Music Theory

Alexander 

do you like the band Phoenix?

4:36pmBen

yeah

i’ve been hearing them everywhere recently

i liked that one album

i haven’t heard anything else by them

4:36pmAlexander

i got into them recently, thanks to pandora, yeah mostly that one album

they played here last week, but i missed it

neat story

4:37pmBen

i like the song fences a lot

and there’s about 2000 cool remixes of lisztomania or however you spell it

for da clubs

4:37pmAlexander

i like girlfriend and those remixes too

and “if i feel better”

4:38pmBen

good album good album

4:38pmAlexander

yep yep…

so is Santigold just a stage name for Nelly Furtado?

4:38pmBen

i dunno?

i’ve heard of both of those things

but i don’t really know what they are

4:38pmAlexander

i kid i kid

i know they are different

but they sound the same

like leave and leaf

I’m listening to “Electric Feel” by MGMT radio

4:40pmBen

i love that song

4:40pmAlexander

but self-consciously

my jeans are not nearly tight enough

4:40pmBen

hahaha

that is one of the 3 listenable songs on that album

in fact

4:40pmAlexander

there are exactly 3

4:40pmBen

i was talking with someone the other day

4:40pmAlexander

cool, i was too

4:40pmBen

about how the Phoenix album sounds like it ripped off Electric Feel in various ways in about 10 songs

but good, still fun ways

4:41pmAlexander

haha, thats why i like it

Pandora agrees with you, btw

4:41pmBen

like how The Cars ripped themselves off over and over and over

4:41pmAlexander

both go well with cammomile tea

yeah, but its ok to be derivative, if you’re derived from sweet tunes

4:41pmBen

yeah

i have no problem with blantantly ripping off the music of others

as long as you don’t make shitty music i don’t want to listen to

and even then

i just won’t listen to it

4:42pmAlexander

yeah like

4:42pmBen

it’s my laid back approach to creative infringement

4:42pmAlexander

owl city ripped off death cab

but death cab sucks

4:42pmBen

again

i’m aware of those two things

but they might be the same band

as far as i know

4:43pmAlexander

so, its not that owl city is derivative

though they are

its that they suck

4:43pmBen

hahahaha

well it’s like

every indie band now

4:43pmAlexander

god i know

4:43pmBen

is just remaking 80’s songs

that don’t play on 80’s

night

4:43pmAlexander

even their original songs

4:43pmBen

but if you actually listen to the other music from the 80s

4:43pmAlexander

are 80s songs

4:43pmBen

you can’t tell what’s new and whats old

(like seriously, pandora plays songs for me all the time and i don’t know if they’re getting tricky and throwing in a new track the kids like, or if it’s just some 80s song i haven’t heard)

4:44pmAlexander

Talking Heads might as well just rerelease their albums under a new name like “dance floor electric team”

4:44pmBen

hahahahaha

exactly

4:45pmAlexander

this tea is reviving the F out of me

4:45pmBen

dropped dook yet?

that’s always my turning point

4:45pmAlexander

yeah, that felt great

4:45pmBen

once i get that blackened, smelly log out

i’m like a new man

4:45pmAlexander

but it took my last energy reserves

and i wanted to take a nap on the toilet

luckily

i did not

i like the sound of “kids” but i do not approve of the message

grow up, quit fading into the past

no one is really nostalgic for being a little kid

4:47pmBen

ugh

messages

4:47pmAlexander

being a little kid is retarded

4:47pmBen

i make a conscience effort not to let the message of any song sink into my head

i only listen to melodies

which makes me a terrible person

but you know what?

4:47pmAlexander

i let “freshman girls” permeate my consciousness

4:47pmBen

people that write lyrics are idiots

4:47pmAlexander

you write lyrics

4:47pmBen

yeah

well

you’ve heard em

let those sink in

4:48pmAlexander

that sounds dangerous

4:48pmBen

exactly

i think i just picture some singer

4:48pmAlexander

i like songs where the message is “fuck it, lets have some fun”

4:48pmBen

sitting there writing lyrics

thinking he’s changing the world

with a message lke

4:48pmAlexander

i can easiy get on board with that

4:48pmBen

“hey bros, love is neat”

or

“this chick is like, hard to get along with, but i like her anyways”

4:49pmAlexander

John Mayer is furious with you right now

4:49pmBen

yeah

i can get on board with songs about hedonism too

but

4:49pmAlexander

he’ll calm down after he masturbates

4:49pmBen

only if the music makes me want to hedon

4:49pmAlexander

yeah

i like R&B songs too, because I can also get behind a message of getting behind someone

4:50pmBen

hahaha yeah

but see what i mean

those are messageless songs

they’re like

“party your face off”

or “do this chick”

4:50pmAlexander

yeah

4:50pmBen

and there’s a lot of good music

where people try to send you a message

and i’m just like

man, fuck your message

i just want your sweet poppy melodies

4:51pmAlexander

i know its a dumb gimmick, but i like music with downer/sarcastic lyrics set to a fun/dancy/catchy beat

4:51pmBen

Nirvana would love me

4:51pmAlexander

expectations inverted!

ooh, here’s another Phoenix song, “1901″

4:51pmBen

BUT

there is a caveat

lyrics add a layer to the song

4:51pmAlexander

i dont know what the message is, but the song makes me want to ride a bike shirtless with some beer and makeout

4:51pmBen

so i don’t want to sit and listen to the instrumentals of all these songs

the words are part of the music

just not the meaning

and

4:52pmAlexander

yeah, its just an instrument

4:52pmBen

if the words are too lame

i can’t listen to it

4:52pmAlexander

yeah, fucking plain white ts

rhyming words with themselves

4:52pmBen

for instance

4:52pmAlexander

made worse by the fact they suck

4:52pmBenhttp://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/bayside/lovelesswrists.html

awful people

in an awful band

with lyrics so emo

i’m annoyed they were ever written

BUT

somehow

they fucking write poppy ass songs

maybe not this one

but i can’t listen to them

in fact

i would love to beat the shit out of the band members

4:53pmAlexander

haha, that is AWFUL

4:53pmBen

and have them write a song about it

4:53pmAlexander

it reads like a parody

or a papa roach song

4:53pmBen

because they’re just so lame

hahaha yeah

4:54pmAlexander

so we’re agreed

it doesnt matter if your material is derivative

or your message is meaningless

if your beat is fun and your words dont get in the way

its a good song

Fuck

we are the reason backstreet boys exist

4:57pmBen

it’s a necessary evil situation

we’re also the reason The Cars exist

or David Bowie for the most part

4:57pmAlexander

deal

4:57pmBen

or pretty much anybody besides like Bob Dylan

who’s music is fucking boring

save for like 2 songs

4:57pmAlexander

fuck that guy anyway

4:57pmBen

which are only good high

and like

what’s not good high?

4:58pmAlexander

getting arrested

4:58pmBen

fair enough

[Via http://danger2012.wordpress.com]