2017's best so far

2017's best so far

who

Tera Melos - Trash Generator

Cheqd

I'd agree with that statement.

...

Qui w/ Trevor Dunn was pretty great. Book of Angels vol 32 by Mary Halvorson is looking pretty promising too.

why is this thread so saturated with microtonal math-influenced alt rock

weird/melodically disjointed riffs dont necessarily an artful album make

You're right. It's not the fact that they make microtonal math-influenced alt rock that makes them good, it's how they do it that makes them good.

But all the albums here are examples of that being done well.

i guess im more in the market for melody, generally. music like this is fairly easy to make on some level if you're musically trained or skilled, so it's hard for me to see it as being as impressive or unique as artists that manage to craft unique and beautiful melodies or lyrics, or music that unites inaccessible elements with accessible elements.

i think the problem i have with a lot of music like this is that it seems maximal without consideration, like the goal is not to make something enduring or well-crafted, but instead to provide the most off-kilter riffs and inscrutable melodies. i get why people like it, but it's like watching people do those overharmonizations of pop songs. like just because there's more doesn't mean it's better. it feels more aesthetically appealing than artistically appealing.

Did you even listen to that Tera Melos album? It's not even really discordant or technical. They're basically pop formula rock songs with an odd time signature or dissonant chord here or there.

yeah, trash generator seems to ditch actually well-constructed melody or songwriting for what feels to me as a gimmick. Adding an extra 2/4 bar or going to a flat V triad isn't enough to substitute for not having much to say in their songs imo.

I'm genuinely not trying to flame, for the record. I think the title track does probably the best job with their aesthetic; the 7/4 in the chorus actually works, plus the singer decides to employ a three note vocal melody instead of a one note vocal melody. Dyer Ln is also a little better in that regard. But it still feels to me like cheaping out, using a disjointed aesthetic so that you don't actually have to worry as much about how the parts of your song actually fit together.

also forgot to mention "don't say I know" which actually does a really good job with the harmonies. but still almost every song relies on a one or two note vocal melody for most or all of the song.

thats from last year idiot

So do you have any examples of people using a disjointed aesthetic that you think work well or do you think every time someone makes something like that that it's just cheaping out instead of focusing on good songwriting? Just curious.

obviously since i tend to not enjoy it, i don't have a very extensive knowledge of it, but there are kind of a few.

the brendan byrnes album "neutral paradise" that came out earlier this year is a really good usage of microtonality IMO, the songs are all very distinct from one another and the melody and structure are apprehensible despite there being some really unusual choices in the songwriting.

metrically, i even think stuff as poppy as Sufjan Stevens does a really good job. Like "the tallest man" is in 11 (more or less) for the first part, and feels very natural. i think the meter feeling like it's in "service" of the song, so to speak, is important to whether or not i feel like it's gimmicky.

aphex twin is also a decent example of these things. it's pretty evident if you listen closely/you know about music that his songs are not constructed like pop songs and have often unusual meter/timbre/tonality, but they often feel very natural. You're listening to a song that takes the form of disjointed elements, not a set of disjointed elements that take the form of a song, if that makes sense.

>sufjan
>aphex

oh so your just a normie lol...

"normie" isn't a criticism or a counterargument lmao. i used those examples because they are both well-known and applicable. the brendan byrnes album doesnt have a single track with more than 1000 plays on spotify, but i noticed you left that one off.

Unironically this. Most intriguing listen of the year and I hope more people follow this aesthetic and follow suit

btw is not me

Anyways, I guess we can agree to disagree. We have differing musical values and opinions that affect our appreciation of music. I just don't think Tera Melos makes "gimmicky" music. It comes off to me at least that they use dissonance and sort of disjointed/chaotic rhythm well. But to each their own. I like your music picks as well

yea fair enough, just surprised me how much that genre was repped in this thread.

on the off chance, do you know any music like that that's a little more melodic/cohesive that i might be able to check out? i'm always down to branch out

Great band, have you heard Countdown To Ecstasy yet?