Topic: Trans-Atlantic Battle (Read 19073 times)

ElDavido · « **on:** 30 Nov 2009, 17:08 »

Speaking as a Scot I admittedly prefer music from the UK, whether I actually prefer it or I just hear it more I don't know. Scotland has a very strong emerging indie music sector but I don't know how much our neighbours across the waters hear, likewise most of the artists I read about on these forums are a new refreshing breath so its quite nice to get away from the stagnating NME and Q.

So anyone prefer either side, or think theres a difference?

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 17:13 »

For me, music hardly qualifies as being "from ___" anymore. It's all just music from the internet

...that I stole

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 17:19 »

I would agree with that sentiment. It doesn't really matter to me where the music comes from as long as I enjoy it.

ElDavido · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 17:19 »

You think? A lot of the up n coming Scottish bands, see Phantom Band, Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad, all draw heavily from talented Scottish artists and retain accents when singing. Theres a definite difference between say them and...well I cant think of any US parallels.

I can see your point about the music melting pot, which is especially annoying in pop music where, regardless of where people are from, they decide they must sing in American accents. We have lost a lot of diversity but whether its lost or just spread out between more artists is debatable.

@Pied Piper, yeh I'd agree with you entirely that as long as its intelligent and innovative it doesnt matter where the hell it comes from. But conversely I prefer hearing a Scottish accent singing than any other. I mean yes certain singers suit certain bands. The Strokes with some singer from Ayr would be rediculous but I do prefer Scottish music. I'm nowhere near some of my friends, a couple from England just refuse to listen to US music because "everything else they've heard has been shit".

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 17:43 »

Something I've noticed over the last year: there is a very definite difference between UK based music and music from across the atlantic.

It isn't as noticeable when it comes to indie style music in the vein of Los Campesinos, when it comes to pop. The Libertines and their ilk are so much more prominent here in the UK.

God, in the US, I'd be hard pressed to find anyone who has actually heard of the Libertines. That may be just me though. However, here, it seems like everyone has a giant boner for them and their music and the music that they love (especially the music that NME pushes forward).

Scottish band that I love: Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Betta Band. Oh yeah, there's probably more, might be listed later.

EDIT: I am sorry if the above didn't quite make sense. I am a little bit drunk.

pilsner · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 18:10 »

I continue to love the fact that Boards of Canada is Scottish.

E. Spaceman · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:05 »

Mission of Burma is an american band.

Kai · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:26 »

Yo La Tengo is an American Band

pilsner · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:34 »

I want to say, sincerely, that it was not my intention to start this retarded meme again and I really, really feel bad about it.

JD · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:35 »

Woods of Ypres is a Canadian band

Xiu Xiu is American band

Tom · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:54 »

Quote from: Kai on 30 Nov 2009, 19:26

Yo La Tengo is an American Band

o/

Be My Head · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:56 »

Quote from: Zombiedude on 30 Nov 2009, 19:35

Woods of Ypres is a mediocre Canadian band from Ontario.

fix'd

I could've gone to see them but it would've been a waste of my money. God the music scene here is terrible.

pilsner · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 19:57 »

"Here" being in Ontario?? Are you high??

Looking at your past posts I see you like things that aren't metal and that might even creep into the indie rock category. In that case, Chromewaves is your friend. I'll admit that a lot of the Toronto venues suck, but there's usually something good at Lee's Palace or the Horseshoe.

Of course if you live in Western Ontario you are basically fucked.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 20:20 »

I like Dave Holland, Thomas Ades and James Macmillan. They're from the UK. Macmillan is from Scotland, specifically. As far as US musicians, the list is quite long but that's because a) there's a reason jazz is from the US and despite its (continued!) popularity in other countries, most of the best musicians in that genre seem to be from this country and b) the US music movements from the last century contain some of my favorite ideas. As for other music, it's mostly from the US or Scandinavia.

Be My Head · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 20:39 »

Quote from: pilsner on 30 Nov 2009, 19:57

"Here" being in Ontario?? Are you high??

Looking at your past posts I see you like things that aren't metal and that might even creep into the indie rock category. In that case, Chromewaves is your friend. I'll admit that a lot of the Toronto venues suck, but there's usually something good at Lee's Palace or the Horseshoe.

Of course if you live in Western Ontario you are basically fucked.

Well yeah Toronto has decent stuff I'm sure. I was mainly talking about the shit bands that play where I am (Kitchener-Waterloo). But hey I want to go to college in Toronto next year, so I'll explore the music a lot then.

Also, yeah, I listen to lots of non-metal http://www.last.fm/user/Nisstyre56

Radical AC · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 21:27 »

Japandroids/Canadian/ect.

A quick look at my favorite bands shows that most of what I listen to comes from the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Texas.

scarred · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 22:20 »

I've lived in the US all my life (Chicago and Seattle respectively), but I wouldn't say I listen to primarily US bands. My favorite band is Doves, and they're from Manchester.

But I don't think it's where they come from that matters. All it comes down to is whether I enjoy the music I'm hearing.

a pack of wolves · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Nov 2009, 22:32 »

Quote from: Ptommydski on 30 Nov 2009, 17:31

I haven't liked any Scottish bands I have seen in Aberdeen but that's mainly because good bands don't really come up this far and the music scene here seems to be near enough entirely regular metal (which I can't really judge, it sounds alright but nothing special) and bad screamo.

Ablach are from your neck of the woods, and their tracks on European Fastness - A Grindcore Compilation were totally raging. They had some of the best tracks on there, which is saying something because that was a really high quality comp all round. Uncalm are pretty great too, they list Robot Has Werewolf Hand and Crossed Out as influences so I'm well down with that even if they don't sound much like them. Not that I imagine either are your cup of tea, but Aberdeen does venture beyond metal and bad screamo.

Most of the new music I hear and like is from the UK. That's due largely to the fact that I like going to DIY gigs a lot and I don't spend that much time looking for new music online, so most of what I hear is from the UK, coupled with the fact that I like grime and almost all of the good grime is from London. Do they even do grime in the US? Plus, I like music with a sense of place to it. Not that I prefer music from the place I'm from, but like the song says: "if you ain't chatting about what's happening where you living, what you talking about?"

evilbobthebob · « **Reply #18 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 02:17 »

The UK music scene tends to pass me by. I guess that's what happens when you live in a county (Shropshire) where the nearest even slightly decent venues are twenty miles away, and even then the bands that play tend to be mediocre. I actually checked out where all the bands I actually like come from. Out of my top 50 on last.fm 34 are from the USA, 3 are from Canada, 10 are from the UK, 1 is from Sweden, 1 is from France and 1 is from Germany. The bands from the US tend to be on either coast, I don't have much from the middle (yeah, technical geographic terms). Saying that, my favourite band is from Chicago. Ho hum.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #19 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 03:29 »

Quote from: Kai on 30 Nov 2009, 19:26

Grand Funk Railroad is an American Band

Zingoleb · « **Reply #20 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 03:34 »

Attack Attack! is an American band.

Zingoleb · « **Reply #21 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 03:36 »

Attack! Attack! is a Welsh band.

Christophe · « **Reply #22 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 04:44 »

I've been in Glasgow for a few months now, and while I definitely love it here I haven't had the chance to see too many gigs, which is a crying shame (I leave in three weeks). I've been "jamming" recently with some people in the Glasgow University Bands Society and while they're really great people who are fun to play music with, the brunt of their music taste leans heavily towards classic rock and the Red Hot Shitty Peppers.

One Glasgow band whom I did get to see opening up for Black Elk a few weeks ago was Citizens, who actually got a pretty nice write-up in The Skinny. They were pretty excellent. I hope to see a few more gigs before I leave or at least run into a member of Belle and Sebastian or Mogwai.

As far as the whole overarching US v. UK thing in terms of who has better bands, it really doesn't matter as long as the music's good. Regardless of that though I think the US should be forced to apologise to the world for The Strokes while the UK should be forced to apologise for Arctic Monkeys.

a pack of wolves · « **Reply #23 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 06:09 »

Citizens are great, it's all very satisfyingly tightly wound and they're very engaging live.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #24 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 07:17 »

Quote from: scarred on 30 Nov 2009, 22:20

But I don't think it's where they come from that matters. All it comes down to is whether I enjoy the music I'm hearing.

I think that this is less of a "I find out where a band is from before I like them" and more of a "I tend to like bands from where I'm from because the music seems to appeal to my aesthetic better, due to a shared heritage" discussion. I tend to enjoy discovering that sort of thing. Most of the straight-up rock I like is from the US because their background is probably a lot more similar to my own. I was talking with a Spaniard and a Greek once (the Greek guy was in my band and the Spaniard was trying to join), and their musical aesthetic meshed extremely well due to a shared Mediterranean background (it turns out she was a terrible person so no-go on the band thing). It's really a cultural music thing.

valley_parade · « **Reply #25 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 09:45 »

Uh Tommy, you're forgetting the greatness that is Future of the Left. They're from Wales and whatever. Like Ryan Giggs!

a pack of wolves · « **Reply #26 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 10:01 »

They're good, but hardly worthy to be listed alongside Gringo bands. Man, I really miss Polaris. So very amazing, easily one of the best bands I've ever seen (and consistently so).

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #27 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 10:20 »

huh...so several of my favorite bands are from Pennsylvania, apparently.

Weird.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #28 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 13:51 »

Quote from: Tom on 30 Nov 2009, 19:54

Quote from: Kai on 30 Nov 2009, 19:26
Yo La Tengo is an American Band
o/

\o

ain't gonna leave you hangin' like that.

Light Engine · « **Reply #29 on:** 01 Dec 2009, 15:04 »

Quote from: Ptommydski on 01 Dec 2009, 09:34

The token English band they cite as excellent is usually Muse, who are near enough certainly the worst band of all time.

Woah. While I don't like them nearly as much as I used to and they have a strong claim to having the most incredibly annoying fanbase in the world barring possibly Radiohead, that's a bit harsh.

Anyway, my favourite bands tend to be from the UK and Europe and only very rarely from North America.

tintinnabular · « **Reply #30 on:** 03 Dec 2009, 16:07 »

My favourite bands are a mix of American and British bands, with a few Australian bands thrown in for good measure. I don't like these bands because of (or despite of) where they come from; I like them because I enjoy their music. The only exceptions are the Welsh-language bands I listen to because I both enjoy their music and the language they are singing in.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #31 on:** 03 Dec 2009, 16:56 »

I have never really thought of this, but I have had a look at my last.fm stats and the results are pretty conclusive. Here is a break-down of my top 100 by nation:

British: 31
American: 18
Swedish: 12
Norwegian: 9
German: 6
Finnish: 5
Danish: 3
Australian: 2
Dutch: 2
Italian: 2
Japanese: 2
Belgian: 1
Canadian: 1
Czech: 1
French: 1
Irish: 1
Polish: 1
Slovakian: 1
Slovenian: 1

So I think it's pretty clear which side of the atlantic my loyalties lie. Most of my favourite bands come from the germanic european nations.

De_El · « **Reply #32 on:** 03 Dec 2009, 18:18 »

My tastes are extremely U.S.-centric because I live in the United States and the music I am likely to encounter by chance is much more likely to be from the U.S. than anywhere else. Out of curiosity I went through my Last.fm top artists, and it turned out about 1 part UK to two parts US with smatterings of Canada,France, Australia, Japan, Germany and Sweden mostly. Interestingly, my overall top 10 is 5 US artists, 4 UK, and 1 Japan (Boris). My top ten for the last 12 months is 5 UK artists, 4 US artists, and 1 Japan (BORIS).

Country of origin is neither a deciding factor nor something I necessarily know about a band I like, though. I had to look up a bunch to see where bands were from; for some reason I thought both The Walkmen (US) and Stereolab (UK) were Canadian. And community is nothing. I know way more about musical communities from history than current ones.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #33 on:** 03 Dec 2009, 22:42 »

Oh geez I just went back and tagged two years worth of music so I could do this. Anyway, according to last.fm my list is almost embarrasingly American-dominated:

american     138
australian    37
english    36
canadian    21
french    9
swedish    9
welsh    5
german    5
ambient    4
norwegian    3
italian    3
japanese    3
scottish    2
irish    2
belgian    2
dutch    1
russian    1
brazilian    1
new zealand    1
portuguese    1

evilbobthebob · « **Reply #34 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 02:45 »

Oooh I want to visit Ambient, sounds like a cool country

Daft pun · « **Reply #35 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 08:22 »

Woo! Pointless Last.fm stats!

49 North American
25 UK
7 French
3 Australian
3 Swedish
3 Danish
3 Norse
2 Brazillian
2 German
1 Spanish
1 Belgian
1 Argentine

So that's about even for both sides of the Atlantic.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #36 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 09:14 »

Quote from: Ptommydski on 04 Dec 2009, 08:12

The band from the Netherlands better be Ayreon

Fixed your post Tommy.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #37 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 09:20 »

Ding ding ding

KharBevNor · « **Reply #38 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 13:21 »

Quote from: Ptommydski on 04 Dec 2009, 09:34

LISTEN TO AYREON MOTHERFUCKERS.

*prancebangs*

BlahBlah · « **Reply #39 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 13:38 »

Quote from: Christophe on 01 Dec 2009, 04:44

I hope to see a few more gigs before I leave or at least run into a member of Belle and Sebastian or Mogwai.

Spend the rest of your time in mono records and this is bound to happen.

Damnable Fiend · « **Reply #40 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 13:56 »

Quote from: Be My Head on 30 Nov 2009, 19:56

Quote from: Zombiedude on 30 Nov 2009, 19:35
Woods of Ypres is a mediocre Canadian band from Ontario.

fix'd

I could've gone to see them but it would've been a waste of my money. God the music scene here is terrible.

The only bands I really like from Toronto are Sons of Otis, Metric,and Nadja.

oh and Electric Magma

Damnable Fiend · « **Reply #41 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 14:45 »

http://www.myspace.com/iamyoungmother

I'll be sure to check them out, thanks

JD · « **Reply #42 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 16:39 »

Quote from: Damnable Fiend on 04 Dec 2009, 13:56

Quote from: Be My Head on 30 Nov 2009, 19:56
Quote from: Zombiedude on 30 Nov 2009, 19:35
Woods of Ypres is a mediocre Canadian band from Ontario.

fix'd

I could've gone to see them but it would've been a waste of my money. God the music scene here is terrible.

The only bands I really like from Toronto are Sons of Otis, Metric,and Nadja.

oh and Electric Magma

Hell I don't know who they are. Allison mentioned them in meebo once. I just remembered it. For some strange reason.

KvP · « **Reply #43 on:** 04 Dec 2009, 21:44 »

Quote from: Damnable Fiend on 04 Dec 2009, 14:45

http://www.myspace.com/iamyoungmother

I'll be sure to check them out, thanks

Pretty sure that's them. You can tell by the bassline and how it's one note.

Odd how the band sounds better online. Probably the only band I've ever encountered that's better through headphones than live on stage. I was there with Tommy and we had different reactions, to say the least.

I like electronic music and old industrial-experimental stuff, and while there are little cult techno labels on the coasts and a lot of classic stuff came from Detroit and Chicago, most everything I listen to comes from Western Europe, the UK in particular.

Kai · « **Reply #44 on:** 05 Dec 2009, 11:25 »

Seriously, though, guys, Tommy has a point. The Ex is a fine music group whom we should all enjoy.

Joseph · « **Reply #45 on:** 05 Dec 2009, 18:07 »

Quote from: KvP on 04 Dec 2009, 21:44

Quote from: Damnable Fiend on 04 Dec 2009, 14:45
http://www.myspace.com/iamyoungmother

I'll be sure to check them out, thanks
Pretty sure that's them. You can tell by the bassline and how it's one note.

Odd how the band sounds better online. Probably the only band I've ever encountered that's better through headphones than live on stage. I was there with Tommy and we had different reactions, to say the least.

I'm with Tommy on this one. I thought they did a really great job. But they're certainly pretty new. Wasn't there a comment at some point during their set about how it was their first show?

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #46 on:** 05 Dec 2009, 22:22 »

Quote from: Kai on 05 Dec 2009, 11:25

The Ex is a fine music group whom we should all enjoy.

If that is the band in the youtube clip that Tommy posted, I strongly disagree.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #47 on:** 06 Dec 2009, 00:57 »

I've never really started using Last.fm, so I can't really tell by that, but I'm pretty sure my music first comes from the US, then the UK, then I have no idea. Probably because of how much metal I listen to, and how little of it is the grim frostbitten black metal that broods in the dark hinterlands of Scandinavia.

The Cheesinator · « **Reply #48 on:** 07 Dec 2009, 17:18 »

From Last.fm top 100:

United States: 48
Canada: 21
United Kingdom: 12
Australia: 6
New Zealand: 3
Sweden: 3
France: 3
Brazil: 3
Spain: 1

So, despite living in Canada, my tastes are dominated by American bands. Probably because of the larger population base from which talented individuals may emerge and assemble to form groups, the American music blogs I often peruse, the best jazz being American, being bombarded by American media/culture (Canadian culture, are you out there?) each and every day, etc. But still a good showing from the Commonwealth overall. Interestingly, "Canadian" is a tag that pops up on Last.fm, whereas "American" does not.

As some folks have said, the country from which the band/artist isn't necessarily crucial to (my) enjoyment of their output, but it certainly provides a better understanding of the artist's social roots, and all that.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #49 on:** 07 Dec 2009, 17:35 »

Don't Canadian radio stations have a quota to fill that they have to play like three or four canadian songs an hour?

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Author Topic: Trans-Atlantic Battle (Read 19073 times)

Zingoleb

Zingoleb