RIP. What a creative titan/genius. When these giants pass away who replaces them? Who are the Brian Wilsons of today?
I also suspect discoverability is a lot more of a challenge now too given the saturation of content out there and the small market. I've discovered some excellent bands (for my musical tastes of course, which are Rock & Metal) that I can't believe aren't bigger. These Four Walls and Thousand Needles In Red come to mind. Like Thieves is pretty decent too, nice music to put in the background on a drive through the canyon or while working. All of those bands are on Bandcamp btw.
However, it has to be argued: Taylor hardly breaks through genres to create entirely new ones, as Brian Wilson or Sly Stone did.
Taylor is a ‘safe’ songwriter whose market is intolerant of exceeding the limits of her chosen genre - Brian and Sly, however, can be perceived as being far more progressive as artists, willing not only to break the conformity of their extant music market, but to excel at creating entire new genres on their own.
What is Taylors “Pet Songs”?
Taylor Swift is the least likely of the three to have created her own genre of music outside market expectations. While she’s undeniably innovative, her contributions largely refine and personalize existing genres (country, pop, indie-folk) rather than inventing entirely new ones.
Both Wilson and Stone created groundbreaking sounds—Wilson with orchestral pop and Stone with funk/psychedelic soul—that were more radical departures from their era’s commercial norms.
Between Wilson and Stone, Stone’s creation of funk and his influence across multiple genres (funk, soul, rock, hip-hop) arguably had a broader impact, but Swift’s work, while transformative, operates more within established frameworks.
Case in point: I recently listened to "Tracks and Traces", a compilation of things Brian Eno did with Harmonia in 1976.
It IS "post-rock". You could slip some tracks from that album onto Mogwai's albums from the 2000s, and you would hardly notice something is amiss. And you know it wasn't a direct influence, because the recordings were only released 30 years later.
https://www.reddit.com/r/travisandtaylor/comments/1ew4iqo/my...
It's a good thing that her mic is always off in concert (apparently she's been using the same "live" soundtrack for a while at her concerts).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rMNMURShM
I just can't believe someone that tone deaf could write good music.
Sufjan Stevens comes into mind for me as a songwriting workhorse with a wide array of styles but with a central theme, and amazing poetry / lyricism.
She enjoyed some widespread success during her short life, but since her death, the style of music she helped pioneer has exploded in popularity. The extremely popular "brat" album from last year contained both explicit celebration of her name and homage to her style.
But she's dead now. Her music still inspires me.
He's dead now, too. His music will continue to inspire me.
A. G. Cook, Hannah Diamond, QT...
I'm not super close to that genre so I wouldn't dare hazard a guess who that might be.
Ben is a master writer of story-driven songs, with a very wide range and top-notch musicianship. There is definitely a similarity.
Perhaps you're not familiar with his full catalog?
That said, they are leagues apart. It's like claiming Eric Clapton is as good as a guitarist in some shitty bar band.
Perhaps you're not familiar with who Brian was and what he's done.
Seriously though, it's often fraught with peril to try to compare two artists directly, especially across time, styles, and genres. For me, I just try to weigh how much enjoyment their respective catalogs have given me, and I've enjoyed the hell out of both Ben Folds and Beach Boys records. It's all good.
Maybe this opinion is a little dated - Burial started a couple of decades ago now - I'm sure there's someone smart and younger capturing the sonics of our current moment accurately. But Burial is a truly great composer.
I really despise the (unintentional, totally forgivable) YouTube-comment-vibe of "When these giants pass away who replaces them? Who are the Brian Wilsons of today?" - it's very "Like this comment if you like REAL music, not [young pop star]."
It takes decades and decades to understand who captured a time period accurately, and whose work anticipated and influenced the art that was to come. Burial is probably the wrong answer!
It takes so much time for an artist to become revered as a "giant". It requires deep historical understanding and deep critique. There is plenty of very beautiful music being made. Naturally none of it sounds like Brian Wilson's - it isn't Brian Wilson's.
I don't think anyone wants to see Burial inducted into the "Rock n Roll Hall of Fame" at this time, or playing the Sunday Afternoon Legends slot at Glastonbury. Ditto for (most of) the other names mentioned in response to GP.
Innovative and masterful craft rarely makes itself immediately apparent to its audience - it's not an instant-gratification commodity - the audience must also work to reveal it. Takes time!
Sufjan Stevens