Foals don;t really make math rock do they? They say they do, and they sound quite math-rocky, but their rhythms aren't that complicated, just fast.
FYI I do like foals, i'm just a bit confused about this whole math-rock business.
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From the Archive - DiScover: MySpace Trail #2
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From the Archive - DiScover: MySpace Trail #2
I
don't even know what it is but I do like Foals.
What is 'math-rock' exactly, and why can't it spell 'maths' properly?
well
math rock, in theory, i think, should use time signatures other than 4/4, i don't think foals do this.
It's math not maths, because americans invented it.
It has nothing to do with mathematics really.
Some
say Battles have a 'math' influence, is this true?
Battles are mathy, well my understanding of math anyway.
.
yeah
not neccessarily typical of math rock still though, could be wrong but I always thought don cab, cap 'n' jazz, and tim kinsella in general were staples of the genre
agreed
definitely stretching the genre IMO...
they don't
although from the guitar style they're blatantly pretty familiar with the loathsomely named genre.
Never seen them claim to be making 'm*th rock' though quite the opposite infact...
Surely
Foals maintain they're not math-rock, that being for those bearded Kafka-quoting fools who liked The Edmund Fitzgerald?
This may be immature,
and un-called for, but I have the urge to punch every single member of Foals every time I see them on television or in magazines. This could be because of their haircuts and/or dress-sense, I don't know. Does anyone else get this irrational hatred for them?
no
.
no
I
can understand why their haircuts annoy but they're too good to be punched.
Christ
I don't even like the fucking band but dismissing them on the strength of their dress sense is moronic. How can a haircut
a) be intrinsically annoying, or
b) affect in any way, shape, or form the music an individual produces?
Just because a band doesn't dress like Built To Spill doesn't mean they're any less musically "worthy."
Anyway, if you're going into spurious genre semantics, then no Foals aren't math rock, assuming that you're defining it in terms of 'difficult' time signatures.
Nondescript
Is how I'd describe their look. Which is pretty poor for a band really.
What do they sound like?
With no links please, as i'm in work and can't listen.
I think they try to be a kind of satire on math rock
or something...
I honestly
thought this when i saw their video with the bits of meat on string.
I'm quite puzzled as to why Foals are labelled 'Math rock'
I'd say Hella, Ruins, Don Cab are all 'Math Rock' (as much as I dislike the term). Foals are pretty straight forward in terms of time signatures. Why does everyone call them 'Math'?
^ because people
throw terms around carelessly.
I trust your descriptions; can you provide me with a Foals one?
Erm...
I think you might like them. Some of them used to be in Youthmovies and The Edmund Fitzgerald. They've been called Afro-Beat, Math Rock, Emo...I don't understand any of that. I like them- I don't think they're amazing but they're fun and you can dance to them, but they still keep things pretty interesting. That was a terrible description.
Better than a kick in the ass
i shall investigate as soon as i can.
the one from youthmovies
left years ago
they discussed there sounds
on the culture show
they said it was "math guitars", a kind of percussive sound influenced by steve reich
Then the drums are more of a 4/4 disco beat than anything more complex.
i'm not massively au-fais with all this musical terminology.
Why do they moan about people pigeonholing them
When they go and say that?! Math Guitars?! Percussive sound influenced by Steve Reich? Riiiiight. They do seem to complain alot, yet they can be quite misleading in interviews. It's hard to tell when they're being serious and when they're taking the piss.
Influenced by Steve Reich (!)
seems to be a pretentious, lazy tag on for any band that has a semblance of rhythmic emphasis and a lofty sense of their own intellect. But then again I dont know them, maybe their bumping 'Come out' or whatever on the tour bus.
Isn't there a difference betwwen being full-on math-rock and being "mathy".
They usually just get labelled as "mathy" don't they?
I've never heard them so I can't judge but even bands such as Minus The Bear get the mathy tag especially when talking about the guitars, they certainly aren't math-rock though.
I suppose I should check Foals out although I'm more interested in hearing the new Youthmovies album.
I think there's definitely a grey area, things aren't simply math or not math.
.
yeah
i'm learning to try to ignore labels. Like "nu-rave" being dumb indie with a keyboard. That is not rave. At all.
Then again, i should be pleased that rave wasn't revived
think a previous
thread said aboiut british "emo" bands with a clean mathy guitar sound,
i think there is a math guitar sound which is being used a lot, i dont know about chords or whatever as i don't play guitar, but its a clean sound that is a little more precise than just strumming along.
i would say foals have that kinda thing going.
I reckon...
...That Fucking Tank are math rock.
Not Foals.
But i could be wrong.
So kind of like Minus The Bearish guitar sound?
Please say it's true that would be awesome.
foals
are probably in the same boat as FR are they not? As in they mostly do 4/4 stuff but occasionally play in something else
i was in the car with my stepbrother
he doesnt know much about music. he listens to radio one and zane lowe and stuff, so has an idea, and is a big fan of some indie bands, but he's not like a DiS geek type
anyway, Cassius came on the radio and he was like "apparently these guys are the kings of math rock or something"
i think he was just poking fun at the phrase mathrock, but still i gave him a list of reasons why they weren't.
mainly that if you're in 4/4 and every one of your songs has the same groove (fast disco drums and off beat bass) you're about as far from math rock as can be
does any
of this really matter.
you either like them or you don't. whether this be for a valid reason or not (see haircuts above)
no it doesn't really matter
but it's nice to be able to communicate about music without causing confusion. It's always good to have a bit of clarity about genres so everyone knows they are talking the same language. Genres are obviously all bollocks really.
^^ Good post
^^thankyou
I just pre-ordered the Foals album..
..and the new Youthmovies one.
Which one is going to better I wonder, it's like my own little personal competition.
Foals for sure.
Because I don't really like YMSS that much musically.
I already like Youthmovies.
I've never heard Foals, so Youthmovies have a bit of an unfair advantage.
'math-rock' doesn't exist.
because
you say so?
exactly.
It exists no more than Nu-Rave does.
I know Wikipefia is full of boring lies, but
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Math_rock
^this
A piece of my soul dies every time I say 'Math Rock'.
stop saying it then!
;-)
What a strange comment.
Unless it's a joke of course, it's a joke, right?
It's honestly not a joke
Math Rock...ewwww.
You exaggerated a bit then, no?
You just dislike math rock, I'm sure your soul is just fine.
I dislike the math rock tag
Which is what I said in a post up there ^ somewhere. I dig Dysrhythmia, Hella, Ruins, Don Cab, Oxes etc, but why call it math rock? What's mathematical about it?
That makes more sense.
I have a limited knowledge of "math" rock but I like 65daysofstatic, Youthmovies and The Dillinger Escape Plan.
I have Hold Your Horse Is by Hella on order, it's taking forever though. I'm planning a Don Cab purchase in the not to distant future.
What's mathematical about it?'
Well it depends on how many signatures you have running. We often have a bassline or drum line in, say 7 or 5 and so I'll write a guitar line in 4 and the underlying 7 or 5 rhythm would play through 5 or 4 times while I played through my bit 7 or 4 times.
That's kind of maths-like. I think a lot of that stuff can end up with multiple rhythms intersecting. It's just a name and it makes sense.
random post (sort of)
ive just pre-ordered the youthmovies album and wondered if the people that have downloaded it think its good/great/fantastic/shit etc.? i think it will be brilliant
Snap I pre-ordered it at lunch.
I also pre-ordered the Foals album, it will be interesting to see the differences and which one is superior.
On a completely un-related point I bought Racecar is Racecar Backwards at the weekend, I've only played it twice. My first impression is first half pretty good, second half not so good. 16 tracks may be a little too long. Although as I've said this is only after 2 listens.
its not as good as Boxer
it is a pretty ambitious 16 tracks for a debut
but i absolutely love it.dont give up on it.i cant imagine you will but you know some people do.if it does grow on you make sure you get their other 2 albums very fast very dangerous and in nothing we trust and in that order.did you order it off play.com?and if you have done this in the past do you find that albums arrive a couple of days before the release date?
I've only just got a debit card so no.
It doesn't have any money on it yet bu this will be sorted out shortly.
I wont give up on them, I never said I didn't like it, the first half might just be more immediate.
*but not bu.
.
Genres
are all meaningless rubbish anyway!
I remember when people used to say it was
1a bit mathy'
I hated those people.
Foals are ok
They seem a little smug in their music to be honest. There's a definate SCENE thing with them.
I liked them better when they were The Edmund Fitzgerald.
they
weren't the edmund fitzgerald, only yannis and jack were in the ed fitz.
I know
but they were still better.
Out of curiosity
Which scene do you see foals as being part of?
Scenestery nonsense that I want no part of.
Just another ordinary band bragging about themselves.
good live, shite elsewhere-rock
This has probably been said before but
I think it's that they have that math rock sound minus the weird time signatures (which was what originally made the genre, yes, but it has developed since then) plus some dancy influences.
Am I wrong? I just don't know anymore.
^i agree
obviously its not mathy like DEP or anything but its definately more technical than joe jong jongs or whatever.
To my ears...
despite all the descriptions of them being a bit math rock and a bit like a pop Battles, they sound like a tighter version of !!!, The Rapture and punk-funk circa 2004.
there's definitely some mathy bits going on
in their first 7" when Andrew Mears was still with them. Haven't heard their new album but their singles seem to be in pretty straight 4/4.
Ok,
I know no-one will care about my opinion, especially since there are a million and one foals threads a day and all possible opinions have probably already been expressed, but hey, I'm bored.
So.
I've just been to foals' myspace and listened to a couple of songs, having never heard them before (apart from at Truck '06, where they were so dull I can't remember them). Now, I wasn't expecting to like them so that biases me, granted. But still, I *was* at least expecting something slightly different. I mean, this *is* just a Radio 4 covers band from 2002, right? Not that I have a problem with that - I liked Radio 4. But why all the fuss??
they're in the right place
at the right time, I reckon. The Skins apperance undoubtedly helped them too.