garethom wrote:Jurkhands wrote:60ies had Syd Barrett
70ies had Freddie Mercury
80ies had MJ
90ies had Aphex Twin
if we look a bit closer we even find guys like Jim Morrison, Pierre Schaeffer, James Jamerson, Keith Jarrett, Eddie Hazel, Joe Zawinul, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page. and I'm sure there's dozens of Bachs and Mahlers and Verdis and Beethovens that I never ever heard of because I unfortunately know jack about classical music.
and you guys telling me about Jam City and Wiley and Lil B. fucks sake.
So basically, your point is that a lot of the producers in this thread haven't been around as long as Bach? Or at least as long as the likes of Hendrix and Page?
Also, MJ lol, guy was a singer and dancer, yet he's a musical genius and Wiley who basically spearheaded a whole movement in production and vocals isn't?
Shut up.
no. my point is that these people changed the creation and perception of music during their time. I don't care how long they've been active after their initial impact, but they've been widely recognised and appreciated as serious game changers with incredible talent during their active time already. take good ol' Freddie for example: his work and output in the seventies is nothing short of revolutionary and I have a hard time putting guys like Jam City up there with him, even though I highly appreciate their output and value most of their tunes.
people still look up to Pink Floyd, Queen, MJ and Aphex Twin. people still refer to them as top of their respective decade and whoever came after them was (and still is) judged based on the standards they introduced. I'm aware of the problem that subjective and/or quantitative impact imposes upon this argument. however, I don't believe Jam City (sorry mate) would live up to the standards if one could compare them in a different environment, detached from sociocultural aspects. there just isn't a scientific method to measure "genius" apart from some IQ tests with arbitrary rankings. also, I tried to take the differences between genres and their respective protagonists into account by offering alternatives. (Eddie Hazel e.g.)
I understand your argument regarding MJ and Wiley and I'm inclined to agree; I'm unsure if "spearheading a movement" is enough to be regarded as a musical genius though. Moritz von Oswald did more or less the same and is certainly qualitywise (as in: production standards and sound design) the better producer and musician than Wiley. why name MJ? because he's personifying the 80ies like no other person. his personal issues reflect the USSR's internal difficulties to maintain a functioning unity, his skin colour change is a metaphor for the integration of black people into the US's white middle classes. jokes.
also I like principles and I don't think there should be more than one genius per decade. but that's just my personal view and I should probably rethink this as today's musical culture has the consumer confronted with an unprecedented multitude of sounds and styles from all over the world. thank you, internet. (shout to ultraspatial)
sorry for my bad english, third language. hope you understand what I'm trying to say.