[Jake22]

(Original post by there's too much love)
I'm not saying that Belle and Sebastian play sophisticated tunes.
But a lot of their songs are very happy tune wise. Their lyrics, cynical as ****.
Now that's taken off a lot recently. And I do quite like it in general. But there's something provocative about that mix.

Provocative about what mix? I don't even understand what you are saying...

(Original post by there's too much love)
Hang on, I'm not saying Belle and Sebastian can play amazingly well.

Exactly, they can't play or sing to a very high level and they can't write or arrange to any decent level. What I am asking is this: If on musical terms you consider them to be so much better than other pop acts - where does this manifest itself? If it isn't in performance, composition or arrangement, then where is it?

All I was doing was playing devil's advocate. I was trying to illustrate that prefering one type of pop music over another and being hipster-cynical about commercialism of pop music and then trying to state that in musical terms (yes, I can't highlight this distinction enough) just doesn't make sense. Basically, you are saying that you don't like the fact that some music (e.g. Britney Spears) is produced for more commercial reasons but if you actually look at the music itself and try to say that the music is inferior in any qualitative sense then you run into trouble. The other problem is one of relativity. In other words the pop music you do like and don't like aren't leagues apart in terms of musical sophistication so it is a bit like looking at one 5 year olds drawing and comparing it to another 5 year olds drawing and saying one is much better than the other and the other kid doesn't know what art is all about. In fact - this xkcd sums it up perfectly.

(Original post by there's too much love)
But musically you think they're at the same level as Britney Spears?

No. I think Britney Spears (as an act) is at a higher level of musicality:

Performance: She isn't a great singer but has a much better voice than any member of Belle and Sebastian. The session musicians that play on her records and live with her are skilled professionals who have control over there instruments and are not limited by such a basic knowledge and technique.

Composition and Arrangement: Her songs often feature much more intricate harmonic progressions with more careful voicing and arrangement (i.e. the producers and musicians have enough basic knowledge to voice a progression with consideration rather than having to resort to playing ugly voiced bar chords on the basis that they only know a few). Sure, there is nothing much original about the music but at least it is written with consideration rather than 'let's belt out another combination of the 5 chord voicings I know how to find on the guitar'

(Original post by there's too much love)
You're acting as if I said they play like (this is annoying me a lot now, I can't remember the name of this metal band, they're not what I like, but I do have admiration for the speed at which they play, they've done a lot of very fast covers of songs from games (like mario)).

Not at all. I think you are completely misunderstanding what I am saying. I am trying to play devil's advocate and judge them on musical grounds be it performance or composition. I am just coming to the opinion that people who come out with some of the stuff you say really don't know anything about music and are really talking from a fashion perspective.

(Original post by there's too much love)
At the same time, would you really excuse them of just making sounds for money?

See above.

(Original post by there's too much love)
Britney doesn't seem to show an ounce of creativity.

See above. It is all relative.

[Nephilim]

(Original post by stac4321)
Exactly this.

Have you heard EVERY single genre, every artist, every single song every made. In which case why settle, why stop seeking out new experiances because you've found one you're happy with.

That's the whole point of listening to music. It's art it challanges your ideas, it gets to you experiance something in a way you've never experianced it before.

I'm confused. Are you agreeing with my post or disagreeing? Lol. I have listened to many many many many bands and musicians from pretty much every genre. My reason for not liking anything non-Classical is because other genres are very simplistic and boring IN MY OPINION. Even the most simple-sounding of Classical pieces are more complex than the most advanced pieces of other genres. This is all my opinion of course, and if I suck because I have a different opinion than others, then shoot me.

[ROYP]

(Original post by Jake22)
Not at all. I think you are completely misunderstanding what I am saying. I am trying to play devil's advocate and judge them on musical grounds be it performance or composition. I am just coming to the opinion that people who come out with some of the stuff you say really don't know anything about music and are really talking from a fashion perspective.

True for so many people. I love the word hipster and it just describes them perfectly.

[zKlown]

(Original post by ROYP)
True for so many people. I love the word hipster and it just describes them perfectly.

Mainstream music isn't real music, everyone knows this... Lol

Just kidding, it doesn't bug me but I can see where you're coming from. Alot of people sneer at my music because I listen to quite alot of urban genres (rap/grime/hip-hop).

Apparently it's not real music lol

[Frodo Baggins]

(Original post by ROYP)
If I could remember anything about Lord of the Rings I'd say something hilarious but as it happens I can't

Smeagol.