Tunaboy45: The Notion of 'Sputcore'

Tunaboy45 03.12.21	That is one ungodly block of text, I wish lists allowed for paragraphs.
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	Having been a user on this site for nearly 8 years now, I think I've had enough time to observe the tastes of its userbase and how they have changed (or haven't). Many of the users I was seeing back in 2013 are still here, many aren't and there's plenty of new members in that time who have showed up. Despite this, the general tastes of the site seem to have remained pretty consistent. Whether it's darling artists like Death or Deftones or genres that seem more loved on this site than any other platform of music discussion like prog and all its subrenres, Sputnik definitely has a 'type'. There are artists here that definitely receive more acclaim on here than they do elsewhere, like Ben Howard, and albums such as The Dillinger Escape Plan's Dissociation that are held (if general attitudes and average ratings are an indication) as all time greats, whereas other sites like RYM would just consider it a solid album. Then you have artists like Chevelle, who are met with indifference by most as another 2000s alt-metal band and yet their new releases are consistently raved about on the site. This isn't a new or profound observation but the fact it has remained so consistent over the years, and likely was years before I showed up, is very interesting. Maybe it's self-perpetuating, where new users see album it artist with high averages and thus are more likely to love it themselves, or maybe the format of online music discussion attracts a certain type of person. The question I have is: what constitutes 'Sputcore' to the user reading this?
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	There it is in a more readable form. I would actually like to spark some sort of discussion on this because it's been on my mind for a while but I'm just as happy with shitposting too lol.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	sputcore sucks emo too XD
Sowing 03.12.21	Man people are so lazy lmfao. It's like 9 sentences. To me sputcore is widely varied and just defined by artists/albums that this site goes wild over, typically ones that are not otherwise widely celebrated. Usually when I think of sputcore though I think of emo, post-hardcore, and metal - possibly because those genres were way more popular than indie stuff when I first joined way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth (2008). I'll spare the examples because everyone knows popular sputcore albums if they've been here longer than a year.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	I'd add also shoegaze/dreampop, is very sputcore Sputnik sometimes its bigger than you think, and the notion of sputcore can vary a lot, depending on your standing point.
Sowing 03.12.21	Deftones is right; TDAG and Jane Doe are sputcore in my mind, but so is Fleet Foxes. Every genre has multiple sputcore representatives.
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	I hadn't considered that it comes from a place of wanting to sing the praises of lesser known artists but that would make a lot of sense.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	rarely we think our fave genre is sputcore lolol we think we're just ppl enjoying the good stuff
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	I can say for sure that when I came to the site I started out with the sputcore albums because that's where a lot of the discussion was. This site has definitely shaped my tastes in some way. I'm not saying people consciously think of an album/artist as sputcore but as Sowing said, every genre seems to have its representatives.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	"This site has definitely shaped my tastes in some way." definitely!
Dedes 03.12.21	I think a lot of sputcore does derive from what are sometimes moderately underrated bands that helped shape a genre. Underrated or unknown by sput standards vs the general public's standards are two different things, mind you- everyone here sings the praise of Bon Iver, or Converge, or Emperor, or everything in between, but compared to the major listening of the public they are rather minute. I also its just a natural accumulation around albums that are already fairly highly regarded (exceptions do happen, i.e core bands like Norma Jean or as you mentioned, DEP but rym is full of biased proggers who loathe core on the notion of it having breakdowns so take that as you will)
Shemson 03.12.21	I don’t think it’s so much a genre I think it feels cool to enjoy great albums that aren’t mainstream. Sputnik would much rather lose its mind over Sunbather than listen to what’s readily accessible on the radio.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	yeah, that's why I always laugh at some reactions to the "hype albums" on here, like when ppl say "this album has a big hype, I don't see why" but if you go outside noone knows it. I think a sput hype, is not necessarily a real hype and it can be something really good to get into.
Pheromone 03.12.21	pink floyd is apparently the ultimate sputcore
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	no, not really, ask my dad
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	"sput hype" is definitely a big thing on here but I do really like that there's this little ecosystem of of hype that only exists on the site
Pheromone 03.12.21	no, triple d, there was a vote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M69ogSZ6kHI
Relinquished 03.12.21	sure Death and Deftones are loved here but they were loved outside of site before they got latched on. makes more sense to me if bands releasing important or impactful releases were considered sputcore cuz Pink Floyd doesn’t count just cuz your dad and science teacher dug em
Relinquished 03.12.21	also I thought we settled this with that dumbass sputcore tourney
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	I can't believe I missed that tourney, I was inactive for basically all of Oct
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	well, what I take from that is that I should check Unwound? lol
Artuma 03.12.21	"I don’t think it’s so much a genre I think it feels cool to enjoy great albums that aren’t mainstream. Sputnik would much rather lose its mind over Sunbather than listen to what’s readily accessible on the radio." "yeah, that's why I always laugh at some reactions to the "hype albums" on here, like when ppl say "this album has a big hype, I don't see why" but if you go outside noone knows it. I think a sput hype, is not necessarily a real hype and it can be something really good to get into." newsflash sputnik is not responsible for all non-accessible-on-the-radio music hype, sunbather hype for example was very much a creation of pitchfork but sputnik definitely has its own "darlings", the moon is a dead world for example is one that most other music publications have probably never noticed the existence of but it's heralded as a stone cold classic on this site that's what tends to happen on a site with a small but very devoted userbase, it's relatively easy to generate hype here
ArsMoriendi 03.12.21	Deftones, Brand New, Converge, Chevelle...Sputcore is lame
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	50% agreed
Demon of the Fall 03.12.21	I will refute the notion that Converge is Sputcore till the day I die (probably). I think it should be reserved for things like Gospel, State Faults or maybe even Ulcerate. i.e. artists that are more popular here than elsewhere where they might be unknown. Converge are legendary band outside of this site and no Sputnik can’t take credit for them. Sorry.
Relinquished 03.12.21	they’ll take partial credit cuz of reviews among other blog-like publishers that made albums like Jane Doe become more understood and influential. and that’d be a fact and not an opinion like yours. You’re hella right about Ulcerate tho. we had a couple friends running their blogs and we all pushed EiF so hard cuz of them.
Shemson 03.12.21	It’s not about taking credit, being unknown outside of the website or us being responsible for the hype around something it’s about the mad explosion of hype around certain bands and albums on this site, which is seemingly at random given the wide variety of genres. Anyway, what’s more interesting is under the surface sputcore because I’m too cool for mainstream sputcore.
JustJoe. 03.12.21	the things that most others have already mentioned but i think we found some music that hits sput that are outside of the realms of like brand new or converge or at least attempted to: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?memberid=1053649&listid=179933
JustJoe. 03.12.21	apologies also i didn’t read the thing in my defense i am frighteningly lazy
Relinquished 03.12.21	it’s ok, it’s not an easy disease to overcome
Shemson 03.12.21	Sputcore helps with frightening laziness tbf. If you embrace it, they’ll tell you what to listen to.
Demon of the Fall 03.12.21	RYM is proving me wrong as Everything is Fire has almost the exact same ratio of ratings as Jane Doe does - around 39%. If you use Stare Into Death Sput stands at only 24%. Even ‘Moon is a Dead World‘ is only 35.6%. I suppose this doesn’t account for the role Sput (potentially) played in the emergence of these releases in the first instance.
Demon of the Fall 03.12.21	I was expecting Jane’s % to be lowest.
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	Loool sure Shem, "too cool for sput sputers" are the ones! "What? I hate that thing everyone s listening on sput now, oh the trends"
Artuma 03.12.21	jane doe definitely has a place on sputnik as one of the most popular cult albums on the site, moreso than the likes of rym, but it doesn't take away the fact that its influence has been noted on numerous other publications as well
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	I think Jane Doe is a universally loved album in so many circles, it's definitely not exclusively sputcore
granitenotebook 03.12.21	https://rateyourmusic.com/list/rigu/sputcore-releases-with-more-ratings-on-sputnikmusic-than-rym/
EyesWideShut 03.12.21	Sputnik definitely helped Converge and Opeth record sales
Demon of the Fall 03.12.21	Wow a linked list, nice! checks list - erm yeah is there any way you can store that somewhere where no-one will ever find it? I’m embarrassed by association, lol.
bloc 03.12.21	I don't know how to define it tbh, but I can always call it when I see it. It's hard to explain
LeddSledd 03.12.21	i myself have gotten a pretty good idea of what constitutes as "sputcore" around here but i couldn't possibly explain how and why specific bands get hyped here and not elsewhere and wow, the first several pages of that list 🤢
WatchItExplode 03.12.21	Emery and August Burns Red, haha definitive Sputcore. That list is beyond hilarious, thank you for making my Friday.
ncguitar 03.12.21	hiya heres converge ranked hope u liek it ^.^
bloc 03.12.21	I think that Emery album got all the ratings/attention because of the 5 from Davey and the legendary thread that followed it
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	@normaloctagon Text limits on each list entry, splitting them up looks shitter than one big block
deathofasalesman 03.12.21	if rym would tinker with the rating system just a little bit so it's not so damn clunky and hard to navigate, i would definitely use the site more. sput is just easier also that rym list is hilarious, so many cringe bands
WatchItExplode 03.12.21	Yeah, perusing that list brought back some good sput memories bloc.
ResidentNihilist 03.12.21	Most of what sputnik likes tends to be shit because people are too lazy and stupid to go looking for music on their own.
porcupinetheater 03.12.21	Sputcore is what you call something when you want to dunk on another user’s bog taste
ResidentNihilist 03.12.21	Lmao
AlexKzillion 03.12.21	While I think sput ratings >= rym ratings is prob the most tangible criteria for what constitutes sput-core... I also think its too broad of a brush. Like yeah there's like triple amount of ratings for most 21st century heavy guitar albums on here than rym but I wouldn't consider the large majority of that rym list to be sputcore. Not like the averages are necessarily higher here (when accounting for the fact that everything is generally like .3 lower on rym than here), sput just caters to/attracts more metal fans than rym.
Trundle 03.12.21	over a third of ratings come from alts, some people care way too much about that avg rating
Avagantamos 03.12.21	"Like yeah there's like triple amount of ratings for most 21st century heavy guitar albums on here than rym" even for this stuff RYM still generally has 2x+ more ratings than on sputnik. their userbase is just a lot bigger. the average ratings are what's lower on RYM
Tunaboy45 03.12.21	RYM users are definitely stingier with their high scores from what I can tell, idk why I guess that's the culture of the site. I haven't spent much time on there (or any really).
Avagantamos 03.12.21	RYM also has 0.5 star ratings
LeddSledd 03.12.21	yeah i've seen way more RYM users inclined to just 1 everything compared to sputnik probably just some residual virgin elitism
DDDeftoneDDD 03.12.21	Metuuuul
Avagantamos 03.12.21	I learned recently that those users with everything rated 1 have their ratings de-weighted
Tunaboy45 03.13.21	"yeah i've seen way more RYM users inclined to just 1 everything compared to sputnik" for as long as I live I'll never understand this mentality
Demon of the Fall 03.13.21	This trip hop/nu jazz album actually has more total votes here than on RYM, which is nice because it’s well worth anyone’s time. https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/44302/Submotion-Orchestra-Finest-Hour/
GhandhiLion 03.13.21	"yeah i've seen way more RYM users inclined to just 1 everything compared to sputnik" These users have little to no effect on album averages.
Tunaboy45 03.13.21	the review system on sputnik is leagues better than rym from what I've seen, all they have is soundoffs really
LeddSledd 03.14.21	"These users have little to no effect on album averages." i would figure they had a way of mitigating that. it's just that the mindset feels far more prevalent on RYM, Sput users are generally much more easygoing
Tunaboy45 03.14.21	I definitely get the impression RYM are more militant and take themselves and their opinions way more seriously, which is just one of the reasons I've never bothered signing up.
Storm In A Teacup 03.24.21	Hopesfall?