Best modern music to convince a 50-yr old humanities professor that music does not currently suck

...if my title made sense.

I have a Humanities (history, essentially)/English teacher who is very culturally and musically aware, from literature to movies: She's just as fond of Cormac McCarthy as she is of Yeates. Just as fond of Spike Jonze as she is of Coppola.

But as far as music goes, she has deemed that corporations have taken over music and that there is no longer any sense of originality in music, that it all aspires to thinks that can make us dance but do nothing more. She really fits the hipster mentality, but remember this is an old hippie speaking.

I'm actual one of her favorite students and she tends to trust my judgement in most everything, and something I'd like to prove to her is that music today just doesn't suck. She seems to only be aware of Beyonce and Lady Gaga, but I want to show her that there is music today just as powerful as it was back in the '60's/70's/whatever and yet sounds nothing like. No "revivalism" bands please: Grizzly Bear, Surfer Blood, Olivia Tremor Control all come to mind. Those are bands that have some catchy stuff, but end up sounding like they're paying far too many homages to the old era of rock and roll. (For example = Grizzly Bear is a shitty Beach Boys)

So far these are what I'm considering having her listen to (it's a class presentation, via a mixtape/CD):

My Bloody Valentine - Soon/To Here Knows When
something off Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation"
Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy
something Aphex Twin
Pavement - In The Mouth A Desert
Animal Collective - anything off Merriwether Post Pavillion... I think "Bluish" and "Brothersport"'ll be good. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Keep in mind she's a teacher that hates the grunge movement, thinks rap "has cool beats and lyrics and all but really has no true emotional depth" (I actually sort of agree, admittedly. Nothing really tops rock.), and has found that in old age that classic music appeals to her the best. I know post-rock immediately comes to mind but I can't really showcase a GYBE! song in a 5-minute presentation. She hates metal, she calls it excessive.

Also realize I'm not attacking her generation, but trying to convince her that the "ours" is just as viable a musical force as hers was, just under different commercial circumstances.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_A5B16986tsA/R1E-9ThYEdI/AAAAAAAAAFM/-W-2a0pX84o/s320/jolie+holland+-+escondida-front.jpg

Oh yeah, and I already have Radiohead's "OK Computer". Just to avoid the 827430598743098579235 suggestions of that I should expect.

http://dcist.com/attachments/dcist_chrisklimek/2007_1008_JoshRitterAnimalY.jpg

What music does she think is good?

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/2647b5ce244d844161c4826677ae4384/1333154.jpg

http://larosacanina.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/scott-walker-the-drift.jpg

i'm afraid your plan won't work, music does actually suck :(

A lot of those artists peaked 20+ years ago, and aren't really responding to a wired & pomo world. Imagine a Woodstock attendee justifying their generation's music to their parents by playing something from 1949.

I don't know if I can help you, my tastes only tangentally touch upon the peripheries of pop, so I can't say they're of this time. Given a similar assignment, I'd cherry pick items off albums like The Knife's Silent Shout, Dani Siciliano's Slappers, Trost's Trust Me, School of Seven Bell's Alpinisms, St. Vincent's Actor, etc. none of which could quite exist in their form prior to the last decade. But they have about zero relevance to the popular zeitgeist...

Oh, and of course Scott Walker. But he's older than your professor.

that Jolie Holland album is a great choice.

Also play her some GHOSTFACE KILLAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

http://www.cluas.com/images/music/album/low-drums-guns.jpg

to find your answer, think, what would momus recommend? answer: a japanese guy hooking up a bloop machine to a potato and dancing around it wearing a 10 sizes-too-large burlap sack

http://www.netweed.com/prohiphop/graf2/brokencyde-im-not-a-fan.jpg

i burned a high school substitute teacher who had similar opinions on new rap a copy of madvillainy, pretty sure it blew his mind (or at least changed it.)

i burned a high school substitute teacher

^^^^ Alternative solution.

temptation 2 just say fuck this boomer shithead (imo)

my forefathers put their lives on the line in the grunge movement, and we will never forget

commercial grunge will be on oldies stations soon....

Classic rock station was playing Pearl Jam & Nirvana & Alice in Chains five years ago.

really? the ones here still are stuck on steely dan

I mean they still get the Led out for drive time, don't get me wrong.

i think "brothersport" is a good idea, except part of its charm is the repetition and change, which would be hard to convey from any specific point in the song. since you only have 5 minutes, conveying depth of songwriting is going to be impossible if you want to show more than one or two songs. i really like "lust for life" by girls, specifically because it's like a little pocket symphony in 2 minutes... and that absolutely killer opening line (and the way the line is explained by the rest of the song), but it also does have a bit of a 60s vibe to it. anyway, and i think you already seem to be doing this, you'll have to show her how the texture/timbre of rock music has changed and expanded. bands that have impressive textures (like fuck buttons or something) might be an avenue to go down.

and grunge does suck, but rap has a lot of depth. also, it's impossible to tell a child of the 60s that their music wasn't the most important, world-changing thing ever. so don't expect much.

damn ilm trolls have gotten so good

"Nothing really tops rock"

Yeah that smells trolly. But yeah BrokeNCYDE! = best answer.

yea making sweeping statements about the superiority of a genre is dubious since how do you objectively measure the whole thing...plus the idea that rap has no substance=lol worthy

Yeah but as far as rap goes you just really don't see the sort of divergence in musical spectrum in rock than you see in rap. It's beats and rhymes. Rock can encompass subgenre after subgenre, rap is sort of secluded into its mainstream/underground and both obviously sound different but there's far too little a difference to even hold a candle to rock's number of varieties. Just my /2cents, not hers. Also, I've never felt ecstatic listening to rap as I can with rock bands like My Bloody Valentine, there's a lot of emotions missing from rap which tends to be be monochromatic in it's range.

Also, I've never felt ecstatic listening to rap as I can with rock bands like My Bloody Valentine, there's a lot of emotions missing from rap which tends to be be monochromatic in it's range.

fruity crazy swag crew to thread

No "revivalism" bands please: Grizzly Bear, Surfer Blood, Olivia Tremor Control all come to mind. Those are bands that have some catchy stuff, but end up sounding like they're paying far too many homages to the old era of rock and roll. (For example = Grizzly Bear is a shitty Beach Boys)

Animal Collective is also a shitty Beach Boys IMO

xp sorry but not touching this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBrRBZy8OTs

Why don't you play her some Beirut?

Yeah but as far as rap goes you just really don't see the sort of divergence in musical spectrum in rock than you see in rap. It's beats and rhymes.

That's like saying rock is just guitars and singing and drums. That's all I'm going to say.

there's a lot of emotions missing from rap which tends to be be monochromatic in it's range.

i'm officially never opening this thread again. good luck in here, y'all!

http://image.libro.co.kr/music/f75/f754143ETEB02L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

kjb!

as a Loveless fan, I am shocked that a Loveless fan is complaining about music that is "monochromatic in it's range." Most hip-hop albums have far greater divergence in form, texture, rhythm, and musical influence than any MBV album.

That's like saying rock is just guitars and singing and drums. That's all I'm going to say.

There's no such thing as post-rap, math-rap, progressive-rap, garage-rap, power-rap, psychedelic-rap, punk-rap, new wave-rap, industrial-rap, folk rap, core-rap, nu-rap, dream-rap.... is what I was trying to say.

lol

smh

as a Loveless fan, I am shocked that a Loveless fan is complaining about music that is "monochromatic in it's range." Most hip-hop albums have far greater divergence in form, texture, rhythm, and musical influence than any MBV album.

Method Man's voice does not count as texture change.

J0rdan, deej, some dude to thread

kevin shields' effects box does not count as texture change

Kel is right seeing as how my two favorite genres are core-rock and new wave-rock.

kelpolaris i think you should play your professor anything that will cause him to stab you repeatedly

kevin shields' effects box does not count as texture change

Difference is that an effects pedal is not innate.

Folk is a type of rock now??? News to me!

I don't know how that makes a difference xp

xpost

folk-rock, invented in 2002 by the visionary Okkervil River

ironically, there is such thing as rap rock

Best modern music to convince a 50-yr old humanities professor 20-yr old ILX message boarder that music does not currently suck

Same difference, huh?

Did we scare off the polar dude?

LJ- What did you think of Edan?

sexual personae exp is my most embarrassing ilx exp ever imo

learned from that moment

u were so earnest its p funny

n.e.way if were tryna b srs & constructive now id probably just get a projector than loop & play a dealwithitdog.gif while i blasted count & sinden's "beeper" and danced around the class like a fukken maniac

Yeah admittedly I could've gone without arguing with a few, but I did make it clear that she wasn't all too big a fan of rap.... so in the sak of supporting my argument towards her, why bother trying to convince me?

I presented today, I played some Animal Collective which she was ecstatic over, Soon from MBV (I'm predictable, I know) and actually Bark Psychosis's Codename: Dustsucker I accidentally put upon the mix tape and she thought it was pretty interesting as well, but wasn't all too impressed by it. Bjork she adored, but I suspect she was aware of her already. I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop, Portishead mainly. Aphex Twin she called "wildly stimulating". Merzbow at the end for fun, the class flipped shit. Overall she liked it.

Glad it went well!

I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop

And ppl were arguing with you because you're missing some fantastic music that many here think is much, much better than Animal Collective.

:D Gucci Mane be turning in his grave (shaped jail cell.)

Just reread that Paglia thread. Man, that was good times.

I played some Animal Collective which she was ecstatic over

catch a heart attack cuz

I suspect the culprit is either anagram or xhuxk

Not me either, and your suspicion worries me cos I always try to be rational on this board (check my posting history). If I come across as anything else then I'm at a loss quite frankly.

I really wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

its always the rational ones that end up going off the edge of trolldom

Ghostface would be my exhibit a) "defense" for hip-hop, just in terms of emotional and stylistic range, lyrical complexity, and just being in general totally amazing and unpredictable

I presented today, I played some Animal Collective which she was ecstatic over, Soon from MBV (I'm predictable, I know) and actually Bark Psychosis's Codename: Dustsucker I accidentally put upon the mix tape and she thought it was pretty interesting as well, but wasn't all too impressed by it. Bjork she adored, but I suspect she was aware of her already. I found compromise with rap by playing some trip-hop, Portishead mainly. Aphex Twin she called "wildly stimulating". Merzbow at the end for fun, the class flipped shit. Overall she liked it.

you should seriously ask your professor why she hates black people. what's up with exclusively white people focus.

also does yr professor know AC are huge, huge rap fans (they wanted MMP to be engineered like a rap record for chrissakes)

what's up with exclusively white people focus.

Merzbow is Japanese.

The United States Census Bureau considers a baby boomer to be someone born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964. William Strauss and Neil Howe label American Baby Boomers 1943 to 1960. Others say 1947 to 1966, the years that more than 400,000 babies were born.

http://www.fastnbulbous.com/bucket16.jpg

Merzbow is Japanese.

they call this tokenism

Hey, you asked.

and throwing in a random act made up of black people wouldn't be tokenism?

token by definition is singular, so if there were a range of ethnicities represented (say, Merzbow plus MIA plus Ghostface plus Seu Jorge plus whoever etc) it might be a little more representative of what's going on in the world with music right now. is all I'm sayin

but yeah we've been over this many times on ILM and blanket dismissals of rap usually = racism on some level

Why would you want to convince this old crustmudgeon that "modern music" doesn't suck?

presumably so that old crustmudgeon will shut up about how modern music sucks, seeing as how this dude probably has to sit through classes where this ridiculous POV is expounded upon at length

it seems to me the student/teacher relationship between kelpolaris and Ms. Paglia is a lot more congenial than that...better than a shiny new apple perhaps?

sam, the edan was fucking awesome obv

which edan...? Beauty and the Beat is great imho

Beauty And The Beat, aye

(still feeling shitty btw, i feel like i've been a terrible hypocrite here - completely traduced one of my firmest ilx principles)

kelpolaris, by way of apology, here is a gift of sound that I myself was given a few days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P__LuA0vPLU

Shouldn't you be counting votes right now?

fercrissakes son, no time for sentiment with a war on, friendly fire happens and it was either him or you

xp lol

dude's gotta chill after his tuesday night football

watching charlton defend desperately for 45 minutes against a toothless band of pretenders from northern essex has done nothing for my pomp

glad you liked it. edan is immense, i wish he did more. his earlier stuff is just someone with ridiculous talent slumming it in joeks and going nanananana im way better than you. (doing it a disservice saying this now i relisten, dude is about as dope as any mc in the past 10 years)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54FW170yZ6o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87fHTt2bAq0&feature=related

also his fast raps/funky drummer mixtapes are grebt but I guess that depends on how much anyone is interesting in obscure old school rap and I guess you wouldn't care so much. His latest album has been kinda hard to get hold of so I can't really make an opinion but its edan, so its obv. gonna be terrific.

sir richard bishop

That's just a picture of his face.

Favourite Edan track is possibly Making Planets but that is because the Hendrix Hey Joe is one of the greatest pieces of music ever performed

Since this is the Edan youtube thread and everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsmej9USNY

^^^^^yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMc5u9ZWSFA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7i9inHZIHw&feature=PlayList&p=B84301954173CF2B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=29

i'm taking full credit for turning on lj to that album fyi

I don't really like rap, or country, or punk, or metal. I am fine with this. I do not think it is because I am a racist.

yeah, your racism could have nothing to do with it

This is one of those threads where the original poster needs to be told to go fuck themselves and then we all joke amongst ourselves.

Donk