collection to Discogs, more as a way of trying to keep track of what I actually have and need to rip to my hard drive.

Take a look at what I have on my profile: http://www.discogs.com/user/Southerntrax

CD Haul - 25/05/2014

All mix CDs from the car boot fair this time around and for 50p a double album, I don't think I can complain too much, especially considering that the CDs are in pretty good shape for what they are.

Kiss in Ibiza 95

Two CDs of classic mid-nineties dance tracks, which remind me quite a lot of some of the old tapes I used to have as a kid and listened to a lot. Though there's nothing particularly modern, it's a nice blast from the past and some different remixes that I hadn't heard before
[Discogs]

Cream Anthems 2001

A slightly more recent release, but on reflection it's still over 10 years old so nothing recent. There are some pretty dated tracks there and again, not many tracks that I don't already have in other releases on KISS, but still nice to have and in pretty good condition.

[Discogs]

Euphoric Chillout Breakdown

Pretty much what I actually wanted from the seller's collection, given that I really like the Euphoria collections and I haven't picked up a chillout album in ages. A pretty nice mix of different records, with some chilled out versions of trance floor-fillers as well.

[Discogs]

Piracy on the high internets!

A little story on Sonic State recently debated the age old problem with so called media "pirates". There has been enough ink spilled on this subject already, though sufficed to say I agree with the basic premise that people deserve to get paid for the work they produce.

CD Haul

I suppose this is the whole reason I still dive into CD boxes at car boot sales, it's to find the bits in there that I haven't bought and never got round to buying. I'm talking about clawing past the Westlife singles and Nickelback albums to get the diamonds in the rough - though these days it does seem like the electronic and dance stuff I look for is becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of. Either that or the music itself doesn't date quite so quickly as pop - probably the main reason I started collecting electronic music in the first place.

Anyway, it certainly does train your eyes to recognise and exclude the million copies of Boyzone and Billie so you can find something better - in this case four albums for a couple of quid for the lot.

True Playaz In the Mix Volume Two: Honestly the best of the lot, this is a turn of the century drum and bass mix from DJ Hype, featuring a decent amount of Ganja Kru and Hype tracks plus his excellent scratching over the top. Reminds me of his mix for Darklight that I really enjoyed as a kid and well worth 50p. [Discogs]

Back To Mine with Everything But The Girl: Again a pretty good find given that the likes of Groove Armada and Rae & Christian put out albums for these guys, though the choice of bar room house makes me question whether EBTG got the brief for a chill out / downtempo album. Still enjoyable for the Model 500 and Carl Craig tracks however and for so cheap I can't really complain all too much. [Discogs]

Red Rat - Oh No it's Red Rat: Speaking of Groove Armada, the only reason I picked this up at all was for the fact that this rapper worked as a vocalist on Lovebox and Soundboy Rock, well before they went all indie. However I still haven't had a chance to listen to this, but even if it is a lemon from 1997 - on the legendary Greensleeves label no less - then I think I can spare 50p. [Discogs]

St Germain - Tourist: well I had to pick this up as it is fairly decent condition and the album is synonymous with other chill out albums of the time (Kinobe, Air etc) so I had to really. [Discogs]

Analogue vs Digital : why can't we just have both?

It's a debate that has raged for as long as there have been people making music: analogue has a warmth and character that is unparalleled, whilst digital synths offer greater possibilities and are cheaper to make - but which one is better? 

This piece was inspired by the story of the TB-3, Roland's attempt to re-release the classic TB-303 after seeing the demand for cheap synth boxes. From the announcements, teasers and various press releases before the official unveiling, it seemed that Roland had finally woken up to the idea that they could make money on their synth heritage and follow up with an analogue bass machine that could rightfully be called the successor to the original.

Daybreak - new track