Miscellaneous Music Discussion

[Wuzzawuzz]

I tried the Radiohead 01 10 thing the other day. I'd love it to be true, because I'm a sucker for that kind of silly, obsessive, nerdy stuff (Nine Inch Nails fans can have a field day with this kind of thing, musical motifs and lyrics crop up across different songs and even different albums) but I don't really see it here. Whilst some of it sounded good - I love how Paranoid Android cross-fades into Bodysnatchers - a lot of it just sounds like how I imagine most albums would sound blended together like that. Still, it's an interesting concept and I bet some band somewhere has done it before.

[Johnny]

The last.fm "Best Of 2010" is out, with all the most scrobbled bands. I was actually genuinely shocked at the retard at #1. Literally did a :o

On the positive side, Deftones were in there. Rock and roll baby.

[Derek]

Linky wink?

[Johnny]

Sure buddy!

[Derek]

You da man.

[Johnny]

Who da man?

[dunebug]

I was surprised by how few I'd never heard of in my life. Nice to see Beach House quite far up there though. Also, I though people didn't actually listen to kesha, like she was acknowledged a 'oh yeah, theres another kesha single, god she's a mess of a thing' and then humanity moved on, what maniac is quite dedicatedly listening to ke$ha more than once?

[Derek]

Who da man?

Dunno mate.

I was loving the top 5 Vampy Weeks, Arcade Fire and Mummy and Sons in there...then number 1 ruined my night

[Johnny]

It was a serious mindfuck.

[StopWhinging]

Nice to see Beach House quite far up there though.

Victoria Legrand is my guuuurl.

I was loving the top 5 Vampy Weeks, Arcade Fire and Mummy and Sons in there...then number 1 ruined my night

I completely agree :|

[Johnny]

My Top 50 Most Listened to Bands of 2010. No surprise with #1.

[Reveal] Spoiler:

1. Alice in Chains
2, Black Sabbath
3. Jerry Cantrell
4. Dio
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
6. Deftones
7. Metallica
8. The Smashing Pumpkins
9. Rainbow
10. Eels
11. Rob Zombie
12. Stone Temple Pilots
13. Guns N' Roses
13. Queensrÿche
15. Led Zeppelin
16. Pearl Jam
17. Bruce Springsteen
18. Faith No More
19. Mad Season
20. Biffy Clyro
21. John Frusciante
22. The Replacements
23. The Decemberists
24. The Clash
25. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
26. Supergrass
27. Nirvana
28. Queens of the Stone Age
29. SOiL
30. Slash
31. Ramones
32. The White Stripes
33. Rheostatics
34. Ozzy Osbourne
35. Marilyn Manson
36. Foo Fighters
36. Them Crooked Vultures
38. 2Pac
39. Johnny Cash
40. Megadeth
41. Korn
42. Weezer
43. David Bowie
44. The Gutter Twins
45. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
46. White Zombie
47. Sniff 'n' the Tears
48. Queen
49. Comes With the Fall
49. Grinderman

#38 was 2Pac, with 187 plays. Now that's cryptic.

[Johnny]

Rehabbed rapper Eminem will likely seal his comeback on Sunday with a slew of Grammy awards at a ceremony dominated by hip-hop stars and pop singers.

Now, it might be rock 'n' roll's turn to seek treatment.

Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire are the sole standard bearer for rock in the album of the year race, the event's top prize.

No rock acts made the cut for the similarly coveted song and record of the year categories. The best new artist competition features two genre-spanning British groups with rock elements: Mumford & Sons, and Florence + the Machine.

Grammy organizers do honour rockers in specific categories, and artists such as veteran British guitarist Jeff Beck and blues-rock duo Black Keys received multiple nominations.

But the field is headed by Eminem who received 10 nominations, largely for an album detailing his recovery from a near-fatal addiction to prescription medication. Grammy voters love these sorts of comeback stories.

Top contenders also include pop/R&B hitmaker Bruno Mars with seven nominations; and rapper Jay-Z, pop singer Lady Gaga and country group Lady Antebellum with six each. Beck received five nominations and the Black Keys four.

FANS JUST WANT TO DANCE

Rock is not exactly dead, as pundits occasionally declare during low points in the cycle. Kings of Leon, Coldplay and Green Day won key Grammys in recent years. Bon Jovi, AC/DC and U2 were the world's biggest concert draws in 2010. Newer groups such as Muse and Vampire Weekend are enjoying commercial and critical acclaim, along with Grammy nods.

But neither is rock capturing the Zeitgeist in the same way as colorful pop singers like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, and popular TV shows like "American Idol" and "Glee."

"The public is using music differently, or liking it for different reasons," said producer Bill Bottrell, who worked on hits for Sheryl Crow and Michael Jackson. "It's lighter, less profound. It's just something to dance to, or wash dishes to."

Bottrell said Eminem has "the rock 'n' roll spirit," writing provocative lyrics and casting himself as an outsider in the same way that canny rock heroes of yore did.

But for the most part, the biggest selling songs last year were breezy dance-pop confections like Perry's "California Gurls," Kesha's "Tik Tok" and Taio Cruz's "Dynamite."

Indeed, pop tunes were the most popular downloads in the United States last year, accounting for 33 percent of sales among tracks released in 2009 or 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Rock (17 percent) came in at No. 4 behind R&B/hip-hop (27 percent) and rap (20 percent).

The most popular rock band last year broke up in 1970: the Beatles, who ranked No. 10 among U.S. album sales. No rock releases made the 10 biggest selling albums.

Beck said there is "some truth" in the old saw that rock died with Buddy Holly in 1959, a few years before the Beatles formed. He said too many rock acts have no appreciation of the "nuclear explosion" that occurred during the mid-1950s with the emergence of acts like Gene Vincent and Little Richard.

He, paradoxically, could be on the same page as younger songwriters who say rock needs to break out of its stale mould.

British producer Alex "Da Kid" Grant, a Grammy-nominated collaborator with Eminem, said he is on a mission to get rock bands -- his wish list includes U2 and Coldplay -- to incorporate elements of hip-hop, albeit carefully.

"Rock definitely is due a comeback in some form or another. We just need to get the sound right," he said. "I don't think it can sound the same as, like, Led Zeppelin in the '70s. It needs to evolve, but I think if we get the evolution right, it could be huge."

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Jackie Frank)

This article annoys me so much.

[Wuzzawuzz]

hahahaha, best article ever. The Grammys have long been the single worst awards ceremony on Earth anyway. They're absolute nonsense.

[Dam Helder]

[StopWhinging]

hahahaha, best article ever. The Grammys have long been the single worst awards ceremony on Earth anyway. They're absolute nonsense.

I just want to see Arcade Fire perform, as well as my gurl Janelle Monae