[Just your average movie goer]

I just thought I'd say that Australian bands do NOT get enough recognition overseas. I think only Supes and Barend will know about this...

...but Australia has some great bands (and I'm not talking about SilverChair or Savage Garden... as I don't consider them great).

I wonder if you guys in America have ever heard of some of these...

Midnight Oil
Hunters and Collectors
Hoodoo Gurus

And before they fell off the rails and went arty...

Died Pretty
The Church

Heard that Died Pretty, following after Hunters and Collectors have called it day. Shame.

I think it's highly unlikely. But these bands have made such great songs... and these are just a few off the top of my head. I just wonder why they never made it on the overseas market....

Barend or Supes, would you concur?

[Just your average movie goer]

think it's highly unlikely

I meant to say "I think it's highly unlikely that any of you guys in the States would have heard of these bands."

[Heccubus]

Music from anywhere in the world can be good, the bands you listed haven't made it elsewhere in the world? Well the same can be said for Canadian music. We have a ton of underground bands with the potential to be huge, and the only ones anyone knows are crap acts like Nickelback and the Barenaked Ladies (who released one good album, I will give them that). Meanwhile some really talented artists like Alexisonfire, Broken Social Scene, The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Sloan, and Boy all get shrouded beneath the pop punk/cock rock garbage that everyone is buying these days. I mean, Sloan opened for the Strokes (even though Sloan's first record came out in 1992) and STILL can't get any recognition. What I'm saying is that more than likely, the only Aussie bands we'll hear from are bands that sound like The Vines (which could be okay in small doses) or Jet (which is very very bad).

[Just your average movie goer]

So I guess it comes down to the fact that most people out there listen to crap instead of supporting good artists...

[Reader]

i've heard of Midnight oil, if that makes any difference.

i wanna check out those bands that you said became 'arty', if that means anything as well.

[Chyld]

So I guess it comes down to the fact that most people out there listen to crap instead of supporting good artists...

Two words. "Mainstream" and "Pop". If they don't answer your question, you've been given a full frontal lobotomy, I'm afraid...

[Heccubus]

I love how people assume that all mainstream music is awful. It's absolutely adorable.

[Just your average movie goer]

i wanna check out those bands that you said became 'arty', if that means anything as well.

Trust me here, Reader, that in these instances, arty is not good... not good at all... But by all means, check out their earlier work if you ever by chance come across it.

I'm glad you've heard of Midnight Oil. That's one, then.

I love how people assume that all mainstream music is awful. It's absolutely adorable.

It's not with 100% certainty that people assume all mainstream music is awful. But by assuming it's awful and avoiding it, people will be spared the experience of hearing some truly crap songs. True, they may miss out on some occasional good ones and there ARE some good mainstream artists out there... but through shutting themselves from mainstream music, people are spared from a lot of bad ones.

But you're absolutely right though... it is adorable.

[Heccubus]

My point is that mainstream music is not the problem with the music industry at all. The problem is just that the dominant market happens to be lapping up the bad stuff. You can look at someone like Deftones, AFI, Incubus, people along those lines, who have huge followings, get regular video play, and still produce decent music as mainstream. So it's best not to assume that mainstream music is bad. Independent labels have far worse musicians on them than many major labels do.

[Jordan]

Hey I remember Silverchair *cough nirvana". And what about Bic Runge.

[Heccubus]

I remember Silverchair. Yup, no matter how hard I try, I remember them.

[Just your average movie goer]

Silver Chair were pretty goddamn awful... still are as far as I'm aware.

But don't you say a bad word about the lovely Bic Runga or I'll come over there and do something really horrible to you... can't say what exactly as I haven't figured it out, but it will hurt a lot.

Incidentally, Bic Runga is a New Zealand artist... and as I haven't got around to annexing New Zealand for Australia, she is not an Australian as yet.

She makes very beautiful soulful music. It's classy, romantic, bittersweet... she knows music and she knows how to sing. She is a VERY fine artist and I will defend her against anyone who wants to criticise her.

I bought both of her albums and eagerly await her next one. Wonderful artist.

[Chyld]

My point is that mainstream music is not the problem with the music industry at all.  The problem is just that the dominant market happens to be lapping up the bad stuff.

Exactly. 'Tis what I meant. Since mainstream rock is good (like you said) and general mainstream music is not.

For example...

-Busted (look! weer teh rokk bhand!!!!11)
-Kylie Mingogue and her backside.
-The Fast Food Rockers
-The Cheeky Girls
-Gangsta rap

By and large, :yuck:

This post has been edited by Chyld: 16 May 2004 - 03:00 AM

[Just your average movie goer]

Okay, I've figured out what I'm going to do to anyone who slanders the lovely Bic Runga.

I'm going to wait until Episode III is released on DVD. Then I'm going to construct a DVD player that is capable of automatically playing three DVDs in endless rotation.

Then I'm going to strap the offender in their living room chair... set this specialised DVD player up and put Episode I, Episode II and Episode III in, program the settings to "Play all three DVDs in endless rotation" and then leave.

See, I told you it would be something horrible.

[Heccubus]

Chyld, Kylie Minogue has an amazing singing voice, and her producers are extremely talented when it comes to making good use of obscure synthesizers. I have a lot of respect for her.
I wasn't even referring just to mainstream rock, there are hip hop artists in the public eye that are talented, and even a couple of pop stars in the limelight have some amazing vocal capabilities. You can't tell me that Pharrell from The Neptunes is not a good vocalist, nor can one claim that Justin Timberlake doesn't have a rather stunning vocal range. Mainstream rock is no better than any other mainstream format.