😤 LET’S ARGUE! 😤 (June 2020 Thread)

Why is there not a lot of love for Dismemberment Plan these days?

Chris Hickson

go to My membership tab and click the button connect to discord

How do I join the Discord server?

Diego Martinez

I just bought a ridge wallet for me and my gf. Thanks for the discount melon. I got the gold one. Pretty hype!

are you a fan of musicals, and have any of them impressed you with their production or lyricism?

Your voice makes people feel like little cute melons

Have you ever considered making your old 2009 reviews part of your Patreon exclusive content?

Jacob Axelrad

What are your thoughts on the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World bass battle as well as all the original music made for the movie?

God it’s perfect to me. I’ve actually cried when pork roll egg and cheese comes on before. It’s so human and emotional and conveys a feeling that no one else could. I try and explain it to my friends but they don’t get it. Also boing is supper underrated/overlooked.

Brendan

Bts have some of the most devoted fans, and in turn some of the most humble and charitable and get unjust hate

Krist was a founding member and his basslines were the back bone to most of Nirvana’s discography. Pat smear was only in the band for like 6 months and didn’t even appear on a record.

Serj Tankian was generally a middling lyricist. When I hear his music it baffles me how people were able to overlook lyrics like “ It's a non-stop disco/Bet you it's Nabisco” or “ Unannounced Twister games, all players with no names/They lined up, double quick (But just one pogo stick)/Everyone gets to play, runaway, exposé/It was so exotic

CuriousGerenuk

Preach it

Andrew Shaktah

Death Grips should be more political

Andrew Shaktah

I’ve never gotten the love for morning phase or even sea change. Not nearly as dynamic or as interesting as his other stuff

Brendan

They might be giants are also just very repetitive with their sound ( not in a good way imo)

Brendan

Beck's Midnite Vultures > Morning Phase

Triple 9

Cuphead's soundtrack is underrated

Vipul Konnur

ksg is the best project that either kid cudi or kanye have ever released and its not even close

Sheep is Pigs in double time (both great songs though)

Ween>They Might Be Giants

Neal Garbenis

What is your current stance on gun control? A couple of years ago you released the vid in response to Killer Mike’s pro-gun position and disagreed with him. I’m very anti-gun for my country (Australia) as, although not perfect, I believe our policy are properly trained to de-escalate situations and better protect the community. For the US, with the current climate, my stance has shifted to being more pro-gun, as it seems the police as an institution cannot be properly relied on to protect and serve.

Caroline Rose’s transition from country to pop is more impressive than Taylor Swift’s

Andrew Shaktah

Australian music from the late 70s and early 80s is really under heard. Bands like Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil deserve so much more attention and respect as the former has fantastic musicianship with great vocals and variety and the latter has so many fantastic songs with political commentary that is still relevant not just in Australia but around the world too. A lot of people think of INXS or Nick Cave when thinking of Australian music of that era, but there is so much more to it and the vast majority of it has aged far better than a lot of other music of the time!

Jack Bayley

The Eddie Vedder soundtrack for “Into the Wild” is the greatest movie soundtrack of all time. It’s songs perfectly fit their scenes in the movie while also making for a powerful listen by itself. The strong songwriting, powerful lyrics, great singing and pristine rustic instrumentation all back up the story’s themes of being an outsider, yearning for something bigger, and loneliness.

The production on Wide Awake! brings the album down. A lot of the raw and angular sounds of the guitar and drums on previous Parquet Courts album were cleaned up in a way that, while sounding good, doesn’t compliment the harsh vocals and scathing lyrics as well as it should. Total Football could have been a grimy and abrasive protest song but the lows and highs feel too subdued to leave as big an impact as it could have. I love the album but after listening to a Light Up Gold or even an Entertainment! I just can’t help but imagine what could have been.

New York City cops ain't too smart

Robert Furey

'On Avery Island' is VASTLY underappreciated! While it isn't quite as lush as ITAOTS, the more raw production still works really well. Plus, it has some of the bands best songs (Song Against Sex, Where You'll Find Me Now, Gardenhead, Naomi). It definitely deserves a lot more credit than it gets!

You need to make more videos that don’t fit in the same formats like worst songs of my adolescence or my favorite band broke up

The hardest agree

Arnarok

If Death Grips hadn't existed, Yeezus would've been a decent to strong 8.

Innervisions is not only Stevie Wonder's best record, but the best record in American history. Considering the context of it's release in his classic period, the musical innovations coming from that period and that album, the genre experimentation and Stevie's sheer talent as a songwriter and instrumentalist. It's massively influential and the most eclectic, quintessential fusion of American musical styles, as well as global ones. Nothing like it.

Danny Brown's Atrocity Exhibition has grown to be a 12 classic as Cal has predicted. Even after 4 years its still the most cutting edge and off the wall Hip Hop album I've ever heard.

Jared

In terms of its ability to describe the present and future, would you reconsider DG's "Hacker" as your #1 song of the 2010s? You cited it being a "reflection of the digital dystopia we currently exist in" as its major strong point. But with themes of handheld cameras recording atrocities, the irresistible urge to watch them - both out of morbidly curious disbelief and as the only impactful evidence of authority overreach - and the overstimulating, paranoia-inducing effect of visual cruelty's omnipresence, I think "I've Seen Footage" captures the shape of digital lives at the moment and (sadly) in the years to come in a more focused, vivid and realistic way than "Hacker" does. MC Ride's narrated observations may have been that of an outcast at the release of The Money Store, but have entered the collective memory of broad parts of the population by now - impossible to forget and hard to cope with. Those lyrics will have an uncanny longevity to them.

Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime is one of the most theatrical concept albums to ever come out and should get more attention. Even though it came out more than 32 years ago, it doesn't feel dated at all. With its sharp production, melodic vocals, catchy riffs, subtle bass lines and seamless flow it is easily one of the best albums that came out of the 1980s prog metal scene. Themes explored include: corruption, sexual exploitation, discontent, drug abuse and the power of the 1% which are just as relevant today as they were 30 years ago.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters would not have gotten the rapturous praise it got if it was released by a no-name singer-songwriter. Most music journalists care more about creating a narrative around the music than talking about quality of the music itself.

Owen W

Between the Buried and Me are a band that do not get their deserved credit when it comes to changing and shaping the metalcore and prog metal scenes respectively. They were able to build on sounds bands like Opeth and Dream Theatre established and add their own flair of folk metal and avant garde.

The strength, relevance, and vitality of Run The Jewels' lyrics cover for the fact that their musical tapestries are more or less interchangeable. Nobody else could release such a strong first album and then stay musically the same for the next three albums without at least some critical derision. You could retroactively put an RTJ4 cut on RTJ1 and nobody would bat an eye.

Brendan James

Despite its status as an internet meme, Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" is an incredibly powerful and moving song with very profound observations and is as relevant as ever right now.

Anthony looks best clean shaven

Although im sure lots of local music scenes feel this way, i think its a real shame that australian music isnt more recognised internationally. theres a uniquely australian quality to to artists such as ocean alley, lime cordiale, tash sultana and sticky fingers. if more people were aware of these artists they could provide a unique, light beach poppy vibe. however i reccomend the rest of the world steer clear of the Oz rap scene, its embarassing.

Josh Bostioli

Teo Macero should be regarded as one of the best producers of all time across all genres not just Jazz

King gizzard and the wizard lizard isn’t real. Just a figment of our collective imaginations.

Aydan Rittel

Run the Jewels 1-4 are all great. Are there any contemporary artists that have stronger four album streaks than RTJ's?

Sam Mosher

Perils from the Sea is Mark Kozeleks best album. Sure Benji has alot of accoustic hits and is a highpoint in his carrer, but the beautiful mix of electro sounds and accoustic folk, mixed with his direct lyricism makes Perils a standout moment in his discography

It is.

Caden Meyer

Is it possible for “experimental” music to be generic?

Caden Meyer

All Things Must Pass is the best album by an ex-beatle. George was at an absolute peak of creativity and his frustration for not finding enough output space on the final years of the Beatles is completely understandable. The album features amazing songwriting collaborations by the one and only Bob Dylan, and serves perfectly for those hardcore Beatles fans who, to this day, more than 50 years later, still can't get over the band breakup.

All of Spiral Stairs' songs for Pavement are bad.

Kevin Marcellus Horan

The entire pop punk genre is predicated on the song "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones.

WhyDoIBother

You always mention Evanescence in your reviews when a band does a dramatic piano intro with female vocals. I’ve been confused. Do you like them? I hope not. Thanks!

Riley Schmedeman

Yes

Brendan

Just as good as good time and just as shafted by the academy. I swear they just have something against the safdie brothers at this point

Brendan

I’d agree. It’s the album that got me into them and even though I like some of their other stuff a lot nothing has compared to we got it from here for me. I think a lot of it has to with production which is kind of unfair considering the general innovations to music that artists in the 90s didn’t even have access to but still.

Brendan

I think “We got it from Here” is the best Tribe Called Quest album. The killer production and exceptional amount of features makes for an album that I think is even better than the Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders.

Putting radio sounds in between songs doesn't make an album a "concept album."

Walnuts are the best nut

Adam mezzarone

Kid A sounds like Minecraft music

Harvey Greene

RTJ4 is the soundtrack of the time

Christina Kelley

Anthony its been half a year already where's the onlyfans account with ass pics that you promised us 😢

Anna Narkevich

Eyedea & Abilities should get more recognition as white rap pioneers. Eminems rap in 'Rap God' flows exactly the same as Eyedea & Abilities 'Now'. Eminem ain't shit. Also Eyedea was on emo rap before emo rap was a big thing and got way more hate from it than they would have if they released it today.

I Hate Max

It''s a shame that most popular pop punk bands bank on 90s nostalgia to remain relevant. Pop punk tends to get an unfair amount of criticism as a result of it, especially considering the fact that artists like PUP and Jeff Rosenstock have been pushing the genre forward with creative and original ideas recently.

Blue Monday is low-tier New Order.

Fanshen

Laura Stevenson is the most underrated female singer-songwriter of the past 10 years

He literally changed the entire world of jazz 3+ times over a span of essentially a 50 year career. He fathered jazz fusion and was able to articulate any idea he wanted compositionally or musically with his playing

Uncut Gems is the best movie of last year (close call with Parasite and The Lighthouse as well as Little Women) and Daniel Lopatin’s soundtrack is frankly too forward thinking for the Academy to have ever considered awarding it with an Oscar or even a nomination. The title track which closes the film is one of the most strangely euphoric and interesting pieces of music I’ve ever heard in a film. The entire score is a perfect aural representation of what’s going on in Adam Sandler’s head throughout the movie.

How would you define great lyrics? and can you give an example of a bar/verse/song/record that have those "10/10" lyrics and like why those are so great?

As a huge fan of Björk, i think her last two records (Utopia and Vulnicura) are kinda overrated, it sounds for me like a record of Arca with a feature of Björk. I get that she is going for a more textural sound but i really miss his more electronic and beat based music. Also, Volta is not that bad, i like it more than this two last records.

No member of Queen has been in jail

Mees

It sometimes feels as if a subsection of critics and music nerds go by the adage of “gotta keep em separated.” Particularly in hip hop, it feels as if works that add in elements of genres seen as “authentically” black, such as jazz, are favored over works that draw from contemporary rock, which is generally seen as a white medium. While there’s other reasons for this trend, there seems to be at least a little bit of implicit bias.

MGMT are the best psychedelia band/artist of the decade and Siberian Breaks might be the best song of the decade.

We shouldn’t be upset by Krist Novoselic opinions on Trump due to him being the least important member of Nirvana. Pat Smear would never do this too us.

Cleanwolf

The only reason Miles Davis is one of the greats is because of his compositional innovations. Not to say this is a bad reason, but it is kind of the only one. He’s a bad trumpet player

Diego Martinez

Slug deserves to be in the discussion of greatest rappers alive. He’s had a solid career over almost 30 years and even if it’s lulled this last decade, he’s still really consistent. His style of imagery-heavy storytelling is iconic, has aged wonderfully with time, and is rarely imitated as well as he pulls it off. He was on the cutting edge of rappers that explored darker topics (unrelated to gang lifestyles) and arguably made the ripples that guys like Cudi turned into waves that put this style of rap in the mainstream in the 2010s. GodLovesUgly and When Life Gives You Lemons are bonafide underground classics. If Ghostface is in the discussion (and rightfully so), so should Slug be.

ZD

I think this may be true for some people, but for a lot of us I think quarantine is pretty bad for productivity. And I worry when I hear this that people will feel ashamed that they're not being as productive as some others, when really we all have to deal with this time in different ways.

Robert Furey

Yoga by 645AR is a masterpiece

radioactive by imagine dragons is an awesome song

superdude75561

Elliott reached his peak as a songwriter on XO, arranging and envisioning a modern masterpiece while playing many of the instruments himself, all the while writing songs as timeless and instantly memorable as the beatles or The Beach Boys.

I listened to Breaking Benjamin for like 6 years before I heard Tool and it legit blew my mind how much better that kind of music could be (specifically Stinkfist)

When peak trap starts winding down, do you think the next music zeitgeist will be another subgenre of rap? Or some other genre? When do you think we will start to see a noticeable shift (or are there signs of another genre surging in popularity already)?

Couldn’t wait until the next episode of Cold Takes. IF YOU WERE UPSET BY KENDRICK LOSING TO MACKLEMORE AT THE GRAMMY’S, YOU SHOULD BE ASTRONOMICALLY MORE UPSET ABOUT THE MURDER OF INNOCENT BLACK PEOPLE AT THE HANDS OF THE POLICE

One of my favorite videos of yours lately is the video of The Worst Top 50 Rappers List of All Time, and I know you make points about who should or should not be on the list, but would you ever consider making your own Top 50 Rappers list? I'd love to see it

Cameron Ford

You underrate Dear God I Hate Myself and Always by Xiu Xiu. To me they are some of the most creative and unpredictable albums in their discography. If you've changed your stance on those albums let me know.

Labels should be held accountable, legally and/or financially, for every shitty deal they make with up-and-coming artists, deals that screw the artists over down the line

Lan M

People should discuss top 5 producers with the same reverence as top 5 MCs.

Almond is the best nut

Benjamin Lisboa

When it comes to classifying music, broad music genres with little to no distinct sonic qualities (i.e. Indie Pop/Rock, Conscious Hip-Hop, etc.) do more harm than good. People are quick to label music as these broad genres instead of something more descriptive making it harder for everyone to find similar music.

I would agree. Whatever the hell happened to that guy after those first 3 albums is beyond me though. I like rockin the suburbs and songs for Silverman and supersunnyspeedgraphic are both ok but even then he went downhill pretty quickly. I don’t see why he keeps on going for a colder, slower, and staler approach to each record.

Brendan

With everyone quarantined 2020-21 will be the best years of music since artists will have so much alone time to get creative and produce quality music.

“The Resistance” by Muse seems to have only gotten more enjoyable and relevant with age. Although there are many albums that cover its themes of social inequality, rebellion, the rich abusing the poor, and even astronauts returning to a desolate planet, a decade later no album captures the feeling of modern issues with a futuristic atmosphere like that one

Andrew Shaktah

“Hurry up with my damn croissants” is one of the best lines in rap thanks to it’s mixture of arrogance and sarcasm in the context of how Kanye was perceived by the public around the release of Yeezus. It’s also super memorable, and at the end of the day memorability is the main aim of every “true” MC.

Thoughts on the new Jason Isbell album? Also, thoughts on his solo career? I couldn’t find any reviews for his work

Señor C

Charmander is the lamest gen 1 starter.

The Pod by Ween is easily one of the best records of the 90s and deserves more appreciation from people that enjoy art pieces and lo-fi music like it.

kitfistofangirl

Delay Lama is the best VST.

exo

Kermit is the definitive frog musician, Crazy Frog and Froggy Fresh cannot compare.

Zachary F Parker

Marilyn Manson had a bigger impact on music than Radiohead

24k Magic by Bruno Mars and Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen are mostly equal in terms of quality and incorporating 80s popular music styles into modern pop. The main reason one is perceived as better than the other by people on the internet is the difference in mainstream popularity/sales/radio play.

Gray Taylor

Killer Mike’s speech this week has a massive disconnect from Run the Jewels’s messaging on protest.

Anthony, it's public knowledge you have the Best Teeth In The Game™, but which one is the best tooth?

Gorrilaz plastic beach is a better album than demon days as it has a much more cohesive theme and a powerful aesthetic brought by incredible production on every track.

Lochlan Bailey

Terms like underground and alternative are completely nondescript. Genres are supposed to help listeners find artists similar to artists they like in a genre, but labeling an artist as “underground” just makes them seem less accessible to the average listener

Samuel Baron

lcd soundsystem’s “sound of silver” is the greatest album of the 2000’s. the production is immaculate and james murphy is the most tasteful producer of all time. “american dream” still kinda sucked tho

2019 will be remembered as “the year of rappers having public mental breakdowns and releasing god awful albums alongside them”

lowkeymatt

Ben Folds Five first three albums are all classics in thier own respects, especially Rienhold Messner that album does not get talked about enough

Bigmac9002

Scalding

Samuel Baron

Young Thug is the most influentual rapper of the last decade. Whether we are talking about the country trap crossover influence (Old town road) or the vocal inflections most current day trap rappers try desperately to pull off.

The 2011 version of Twin Fantasy is better than the 2018 version. The original lo-fi production, performance, and songwriting really compliment the concept in a way that the newfound sense of composure of the remake doesn't. I feel that the air of completeness that comes across in the 2018 version drains away much of the thematic tragedy of the original, and it is worse off because of it.

Sparkly

There hasn't been, and never will be, a good Coronavirus bar.

Finley Gordon

The Ark Work is better than Aesthethica. The weird vocals and midi sounding horns result in an album that is more than the sum of its parts and is overall more interesting to listen to (H.A.Q.Q. is better than both, though).

Kevin Frey

The Fragile is a better album than The Downward Spiral. Although TDS has some killer tracks, TF is a much better and comprehensive NIN album experience and has one of the best opening tracks in NIN history.

Froggoking

Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy is the best album recorded in a shed of all time

Gender swapping pronouns when covering songs by artists of the opposite gender pretty much always ruins the cover. I understand this could potentially be done to make a broader point about sexuality in general, but 99% of the time it comes across as a lyrical "no homo" and breaks the flow of the song entirely.

DRIndy

Superunknown all the way, but Dirt is right behind in my opinion

Abe Froman

Yo La Tengo is the ultimate feel-good band and has one of the deepest and most varied discographies in the indie canon. Painful, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, and And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out are all bona fide classics, and their other albums range from decent to excellent without a noticeably "terrible" record in the mix.

Abe Froman

Do you consider protesting and/or helping the protesters in some way? or do you think you help more by tweeting/donating and raising awareness by that?

Sapot

Nav is to hip hop what Breaking Benjamin is to hard rock

bressig

R.E.M. deserves more credit for being one of the greatest rock bands in the 80s-90s; also, New Adventures in Hi-Fi is an extremely underrated R.E.M. but it's top 3 best album by the band (I Hope my english is correct, I'm italian and I'm trying to write this comment without using Translator)

There's so much to write about but work and everything going on in the world has killed my drive and ability to make music.

Office Policy

The more tame and quiet side of Algiers is under appreciated. While songs like The Underside of Power are truly amazing and really catchy, deep cuts like Mme Rieux are really beautiful, and don't get as much credit as they should.

Nicolas Babick

TPAB was, in some ways, a few years too early. Obviously it earned a lot of accolades from important music circles upon release, but I have had too many conversations with people who claim it is inaccessible and can't see the artistic merit. With everything that has happened in American politics and race relations in the past five years, I think that anyone who wasn't in the know before couldn't possibly miss the importance of the album or its message now. And there is no way on the planet that Taylor Swift would win the grammy over Kendrick again if they were to ever do a retrospective.

Caleb John Cushing

If you had to erase one from music history (taking into account any obvious impacts they had on modern music) would you get rid of Disco or Nu-Metal? Whatever you decide, do you think the majority of the world would agree?

that is a nuclear take

Diego Martinez

The cardigans first 3 lounge pop albums are superior to their later more moodier stuff. While I love LGBD, gran turismo, and SEG, they don’t compare to the weird mix of metal riffs pushed through acoustic sensibilities and danceable tunes that Emmerdale, life, and FBOTM nailed. I can appreciate the effort to push for more serious lyricism but not only does it not always land for me, but some of those later albums are so early 2000s that it hurts.

Brendan

The music industry blackout was poorly timed. Though well intentioned, the original purpose seems to have been to call on labels/companies to get their shit together and do better by people of color. But they could have done that a month from now, instead of blocking out the much needed voices in the BLM movement at a very crucial time.

Trevor Young

Dave Matthews Band’s first three records are full of exceptional and unique songwriting. Would love to hear your take on them. I remember when they released “Samurai Cop” a few years ago you said how you were a fan when you were younger.

Freddie Gibbs should be in the conversation for top 20 rappers, Bandana and Piñata were two of the best rap albums of the decade and Alfredo is looking like a strong AOTY contender

Not a hot take, but a tough question: How can artists with a moderately large fan base best utilize it to push for social change? Is "raising awareness" on Twitter or Instagram or other social media sites really the most they can do?

As far as the neo-soul movement goes, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu are far more interesting than D’Angelo. I just found his music to be very one note, but maybe that’s the point

Diego Martinez

Her first EP which titanic was more involved in the visual side of was a lot better too imo.

logan rowan

"Dirt" by Alice In Chains is the greatest Grunge album of the 90s

Arnarok

Is it safe to assume that Black Country New Road is ready to drop an AOTY contender based only on how excellent “Sunglasses” is?

Chris Hickson

You’ve been saying that Joji is “Lorde for boys.” In my opinion, since most if not all of joji’s songs come from this place of longing for love, I’d say Joji is Carly Rae Jepsen for boys.

logan rowan

Probably a cold take but fuck it With everything going on right now we should expect more political and conscious music, hopefully not only in rap but in rock and other genres too

I'd wager far more people know who Andy Samberg is than Lil Dicky. Say what you will about The Lonely Island tho, at least they actually liked rap music.

Robert Furey

Black Lives Matter.

Brittney Spears walked so Playboi Carti could run.

Alfredo is Freddie Gibbs' best project

Connor Truelove

Diamond Mine by Jon Hopkins and King Creosote is one of the best collaborations of the past decade and the best work of both artists.

Poppy’s music significantly got better after leaving Titanic Sinclair. “I Disagree” is a pretty interesting musical statement and totally different to the majority of acts today

Julian Dene

Lil Dicky is getting the mainstream fame The Lonely Island deserved