What's your favourite band, and why?

invisible said:
You can legitimately refer to "The artist Britney Spears" as a singular musician, but actually people rarely talk about Spears in that way... really in terms of what we talk about when we discuss "Britney Spears Music" there is a lot more people involved. The music of Britney Spears simply does not exist without Max Martin.

This makes me think of The Avalanches. They're musicians but their music is a sort of musical collage art. What would you call someone who manipulates shreds of music to make new music? They're not a technician... They're a musician, surely. So there are all these other musicians in the studio with the artist, manipulating the music. They would have maybe historically been called an arranger... but now they're integral to the process of the music performance... because the performance has been sort of partly reconceived as a recorded artefact...

I'm also reminded of when Deadmaus wrote "if i wanna watch real artists perform, id pick the opera before wasting a fucking minute of my life with arcade fire."

Rather than a live ensemble performance. Music has changed a lot since pre-studio-recording days of the chamber ensemble... it has even changed since the days of Nirvana. Of course there are still musical acts of this type, but the boundaries have also become less clear. Would Nirvana's work have been the same without Butch Vig... Pretty uncertain...

I think of the band "Architecture in Helsinki". I saw this band live some years ago, in about 2003 or 2005, can't remember. But there were about 15 band members on stage. Obviously they weren't all part of the band... but yet they were all part of the band... but they weren't all always part of the band... there was some "core" band perhaps, surrounded by a rotating "peripheral" band?

When I hear Miley Cyrus I think, OK Miley is fabulous and everything, but that guitar is NOT her work, it's just too good, I don't know who is responsible for the incredible guitar work, but I know Miley's just not quite that good. But the guitar is indispensable to the music, as indispensable to the music as Dave Grohl's brilliant work on Nirvana. So as much as I admire her, I can't say it's just all about Miley...

I guess when I think about a "band" I think about a coherent ensemble that has membership stability over time, like Radiohead for example. But the more clear you get with your definition, the more exclusive it becomes, the fewer "bands" you can really consider to be "bands"... So many bands seem to have to many fights and the membership changes so much that it seems like there is only a single "core" member, like Hayley Williams and Paramore for example, but it's not "Hayley Williams", it's still "Paramore" the band...

So there is clearly a lot of grey space in there... I just think it's interesting to think about.
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I can tell that you find it interesting to think about this in such detail. At the end of the day all I am interested in, is what society says is a band. That's what I meant to get from people when I asked for a "band". But you have kinda opened my eyes to your way of thinking. I mean I do consider everyone in the process but when I listen to music I take in what's in front of me. It's like when I see a successful person, I don't think about their mother or mentors just the person in front of me. If let's say I was looking at the biography then sure I'd venture there. So if I was doing a report or was interested in the depth of the process I would consider everyone including the writers and those who work at the studio. I just didn't mean to complicate a simple question.
 
I love so many different artists. My favorite solo would be Bjork but if we're asking strictly about bands it is Fleet Foxes. They are like baroque pop. Very mellow but as much as I find myself listening to their music it never gets boring or tedious. There is always something new to discover as I think their music is very intricate. I admit I really just liked them a little before I had my son, but when I was laboring in the hospital, my SO chose to play Fleet Foxes for me. It was exactly what I needed. So in my mind, I tie a lot of their songs to that experience and have a deep emotional connection to the music now.
 
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Ren said:
Joy Division.

Unknown Pleasures is one of the greatest albums of all time, and the song "Disorder" one of the most important in my life.

I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand,
Could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man?
These sensations barely interest me for another day,
I've got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away.…


Also: best band name and best album cover, like ever ;)
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Renoir, I’m tweeting Morrissey a screenshot of this.
 
Asking me to choose only one is like asking me to leave kittens at Pet Smart.
1- Depeche Mode
2- The Smiths
3- Radiohead
4- The National
5- Blur
6- Smashing Pumpkins
Tbc. . .
 
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Madgirl143 said:
I can tell that you find it interesting to think about this in such detail. At the end of the day all I am interested in, is what society says is a band. That's what I meant to get from people when I asked for a "band". But you have kinda opened my eyes to your way of thinking. I mean I do consider everyone in the process but when I listen to music I take in what's in front of me. It's like when I see a successful person, I don't think about their mother or mentors just the person in front of me. If let's say I was looking at the biography then sure I'd venture there. So if I was doing a report or was interested in the depth of the process I would consider everyone including the writers and those who work at the studio. I just didn't mean to complicate a simple question.
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I love to make simple things more complicated. It's part of what I live for.

For Miley, what I was talking about was not her mother or her mentors or influences... I never mentioned that. All I mentioned was the people involved in making the music... the "Miley Cyrus Band".

But just remember: All I wanted to say is that my fav band is Miley Cyrus. It was you who challenged my favourite and tried to tell me what I could and couldn't have as my favourite. All I've done is justify my perspective in response to your objections.

;-)
 
Happy Phantom said:
Asking me to choose only one is like asking me to leave kittens at Pet Smart.
1- Depeche Mode
2- The Smiths
3- Radiohead
4- The National
5- Blur
6- Smashing Pumpkins
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Depeche Mode would probably be my favourite if I had to choose one, but mostly just years 1984-1993 or roughly the time Alan Wilder was in the band excluding his first contributions. That's the problem with most bands, there's usually a brief period when they peak and some of the music just seems trivial. The Smiths weren't together for a long time so they never really hit the decline phase. Radiohead and Blur also definitely had peak years when they created something special, but I wouldn't miss the earlier or later music much. Don't know about the other two. So a part of the problem in choosing a favourite band is that I don't know if I should just ignore the inferior albums, reward more consistent quality, or take into account how long they managed to release good or great albums. And of course sometimes a single album from one band can be more touching than anything else they release, whereas another band has a number of good albums, but nothing quite as brilliant. The DM run of albums from Some Great Reward to SoFaD is one of the longest and more consistent ones, usually it seems that every band or a solo artist releases their best albums in a period of 4-5 years.

I feel a bit sad watching that 101 video because Dave looks so boyish and it didn't take long before he started to look like a drug addict, although at the time it was believed he merely chose a rock star image.
 
Pin said:
I like bands who I suspect are only in it for the money, bands who have sold out to corporate-interests. If I were a musician, my priority would be stacks of cash, all da money.

So... Maroon 5.
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Well they are a good band too, I like some of their songs, we all have different reasons hey. I love getting to the bottom of what makes people tick.
 
invisible said:
I love to make simple things more complicated. It's part of what I live for.

For Miley, what I was talking about was not her mother or her mentors or influences... I never mentioned that. All I mentioned was the people involved in making the music... the "Miley Cyrus Band".

But just remember: All I wanted to say is that my fav band is Miley Cyrus. It was you who challenged my favourite and tried to tell me what I could and couldn't have as my favourite. All I've done is justify my perspective in response to your objections.

;-)
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Hm that was just an example that I thought would be useful in helping me make my point. I didn't challenge you, I just stated my thoughts on Miley being part of a band. You could have just given your reason why you'd chosen her. But instead you took me on a roller-coaster ride of questions, trying to make me define a band in your terms. I don't mind your answer at all.
 
Fidicen said:
Depeche Mode would probably be my favourite if I had to choose one, but mostly just years 1984-1993 or roughly the time Alan Wilder was in the band excluding his first contributions. That's the problem with most bands, there's usually a brief period when they peak and some of the music just seems trivial. The Smiths weren't together for a long time so they never really hit the decline phase. Radiohead and Blur also definitely had peak years when they created something special, but I wouldn't miss the earlier or later music much. Don't know about the other two. So a part of the problem in choosing a favourite band is that I don't know if I should just ignore the inferior albums, reward more consistent quality, or take into account how long they managed to release good or great albums. And of course sometimes a single album from one band can be more touching than anything else they release, whereas another band has a number of good albums, but nothing quite as brilliant. The DM run of albums from Some Great Reward to SoFaD is one of the longest and more consistent ones, usually it seems that every band or a solo artist releases their best albums in a period of 4-5 years.

I feel a bit sad watching that 101 video because Dave looks so boyish and it didn't take long before he started to look like a drug addict, although at the time it was believed he merely chose a rock star image.
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Thank you for your contribution. I swear, I didn't know choosing a favourite band could be so complicated lol :omggg:
 
@Ren
MmnlzR7.jpg

I meant to tweet shocked and ashamed to discover.
 
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Fidicen said:
Depeche Mode would probably be my favourite if I had to choose one, but mostly just years 1984-1993 or roughly the time Alan Wilder was in the band excluding his first contributions. That's the problem with most bands, there's usually a brief period when they peak and some of the music just seems trivial. The Smiths weren't together for a long time so they never really hit the decline phase. Radiohead and Blur also definitely had peak years when they created something special, but I wouldn't miss the earlier or later music much. Don't know about the other two. So a part of the problem in choosing a favourite band is that I don't know if I should just ignore the inferior albums, reward more consistent quality, or take into account how long they managed to release good or great albums. And of course sometimes a single album from one band can be more touching than anything else they release, whereas another band has a number of good albums, but nothing quite as brilliant. The DM run of albums from Some Great Reward to SoFaD is one of the longest and more consistent ones, usually it seems that every band or a solo artist releases their best albums in a period of 4-5 years.

I feel a bit sad watching that 101 video because Dave looks so boyish and it didn't take long before he started to look like a drug addict, although at the time it was believed he merely chose a rock star image.
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I used to have a mad crush on Alan Wilder and wasn’t thrilled when he left, yet I understand why he did. I saw them last year and they’re still amazing and Dave still has a hot ass. :p
 
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