Top-notch songwriters

Where have they gone? All those Jewish geniuses from the first 3/4 of the 20th century. Exceptional harmony/lyric combos; I have not heard a really decent original one in years.
Thom Yorke said he wrote lyrics for the way they sounded, not for what they meant; is that the way most popular(as opposed to esoteric) music has gone?
Just thoughts/reasonable opinions please, and any links to recent genuine geiuses welcome! I'm very out of touch.

jethro081

blaris wrote: »

Where have they gone? All those Jewish geniuses from the first 3/4 of the 20th century. Exceptional harmony/lyric combos; I have not heard a really decent original one in years.
Thom Yorke said he wrote lyrics for the way they sounded, not for what they meant; is that the way most popular(as opposed to esoteric) music has gone?
Just thoughts/reasonable opinions please, and any links to recent genuine geiuses welcome! I'm very out of touch.

Ryan adams and Conor O Berst of Bright eyes are two examples off the top of my head, Conor O Brien and JD Vernon, of villagers and bon Iver respectively could well rise to that standard as well.
also Iron and wine, and fleet foxes are really fine examples of songwriters with unbelievable talent.

There are loads more, these are just the ones that jumped into my head, songwriting isnt dead, its just better hidden than usual, (also thom yorke is a genius, just saying like)

mushypleas

I'm more interested in the guys you are talking about? Who are these Jewish guys?

Thom Yorke...never really got that he was a genius, I don't know his stuff that well so maybe if you showed me an example of his genius I'd see the light.

But Jeffrey Lewis and Josh Ritter. Josh Ritter has some brilliant songs, lyrics wise. He has a lot of crap, especially in earlier albums. But lately his songs are of a very high quality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXBI2_zH9Js

Apart from that I don't know.

jethro081

some of thom yorke's work that i consider to be genius

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=radiohead+kid+a+idioteque&aq=4sx

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=radiohead+kid+a+idioteque&aq=4sx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJkeVkYq8Es



there are loads more, but these show a snippet of the quality and diversity of his work

mushypleas

wouldn't be in my list of geniuses. but thanks all the same. I'm more a fan of folky songs that tell a story or create a scene or something. As far as I can tell Yorke tries to make statements about stuff in an ambiguous way, and his writing seems to depend on referencing other things for its depth. At least he doesn't pretend to know what he's doing though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOfiZjxTd8

Fabo

blaris wrote: »

Where have they gone? All those Jewish geniuses from the first 3/4 of the 20th century. Exceptional harmony/lyric combos; I have not heard a really decent original one in years.
Thom Yorke said he wrote lyrics for the way they sounded, not for what they meant; is that the way most popular(as opposed to esoteric) music has gone?
Just thoughts/reasonable opinions please, and any links to recent genuine geiuses welcome! I'm very out of touch.

ive listened to quite a few recent stuff and its not near up to scratch with the period your talking about. fleet foxes and cathy davey are the best ive heard. melody has gone out the window and so all you are left with is a guy/gal singing flat tunes. ive tried listening to those mentioned already and find them to be of the unmelodius brigade. tho thom yorke has written some good songs. if your into songs without melodies then there are plenty of those singers around. i guess most of the good tunes have been written already.

jethro081

Ryan Adams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGz_PQ-qJd4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFTOkj2rKhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNM0G8vvOTk

Villagers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HItfeNFILDg

the tallest man on earth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BsZt_3MifU

regina spektor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p62rfWxs6a8

iron and wine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kh09MuIfIU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9SmwC_ZX0I&feature=related


frightened rabbit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmXZKGPc-ss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4nQQ-r8xY


i consider each of these songs, and indeed, each of these artists to be top notch in their own way, and each of these artists would sit comfortably with anyone in my mind, from any era, in terms of craft and talent, but i do accept the fact that others may disagree.

Basically what i'm saying as regards thom yorke, is that Radiohead are very innovative musically, and i think he deserves immense resspect for this. I too prefer folky stuff, as can be seen above, but i love what he does as well. I suppose its just horses for courses at the end of the day.

I also agree about fleet foxes being amazing, but i would not put Cathy Davey in the same bracket as any of those ive mentioned above, but again, that just comes down to preference i suppose.

Fabo

i find most music nowadays is over the top - lyrics wise and music wise. the villagers would be the best in that style, but still the songs are over the top emotion wise.

craft wise, none of them can come even close to dylan in his prime. the best songs are the ones that dont have to force themselves. too many times, guys like o'brien force songs. just a personal choice i suppose, a lot of people like that type of music.

having said that, i had a listen to iron and wine clip you posted there and i like it. a good example actually of a song not forced.

fleet foxes are good craftsmen.

cathy davey can write a good melody, so thats why i named her there. the songs might not be as deep as others but i like good melodies.

tattoo86

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty love his songs. youngest ever inductee to the songwriters hall of fame.

kn0ckers

theres plenty, the national, andrew bird, feist ,brighteyes, the tallest man on earth, buck65, sage francis etc etc

jethro081

kn0ckers wrote: »

theres plenty, the national, andrew bird, feist ,brighteyes, the tallest man on earth, buck65, sage francis etc etc

forgot about the tallest man on earth, he is another who i think could sit comfortably with any generation of songwriters in terms of craft.

The Fridge

Check out Ron Sexsmith - "he the man":D

Dtoffee

John Hiatt
John Prine
Nick Lowe
Rodney Crowell
Ryan Adams
Jackie Greene
JJ Baron

pauliewallie

Fionn Regan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80phMzjobjQ&feature=fvsr

rosietobes

The tallest man on earth is a fantastic songwriter.. one of the best there ever has been. For Jewish songwriters, im sure he means Paul Simon and the likes

Fi H

Mick Flannery for me. I think this is a supremely honest song!
Goodbye:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd9q46M0lkg

happyman81

Michael Stipe
Noel Gallagher (unpopular, but he is a fine songwriter, if lyrically weak)
Grizzly Bear (finest arrangements today)
Tim Smith
Morrissey & Marr
Brown & Squire
Sufjan Stevens
Jack White


Or are we just speaking about solo folk singers here?

MichelleLong

I'd have to say Jefferson Drake Tyler for his poetic use of structured sentences along with his honest voice: http://jeffersondraketyler.bandcamp.com/

Dubh Geannain

He's around a long time but still going strong. Richard Thompson (from 2007):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyV8gV7HYp4

From a little further back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HApy-Xoix-g