Outer Rim Territories

Musings, ramblings, and nonsense from the fringe of space and time

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Wow! Musical artistry from a modern pop artist?

Is it possible that a modern pop artist could really be creative, musically engaging? Beck, one of my favorite artists of recent decades continues to shock and awe. Watch this performance on SNL. Even if the song is considered mediocre, the performance of the band is incredible.

Nov 07, 2006
Jason Evans Groth said...
There are so, so many artists who are still creative and musically engaging. A few: Deerhoof, Drakkar Sauna, Grand Buffet, Destroyer, Neko Case...

Maybe they're not pulling out the Blue Man Group schtick quite as deftly as Beck, but the musical landscape is both crowded and full of talent. There will never be another explosion in the mainstream as there was in the early 90s, but the underground has still got it going on.

Jason

Nov 07, 2006
Christopher Gillespie said...
Indeed. I was remarking this to be unique for a mainstream artist.

I wish I have heard any of the artist you listed. The avenues and measn to find and listen to these artists is challenging at best for a layperson not "in-the-know."

Maybe I'm just lazy or busy.

Nov 07, 2006
Jason Evans Groth said...
Right, it's true -- Beck is one of the few that can hold his own. Big Scientologist, too. Weird.

I think you'd probably really like Deerhoof. Drakkar Sauna is my favorite band in the country. http://www.drakkarsauna.com

Radiohead does a fair job of keeping the mainstream Floyded out -- at least up through Kid A. The Decemberists, I guess, are now mainstream, too. Good band.

Also, if you haven't yet, find yourself a copy of _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_ by Neutral Milk Hotel. In my eyes, it is the bookend at the right of the shelf created by Nirvana. Not that it sounds anything like it, but it's the best album of the late 90s, if not the whole decade... and very few people outside of the thousands in the underground know about it.

Jason