Also: holy shit this is a close vote!
What the hell is nap-rock? And why is that a problem when it sounds this good!
I’m not familiar with the Fez soundtrack but if it’s anything like Disasterpeace’s other work–It Follows, Hyper Light Drifter–I’m sure it’s fantastic. I’d throw some HLD in the 'dome but I think it’s far too ambient to have any legs.
It seems that, after a prolonged and incredibly close duel, we may have a victor…!
My gosh, this vote…
It is those bands that everyone blogs about being amazing, like “The National” or “Bon Iver” or “Interpol” with just like one guy singing muted vocals with some slow guitar and heavy effects production.
It is just bland, like a bunch of kids listened to “Depeche Mode” and though, how can I make this bad?
I would say that the Sworcery song is too atmospheric for “the dome”.
I could really go off on nap-rock for a while, because it is usually a bunch of suburban kids who listened to good post-punk music like Depeche Mode and The Cure, and figured, what if I take all of the sharp edges off of it? And rather than singing about despair, sadness and real human emotions, we make songs that sound like the songs that we liked as kids.
It is iterative and unoriginal and will garner universal acclaim from outlets like the AV Club and Pitchfork, but nobody will actually listen to it.
I mean… c’mon
SS: Speaking of your lyrics, they have been described as dark, melancholy and difficult to interpret. Would you agree with those descriptions?
Matt: If you put our records against the average indie rock or pop record, maybe they’re on the darker side of the spectrum, but I’ve never really thought of them on their own as being really depressing or dark or morbid. I think maybe we’re a little left of center on that and have a little more of that than most bands. But on their own, with respect to themselves, I think they’re pretty balanced with humor and optimism. I can understand that we sometimes get that description, but I think it’s just one part of what we’re doing. And I wouldn’t put it in that category myself as being dark really.
http://thescenestar.typepad.com/ss/2007/06/interview-matt-.html
I can think of a few songs you may have heard by The National that would leave you with that impression, but you’re wrong and I hate you if you give any of their albums a listen I think you’ll see that’s not the case, particularly the idea that it’s just “slow guitar”. The first thing that stood out to me when I discovered their 2007 album Boxer was the percussion, that’s strong throughout all of their albums. Give them a chance if you’ve never heard more than a song or two—that’s as good an album as any to start with.
You don’t have to come away liking them, but you should dislike them accurately!
You added this while I was responding to the first part, and…what?
You’re disappointed that The National aren’t post-punk-despair and you include a quote of Matt saying they’re not trying to be? So…you just don’t like that they’re not something they aren’t?
I would have to stay awake for a full album to be able to make an assessment.
But they are the U2 of indie rock, and are bland and un-interesting.
I mean, look at this NME guy working himself up into a lather about this.
“The National”, to me, is the “I’m 12 and this is deep” of indie music.
Isn’t that also called shoegaze? As in, “this music is unexciting, so I’m just gonna gaze at my shoes during the show instead of dance or have any fun”?
I dislike the genre as well, but I don’t know how you could put that track in that bucket.
I’m the wrong guy to have a discussion about the lyrics, I’m definitely a music-first guy. It takes me years for the lyrics of songs and artists I love to start to sink in and make an impression. But debating whether the lyrics are meaningful or not isn’t relevant to your definition of nap-rock that I’m protesting.
I think you’re just trying to say you don’t like The National, which is fine! But I think they make incredible songs and absolutely don’t fit into your “nap-rock” definition.
I’m no Bon Iver expert, but I listened to For Emma, Forever Ago in 2007 like everyone else. I like it, but no question, Skinny Love fits squarely into your nap-rock definition of “just like one guy singing muted vocals with some slow guitar and heavy effects production.”
I can’t square that definition with The National:
I also want to state, that I am definitely being hyperbolic about “The National” because it is fun to “roast” them.
I found this too
Which pretty much mirrors my feelings, I understand that I am supposed to like them, but I can’t get past the way it is all put together.
No problem if you like it, clearly a lot of people do. But to me, like the Sworcery track, it is wholly uninteresting.
Oh, you wouldn’t want an angel watching over you
Surprise, surprise, they wouldn’t wanna watch
Another un-innocent, elegant fall
Into the un-magnificent lives of adults
I am 12 and this is deep.
This roast is fun
https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/comments/6kjsgb/rindieheads_roast_of_the_national/
I haven’t read the article yet, but the headline about hating crescendos? That I totally understand, whether I’d agree with their finer points or not. I see where they’re coming from on that one.
It is a good article, it is more about hating yourself than the band.
I am the same way, The national kind of blew up during my “going to indie music rock shows” phase late in college, and they were like the Starbucks of indie music to us, so I like to poke fun at them.
So maybe I hate this goddamn band because I hate my goddamn self, and I should get some goddamn therapy instead of taking it out on the goddamn National. But perhaps my reaction to the National is a healthy form of self-suspicion. It might be cathartic to reject over-familiar pictures of the world, when the artists seem like they’re getting close to the bone but never truly scrape it. There is so much more out there to hear and so little life to do it.
We interrupt the regularly scheduled nap-rock discussion to announce that the Shamazaar Theme from Outcast is your new Thunderdome champion, defeating Sword & Sworcery by a razor margin of 11 votes to 10.
Apparently a major grower over repeat listens, Outcast came into the elimination bracket as a massive underdog, with the third-lowest average voting score of the tracks that made the cut.
Bonus bragging rights go to @rossbob for the most accurate bracket prediction, with a score of 27, and a total of 17/31 correct picks. @krayzkrok put up a good showing as well, with 15 points, and even picked Sword & Sworcery to reach the finals before being eliminated. Prediction brackets here: https://challonge.com/9cvfe0n0/predictions#
Thanks to everyone who participated and helped expose us all to great music! And congratulations to @Gordon_Cameron for nominating the winner. Here’s the full final result: https://challonge.com/tournaments/4665296/
Thank you, thank you!
I would just like to say that the $50,000 grand prize is going to be so helpful to me and my –
…wait, what?
Congrats @Gordon_Cameron, and thanks @Thraeg for another fine tournament! It’s always insightful and exciting.
And hey, I had no idea Challonge allowed for predictions! Sounds daft saying it now but Furi and Outcast were my favourites to win, or go far at least. Surprised Furi fell when it did; I thought Sword & Sworcery would have got a drubbing there!
That was really great fun though. Heard a lot of new awesome music.