Post a controversial music opinion

I can't think of many where he doesn't play sax at some point. He isn't very good but I'm not that bothered about that.

Sun Ra's discovery of the synthesizer, though responsible for producing some sublime music, was ultimately a net loss for the discography

fela’s opening solo on “gentleman” is pretty badass imo

i'm accepting i'm really uncertified for my controversial opinion. opinion rescinded. going back to just listening and enjoying.

the other horns on fela tracks are sublime enough for me not to notice the subpar sax

(i do agree the horn sections generally are awesome to my ears all the way)

I love "corny", the word that is, and people using it when it's required, I don't like things that are corny.

"Cheesy" and "sappy" can kick rocks

Have to agree

the other horns on fela tracks are sublime enough for me not to notice the subpar sax

the other horns on fela tracks are sublime enough for me not to notice the subpar sax

Mmmm, the horn parts themselves are iconic and oft-imitated, but the trumpets are often pretty weak, you don't really want to hear any of them solo for too long.

right but solo isn't what the horns do -- imo the horns punctuate rather than take center stage. i like it!

Are we talking technical proficiency ? The horns are maybe not essential to the funk groove but they bring energy and personality and are integral to the melodic themes. Colonial mentality, Expensive Shit, Water no Get Enemy, Go Slow, Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am, Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Alu Jon Jonki Jon ... all the most glorious Kuti songs have soaring sax / horns lines. They don't have a clean sound like James Brown, but that's also part of Fela's live feel.

sorry to interrupt this with a total random thing—

—i don't have any thoughts because i always figured horns were such an integral part of fela's sound and he was the band leader and a better sax player than at least half the audience, so why the hell not just ride the groove a bit? i like neil young riffing on the theme for "cortez the killer" so fela honkin along to "water no get enemy" isn't much of a stretch—

—and now, to my very unrelated point:

jamiriquai : r+b :: the eagles : classic rock

and to quote a very cliched thing, i fucken hate the eagles, man.

"Hey Ya!" is godawful. Maybe one of the most obnoxious singles ever released.

https://i.imgur.com/OmS0cnQ.png

john zorn's presence in music has been a net loss overall.

(i just want the yuka honda tzadik albums on streaming pls, fuck everything else on that label)

actually nvm, john zorn is god and i'm clearly wrong. oh well.

at least my record label didn't ever exit and therefore didn't add to the trash pile.

exit=exist

john zorn's presence in music has been a net loss overall.

You're thinking of Mike Patton.

Lol frogbs

zorn / patton energy has aged appallingly imo

xp me too re cartoon gets right to it rly

right but solo isn't what the horns do -- imo the horns punctuate rather than take center stage. i like it!

― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Monday, March 27, 2023 5:56 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Are we talking technical proficiency ? The horns are maybe not essential to the funk groove but they bring energy and personality and are integral to the melodic themes. Colonial mentality, Expensive Shit, Water no Get Enemy, Go Slow, Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am, Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Alu Jon Jonki Jon ... all the most glorious Kuti songs have soaring sax / horns lines. They don't have a clean sound like James Brown, but that's also part of Fela's live feel.

― Nabozo, Tuesday, March 28, 2023 1:35 AM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

True the sum of the parts is way more important than individual virtuosity in Fela's music, with the except of Tony Allen probably. The horn writing is perfect and no one needs to be an amazing soloist, similar to James Brown. All the same there are lots of wide open sections given to solos, aside from the written and vocal sections, and those are maybe not the strongest parts.

On paper it should be extremely my thing and I like him fine in other contexts but I have never enjoyed a single album Wadada Leo Smith has made as a leader. This post inspired by two different jazz friends haranguing me this week to listen to the recent thing with Nels Cline, which on admittedly distracted first listen just sounds to me like very capable electric Miles cosplay. I'm open to recommendations and not giving up yet, but I've probably listened to a dozen of his records and none of them ever stick

You're thinking of Mike Patton.

― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, March 31, 2023 9:46 AM

tbf, they're buddies so (eyeroll+toss of the hand)

but yeah, he's essentially also an enemy of music. like if life really was just a big metaphorical chess match, people like john zorn and mike patton are playing as knights deep in opposition turf.

stating of bias: worked with a bunch of zorn/butthole surfers/patton obssessives and they ruined that stuff forever in my ears. gen-xers and their fascination with the dirty armpit of music, amirite?

I'd argue that Zorn has many, many recordings that don't indulge in the kinds of antics to which you object.

bar kokhba? or the gift? or any of the delightful film works entries?

i'd trade the existence of them (and any knowledge thereof, along with literally everything else on the label) for the two yuka honda albums. that's it.

don't mean to be a jerk about it, but that's a huge dud from me.

also i'm wrong: there was a third yuka album on tzadik. it was several years after her previous one, so i missed it. GOSH WISH I COULD HEAR IT.

Zorn's own music and concepts annoy me in some nameless way (I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly fell out of my head when I read that he makes his Hermetic Organ albums "in a trance") but he attains god-tier staus fpr the Tzadik label alone which has so much great non-Zorn stuff on it.

yes, not having Tzadik on streaming or download is annoying

for real, love or hate him, i would've just assumed he'd have been one of the big proponents of bandcamp. seems like a huge goof on tzadik's part. do you think he has chosen to stay low profile out of fear of @ntisemit!sm? asking out of genuine curiosity and ignorance here. not meaning to be rude. i don't like his music, but it has nothing to do with his heritage and i actually really don't want to delete tzadik catalogue. but yeesh, some of that stuff. ugh!

Curious what about bar kokhba you find so massively dud-ish? Seems like just a lot of really nice solo performances of masada tunes.

I love John Zorn. Re: Patton, my contentious opinion is that Chuck Mosley was the far superior frontman to FNM

Zorn DOES NOT keep a low profile the dude loves to make big booming speeches and stuff and he's always playing live. I think he's a huge zionist.

Also he's been dropping some of the best albums of his career the last couple of years!

Totally agree with crut re: hey ya! That shit is annoying!!

Not really an opinion but a feeling, I guess: few things make me feel more deeply uncomfortable than seeing people on Monday obsessively talking smack about a living musician and then spending the day Tuesday eulogizing a dead one

I agree, one should continue to talk smack about dead musicians.

:)

Sakamoto is surely as close to unsmackable as it gets though!

I think he's a huge zionist.


^i don't know either way but this is a loaded one liner to throw out there, is that based on something?

I love John Zorn. Re: Patton, my contentious opinion is that Chuck Mosley was the far superior frontman to FNM

― it’s Balenciaga, not Baleenciaga (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, April 3, 2023 2:01 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Agreed. I like Patton too, and think many of his lyrics were brilliant, but he was always assuming different roles, whereas Mosley delivered gloomily humorous poetry from his heart.

i heard "hey ya!" at a burger place a week ago and was just like, how was i ever brainwashed into liking this migraine headache of a song lol

I've seen Zorn live many times and every time has been at least interesting and often galvanizing. Not sure his recordings have ever fully captured that energy.

Masada does, I think. Those albums are amazing

I remember especially liking the mid-90s albums by the original quartet line-up. Unfortunately it seems those are way out of print and hard to find.

I don't mind Hey Ya so much as the cultural reception of Hey Ya and its iconic status as THE hip hop pop song of that era, and yes it's really annoying.

i heard "hey ya!" at a burger place a week ago and was just like, how was i ever brainwashed into liking this migraine headache of a song lol

― ꙮ (map), Monday, April 3, 2023 10:36 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Had the same reaction recently when I heard it while wandering around Target. Heard “get lucky” on the same trip and had a similar reaction but then again that whole daft punk album quickly fell apart for me within months of release.

I feel like the other song that screams "lol 2003" is "I Believe ina Thing Called Love"