[RoundTheBend]

Questions:
1. Music is one of the most prominent elements of culture in most societies. Culture also has a huge effect on the music of the society. Oftentimes, we can use music to understand the history of a society or culture. In what ways do you see the culture of today affecting the music being released, and vice-versa?
To be frank, I kind of feel like the culture that surrounds me is YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, news headlines (but nobody reads the article, and if there is an article it barely is a couple paragraphs long), etc. In otherwords the culture I see is a fast paced culture that doesn't have time for quality albums, but goes for playlists and Pandora - so if this machine feeds this type of music, what do we get - baseless garbage... or amazing hidden gems.

2. Interludes such as "Providence" have been the points of discussion on many albums, just look at "Fitter, Happier" for the prime example. What do you think that interludes should be used for? In what ways could they be used perfectly, and oppositely, how have they be used poorly?
Idk... interludes in rap albums sometimes can be really annoying. Sometimes it's just interesting sound clips that fit into the context of the album (JFK speech or the clone radio stuff). Mostly it's a waste of time, but sometimes can really enhance the albums concept.

3. Do you believe that music should have guidelines or traditions, or do you believe that music should be purely creative rather than follow rules?
Both. I really don't want to hear someone squeeze their butt to make different pitched fart noises. That's not aesthetic to me. Having said that, there are people out there where that is totally their jam. So really, I think artists can do whatever they want (Dylan and Bowie did), but whether it will be liked or be considered worth anything is a different discussion.

I mean Jazz totally came from purposely bending the rules, right? Great music comes from not following the rules all the time. But usually when it goes to far it becomes tasteless (imo). There's a fine line between breaking aesthetics to create something aesthetic and farting on a tuba.

4. On Daydream Nation, the lyrics and music compliment each other perfectly. How do you feel that lyrics affect the experience of an album? In what ways do lyrics that compliment the music improve the experience of an album for you, or do they at all?
Depends... sometimes there's albums I love and have no idea what the lyrics are (Ágætis Byrjun) yet find it fantastic, and then there are other albums I like and really only like them for their lyrical content (The Times They Are A-Changin')

5. Some albums are believed to be "Ahead of their time". As they age, they improve in the perception of the audience. A famous example of this is The Velvet Underground and Nico, which had a huge influence on Daydream Nation. What would an album need to be in 2017 in order to be "Ahead of its time"? How is this different from the way that it was in the 1960s?
Hmmm... great question. I don't know. But to be honest, I don't really believe the concept ahead of their time, especially for art. I think art is a representation of human experience and really Velvet Underground wasn't doing anything terribly groundbreaking. I'm sure if you researched it hard enough you could find every single element of that album to have existed before, even the conceptual performances. History is rarely as linear as our synopsis of it. It's usually a web of influences and a web of cause and effect.

6. Lastly, if you're into rating albums, what would you rate Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation? I personally would give it 5 stars out of 5 because not only has it impacted the way I perceive and play music, it's also an album that I can enjoy from start to finish on any given day.

While it is undeniably a masterpiece of sorts, my aesthetic gives it an 80. Say it don't spray it! I mean I find the album great - I like how it breaks typical chord structures, song structures, yet still has almost a pop like catchiness to it. It's that bittersweetness aesthetic that I really do love about this album, but for me there are no 100/100 songs and the last 3 songs for me really peter out (only songs I give lower than an 80/100 on).

[RoundTheBend]

As usual, your writeups are a fantastic read.

[slurpdurp]

[RoundTheBend]

It really doesn't matter, but you may want to change this to #10.

This was number 9: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15755

No worries, it threw me off too, so I thought mine was 10. Changed it to 11.

Also I think next week is our last sign up - so if anyone wants to do another sign up here:
https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15351

[Norman Bates]

Questions:
1. [...]In what ways do you see the culture of today affecting the music being released, and vice-versa?

The instant.

2. [...]What do you think that interludes should be used for? In what ways could they be used perfectly, and oppositely, how have they be used poorly?

I don't know what anything should be used for.

3. Do you believe that music should have guidelines or traditions, or do you believe that music should be purely creative rather than follow rules?

No music is "purely creative". They all have guidelines, whether you think they're "creative" or not depends on your own culture, and the music's diversion from your comfort zone.

4. On Daydream Nation, the lyrics and music compliment each other perfectly. How do you feel that lyrics affect the experience of an album? In what ways do lyrics that compliment the music improve the experience of an album for you, or do they at all?

I'm French. Daydream Nation is a masterpiece by my book. I don't even know what it's about.

5. What would an album need to be in 2017 in order to be "Ahead of its time"?

To be recognized as so by the people in the know in ten years time.

6. Lastly, if you're into rating albums, what would you rate Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation?

5/5

[RoundTheBend]