uwaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[ambientlight]

[Poll #1033746]

edit: to clarify regarding the last question, and specifically the cred options -- i'm going more for cred in the sense of the general perception, and not necessarily what you personally feel about the musical quality/complexity/whatever of the band. that is to say: i think the cure/smiths/depeche mode bands have a lot more going on musically than the LOLZ DEPRESSED EIGHTIES MUSIC people may think, but i still feel that the latter reaction is more widespread, hence my choice of the ^_^ option. [/rambling]

Comments

Movie OSTs and music a la mode

[feliciter.livejournal.com]

A couple of tracks from Out of Africa: http://download.yousendit.com/5666752976D3CC46 (<i>I Had A Farm In Africa (opening theme)</i>) and http://download.yousendit.com/526FB61451885D83 (<i>Have you Got A Story For Me</i>), the latter a lyrical, hanuting backdrop to a lovely scene where Karen Blixen tells Denys Finch-Hatton and his friend a tale of quiet tragedy (foreshadowing her own relationship with Finch-Hatton).
John Barry tends to recycle his melodic hooks and is too fond of swelling orchestral crescendoes, as can be seen from the similarities fo the John Dunbar Theme, but he was one of the best OST composers of the decade.

Re: cred - er, I'm not sure I can comment on this, since I don't know much about music (though I know what I like, to paraphrase Max Beerbohm), but surely something must be said for the decade that saw the rise of U2, Tears for Fears (though I much prefer Gary Jules'cover of Mad World to the original) and REM?
alright, the 80s also spawned Rick Astley, Debbie Gibson and Bananarama, but one can't have everything :p

Re: Movie OSTs and music a la mode

[ambientlight.livejournal.com]

ah, thankyou! despite my overall preference for minimalist soundtracks, i still have a weakness for swelling orchestral crescendoes. :D

i don't know much about music either, to be honest. just-- the vague impression i get from reading music articles or reviews.

the decade that saw the rise of U2, Tears for Fears... and REM
indeed! i don't know if tears for fears count as embarrassingly dancy music, mind, but i like them too. :D i think detractors of the 80s mainly point to the decades which preceded it as a reason for their disdain?

Re: Movie OSTs and music a la mode

[feliciter.livejournal.com]

detractors of the 80s mainly point to the decades which preceded it as a reason for their disdain?

ahahaha the 70s ahahahaha. the decade that taste forgot, indeed. though I have a closet fondness for those hippie-happy tunes
but yes, the 50s (rock 'n' roll revolution) and 60s (the Wall of Sound, supergroups, protest music and the beginnings of racial equality) did set standards that were hard to uphold.
perhaps the music merely reflected to a large extent the excesses and embellishments of the 80s. And there were no really new genres, unlike the decades that preceded and followed
unless once counts synthesized music. but even that is not completely original, since the first (sort-of) synthesizer was invented in the 19th century.

Re: Movie OSTs and music a la mode

[ambientlight.livejournal.com]

perhaps the music merely reflected to a large extent the excesses and embellishments of the 80s.
mm, that's an interesting idea.

no new genres? that's a first, to me. o_o i guess that could be another reason, if the 80s were seen as musically dull in terms of development. you do have everything leading up to shoegaze, and wikipedia even suggests that alt-rock had its origins in the 80s... but i really am talking about things i know nothing of, so i shall stop now.

since the first (sort-of) synthesizer was invented in the 19th century.
! o_o

Re: Movie OSTs and music a la mode

[feliciter.livejournal.com]

Punk had its origins in the late 70s (eg the Sex Pistols)and started to become prominent in the 80s but was largely overshadowed by mainstream pop, never quite becoming a mainstream phenom until Generation X came of age in the late 80s/early 90s. Few groups (REM being a notable exception) gained widespread appeal before the end of the decade. UK radio seems to have been ahead of the States, if wikipedia is to be trusted.

but again, this is just based on my scanty and unreliable recollections of the era and mainstream local radio, so. (wasn't old enough to attend rock concerts, not that there would have been any given the conservative social climate of the times.)

Speaking of new genres, how could I have neglected to mention our own xinyao? surely age is catching up!