I don't care if lyrics exist or not... Well, I do, but good music with lyrics exists (obviously), so it would be a bit exaggerated to want lyrics to disappear. And yes, I believe that style of delivery should be "axed", it is just sloppy.

"Plz debate this I have chocolate biscuits and comfy cushions"
Johnny, I don't dislike sach, but I'm not going reply to his baits when I don't feel like it, and right now I don't want to.

Okay, but when you say 'sloppy' having said that these vocal stylings 'they try to get a reaction from the listener outside of the sounds of music itself', what I'm reading is that you acknowledge that there's a craft here rooted around projecting affect (whether authentically or not) but you just don't like its aesthetics because they don't scream precision

RIP sach

"what I'm reading is that you acknowledge that there's a craft here rooting around projecting affect (whether authentically or not)"
Correct.
"but you just don't like its aesthetics because they don't scream precision"
Ehhhhh, yeah, I guess that's correct as well.
Most of my problems come from the fact that I favor the craft of absolute music over the craft program music; it doesn't mean that I'm going to disqualify the latter, but just that I consider that every piece of music should be able to stand on its own as absolute music. Program at its worst affects negatively the music, but at its best, well, it doesn't enhance it, it just isn't a problem.

Album Rating: 4.0

I’m an emotional vocal guy, call me crazy. In fact, I would say that’s one of the most important factors.

"Program at its worst affects negatively the music, but at its best, well, it doesn't enhance it"
Okay, I get you up to this - but what?? How does contextual specificity (and the emotional/remembrance connotations attributed to it) get thrown under the bus just like that?

Well, it's easy to throw it under the bus when I favor absolute music, very easy, actually. As Eduard Hanslick said many years ago, music speaks nothing but sound; music, in essence, is the craft of sound, not the craft of sound made in order to represent something extra-musical.

Album Rating: 3.0

"I favor absolute music"





Sweet, dude! Have you ever checked out allmusic??

I like music that makes me feel things

To anyone who isn't technically versed in music (and I suspect a significant proportion of the latter camp too), 'nothing but sound' and 'the craft of sound' are unhelpful reductionisms that don't really mean anything. The whole point of music for most people is that sounds are always registered in the context of personal associations and emotional affect regardless of whether or not the music is supposed to be self-contained, and the way that program music is able to cater to and ride off this in a way that absolute music is not gives it a distinct set of powers that I feel are entirely irrational to write off

Album Rating: 3.0

Johnny is fucking preaching and I'm here for it. 🙌🙏

Oh well, Johnny, there's another problem there then: I don't care if some people (most, actually) get nothing from music. Do I care if people get nothing from poetry, painting, dance, or other artistic disciplines? I don't (personally I get nothing from them), it is not a problem. People get from music what they want to get, if they only care about their emotions, good for them, but that's not how I listen to music.
Shit, at this point I'm also going to believe that the cult of the composer was a mistake.

Album Rating: 3.5

what is this lol

Oh, you know, a discussion about me not liking Brock's vocals turned into me explaining I don't like program music, the usual.

Okay, if you don't consider it a problem that you get nothing from any of that list, that's all well and good for you - but equally, just because the merits of those artforms are lost on you doesn't mean they don't exist to begin with. In the same way, the specificity of program music to inspire individual associations with specific moments and emotions might not be something you personally gain anything from, but it's another thing the say that this group of merits 'at its best, well, it doesn't enhance it' when it's clearly key to the enduring success of this kind of music.
tl;dr epimusical value is worthless to Alex, which is fair enough, but it's integral to the consumption of basically anything contemporary with even a smidge of popularity and can't be written off as a craft regardless of preference

Any other questions, Johnny?

Album Rating: 3.0

I’ve got one!



How do you sleep at night? You disgust me.

"Any other questions, Johnny?"
Lol I think we've reached an understanding of sorts, even though I remain as bemused as ever

I usually sleep well. Usually.