Is Ed Sheeran really that good?

[ifallalot]

I've never even heard one of his songs.

At this point the vast majority of what I listen to was recorded 50+ years ago

[shadowplay]

Btw some good discussion arose out of this, definitely less direct hate thread and more thought provoking philosophical state of music discussion.

D

[ifallalot]

Btw some good discussion arose out of this, definitely less direct hate thread and more thought provoking philosophical state of music discussion.

D

My kids are young, but sometimes I wonder if I am doing them a disservice when they are not exposed to any actual "modern" music. A lot of the times I'm listening to the same thing I listened to what I listened to when I was young, which is in fact the music my dad listened to when he was young. I guess it gave me a good base and I went on my own as a teenager and young adult.

Regardless of my own musings, I think that when my kids reach their teens and twenties their methods of music consumption will be much different than ours.

[shadowplay]

Btw some good discussion arose out of this, definitely less direct hate thread and more thought provoking philosophical state of music discussion.

D

My kids are young, but sometimes I wonder if I am doing them a disservice when they are not exposed to any actual "modern" music. A lot of the times I'm listening to the same thing I listened to what I listened to when I was young, which is in fact the music my dad listened to when he was young. I guess it gave me a good base and I went on my own as a teenager and young adult.

Regardless of my own musings, I think that when my kids reach their teens and twenties their methods of music consumption will be much different than ours.

Loads of ways to go at this. My folks had very little interest in music, only owned a handful of records and these were very much along the lines of Blind/Blonde easy listening duoPeters and Lee. I just went out and found my own stuff. My mates generally had more rock n roll parents and I don't really think this made a difference one way or another, I'd guess that you are still passing on a love of music or at least telling them you value it.

My music thing has generally been buying whatever comes out that week, probably always will be, it's just the way I'm wired, I do buy some old stuff but in the great scheme of things not to much. I used to think that at one point I'd suddenly 'get' the likes of The Beatles that everyone into music is supposed to like, so I used to pick up singles and albums of all the big 60's bands whenever I saw them but it's still not happened. I've never sold a record (I have swapped doubles) but sometimes I think I should just pull all that stuff out the lockup I keep it in and get it appraised and sold and use it to build the kids collections more.

With my oldest daughter I made an effort to look for music I hoped she might find approachable at her age because I wanted to make a connection with her over music. After while I forgot about this because she wasn't hard wired one way or the other and we both had enough intersecting interests that we could talk about music for hours and it's carried on like that with the other kids. To be honest we do talk earnestly about records and argue over breakfast but we spend more time dancing like idiots or at least I dance like an idiot. They like a pretty wide range of music but all have their wee fiefdoms, for example on of the 8 year old's is super synth focussed to the point of stubbornness.

D

[natthu]

...I'd prefer the sound of silence...

I'm with you on that one. I was once at work all by myself (it has never happened again since). I neglected to turn the radio on. It was sublime.
Cheers for your condolences too.

You do live in a city known for its churches and the local brewery thinks supporting a bible society that releases anti marriage equality videos is acceptable behaviour.

I'd like to argue with you against these points, but alas the facts are not on my side. Bugger.

Think yourself lucky it's not tuned into Hillsong radio or some other happy clappy soft rock station.

I occasionally hear about this "Hillsong" organisation, but I'm just too afraid to ask what it's all about out of fear I will be made aware of a phenomenon I'm best off remaining blissfully ignorant of. I'm not sure we have their radio station here, but we definitely have a generic happy clappy soft rock station, which lulls you into a false sense of security with music so dull and nondescript you couldn't possibly fathom it may have any prickly or offensive parts... until they hit you with a bunch of Jesus lyrics. Not that I really find that offensive in itself I guess. I mean, I'm glad that I live in a country in which the tastes (or lack thereof) of special interest groups can be catered to. Also I live in a country in which no one I know will tolerate a happy clappy soft rock station, and thus won't complain if I turn it off.

Stand up for yourself man and tune it into Triple J, it's not like they play anything outside of inoffensive these days.

Alas I am the youngest person in my work area... and I turn 40 this year. I am surrounded by cranky old men who abhor change or the introduction of anything new to their experience of life (hence Triple J is an abomination, with its weird young people music and progressive chatter). I had to fight hard just to get the radio off old people talkback. Unfortunately majority rules around these parts. Sad.

[NickD]

Unfortunately at work we listen to the radio all day. All day. Every day. It's relentless. It just doesn't stop. Does. Not. Stop. Ever.

Condolences, I avoid music radio like I avoid bathing in sewage. I despise working inhouse because the supposed cool kids play such a load of shite, usually related to someone who just died. I'd prefer the sound of silence and if I had folk round my place I'd generally tailor the music to a wider beam but when it's my turn I resort to Symmetric Warfare.

D

Our next door neighbour has particularly shite taste in music, which doesn't bother either of us if it is kept to reasonable volumes. Apparently it has been pretty loud on some of Mrs NickD's days off, so I've showed her the Merzbow section of the record collection and advised reciprocation if she feels the need...

That said, to show how out my chart antenna is I genuinely thought that Kate Tempest - Europe is Lost would rise to the top of the charts on swelling wave of word of mouth. It one of the best State of the Nation addresses since Disco Inferno- Summers Last Sound.

Kate Tempest is a brilliant poet, and I wish that she could hit the charts in a big way, but honestly being enough of a crossover artist to get modern poetry to sell more than a hundred units, in any format, is enough of an achievement (and maybe to make people see it as less pretentious).

[shadowplay]

Kate Tempest is a brilliant poet, and I wish that she could hit the charts in a big way, but honestly being enough of a crossover artist to get modern poetry to sell more than a hundred units, in any format, is enough of an achievement (and maybe to make people see it as less pretentious).

Yeah good point, in some ways she's like urban folk music, she talks to her peers and also reaches out beyond and she never falls into the trap where she's coming from outside or falls into well intentioned talking down or is a special case with bleeding heart like some of the 'caring' rockers. When she was nominated for the Mercury prize I heard her seriously patronised by trad rocker type pundits on talk radio. She was painted into the 'token' corner.

D

[marqueemoon]

Meanwhile, #sheeranalbumparty is trending on Twitter, for everyone who's into that kind of party.

A listening party. Where you listen to the album. Ed Sheeran's album party. What did you think it meant?

Sheer anal bum party? Doesn't sound very mainstream to me.

[shadowplay]

Meanwhile, #sheeranalbumparty is trending on Twitter, for everyone who's into that kind of party.

A listening party. Where you listen to the album. Ed Sheeran's album party. What did you think it meant?

Sheer anal bum party? Doesn't sound very mainstream to me.

call in the Tory government anal sex task force.

D

[marqueemoon]

Meanwhile, #sheeranalbumparty is trending on Twitter, for everyone who's into that kind of party.

A listening party. Where you listen to the album. Ed Sheeran's album party. What did you think it meant?

Sheer anal bum party? Doesn't sound very mainstream to me.

call in the Tory government anal sex task force.

D

More mainstream than I thought, apparently.

[jorri]

More mainstream than I thought, apparently.

Most bums are anal, afterall...what else could they be?

[shadowplay]

In an an attempt to class the place up and away from the tradesman's entrance I thought this article in the Times Literary Supplement might do the trick and form a loop back to my earlier quote;

To be honest I think the potato headed likes of Oasis are as responsible for the outbreaks of stupidity as the likes of Simon Cowell and they are surely the root of a dreadful situation where working class has become a synonym for artless and stupid (in contrast to the likes of the Human League) and how so many supposed 'intelligent' bands are all middle class. Line of least resistance in effect.

Back when pop music was literary

D

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Back when pop music was literary

In fairness, most of the examples cited could suggest ownership of a Dictionary of Modern Quotations as much as a well-thumbed collection of classics.

The example of Morrissey's autodidactic credentials called to mind a relatively recent pop song that always made my toes curl: the dire Breakfast At Tiffany's by The Oafs (or whatever they were called), which I always suspected was the band's stab at writing a song in the style of The Smiths, having only a superficial grasp of what inspired Morrissey (songwriter: "old movies!"; bandmates "Dude, that's awesome!"). Its conclusion: "we both kinda liked it". Awesome indeed! That Bunnymen example scales the same dizzy heights.

At the risk of playing Devil's Advocate for the sake of it, Noel Gallagher's lyrics, cringeworthy though they frequently are, at least display a similar level of literary knowledge as many of those cited in the article. Don't Look Back In Anger and The Lightness Of Being Unbearable arguably show a flicker of wit, though he was always more likely to reference the telly than the bookshelf.

[BoringPostcards]

Ed Sheeran is ultra boring for me. I don't get it. I guess he just churns out pop music directed at women. He's not exactly an inspirational guitarist by any stretch of the imagination, even though Martin gave him a couple of signature models. Unreal.
Saw him on SNL and his guitarist was playing an AV65 Jazzmaster and I laughed. I was thinking is he an offset fan or is this just because they're becoming trendy again and he wanted to fit in for indy cred? Who knows?
Sheeran's fucking boring both as a guitarist and as a songwriter.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Martin gave him a couple of signature models.

Truly, the world belongs to marketing executives now.