Tag: Butch Vig

The Time Is Ripe For The Return Of ‘The Nevermind Man’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The band Garbage is one of my favorites. And, as I understand it, the band is the brain child of Butch Vig. I keep ranting about the need for him to produce someone like Dua Lipa or Olivia Rodrigo or even Taylor Swift, but lulz, no one listens to me.

But I’m frustrated AGAIN and at how bad modern pop music, so you get this. This happens every once in awhile. Something is warping modern pop music to make it so bad. Now, of course, it’s possible that I’m just old. But it is notable that what I feel would otherwise be happening — the return of pop rock in the guise of something akin to NeoNew Wave, isn’t happening.

All I got is rap is sucking up all the male creative energy that would otherwise be giving the momentum to a general pop rock revival? Because rap is far more creative an interesting than anything else going on, the best minds in music gravitate towards listening to and producing rap music instead of the more white-oriented New Wave?

Because right now, there is no organized genre for people who like pop rock. It’s all these little deep echoes of a by gone era that pop out here and there. No one has the guts to put out a Neo New Wave (Rona Rock) album that might fail horrible because it’s too hip for the room.

But if there was one person who could pull it off, at least on the producer side, it’s Butch Vig. Too bad this will never, ever happen.

Join The Dark Side Of Pop Dance Rock, Kacey Musgraves


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t care what Anthony Fantano thinks — Kacey Musgraves is producing good music. And, yet, there’s something missing. A few songs on her latest album “star-crossed” hint at it, which is she needs to embrace what she really is: a gay pop rock icon.

So, if I had her ear, what I would do is say, fuck country, and hook up with someone like Timberland or Butch Vig and come out with a Rona Rock album that would be somewhere between Nelly Furtado’s “Loose” and, say, a Robyn album.

The songs would be very dance friendly, so much so they could be played at a gay club on a Friday or Saturday night without any remixing. Right now, because she’s straining so much to have a toe in country, she’s producing good — but rather bland — music. It just doesn’t have much personality, even though it’s obviously very imitate and personal.

Here’s what I would do.

Take this song

Then throw in this vibe….

And lastly, pour this into things.

There you go, a huge hit!

The Vision Thing For ‘The Pretty Reckless’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The Pretty Reckless is one producer and one culture inflection point away from huge success. In fact, I would even go so far as to say if rock ever comes back in a sudden, big way that The Pretty Reckless are prime candidates to have an unexpected breakout hit.

The Pretty Reckless — Potential Rock ‘n Roll Saviors

The only reason why I even suggest this is possible is as of the moment, there is something of a musical genre vacuum going on. Since about 2012 we’ve been living under the hegemony of adult contemporary. It makes sense that at some point, eventually, people are going to grow tired of this dreck and look for something different — possibly old fashion rock and roll, which is what The Pretty Reckless is.

Now, some context.

The thing about this band is they’re something of a diamond in the rough. I really like them — a lot — but they’re produced in a somewhat generic manner. They’re just a rock group. To take things to the next level, they need a producer with a definite vision — my go-to rock producer for such things is Butch Vig. He did Nirvana’s “In Utero” and is the brains behind one of my favorite groups — also female vocalist led — Garbage.

It’s easy to imagine a situation where out of the blue The Pretty Reckless have a huge hit, they get a new producer and ta-da, rock is back. Of course, some of this is just me daydreaming about good music coming back, but lulz.

As a side note, I would suggest The Pretty Reckless pander to rock fans and do a cover of an unexpected Beatles song. If they came out with a rocking version of The Beatles odd-ball song “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” I think a lot of rock fans would eat it up.

Anyway, like I said, I think we may be doomed to living in adult contemporary hell for the rest of my life. If not even a pandemic can shake up our culture expectations, then I don’t know what can.