There's a heigh beyond skyscrapers,
And there's a distance beyond the freeway...

Against Me! - What We Worked For


A good lead-in if I ever knew one, so here's the question.

What do you think of music in its current form today? What do you consider the most pure form of music? Why do you say this?

I know I, personally, am saddened by the thing music has turned into. It's just so...bland. Yet, I'm excited. Music has evolved and changed, for the good and the bad. Good: We have electronica, trance, techno, ska, punk, all kinds of amazing genres which were never possible before. Bad: We have all kinds of crappy genres which were never possible before and require no skill save a pretty face and an angsty song or two.

In my opinion, ska is currently the purest, most untainted form of music.



This is from a major and well-known ska band, tributing the independent music review critic. I find it among one of my favorite ska songs ever.

Anyways--post away.

Is it first wave, second wave, or third wave ska you like?

All waves.

For the most part if it's ska I like it.

I thought this was going to be about Iron Maiden

Against Me! lyrics there, sorry bud

Both great bands, though.

Money has ruined the way music is made, don't sign to a major label and your music will say untainted no matter what the genre.

Really? Awesome!
Most ska fans don't even know where ska came from.

So, this is something I've been wondering:
What's the difference between first wave ska and reggae?

I love you Dj Yoshi! I saw the subject line, and was like "it couldn't be... no one ever talks about them". Against Me is one of my favorite bands, and that song is incredible.

I agree with you, too. Ska is probably one of the least-tainted forms of music. The band Streetlight Manifesto literally locked themselves in their basement for three months finishing up their debut CD. Now that's dedication, and hardwork. It takes a lot of teamwork to make a good song using all of those different instruments. I also think experimental rock bands such as Godspeed You Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion are untainted musically.

There's too many bands that sound the same nowadays, and that's why originality is important to me. I want to listen to a band that has a sound of their own, THEIR sound. There's so many possibilities, but we always seem to get the same stuff over and over. With MTV and such, you can't really get any different quality stuff.

I really like the Skatalites... do you Dj Yoshi?

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Ska

Dug that up for you, buddy, and a quick google search will probably give you loads more.

Whelly--I've never been able to get a hold of any of their stuff, but they do seem like they'd be good. :| I'll ask my friend who does the record interviews if he has anything by them...hell he has everything else.

And I agree--as long as you have an original and powerful sound and are untainted by corporate America (or corporate anything, really), then you're likely to be awesome in my book. At the very least I'll respect you for the musician you are.

Ah, so ska was the precursor to reggae. Interesting.
Actually, I don't like reggae a whole lot. I do kind of like 2nd and third wave ska though.

In my opinion, the purest form of music would be the old blues, or jazz, although I'm not of huge fan of either.