DiS mixtape exchange - who did you get?

[tafkac]

I had her last time. Was...OK. Ish. A lot of stuff I already knew, a couple of OK things, a certain amount of kind of mainstreamish late 90s emoey rock (the twinkly midwestern variety that I tend to avoid like the plague).

John, I should send you a tape of good emo. We could circulate it. If only to stem the tide of hate. If you still don't like it, at least you'll be aware its not all bands with seasons in their names and whinging singers.

[coastal]

Thanks for info – will try to error on the side of “accessible” but slightly obscure, then.

Brainwashing has to be done in stages afterall…

[John Brainlove]

Good emo? Like what?
I did a brief investigation into emo and people told me to download these supposedly great songs that were all shit.
I enjoyed Dismemberment plan but it didn't sound like emo really.
(Uh-oh I can sense the 'what is emo question' trying to raise it's ugly head again...)
But if it's stuff I haven't heard, I'll give it a whirl..

[Smileadelic]

There's no way the Plan are emo.

</precious>

[Tom-From-Sparks]

Rival Schools are emo aren't they?

They were the only good emo band around.

That's unless your going to get stupid and drag Fugazi and the Blood Brothers into this.

[tafkac]

Ha ha, yes. But I HATE Rival Schools. In fact I don't think I've ever bought a CD I've hated more. Like quicksand with all the good bits taken out! I sold it for about 4 quid. And no, I wouldn't describe the Dismemberment Plan as emo. I'd say Fugazi transcended genres a long time ago, but they came out of the DC emo scene whether you like it or not. And if the Blood Brothers aren't emo I dunno what else they are! Seriously, what are they?

I know I've said this so many times, but nobody seems to listen. It seems everyone is just so desperate not to like anything remotely associated with emo, and if they do, they insist it isn't emo. Its getting increasingly farcical. Like all genres, the commercial face is dominated by shit that appeals to 15 year olds. But so is punk, and hardcore, and indie (if that's a genre nowadays), and hip-hop, and everything else. I love the way eclectic music afficionados will insist until they're blue in the face that At the Drive-In aren't emo, because they're a band its "safe" for them to like.

I really think we should stop being preoccupied with genres. I only go on about this to puncture a few pretensions. I'm amused by the weird state of denial, like if I started going around insisting 50 cent isn't hip-hop just because I don't like him/don't think he's cool enough. I can't think of any other type of music this happens with quite so much.

[John Brainlove]

I don't see what you're getting at here. I don't purposefully rule things out because they might be emo (and therefore not cool). I just seriously fucking hate everything I've heard that has been described as 'emo'. It has all been whining, melodramatic shouty teen-rock shit.
If the Blood Brothers are emo, then they are the first emo band that I have liked, although even with them I thought that although the screaming was very... (invigourating?) ... all the songs blended into eachother after a while.

Genres are just loose, useful catchall terms, not definitvely marked out seperations. They all bleed into each other.

All the 'emo' I have heard has been awful.
What are the good emo bands again?

[Fullerov]

Hmm i like Emo.

Mostly.

[John Brainlove]

Does this mean Thursday, Thrice and Avenged Sevenfold?*


*that last band name makes me wanna laugh and throw up at the same time. SO bad.

[Fullerov]

I know you hate Thrice. I rated them on my profile.

[tafkac]

Rites of Spring, Embrace, Moss Icon, early Fugazi, Lifetime, Hot Water Music, early Nation of Ulysses, Indian Summer, Clikatat Ikatowi, Saetia, Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Orchid, Far, ATD-I, Braid, Small Brown Bike, Spy vs. Spy, early Thursday (I know you don't like them but I do), Rydell, Kids Near Water etc., etc.

I dislike the concept of "genre" as much (probably more) than the next man, but there was certainly an emo scene back in the mid to late 80s (like there was a punk scene), and I'm just talking about bands that were part of that movement or are still heavily influenced by it. A lot of the best bands, like Fugazi, came from this scene, but moved away from the emo sound pretty quickly. So I wouldn't call them emo, in the same way as, say, you probably couldn't describe a band like Isis as "metal" anymore.

Of course genres totally bleed into each other. Nowadays emo is kind of blending with poppy rock and metal. In an ideal world, there'd be no genres, but a lot of bands tend to keep a "a sound" throughout their careers, and continue to be influenced by some things more than others. What I'm trying to suggest is that Blood Brothers, for example have the post-hardcore guitar work and frantic vocals which originated with emo, and I thought the comment about "not dragging them into it" was a bit funny, for reasons outlined in the previous post.

The weird thing is that different generations seem to have totally different ideas of what emo is. This seems to be because it only fully entered the mainstream about 15 years after it first originated, and hence the people that get into it now have no idea where it came from, or hence what the word ever used to mean. I'm not trying to claim ultimate authority here, but there are just certain bands often labelled as emo nowadays that really do just have nothing to do with it. Like Dashboard Confessional (the former singer of an emo band playing acoustic rock), or Avenged Sevenfold. I have to say I've never heard anyone describe them as emo, it's a particularly weird one that. If you're wanting a label, I guess they're like, I dunno, pop metalcore? They are shite beyond shite. I don't think anyone over the age of 18 listens to them. They're like a metal Bl*nk 182. Its like people going around describing Kea"ihatefuckingkeane"ne as "post-punk" or something.

Thursday, admittedly are quite mainstream and the vocals are a very acquired taste. They were quite unique when they first came out. Their last album was quite shit if that's what you heard. Thrice have emo-ish bits, but I personally wouldn't call them emo. They're very polished sounding and I wouldn't expect you to like them at all.

I dunno what else to say. This whole thing confuses me totally because I always thought I knew what "emo" meant and then over the last few years, people have started hurling the word around all over the place, and now it seems, using it as an insult.

[Monpot]

I get the feeling that in some circles, 'Emo' is just becoming a catch-all term like 'indie'. I've seen both Bright Eyes and ..Trail of Dead described as emo.

[tafkac]

Yes, so have I. And much as I detest the hegemony of the dictionary definition, they just aren't. At all.

[John Brainlove]

OK. I'm prepared to take the plunge in the name of exploring foreign musical territory. Wanna do me a mix CD?

[Tom-From-Sparks]

He He He

There's some emo adverts above ;D

Several bands that tafkac talked about are pretty good.
I suppose it's this fucking label of emo.

I hate labelling.