A musical forecast!
When Stu gave me this assignment I was apprehensive. Exploring music trends on a surf website? Sounds like a stitch up to me.
So allow me to drop a few disclaimers before I go on.
I don’t claim to be more knowledgable or have a more authoritative awareness of music than anyone else. In fact, having lived less than half the lifespan of many Swellnet regulars I humbly admit to knowing jack.
What then do I have going for me in this field?
I spend most weekends at shows. I play and have played in bands. Third Eye Stimuli is the indie record label I co-own with a friend of mine. I’ve done the festivals in Australia and abroad and somehow survived a handful of Tour Managing gigs across Europe.
So bear with me as I play Rolling Stone intern and feel free to garnish it with a grain, or better yet, voice your own thoughts below about where you think the world of music might be heading.
AI in music
The debate is over, artificial intelligence is here and it’s infiltrated music in both consumption and composition. Wherever there are algorithms, there will be electronic brains crunching numbers, seeking patterns, and serving insights and recommendations behind the scenes.
Right now, Spotify cops over 20,000 new track uploads a day. That’s a lot of noise. Rather than employ a massive team of moderators, the platform uses AI to sort and dish out intelligently created playlists for their consumers. These listeners then add what they’re digging to their own lists which becomes feedback for the machine.
Same goes for those running Google assistants, Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. They’re listening, counting, and refining their understanding of your music preferences. All day. Every day.
Scary, huh?
However, we're not at the stage where you can recruit a bot to fill in for your unreliable bass player - though that won’t be far away - but there are some wild systems that have digested vast amounts of rhythmic and pitch data and can spit out a (debatably) decent tune.
Like it or not, it won’t be long before an artist backed by artificial intelligence becomes more than just a novelty.
Rising vinyl and cassette popularity
No, this isn’t a plug for my side hustle - link here! A little bit of Google deep-diving reveals that, since 2007 vinyl popularity has been on the up. Meanwhile, CD sales are still ahead of vinyl, as they have been since 1986, but only just, and more importantly they’re falling fast comparatively.
Streaming is still the most popular way to listen to your favourites, taking 80% of industry revenue, or US$4.3 billion the first half of 2019.
During the same period, vinyl took just over $224 million. That’s a lot of wax. Unfortunately a lot of fossil fuels, chemicals, and energy too, but they sure as hell aren’t built for single use.
So why the resurrection of an outdated format of lesser dynamic range and sound reproduction characteristics?
I guess it comes down to folks yearning for tangible items as an antidote to all that digital, disposable, consumption. We want to touch, listen, and admire that groovy inner sleeve and cover artwork. There’s only a handful of things sexier than a tastefully curated wall of records...
There’s also a support element at play here. One decides to allocate their hard-earned to back the artists - and labels! - they adore, and do so by attending shows and buying merchandise. That could be a badge, a tee, or a big black disc that could just as likely have a spin a day as it could have a nice long dust bath in the back of a wardrobe.
Same goes for cassettes which saw sales growth just shy of 20% year on year.
Keep it up people!
Holographic and augmented reality
I was standing in the crowd at Coachella when Tupac strutted across the stage sixteen years after his death. That was 2012 and the tech was frighteningly realistic.
Now we have filters that recognise and replace your face on your phone and games like Pokemon Go (if you missed that, then you’re one of the lucky ones). This is all merely scratching the surface of what is possible. Let’s steer clear of the black hole that is Deep Fake conspiracy…
Wikipedia defines augmented reality as, “technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.” Basically, machines tricking humans.
What can we expect from augmented reality moving into our shiny new decade?
Dance performances without actual dancers, rolling lyrics to sing to, wild lighting displays, creative animations, and more Tupac-style holographic manifestations. Musical notation could be projected for band members and audience alike, everything from sound desks to pedalboard settings could be shared in real time – and being the gear geek I am, I’d be down for that.
I could keep going on here, but safe to say augmented reality won't always feel like an episode of Black Mirror.
The ever-evolving world of social media
If there’s one positive gift social media has brought into this world, it’s free advertising. As toxic as it can be to those struggling with impulse control, DIY culture has flourished on the back of the small screen revolution.
Creatives of all genus can slap their work up on Instagram, build a following, collect some sales, maybe partner up with a brand or sponsor, and potentially make a healthy living in the process.
Like it or loathe it, social media isn’t going anywhere. It’ll simply shed it’s digi scales and assume a new form. We're moving towards live streaming, longer form videos, and YouTube accounts are where it’s heading.
Heard of Vlogging? Might induce a cringe, but the youth are into it. Stick a logo on there and voila! You’ve got yourself a sustainable business model – assuming, of course, that you’ve got something interesting to listen to.
Like it or not, we’re seeing this more and more in surfing, and the same formula holds true for the music world.
Genres
Country will be hip, jazz is making a comeback, punk, pub rock, psychedelic, bossanova, synth pop, new wave, no wave, rap, post punk, and basically every genre in the game will all have their time in the 20s thanks to the cyclical nature of trends.
Already I’m hearing sounds come into vogue in younger circles that made up the music I had on high rotation waaay back. It seems the older you get the more this becomes apparent.
Right now I’m seeing our very own homegrown Aussie punk rock making waves in Europe, psychedelic and country music are merging just like they did at the back half of the sixties, drum machine-driven synth pop has returned and so has the disco groove.
That’s naming only a few movements in my circles, and with so many dynamic parts, I wouldn’t dare imply that I’m an expert in trend forecasting. At the end of the day it’s all subjective, right?
So, having survived this far, have any new genres piqued your interest of late? Cyber-Rave? Bluegrass-Death Metal? Trap-Waltz?
//RICK SNOWDEN
Comments
For surfers, there's no better medium for music than a cassette. I've got a Sabbath tape, that'd be 30 years old, older than whoever wrote this article, and it was with me through five cars, sat on the floor amongst sand and salt, got trodden on and forgotten about, had wet wettys sitting on it, dust and all sorts of crap, but when I wanted to fire up I could click it in and War Pigs would start up every single time.
I use past tense because my latest car doesnt have a tape player. Fuck digital.
Yeah but if it was common for a cassette to survive the floor of a car you wouldn’t have mentioned it. The only thing more prone to getting ruined is a CD getting scratched to the shit. Tapes also have the worst sound quality of any medium. Although I have enjoyed many a tape you can’t honestly deny that the music programs you can download on your phone today shit all over everything there was before.
Something about a cassette in the car always enjoyed too, so what about the lousy sound quality especially on that favourite tape that would get played and flipped over and over eventually stretching the tape. For me more enjoyable in the car than CD's for some reason and more tangible than mp3 ... or maybe it's just nostalgia screwing with my memory :o :P
My problem with cassettes though was not leaving them on the floor of the car, but on the dashboard only to return to find them melted and all twisted out of shape :P
Dunno if it's a new thing or not, but I've seen some interesting elements of ambient post rock/metal trickling down into the prog scene, and even into dad rock.
More and more blurring of lines between fusion and prog too. Though that's been going on for years.
Metal bands dabbling in electronica/synth elements (and even pre-recorded pads - shock horror), pushing the boundaries of the wall-of-sound concept.
Oh, and we pretty much are at the point that you can replace your bassist (and drummer) with AI - at least for low level busking stuff. One of the big pedal manufacturers (I think its TC?) has a trio-type pedal comes up with a rhythm section backing track on the fly; even matching key and tempo changes. Heard a couple of guys say its pretty OK.
The return of high fidelity music and full-length tracks would be awesome! At the moment it feels like we're living in one big commercial.
*TOOL has entered the chat*
Oath. Fear Innoculum. What an album that is.
What a gift it was for metal in 2019.
Yeah. Those guys are on one end of the spectrum, that is, the super-clean studio sound. What about all the raw African stuff of full percussive and melodic orchestras being recorded in full length one-shot at their peak performance tracks!? James Brown. Fela Kuti. Dead Kennedys. Rhythm, "got soul"?
Found this awesome afro-jazz track by King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizzard last week. RAW, dynamic, human.
Got a link?
Yep. My prediction for major influences, in search of the heartbeat of the Australia live music scene, KGWL's first song this link -
That's good stuff!
They're out there, just not necessarily well promoted.
Maybe try Alfa Mist, or Snarky Puppy.
1990 (Not Oz) Jellyfish -Bedspring Kiss (Psych/Calypso)
Ends up venturing into classic/Spy/western
No way how this should or could work?
Impossibly they shape up an infectious dreamy track.
Corey Henry & the Funk Apostles might be up your alley if you're after something modern yet reminiscent of James Brown
No mention anywhere of EDM?
It had it's time. 6-8 years ago.
We're onto the post-EDM digital maximalism of PC Music and the like... which is almost EDM parody, but somehow extremely likeable. That'll be done in a year or so as well. Dunno what's next.
On the opposite end, ambient is back in a big way.
I listen to streamed music most days at work or home or in the car, but ive also been re-buying my favourite true and tested albums on vinyl and i still buy stuff on CD mostly second-hand cheap..
There is just something about having something to hold and look at and in particular playing vinyl is like a ritual for special occasions.
Ive tried and still try to get into new music but I've also kind of accepted I'm generally stuck in the 90s (or late 80s to mid 90s era) but also listen to lots of older stuff.
Also find myself going back and re listening to stuff i didn't get into at the time from that era.
So i guess I'm officially old now.
This is me exactly
100%.
Funny, when I go to stream it's always a decision – throwback or new school.
That last photo of crew all holding iphones above their heads is my idea of purgatory. Almost as bad as people who do that hand heart thing. Fuck that makes me angry and I'm not an angry person.
I've been getting into New-wave Polka as it's great to dance to.
And being in Japan, Heavy Enka is an emerging genre.
Seriously though, you could mark the phases of my life by the style of music i listened to. Nowadays i'm open to new music of course (I love Shazam) but pretty much just go with the flow.
I find surf vids a great source of new music and long forgotten classics.
what's the hand heart thing bill?
Don't look Bill...
Oh that! Ha ha, you'd go bonkers here in Japan bill. It's everywhere.
Nothing like a good fuckin band with real instruments and talent.... I saw Jonny Deisel recently play 2 hours straight with a bass guitarist and drummer.... intimate gig at Lizzotts in Newcastle( go there) .... got word today Helmet have added the Cambridge in Newy to their Oz tour this year also.... that’ll do me... yewww
Local pub/garage punk rock lads The Chats are on the way up at the moment. Great live act in the vein of their heroes The Cosmic Psychos. Been invited to play Coachella this year. Go boys!!!
The Aussie pub rock thing is really on the up. Thanks in part to the bands you've mentioned. Noticed it a lot when touring in Europe. They love it.
The Chats have already done overseas tours and have had Dave Grohl and QOTSA at their gigs. That's pretty insane!
Actually i forget i have developed a new taste in music mainstream Indonesian pop with a dangdut influence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangdut
This one is about "sambal balado" a famous spicy sambal sauce recipe and off-course full pf innuendo
And then this one is is just typical modern love song.
Meanwhile, in Japan:
I listened to a fair bit of the top 100 last weekend. The top 100 movie soundtracks on ABC Classic radio.
Some of my favourites that didn't make the cut:
A Clockwork Orange Theme - Wendy Carlos from Universal Music Library on Vimeo.
Sound tracks are highly underrated. Allow for much more depth and complexity than the regular pop release.
How'd that Chuck Palahniuk quote go again? Listen to the auctioneer call of modern pop music?
I reckon TV show themes probably fit into that 'pop' space.
Agree. Most of my recent discoveries have been from Shazzaming when the credits roll up. Then it's onto Spotify and you're off and running.
The soundtrack from Natural Born Killers is a ripper. It's got a bit of everything, from 9 inch Nails to Patsy Cline......
I have recently discovered Shuggie Otis. Blues, soul, guitar and cool old school vibes. Well worth a listen.
Shuggie is awesome, his old man goes alright too
https://open.spotify.com/album/1TJogu55mMdMXxB5ImiuzD?si=DqVRhxYaQqOE1ej...
60's Psych/Prog Alt Chixbandz are yet to have their day, nor do they care!
2 examples that blow the lid off the whole scene.
1st song fuses Punk Poison Girls / Goth Nick Cave (Only it's the 60's)
Chix trampled on the Flowers & summoned the Power to crush Alt Punk/Goths.
(A Mega Monsta Meltdown)
Pleasure Seekers ...'Mr Power' > { Lock it in: Top 10 on Alt 2050 Juke Box }
2nd song is Pro/Am sweet & innocent...but lures the listener to crave more.
Always a new trick & one step ahead even after a million plays...ubercool.
Rockets over the top of sissy sisters Go-Gos & Bangles on every level.
The Feminine Complex ...'Time Slips by' > { Lock it in: Top 40 on Alt 2050 Juke Box }
Agree that sometimes when you go on Spotify (or other) you feel like you’re faced with a decision but how cool is it that you can easily just listen to to whoever or whatever you want to. Some of those algorithm based suggestions have made it onto my playlists as well, and occasionally make an effort to listen to the recommendations.
RRR 102.7 fm. No hits, no playlist. Many classic tracks & keeps us oldies topped up with enough of the quality emerging / new stuff to feel like you still know what's going on.
I loved RRR (and 3PBS) in the 90s everyday there was so many good music shows, so much focus on supporting live music and a focus on guitar based music be it Australian, NZ, USA or UK etc new stuff old stuff interviews of bands touring, live feeds etc turned me onto so much good music.
But IMHO both RRR and 3PBS have gone down hill ever year it has become less about supporting live music and more about other little niche crap and almost all the decent shows now seem to be outside of work hours.
Can’t speak for what RRR and PBS were like back in the day (I’ve only been a regular listener in the past 8-10 years) but I still think they are the best on the radio by far. Sure, not all of their shows will be up your alley, but if you find the ones you like, you’ll be back week after week.
Old aussie punk where is it these days. https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung&q=exploding+whit...
Perhaps the most significant recent development is that TISM is now on Spotify.
Went back through their history the other day. So much gold.
"The band's first concert was on 6 December 1983. The Get Fucked Concert at the Duncan McKinnon Athletics Reserve in the small suburb of Murrumbeena was considered a complete failure which caused the band to split up."
"The next EP, Australia The Lucky Cunt (1993) was TISM's most controversial release to date. Courts issued an injunction order of the CD when the Ken Done Society threatened legal action over the artwork, which parodied Done's signature style and depicted a koala sucking a syringe. The matter was settled for an undisclosed amount of money "fairly close to the amount that Radiohead spends on buying friends"".
Having Ron Hitler Barassi tell me personally and emphatically to Get Fucked at the Patch (Cooly) late 80s or early 90s was a life highlight. I'd managed to interview Humphrey B Flaubert backstage after a gig, and as a parting gift he pointed out RHB, hiding in plain sight up near the bar, pulling down TISM posters. He encouraged me to introduce myself to him. I bowled up to RHB and said “ I know who you are mate, you're Ron Hitler Barassi!" he shoved a poster into my hands and told me to get fucked with such glorious depth of feeling. I've never felt so alive.
Where is Oz Punk! Good question but you may not like the answer.
Internet or www is a pretty vacant representation of 1960's-1990's
It's easier to track near complete Gig listings of every band from earlier & later eras.
Gold Coast
Local Bully ran Showbeat weekly...Early 80's Punk bands wouldn't feature.
Paper actually implanted an undercover journo to infiltrate our scene...don't ask!
Less than 1% of GC 1900-2000 music culture is represented on vinyl or online.
Fair to say www is a Glitzy Jingle of Gold Coast Culture making us sound even worse.
Gold Coast only had 4GG Radio + Sundale Jingle Booth (for 'cutting' a record).
GC Bands needed to leave for Bne or Music Farm (Byron) > Sydney or Bust.
Cost: $300-500 for a 4 track single > conversion (2020) $1,300- 2,250
These GC "snobs" in turn lost all local cred for selling out.
Note: GC/Lismore Youth income was 20% less than Bne & 40% less than Sydney.
This gives one the understanding that GC audience is more loyal than Brizzos
Bne flocked to all out GC Dead Kennedy's / Ramones Gigs as theirs were lame.
Goldie Gigs Go Off ...Brisbane Gigs are like Love ins with candles...
Oz/Bne Schoolies been coming here since 1950's cause they also know that!
GC bands caught unwrapping a New Cassette Tape...again > 'Band is up themselves'.
GC music was well beneath underground & was Alternate to Alternative music.
These were fast violent times as Cops busted every gig ( Like UK 90's raves)
Bne/GC Force + Dogs to shut down "Rock Against Ruzz"
Mind you! It was across the road from GC Top Cop's Family Home!
Brisbane & Sydney punk bands had Pubs / Gigs / Radio / Zines & less town angst.
We could walk down any street in Bne with less Cops & Boofs hassle
Goldie, Ipswich, Lismore Punks faced death threats & Police intercept each outing.
The Lyric of these regional bands was a more anarchic rebellious raw punk sound.
GC Carport Crasher Gigs + "Shed Rock!"(Rehearsals & Recordings) re: 'Alt Garage'
1st at West Burleigh > Bailey Cnt S'port...each facility ran about 2-3 bands (No more)
Never last long at one place as word would get out...Police give yer the boot.
Police would confiscate Lyrics & plant joints...only sheer numbers would rid them...
'Shed 5' - Punk gigs in a way tributes GC poor man's alternate garage culture)
Lounge room > Carport > Storage Sheds >|| (Garage is Posh) > Recording Rooms!
tbb & most GC bands never knew folk with a Posh Garage (We knew our place!)
Final hope to lean on band members / Parents factory loan but never lasted long)
Each time we spun a Razar single it drove home how absurdly punk GC darkside was.
Again (Darkside) another GC Flip. These Sheds home to lawless Bikers/Brothels etc.
Old Oz Punk is in garages & storage sheds under the stairs or backs of cupboards
tbb has several GC Punk cassette pets that he trips over but never can find.
That's more than the fellow old school local Punks know about.
Is there is a better place for it...yet to see that...ain't no one come knocking.
PS: Experts from online 99% music void say we never existed, wasted your time.
Online Websters repeat GC never had local Punk bands or Punk Scene.
Strange as tbb saw many punk bands at Plenty of gigs with Bne Punkz on hand.
Every weekend Bne Punkz always wanted part of it...our hovels were their dosses!
tbb was in Social Cancer, Midnite Choir Boys - re: Qld Upper House, Censor Motion.
This being 'on-line' ...none of these bands ever existed...like do we care!
GC Punk:
Shed 5 was a Mecca, "GCCC Fuck Off" was the message as they were shut down.
The Stranglers Aust tour starting 5th Feb - TBB Feb 9th Tivoli Brisbane
Good little read on The Guardian about the switch from ownerswhip of music to access to music.
You owned vinyl and cassettes and CDs, but in the age of streaming you don't own the music but just have access to it, which changes the way we relate to artists and their music.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/feb/02/streaming-spells-the-end-of-the-ownership-era-of-music-but-are-we-ready-to-let-go
Interesting article. And, it highlights a bunch of issues we're only just working through.
For example, a while back I downloaded (to my phone, for offline listening) via Spotify, Not From There's amazing album Sand on Seven. It's still listed in my library as being downloaded with a green tick, but the album ain't available any more.
I presume the record label (or the band, if they have got the rights back) simply don't want to pay the annual fee to keep it listed, which I totally understand. I have five albums on Spotify, and at $70 each it's a small annual sting in the budget given the single-digit-plays they'll each receive.
But.. I don't have any more CDs. I don't own a CD player, and the only device that can play 'em is my old iMac. I don't own a record player, cassette player, 8-track or anything else.
I've handed my life over to streaming, but when the band doesn't want to make it available any more, I'm at their mercy. Which is a bummer, as I'd happily hand over some money for this album again.
It's tough for a band to totally get out of all forms of streaming. Here's the full album on youtube -
It's a tough choice, leave it on Spotify and get paid a little, take it off and get nothing.
You could buy a digital copy from the band’s bandcamp site.
“Digital Album, Streaming + Download.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.”
https://notfromthere.bandcamp.com/album/sand-on-seven
Yes! Don't know why I didn't think of that before. Done and done, thanks Wally.
jello biafra showing his record collection
the site (fuse) also has hip hop producers like pete rock and dj premier and diamond d showing off their vinyl
my records finds this week, so far...
My taste in music appears quite different to most of the other posters in this article; heavy, distorted, guitar-based is more my domain. In this genre there are many different paths being followed and progressed...one such path which appears to be gaining appreciation is a lowering of the production quality (or, at least, sort of replicating a general lowering of it) to achieve a more raw sound, probably similar to the effect of recording on 'old school' 8 or 4 track tape devices.
An example of this, in the quest for relentless wall-of-brutality overdriven sonic madness, is Devourment's latest release...a word of caution, it won't be everyone's 'cup of tea':
Streaming services have their benefits but I still buy vinyl and will continue to for a number of reasons.
It is worth mentioning how little the streaming services pay.
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/01/30/2018-streaming-music-price-b...
I still stream music but have chosen to cancel my Spotify and gone with Apple due to them along with Amazon, Pandora and google opposing a ruling in 2019 by the Copyright Royalty Board which was set to increase songwriter royalties by 44 percent. Streaming services had 90 days to oppose to that ruling, and so they did, bastards. Apple Music didn't.