Post a controversial music opinion

Probably my most unpopular / controversial opinion: Musicians who complain about streaming royalties are whiny little bitches who signed a contract and need to own up to their choices. Musicians with popular songs are getting huge checks from Spotify. Write a song millions want to play repeatedly or STFU about your streaming income. You aren’t losing money through streaming, it’s an income source you literally have to do nothing extra to see a return.

more a godawful opinion than a controversial one

"personal responsibility" amirite

hey I’m just to glad to see it going into the much more deserving hands of Spotify’s executives and shareholders idk maybe that’s too controversial

If only the family-owned local place had just made better pizza, maybe they wouldn't have been replaced by a Papa John's

major labels are big spotify shareholders, which is why they don’t mind low royalty rates

whoever bought Leonard Cohen’s complete catalogue made a terrible investment

My controversial streaming opinion is that I still by physical copies of music whenever possible, so I don't feel guilty about using streaming services as well

Talk Talk controps? New Grass is the main reason why Laughing Stock isn't quite as good as Spirit Of Eden

I mean I don't know if I even believe that lol

The mainest reason is that SOE is just the greatest

But that's not controversial

whoever bought Leonard Cohen’s complete catalogue made a terrible investment

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, March 8, 2022 5:32 AM

I don't know why, but this made me lol. I've certainly never paid money to hear a Leonard Cohen album.

I mean I don't know if I even believe that lol

― imago, Tuesday, March 8, 2022 8:04 AM

Now you're playing by my rules. Keep up the good work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC-K3OrL9Lg

I've certainly never paid money to hear a Leonard Cohen album

Plenty of others seem willing to pay in order to inflict "Hallelujah" upon us (in soundtracks, etc.)

"Inflict"

Perfect verbiage.

That said, the Isle of Wight performance is okay.

"Whiny little bitches"! Nice one.

Talk Talk controps? New Grass is the main reason why Laughing Stock isn't quite as good as Spirit Of Eden

"New Grass" is the best Talk Talk song and is responsible for one of the best Radiohead songs ("Reckoner") and countless other of my favourite records/albums. I'm wary of overpraising Laughing Stock but that song is kinda undeniable

I'd say "Taphead" and "Runeii" are the only songs on Spirit of Eden / Laughing Stock / Mark Hollis that don't stand up for themselves. Too abstruse for too little payoff, though they serve a role in context.

Wait — Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock, and Mark Hollis aren't just different movements of the symphony??

Yes, that's the context.

...but I'd reserve the right to say a particular symphonic movement was subpar, to get this back on the controversial track.

Just realised I do have a controversial musical opinion, which is that Stars of the Lid are boring as.
Sorry to apparently everyone else in the world.

That's a good one! No apology needed, imo.

(I think they're fine but when was the last time I listened to them: who knows?)

Boring is the point, it’s functional music. It’s music to calm down. In a perfect yoga studio SOTL would be on repeat

Just realised I do have a controversial musical opinion, which is that Stars of the Lid are boring as.
Sorry to apparently everyone else in the world.

the reason that vocal editing in documentaries is so awful and unnatural now is directly related to the prevalence of autotune and pop singers who are such awful singers that the software tools used to compensate for their shitty singing can only do so much, so the singers sound less shitty, but in an unnatural way, which leads documentary editors to believe that similarly unnatural sounding edits and mixes are totally okay when editing speaking voices in documentaries

I generally strongly dislike the sound of contemporary pop vocal production but I do think it is intentionally aspiring for an unnatural/hyperreal aesthetic effect as opposed to just being a quick fix for a lack of vocal skill.

the fact that it's done on reality shows is super weird. I get that they're completely fake but maybe each sentence shouldn't feel like it's cobbled together from 3 different takes?

_Just realised I do have a controversial musical opinion, which is that Stars of the Lid are boring as.
Sorry to apparently everyone else in the world._


No need to apologize. I for one haven’t got a clue who or what they are. Only recognize the name as a thread title. Which also means I’m not controversified obviously.

sarahell, do you know any documentary editors?

I mean, SotL kind of actively make fun of how boring their music is, otherwise a beautiful swelling track wouldn't be titled "Dungtitled (in A minor)" or "December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface." If you don't like ambient music, that's fine, but also I don't have much to say to you about anything.

xp - voice editors, no. but this is the bullshit opinions thread so it shouldn't matter

I get that they're completely fake but maybe each sentence shouldn't feel like it's cobbled together from 3 different takes?

― frogbs, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 9:54 AM (thirty-one minutes ago)

^ gets it

It's not just documentaries. I watch movies on headphones on my laptop and it seems like everything I watch contains a few lines that were ADR-ed in with a completely different soundstage, different levels of reverb, etc., etc. And not just action movies where dialogue is being yelled over gunfire and explosions, but regular dramas. It can yank you right out of a scene.

okay thank you, for a while i'd mention this to people and get blank stares ... it's more irritating in documentaries because they are more focused on people talking with fewer other sonic elements to consider

commercials do it a lot too, though this is maybe more defensible because they're trying to fit everything into a tight spot. but it still makes me feel like I'm listening to a robot and not an actual testimonial

I also notice it all the time on YouTube, even with filler words, like "blah blah blah" *cut* "and...uh..." *cut* "blah blah blah"

Contra op? Most music docs fucking suck and I don't understand the point of them. There's only like 3 good ones. The Ornette one, the Daniel Johnston one and VU.

xp my controversial take is that people are lazy now and the skill of combining different takes into a track that sounds natural, including tonal continuity and rhythm of speech is something that is not valued (maybe this is more for unpopular conservative beliefs than this thread)

Contra op? Most music docs fucking suck and I don't understand the point of them. There's only like 3 good ones. The Ornette one, the Daniel Johnston one and VU.

― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 6:47 PM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

milford graves

Step Across The Border (the Fred Frith doc) is one of my favourite films ever

Both of those films are as much about "life" as music, of course, reflecting their subjects' perspectives.

yes, they are good music documentaries

The Bill Withers one kinda fits in there too.

Lee Morgan doc, too

for the record I thought the Velvets one was just OK

The Rodriguez one is cool

Not sure if it can be strictly classified as a music documentary tho

Summer of Soul.

This thread has got me interested in relistening to Stars of the Lid and rewatching Searching for Sugarman

ok the Rodriguez doc is not as good as I remembered it.

is there a thread for music docs recommendations?

Anything here actually worth watching?
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/70-best-music-documentaries-24757/