Surely there is an alternative? part I

Another post inspired by a documentary and a request. I guess they are the best and if it helps me to put something out there then it should be encouraged. So if you have a question please feel free to ask, and I will try and relate it to music somehow, or I will just make up some stuff.




I was watching a documentary about American Rock and Roll. It was and is pretty good. Looking at the music of the 60s 70s and 80s and relating to various aspects of society at the time(s). There was a quote in it, which went along the lines of, when the music industry sees something succeed they will produce copies of it, until it fails. Which we all know to be true, and quite depressing. This coupled with a conversation I had over the holiday period with a friends son about alternative music means that it is time to look at some of the music that inspires the copying.

This is from my experience and so, well, lets be honest here, it might be a bit dated, none the less and as has been commented on before, great music doesn't date.

So before it becomes a 'trend' or new style, there has to be someone who forged the way first. From my experience, these bands tend to not be as successful, well known and the music tends to be less polished, than the people you have heard of. That's kind of how it works, because improving on an idea is a lot easier than coming up with one yourself.

So let's start with the obvious. The Pixies basically led to to Nirvana and grunge. Here is a Pixies song, a great Pixies song

here is another

That video was done by the same guys that did Gorillaz and is the same story as Monkey Magic, the Japanese TV series of the late 70s. Cool.

The Pixies reformed in the early 2000s after splitting up for 11 years or so. They are great once again, although to be honest I prefer listening to their old stuff rather than anything new. But for all of you older fans. There is a new pixies album released last year.

Another band that has to be said to have had a large influence on people such as the 'Punk' scene that came through America in the 90s and 2000s is Sonic Youth. I am not sure if it is fair to say that they were perhaps a little more well known than the Pixies. I guess it is because when their music style was more accepted in the main stream they were still together. They split in 2011, after Kim Gordon and Thursten Moore announced their marriage of 27 years was over. (wow by the way, just wow)

It is perhaps true though that you cant draw a direct link with Sonic Youth and other bands that have copied them, mainly because they are so hard to copy, with various different emphasis's of style running through their music , no one band can really be said to be an imitation, although I guess most alternative bands are in some way. Their music ranges from the quite pop oriented, through punk and then to new or even no wave styles.

They are definitely worth checking out though. Here are a couple of my favourite songs. First a Rock style

yes that is Chuck D from Public Enemy

Here is something else

There is so much Sonic Youth stuff that I really do not know where to go. I recommend their albums, Goo (my favorite) Sister (everyone else's favorite), Murray Street, Dirty. As starting places. I have been meaning for years to put together a Sonic youth playlist of my favorite songs and play that.

If we look at 'Emo' and specifically My Chemical Romance. A good band and the best of their generation of bands. Sorry to say though not really a new concept, 'emotional' music put to guitars. Not to detract from their music though. The Black Parade particularly is a favourite album of mine and always worth a listen.

their spiritual fathers are perhaps the guys from Fugazi and Husker Du.

here is some Fugazi

I must admit, that Fugazi were a band that passed me by a little bit. I had a very cool 'I'm in on the kill taker' T-shirt which was always met with a little bit of skepticism by people who weren't aware of what it was. I would search around a little bit in their albums as it is worth the effort.

Here is some Husker Du

That is taken from the album, Candy apple grey and that is a bit of emotional roller coaster ride. It is fair to say that they may have had a larger influence of Green Day than MCR, but definitely give the album a listen.

Four bands worth checking out. I like this topic and so I am going to do a few more of them. I have concentrated on the a very small section of the music styles that I personally like and so there is a lot more to write and think about.For example, the new age of metal has some very obvious links, as does R&B as well as the indie folky sounds that seem so popular again.

As always, if you have any comments please feel free