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As far as hoary, oft-repeated sayings go, it’s hard to beat “rock is dead.” The origin of the phrase is shrouded in mystery — like the etymology of “heavy metal” — but it’s not hard to picture Lester Bangs coining it while reviewing the latest Lou Reed long-player in his underwear, specks of Robitussin drying on his mustachioed upper lip.

In reality, people have been claiming “rock is dead” since the genre wriggled its way into the repressed loins of America’s bobbysockers. Every so often, a new pack of scruffy young kids with guitars are labeled as its saviors, but it never lasts. ROCK IS DEAD. Long live paper and scissors!

But what if we had empirical evidence that rock really was dead? Or at least in a state of such dissolution that its resurgence was a probabilistic impossibility? To know for sure, we’d need data.

Now we’ve got some.

This article in The Hollywood Reporter indicates that rock is a spent force in the marketplace, squeezed out by more persistent pop forms. Based on a recent study highlighting the ubiquity of synth-pop, the news may be the final nail in rock’s coffin. (I’m just shocked that there was room for one more.)

According to Hit Songs Deconstructed, 79 percent of top 10 pop hits used a synthesizer as the song’s primary instrument. That’s up from 62 percent a year ago and seems to signal that the current electro-pop fad is here to stay — at least a little while longer. Further boosting that theory: the fact that 88 percent of Top 10 songs used electric-based instrumentation. As for the least popular instrument? The guitar, which hit a low of 4 percent during the second quarter of 2011….

…as for lyrical themes in pop music, “hooking up” is the most popular so far in 2011, prevalent in 38 percent of hit songs, followed by “inspirational” songs, which have steadily increased to account for 25 percent of the Top 10 in the second quarter of 2011, “partying/clubbing” (21 percent) and “love/relationships” at 17 percent. Curiously, any “other” categories of lyrical themes have failed to register at all, coming in at zero percent so far in 2011. Last year, when music listeners were seemingly interested in a little more than sex, it was at 9 percent.

Now, it’s easy to come right back and say that the vast majority of rock songs have been about fucking. That may be true, but the flexibility and durability of the form was such that it could include both “Wango Tango” and “Roundabout” in the same canon. I’m not sure that today’s pop will evolve to the same extent.

For those of us who still traffic in this antiquated form, there are more troubling indicators:

Other curious trends pointed to a steep drop in solos, down from 17 percent to 5 percent of hits, and the once popular bridge portion of a song now only exists in 42 percent of songs, down from 54 percent last quarter and 55 percent a year ago.

You may think that it’s perfectly fine to eliminate the guitar solo. Years of co-existing with jam bands elicits a certain sympathy for that worldview. I still enjoy them (if they’re well-placed and say something), but they aren’t a musical necessity. I have more of a problem with the idea that nobody employs bridges anymore. Sure, some of them are useless, but they are a time-honored construct that helps to give songcraft a form. I’m all for experimental art, but eliminating the bridge is kind of like saying we’re no longer going to bother with paragraph breaks. Can you get away with it? Probably. But it says something about our society if we abandon such formalities. It’s a short hop from here to anarchy. Anarchy, I tell you!

One thing that I like about having quantitative data on the death of rock is that it liberates me to keep making it. I am The Contrarian, after all. It would hardly befit my status to toil in a popular genre.

As always, we’re interested in your reactions. What do you think of this data? Was rock dead all along, and we’re just now noticing? What if it turns into a zombie? Are we prepared for that?

Only now, at the ripe age of 37, am I experiencing the fusion of progressive rock and metal in a way that makes sense for me. Although there is currently a slew of bands mining the intersection of complexity and heaviosity, there are two groups that embody the best of this integration: Opeth and Mastodon.

Both bands have new albums out (actually, Opeth’s record was released yesterday; Mastodon’s drops next week), and both have stirred up controversy among their core audiences for moving away from their metallic roots. NPR (!!!) is hosting a full-length stream of Opeth’s Heritage; Mastodon’s The Hunter can be heard in its entirety at their YouTube channel.

Analyzing a band’s motivations is a favorite pastime for music obsessives, but it is ultimately a pointless endeavor. Especially in this case, as both groups have telegraphed their stylistic shifts over previous releases.

For those not familiar with either act, here’s a bit of background.

Opeth is a Swedish band that came out of that country’s technical death metal scene. Early on, they distinguished themselves from their peers by combining the pagan mood of black metal with the more chops-oriented death style. Throw in the occasional acoustic guitar and vocals that alternate between growl and croon, and you have something approaching original. Over the years, Opeth adopted an even more progressive stance, becoming increasingly sophisticated in arrangement and execution. By the time Blackwater Park was released in 2001, the band had become a juggernaut, with a devoted international fanbase. Fast-forward to 2011 and the release of Heritage — an album that loses nearly all of the metal trappings, instead fully embracing a 1970s progressive rock aesthetic. Message boards are lighting up with comments from heshers who think the band sold out, wussed out or both. Actually, they simply became more themselves.

Mastodon sprouted from entirely different soil. Heavy-drinking, hard-drugging miscreants from Atlanta, Georgia, the band was originally as much a part of the hardcore scene as the metal community. Like their sludgy forbears Neurosis, Mastodon trafficked in crushing riffs peppered with fuck-all attitude. If you’ve spent any time in the hardcore trenches, you know the type: dirty black Carharts, full-sleeve tattoos and a kind of freewheeling nihilism. What made these guys stand out was their combination of go-for-the-throat aggression and enlightened musicality. It wasn’t long before they began incorporating elements of other styles, namely progressive rock. Their last album, Crack the Skye, is likely the high water mark of their prog odyssey, but The Hunter brings even more melody to the fore. Some of the songs even utilize — gasp! — major keys.

I could probably spend another couple thousand words describing why these bands’ latest records are worth your consideration. But what I really want to get across is that there are still acts that are willing to defy fan expectation while producing music that is ostensibly for a commercial marketplace. These aren’t avant-garde bands. They aren’t hipster noise. They aren’t irreconcilably retro (although both make fine use of older styles). They will never be featured in prime time TV shows or car commercials. Yet both records will sell, and concerts will be packed. I’d like to think it’s because the music is actually interesting.

If I were just starting out as a musician, I’d be incredibly inspired by Opeth and Mastodon. Hell, I am now. I’m not sure that Lux Eterna Records will be releasing any comparable records anytime soon, but I’d like to think that we share a commitment to musical exploration and sonic quality. That and a killer ’70s prog collection.

David Fincher‘s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has its trailer in theaters now. Tagline: “The Feel Bad Movie of Christmas.” It’s a well-put-together montage of scenes that look more like what I pictured in my head when I read the book than what appeared in the Swedish version.

You probably know that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are doing the soundtrack (the two won an Oscar for Fincher’s previous flick, The Social Network). Well, this trailer features a cover of Led Zeppelin‘s “Immigrant Song” performed by Reznor and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I don’t love it, but I certainly admire it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yUwXwrR35U

Definitely looking forward to the film…

HAPPY RAPTURE!

The Contrarian Media and LUX ETERNA wanted to take this moment to celebrate your imminent ascendancy to His Kingdom.

What’s that? Not getting Raptured? Well we’ve got the perfect consolation prize.

Here’s a brand new track from Strange Angels just in time for End Times:

Did you know The Contrarian has an audio division? Well, we do, and it’s awesome.

The label is called LUX ETERNA and we’re getting ready for a couple of exciting releases this summer, with more in the queue.

First up is the new album from The Ten Thousand Things, who you all know as Contrarian Library Scientist Wes Covey.

The record is called Anastam, and we’re releasing it in a few exclusive packages:

Anastam I
1. Immediate download of the album in any file format you want, including high quality lossless
2. Limited edition litho album art suitable for hanging
3 High-quality art photos and zen poems inspired by Anastam (PDF)
4. Antique library card embossed with a unique magickal theorem
5. Liner notes
6. T-shirt

Anastam II
1. Immediate download of the album in any file format you want, including high quality lossless
2. Limited edition litho
3. High-quality art photos and zen poems inspired by Anastam (PDF)
4. Liner notes

Anastam III
1. Immediate download of the album in any file format you want, including high quality lossless
2. High-quality art photos and zen poems inspired by Anastam (PDF)
3. Liner notes

These nifty packages will be available exclusively at the LUX ETERNA shop.

Next up is the debut from Strange Angels — the recording project of composers/producers Arthur Leon Adams III and Casey Rae-Hunter. This baby runs the gamut from art-pop to Beatles bounce to psychedelica, with a little They Might Be Giants thrown in for good measure. Here’s a track called “Hotel Suite,” which is definitely more on the “psych epic” side of things:

It’s been a somewhat dull season for new music releases, but are a few bright spots this week — Lykke Li, Anna Calvi and LUX ETERNA RECORDS‘ own re*me*di*a*tion. Since LUX is our sister operation, we’ll be celebrating the latter in today’s installment of New Music That Doesn’t Suck. Let the shilling begin!

re*me*di*a*tion is Mark G. Cooley, a musician and multimedia professor who crafts bracing and effervescent instrumentals that sound like Fred Frith, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno snorting crushed sunflowers.

Lively, layered and inventive, re*me*di*a*tion sidesteps the dour crescendos common to so-called “post-rock” with crisp and clever six-string collages, peppered with thrumming percussion and aural accoutrements.

Available in gorgeous digipak CD with artwork based on the work of German painter Otto Dix, re*me*di*a*tion is the perfect soundtrack to your own trippy spring.

Listen to the full album here.

Cooley’s previous work has been commended for its deft recombination of John Fahey-esque guitars and electro-acoustic treatments. re*me*di*a*tion finds the composer rekindling a long-lost love for the electric guitar, delivering agile and evocative lines that dart between friskily hypnotic rhythms and immersive soundscapes. Frivolity meets focus; globalism meets generativity.

Physical release, instant download + bonus tracks available at LuxEternaRecords.com; digital version at all major online retailers.

FREE TRACK:

——————-

End shill.

Seconds after the Canadian critical darlings scored their Album of the Year Award for The Suburbs, the indignant masses took to Twitter, revealing the fact that a large percentage of viewers had never heard of them. Take that, Egypt! America demands Grammy satisfaction!

Forget for the moment that Arcade Fire was lauded in TIME four years ago; never mind the planetary fawning over their 2004 debut (I was the lone professional dissenter) — this win was clearly suspicious.

Check out Who Is Arcade Fire, which aggregates the outrage. Here’s a lovely example from Tawny Kitaen, the 1980s vixen best known for writhing on sportscars in that Whitesnake video:

OK, I’m not THAT old but whos Arcade Fire? & worse who the hell thinks their good? Did I just lose all my followers? Cuz they sucked, sorry.

What are these people gonna do when the Decemberists win next year?

Although it is amusing that anyone sees the Grammys as a bellwether of musical culture (or even record sales), the controversy underscores a broader trend in American life — namely, the emotionally unsettling effects of cultural fragmentation. And this phenomenon cannot be separated from contemporary politics.

The reason for this fragmentation is due to the saturation of information channels. No longer does commercial radio — or the Grammys, for that matter — shape the tastes of the masses. We’ve got a million outlets, and there’s an ass for every seat. This can be very discomfiting to the herd mentality.

Many Americans, still sucking on the Big Media teet, view this fracturing as suspicious, if not dangerous. It’s as if NPR and the Kenyan in the White House are conspiring to make culture something they just can’t comprehend. In actuality, Obama is more conservative than Nixon, and Arcade Fire closer to Bruce Springsteen than G.G. Allin (Google him.)

But that doesn’t matter. America’s heebie-jeebies are being played out on both the political and pop culture stages.

It ain’t about age. It ain’t about who’s “hip.” It’s about whether the tenuous fabric that connects us as a culture can be maintained in an environment where people ONLY get their news from FOX or MSNBC; where either you listen to Black Eyed Peas or Drake; whether you’re a birther or a rational human being.

Maybe it’s because Arcade Fire are Canadian. They do have single-payer healthcare and all. Not going broke due to medical expenses is socialist! Interestingly, Justin Bieber — who many people think was robbed of his rightful award — recently called America “evil” for our lack of a full-coverage medical system.

I wonder if we can make the Culture Wars part of our defense spending? Maybe build a virtual border wall between us and our neighbors to the north? That’ll create some jobs, right?

This is the second video from the album, “Tea for None.” It should be pretty easy to suss out its deeper meaning (well, unless you’re a certain breed of conservative):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOz7FrohcY

There are lots more videos on The Contrarian YouTube channel, which the Power of Christ compels you to subscribe to!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkYfB1C0Zgc

According to the band, “all 215 loaves of bread used in the making of this video were past their sell-by date and rescued from the clutches of certain disposal.”

Disposal in mah belly!