Skitto

I just had to get this off my chest before I could reasonably talk about music.

Pop: I've been into a lot of music in the past, near the end of high school I was very into comparing every, EVERY different style there was, then I narrowed myself into the acoustic/traditional form because of its familiarity. I also did it because I just HAD to learn Andy McKee's Drifting (and did). Then, getting bored with that, I was wandering around the net, and skipped across pop and haven't left. John Mayer appealed to my guitar playing.

John Mayer: I discovered that this guy wrote most of the songs that I couldn't get out of my head during the work day: In Repair, No Such Thing, Another Kind of Green, Your Body is a Wonderland... such an adaptable guitarist was so enthralling that I've recognized hardly any new artists since I've become a fan of his... damn it all. So here I am, a hopeless fan.

Sure, I've learned some of his better songs, and I'm inspired by his self-discipline and love of music, but he is really NOT the only musician to have this, just the most obvious.

Some weird things about it were that I was that the guy looks like he could be in my family, at different times he hits tones and a sound that comes from the back of my head to go "you knew each other" sounding like a current friend of mine, a wide range of facial expressions that at different times look like himself, my uncle John (who doesn't have one), and me... me? yeah, me.

Being so popular with so many people (yeah, so they were mostly women, what of it?), there is something to be said of one person bringing so many people together, in many ways for his sake, for so long.

This man keeps putting the idea in my head that he is /or was... a great spirit.

Any ideas?

Love him, hate him?

I admire his music but not his girly hair and the damned orgasmic faces he has while soloing...

__________________
Yeah, well, you're just that awesome, I guess. It's not like I guessed so anyways.

Manic_Skafe

I'm not a fan but I can't deny that he's put out some great work. Daughters is probably my favorite track of his but his entire style comes across as too safe and contrived to warrant downloading or purchasing an album or two.

__________________
"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

Plan9

Yeah, I can't do it. That music makes my scrot retract. I'd be like a Hells Angel biker eating tofu.

That and screw Coldplay. If I never hear them again, I can live a healthier, happier life.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Martian

I wonder if there's something to guitarists gravitating towards Mayer?

I enjoy him because he's very very good at what he does. What he does is pop, sure, but I'm not judgmental. Love him or hate him, anyone with half an inkling of what's going on has to admit the dude can play.

I'm not into the idea of a style of music being 'girly' or 'manly.' The type of music I listen to has absolutely no effect on the size of my testicles.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Glory's Sun

Amen on the coldplay bit. Why can't they just enjoy the money they've made and quit making my ears bleed?

On Mayer, eh its certainly nowhere in the realm of stuff I enjoy but I have no problem giving artists who have and haven't made a name for themselves credit for doing what they enjoy. Although, I'm in agreeance with Manic on this one. His style is safe and I think purposely so, in order to maximize the record company's ROI. He should pull a "Pink" (uugh) and do something different.

Manic_Skafe

I'm thinking it's because Radiohead have too much material to rip off and water down.

__________________
"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

spectre

Manic: that is probably the most awesome slap on Coldplay I've ever seen. Nicely done!

__________________
"Fuck these chains
No goddamn slave
I will be different" ~ Machine Head

SSJTWIZTA

never heard the guys stuff, and the way it sounds, i probably dont need to.

when it comes to pop, ill stick to the power variety.

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Glory's Sun

you officially win.

seriously. that is an awesome statement.

Skitto

Right, all his stuff is sorta like gourmet vanilla carrot cake, very good, but you can't eat it all by yourself.

Speaking of music/food, there are a couple videos I think'd change your mind on the guy's musical skills.

First off, his collection of guitars.

Second, a jam in the thick of his upturned jazzy/blues trio era. Aptly named Jam/Chicken Grease/Cissy Strut



if you don't ever listen to him again, I beg you, watch the second video.

__________________
Yeah, well, you're just that awesome, I guess. It's not like I guessed so anyways.

n0nsensical

Can't say anything about the man personally, but his music makes me want to vomit, no joke, if I hear it playing I get a physical reaction and need to get away.

__________________
"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln

Wrexify

I've never had a problem with John Mayer's music, but it's not something I ever really got into.

After watching a few interviews and other non-musical performances, I think he's a really down-to-Earth kind of guy. Good sense of humor... I know he's done sketches with Dave Chappelle and Conan O'Brien that made me laugh. And you can't deny that the man knows how to play a guitar.

Amen to the Coldplay comments... How did those guys get so big? I've never talked to anyone who actually enjoys their music.

__________________
"Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!"

CinnamonGirl

Room For Squares still gets a lot of time in my cd player... but I'm not as fond of his new stuff.

__________________
"...for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world."


"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Plan9

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

percy

If I am in a restaurant or airport or somewhere and I hear him, it doesn't bother me, it is what it is I guess. Not great but not terrible. Kinda like James Taylor I suppose.

What bothers me are these comparisons to Clapton and Hendrix. Please,...John Mayer is a good guitar player, but get into reality,...he ain't close to Clapton or Hendrix,...never will be.

Off topic slightly,..I was just as bothered by Diana Krall being compared to Oscar Peterson. Good Lord if there ever was an overstatement,...Even after Peterson had a stroke, was well into his 70's and played at half the speed with one hand,...he still did 10x more than Krall with all 10 digits in working order.

Thankfully her saving grace with me was completely discounting that comparison,...and who wouldn't,..for the sake of looking completely retarded.

Krall I can listen to now. Mayer I tolerate.

thespian86

I think you'll agree when I say good music is good music; no matter the genre.

Listen to "Continuum" and tell me his music is too safe Manic. His pop work is great but his blues-folk infusion is undeniably sick.

__________________
EX: Whats new?
ME: I officially love coffee more then you now.
EX: uh...
ME: So, not much.

Manic_Skafe

I'll eventually give the entire album a shot but Waiting For The World To Change didn't exactly produce high expectations - it doesn't get much safer than that. They're obviously different but I'd much rather watch this guy do his thing:

__________________
"Porn is a zoo of exotic animals that becomes boring upon ownership." -Nersesian

Martian

Naturally I do.

I try not to label music too much. It serves a purpose, but can also be restrictive.

I've never been clear on what defines 'safe' music. Derivative I get, but I see that label applied to music that is not so, and I get confused.

Continuum is a great album, but I would argue there's still a huge streak of pop running right through it. There's a lot more blues carrying through it than on previous efforts, and even a little bit of soul, to my ear.

Fucked if I know what genre it is. The real question to ask is whether or not I care (Hint: The answer is not yes).

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Derwood

If I'm going to listen to John Mayer type music, I'll stick with Ryan Adams

thespian86

Two completely different artists. Adams is more bluegrass/country/rock while Mayer is more blues/folk/pop rock.

I personally think Adams is our generation's Dylan.

__________________
EX: Whats new?
ME: I officially love coffee more then you now.
EX: uh...
ME: So, not much.

PonyPotato

I'm going to just raise my hand in support of Coldplay here.

Jump on me if you will, but I like selections of their music. "Don't Panic" is one of the songs that will always evoke strong memories for me.. driving in my car on twisty roads in the fall.

Bite me.

__________________
"Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark."
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel

thespian86

I feel like I'm posting too much here but I agree. Parachutes and Viva La Vida are both solid albums; with the latter making my "top 2008 releases" list.

__________________
EX: Whats new?
ME: I officially love coffee more then you now.
EX: uh...
ME: So, not much.

Plan9

But so much of pop music is aural junk food. Empty sound calories placating brain hunger for stimulation.

I wanna listen to music that's like finding a human finger in a taco salad... yeah, finding it with your teeth.

...

Hmm... does Huey Lewis & The News count as pop? God, I hope not.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Derwood

Yeah, won't argue, but I think both appeal to the same demographic

xuvio38

~~~~~

wooÐs

Ironic this was bumped. The other day I threw together a John Mayer playlist. Something must be in the air.

I love him. I'm going through a painful breakup atm and his music is srsly helping me get by. I won't go into the reasons why but I do love his music. Some songs are extremely overplayed but np - I just don't listen to them. His voice is ideal for background noise on Sunday mornings. "Say" is my current ringtone lol.

And I too love Coldplay - but 'older' Coldplay.
- Rush of Blood To The Head
- X&Y
- Parachutes
etc.

And I'll leave it at that.

FoolThemAll

Oh come on, Adams' lyrics aren't that bad.

Mayer's nothing amazing, but he's in my 'worthwhile' column for, if nothing else, an acoustic solo live recording I heard of "3x5". That's just a damned solid song once you strip off that one silly-sounding background melody. And Continuum is a fun album. I even kinda get into "Waiting for the World to Change" when I look at it as "Sitting On the Dock of the Bay Part Two".

"Daughters", on the other hand, is boring crap.

And Coldplay has a couple decent songs in "Politik" and "God Put a Smile On Your Face". The rest is pretty much boring crap, but whacha gonna do when U2 is what passes for inspiration?

__________________
I wonder if we're stuck in Rome.

MacGuyver

So I'm going to be another one of the few Mayer defenders. Everyone hates on him, and really I think his pop thing is genius. Why you ask? Well, I'll tell you: It's been a fantastic marketing tool for him. Teen girls ate his first album up, and it put him on the map. However, I was listening back then, and the thing that caught me, is his live albums. JM live is absolutely fantastic, because he was taking that pop song, and adding another 5 minutes of absolutely fantastic guitar solo in the middle, showing the side of his music that he REALLY wanted to play, which is the bluesy folky whatever-you-want-to-call-it, guitar player's dream type music. So even before his long hair and oriental rugs, I thought JM was fantastic, and now that he's had success with a number of albums, he is starting to do more of the sound he wants to play as an artist.

On the issue of Clapton and Hendrix comparisons, these guys were JM's idols really, so of course he modeled himself playing things and learning from the ways that guys like that used to play. Clapton loves the kid, and has played with him on many an occasion, invited him to play at his own Crossroads festival, and has done a lot to promote him.



Though he may have two popped collars and a ridiculous face, you can't deny his ability. And this is from 2004 Crossroads.

He's played with a lot of the greats, Clapton already mentioned, BB King, John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, Buddy Guy, and so on.

And he may not seem to be a very humble guy now in many aspects, but in his guitar playing he's pretty respectful to those guys, always learning, and trying to be an embodiment of the best. Checkout this article in Rolling Stone.

Playing a little devil's advocate... what is POP? Is it a musical genre? Or is it a reflection of whatever is 'popular' at the time, hence 'POP'. So when someone makes the argument that his POP stuff isn't as good as his later - age blues stuff, yet his blues stuff is more popular than his earlier stuff, which becomes the POP? There was certainly no POP genre when I worked at the record store, there was Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country... you get the idea. So think about your disgust of POP music, and maybe redefine yourselves.

__________________
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
---Aristotle

Deeds, not words, shall speak [for] me.
---John Fletcher

Martian

Disgust for pop often seems to be reflexive; it's my opinion that it says more about one's perceptions and preconceptions than it does about the music itself.

Genre is a funny concept. I don't personally know of any musician who decides to write a song to genre type, although I'm certain it happens. I can't imagine doing such a thing myself.

Regarding the videos, Mayer is an incredible guitarist; having said that, it's interesting to contrast him with Clapton, who (naturally) is in an entirely different league even to someone of that talent. It's particularly evident to me in the Crossroads video featured above; seems to me that Clapton does more with his opening bend than Mayer did with 24 bars.

My own ideas influence how I perceive Mayer as a man, but I get the idea that a lot of his posturing is meant more in jest than anything else. He seems cocky sure, but he's also very self-deprecating, and makes a lot of references to how he's sold out and is completely amoral and shameless. It strikes me as more of a caricature than anything else. I tend to play up the cocky guitarist/musician stereotype myself in day-to-day life, and am predisposed to see what he does more in that light than to take it seriously. Naturally, having never met him in person, it's hard for me to be sure about his character, but that's the feeling I get.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

fresnelly

Man, I need to dig out my Derek and the Dominoes CD again.

__________________
Building an artificial intelligence that appreciates Mozart is easy. Building an A.I. that appreciates a theme restaurant is the real challenge - Kit Roebuck - Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life

MacGuyver

Wonder if you all saw this tonight on Conan.

__________________
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
---Aristotle

Deeds, not words, shall speak [for] me.
---John Fletcher

Wrexify

I did see the performance on Conan... Wow! I really enjoyed it, so much that I think I'll probably grab a JMT album next time I'm at a music store. It just goes to show what a wide range of music he can play... I think that's a mark of a great artist.

__________________
"Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!"

Skitto

First a note on Coldplay: Popular musicians like these have the knack of creating, subtle, psychologically satisfying musical patterns. Whatever it invokes in the listener is just a coincidental effect, so in a way they're a lot like drugs.



Other Responses:


Dylan's lyrics are good!

The Drifters and John Mayer had a tempo in common, who knew?

Regarding Mayer's music being "safe"? The guy's repertoir of music is so big that he could spit out songs like Midas could spit. But, and there is a "but", he is looking for something better than that.
John Mayer took the time as a kid to learn all that music so that in time he could make his own music. He's done exactly what he wanted to so far, but his goal keeps getting higher, and it isn't popularity. I'm modeling myself after THAT, making music that is new to the world, building up to the widest appeal so I can drop back down and either find or MAKE a niche.

For now I'm gonna call his new music "Neo-Beatnik" and the old music is just Junk Pop because there was a shortage of "o"s


You may hate the music he has now, but


Damn, he can play, and man does he pick good music!

__________________
Yeah, well, you're just that awesome, I guess. It's not like I guessed so anyways.

Zodijackyl

Don't forget Satriani, they ripped him off too!

I am from the same town as John Mayer and I met him once, he's a nice and friendly guy, but I have never been interested in his music. I have never been interested in pop music, but I do like blues. I find that his blues playing is largely an imitation of SRV, it isn't bad, but it isn't particularly interesting.