Best albums of 2010?

[d-dog]

Both p51 and Zeke have good points, but I'm going to have to take the road in between them. Music is both defined and undefined. Wtf, what do u mean by that? O, well what I mean to say is that music, generally speaking, is not defined, you can neither predict or formulate a way to make the "perfect" sound or noise, music is forever changing, you will never know which direction it is headed. In this, I would say zeke is right, but on the other hand, if I am understanding p51 correctly, what I think he means to say is that modern day music is certainly defined. I would definitly agree with saying that modern music is defined, producers/artists have discovered a certain formula that works and generates profit and appeals to the masses, which is one reason I hate it so. Not to sound like a hipster, but mainstream/radio music today I find extremely boring, and I'm not speaking about complexity or simplicity, but rather like I've heard the song before, its been done, lets move on already.

Btw, to call Eminem a musican is just absurd. He plays no instruments or electronic instruments, he doesn't sing, he is indeed a poet. Most of his "beats" are either from DJs who agree to license their music to him in exchange for a certain percentage of the song each time its sold. In fact most rappers do this, the more mainstream ones that is. But I would call him an artist in production, which is a completely different ball park, and to say otherwise is just ignorance. Knowing that bass frequences reside in the 20 to 80 hz range doesn't prove that your a musician, knowing the attack range, sustain, and release time on dynamic compressors doesn't prove that your a musician, knowing how to use a low and high pass filter doesn't prove your a musician.... I think you get my point. Production is a completely different art form entirely. Now, it is true that I am a hip-hop hater, but that is mainly due to the fact that their lyrics fucking suck, they arn't musicians.

Now if rappers like this got more popular, I would jump on the bandwagon in a heartbeat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBGCOCxLgA
He makes his own backing tracks and lyrics, and produces, lyrics are so much better as well.

[ben55]

Aesop Rock is good. I agree. Hip Hop bands like them and Fort Minor make decent mainstream friendly music.

I like more intellectual engaging hip hop. That impose questions or concerns on the morals of mankind, or use their musical style to create lyrical modern day fables/lessons of life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r0KpWMNxnM (political)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42npVFLavJU (urban fable/lessons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv7w200rrcs (urban fable/lessons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASffKaWvmQQ (political)

I like the shit talk, chest pounding, jargon rap too. Not the Wayne, Drake, or Eminem stuff though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v43-OvtUbfc (Dump The Clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnejsdojw7w (Checkmate)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5rHxymrVg (Mistakes)

[P-51]

you can neither predict or formulate a way to make the "perfect" sound or noise, music is forever changing, you will never know which direction it is headed...producers/artists have discovered a certain formula that works and generates profit and appeals to the masses, which is one reason I hate it so...to call Eminem a musican is just absurd.

I agree with all three of those above comments completely, but in regards to the first comment, it still doesn't mean any sequence of sounds can be called music if it doesn't have the sufficient amount of technical properties required to be called music (ex: rapping over a 5 minute looped drum machine or screaming over three repeated bar chords). And I also do not see how the Aesop Rock song is musically much different from Eminem. Indeed it is less annoying but it is still a guy rapping over a four minute looped keyboard riff and the same drum pattern. There isn't much music involved.

[d-dog]

you can neither predict or formulate a way to make the "perfect" sound or noise, music is forever changing, you will never know which direction it is headed...producers/artists have discovered a certain formula that works and generates profit and appeals to the masses, which is one reason I hate it so...to call Eminem a musican is just absurd.

I agree with all three of those above comments completely, but in regards to the first comment, it still doesn't mean any sequence of sounds can be called music if it doesn't have the sufficient amount of technical properties required to be called music (ex: rapping over a 5 minute looped drum machine or screaming over three repeated bar chords). And I also do not see how the Aesop Rock song is musically much different from Eminem. Indeed it is less annoying but it is still a guy rapping over a four minute looped keyboard riff and the same drum pattern. There isn't much music involved.

I don't think you truly understand the complexity of those backing tracks they are rapping over is the problem. The main reason I hate mainstream rap is due to the fact that the majority takes those backing tracks and then just raps over them, and their lyrical content just being blantenly distasteful as well is just an added bonus, and obnoxiously putting a hold on the future of music. Seriously, A LOT goes into those backing tracks tho. Synthesis is very complex, and you have to actually know what you are doing, frequence modulation, knowing what type of oscillators/when to use them/how many to use, different filters, reverb, etc. etc. and I'm being lax in what actually goes into a single sound. It takes effort just to get the sound you want out of a synth, and time, the reason the melodies are so simple is because they want you to enjoy the sound they made, not the melody. This goes for drums as well, these "drum machines" you speak of don't just output drums for you, you have to map all the kicks, snares, hats, etc. your self. A lot of people assume electronic music is "easy" music, it isn't. You are in the right in saying most rappers arn't musicians, but the backing tracks they use, take knowledge of both music, and now added, physics because of the electronic aspect. I've barely scratched the surface here, could go on another page if I had the time. This is why I give credit to aesop rock, his lyric delivery/content is excellent, hes not buying the rights to the backing tracks he uses.

I play close to 5 instruments, I have been classically trained on the piano, as well as trumpet, guitar, synths(if you want to consider that a seperate instrument from the piano, which i would), and recently started picking up the violin. I can whole heartly say that playing simple music is much more enjoyable than playing a random batch of fast paced notes, you can feel the emotion and power everytime your finger hits that note. That is something today's music lacks, dynamics, even your music lacks it, turning down the volume on a distorted guitar still has same power behind it at any volume level, unlike the acoustic guitar. I know you'll correct me, and I know exactly what you'll say to correct me, I'm speaking generally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6yuR8efotI
Simple music, yet amazing. And yes, it is indeed simple, minor root note changes throughout the song, and going up and down the scale the song is written in, and most of the notes take place in only one octave. Took me about 2 mins. to learn the entire song on piano by ear, love it none the less. And no I'm not comparing Eminem to Bach, just implying music that seems simple to play, does not mean it was simple to write.

[P-51]

Well I listened to that Aesop Rock song again and there was a bit more involved in that song than I originally heard. But still the song ends up going no where and probably should have ended around 2:20. If he expanded upon the song instead of ending it the same way it was started I might change my opinion, but it is still essentially a rap over a looped drum and keyboard. There needs to be some sort of tempo change or time signature change or something, maybe add a synth solo.

This goes for drums as well, these "drum machines" you speak of don't just output drums for you, you have to map all the kicks, snares, hats, etc. your self.

Yeah I've used drum machines before and it can be quite frustrating, but I can imagine that it is much easier when you make a pattern that lasts for two measures and then loop it for the entire song.

I understand that the technical production stuff can be complex but this is more elecronical knowledge than musical knowledge. The frequencies that are cut and effects that are used during production are all considered after the music has been written and recorded so it has little to do with musical knowledge. You can have somebody who is the greatest musician in the world but doesn't know which frequencies to keep during production to make his music stand out best, but that doesn't make him a worse musician because he is a shitty producer. I'm sure Aesop Rock worked hard to get that song to sound the best it could once it was recorded, but he could not have spent very much time actually writing and recording the song.

I can whole heartly say that playing simple music is much more enjoyable than playing a random batch of fast paced notes

I'm assuming you are making a reference to heavy metal here, so this is what separates the good shredders from the bad shredders. Its pretty damn hard to solo at 300+ bpm and make it sound good, even in simple scales it is difficult. When it sounds like a random batch of notes then it is not being done right. And I'm not sure what heavy metal you are listening to that lacks dynamics because most bands are pretty good with tempo and volume variation in their songs. It is harder to get a different variation in dynamics on an electric guitar without turning a bunch of knobs but thats what multiple pickups and effects pedals are for. It still can be done. And there certainly are people out there that abuse distortion and don't play with enough tempo/dynamic variation to be called good music; you just have to find the right people to listen to.

And the Bach song can still be good while being simple because it features melody and tempo changes, and dynamics like you said before. Very few (if any?) raps take these aspects of music into consideration when making a song. And those lame dramatic pauses in between verses don't count as dynamic changes either.