Old Guys and New Music - closed ears???

lyle_from_minneapolis · Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:03 pm

Not really...I was just so wasted...

kenposurf · Post by **kenposurf** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:10 pm

yah mon!

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:17 pm

Good stuff, folks. Good comments all around.

There is no right-or-wrong answer here, as we all know musical tastes are so very subjective. Music is very personal.

I'm 43, and I have found that I've listened, or TRIED to listen, to less new music in the past decade; something I once swore I wouldn't end up doing.

There is only so much time, and there's a ton of good, and bad, music.

It's still exciting to hear a new song that grabs me. It's rare, but tell that to a 16-year-old. They'll probably think you old...and then ask to borrow your Who or Clash album.

But that's great. Just 'cause it's old music doesn't rob it of it's power, and just 'cause it's new doesn't rob it of it's potential power, either.

Hey, my father-inlaw got me listening to Louis Prima! Good stuff.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:47 pm

I'm 52 and I really like music from 1990 to present ... I also like old blues, late 60s rock, 70s progressive rock, 80s power pop, I really like Rush, Yes, Who, McCartney, and I really do like modern rock ...

Some guys my age think 80s music is new music ...

sharkboy · Post by **sharkboy** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:47 pm

"Rock and Roll peaked in 1976, its a proven fact" - Homer Simpson.

Actually, I feel lucky that I hadn't closed the taste door in '76, since some really great things came up soon thereafter, which became a very fertile time in my musical development. TalkingHeads, Elvis Costello, Devo, the reformation of King Crimson, Laurie Anderson, Wall of Voodoo, Stan Ridgway (solo stuff), the Soft Boys, Robyn Hitchcock (solo)- those acts really give me a positive nostalgia for the late seventies and eighties. Tao Chemical and World Entertainment War out of Santa Cruz were two of my favorite bands ever. Some of them are still doing some great work, too. The nineties brought School of Fish, Nirvana, Dan Bern and some other acts to my ears, but most of what I liked did not get any time in the limelight.

Most newer material I enjoy is from singer/songwriter types. My most recent find is Jonathan Coulton, who sometimes hides a little bit of social commentary among silly songs: "Re: Your Brain" is one of the two songs I like most from the past few years. I swear, it is exactly the way I feel about dealing with the undead (a certain middle management archetype in the corporate world.) Probably my favorite song in a long time is "We Can't Make it Here" by James McMurtry, despite being mostly spoken and being outside of my musical comfort zone.

I have narrower taste than a lot of people I know, and I'm not happy about it, but that's the way it is. My musical partner has gotten me to not just perform, but enjoy some stuff I wouldn't have touched ten years ago. I tellya, the way he and I lean into stuff from Elvis to the Grass Roots to the Turtles to even some new stuff has people throwing undergarments- which luckily so far has not caused any injuries.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:26 am

Any youngsters here feel that rock is better than ever, and if so, why?

will_nesbitt · Post by **will_nesbitt** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:32 am

In comes I, a 17 year old. I'm pretty new to the whole music scene after being naive to it all for about the first 16 years of my life. I've learned a lot between then and now. I must say that if you listen to radio 1 (I'm English) during Zane Lowe's show, the current crop of indie rock is very, very poor. There seems to be an endless drab of 'new, edgy' bands with clean guitars that would really sound sooo much better with a bit of distortion in the mix. The exception to this is a band called Maximo Park. Mainly because the guitarist has a Ric 330 in his arsenal.

Getting a bit heavier and you'll find the better selection. Anyone heard of a band called Muse? I think the lead singer, Matt Bellemy, is the son of the first British singer to gain a top 10 or something in the States. That is one band I'm hooked on and I think is better than most older music.

I missed the punk era, although it seems to be making a small resergence. But the stuff I've heard from that area is a little dull for me.

Getting heavier still and we're getting into metal and gothic stuff. I personally couldn't care less about the emo rubbish being pumped out at the moment. However, I'm just really getting into the metal scene. I don't know about you, but some of these guys can really BLOODY play! It might be loud but that's the point! It's loud to get you moving. I know all you older lot might think it's all a load of racket but if you listen to the music closer, and listen through the screams and growls of the 'singers' (btw, some of them can genuinly sing), you will hear that some fingers are really moving pretty quickly on those fretboards. And half the time they aren't even looking at what they're doing. I recommend you listen to some bands like Killswitch Engage, DragonForce, In Flames and lots more. Can't think of any more right now.

I do like older music too. I do have the patience to sit down and listen to the music being played. Some of it I feel is a bit outdated and a bit weedy compared to todays standards, but there are more than a few gems that still sound brilliant today.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:41 am

Thanks, Will.
I feel punk and Metal is old music ('70's and 60's respectively)!
Whenever my band plays, the powers that be say we were too loud.
Guess that's why we don't gig so much!
For me being loud is part of it, whether it's power pop or death metal.
What is this older music that you sit down and listen to?
I feel lucky to have experienced so many movements and revolutions in rock that (IMO) I can appreciate a wider pallette of styles than younger music lovers!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:12 am

As aging 46-year-old, I've enjoyed a lot of music over the years. As a teenager in the late 1970's, I couldn't imagine the day when I wouldn't be familiar with all the popular music of the day. Well, that day has come. I don't recognize anything in the charts. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of great new music out there. It just means that it doesn't get radio play. Perhaps that's why I prefer talk radio these days. Before you call me a fossil, my favorite tunes include both The Kinks' "Autumn Almanac" and Sonic Youth's "Expressway To Your Skull". Lots of great music is still being made by artists like Robyn Hitchcock and Martin Newell.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Mon Dec 18, 2006 10:41 am

I just love it that Robyn Hitchcock keeps being mentioned as putting out new music. He's one of the greats, and not that much younger than the Beatles...but he still has that cutting edge going for him. I imagine Beck will leave the same kind of legacy, only with a lot more money in his pockets.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:33 am

Mark: I've been a Hitchcock fan since 1983. His new music has nothing to with today's music scene. This is also true of songwriters like Martin Newell and Andy Partridge. They are great talents who live outside the limelight. Newell hates the music business and Partridge won't tour. Hitchcock had some success with college radio in the late 80's, but now seems happily resigned to cult status. I did catch him on Conan O'Brien a few weeks ago, so I guess he hasn't given up on promoting his new releases.

sharkboy · Post by **sharkboy** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:36 pm

I'm one of the clowns who won't shut up about Robyn Hitchcock. I've been a member of the fanlist since the late eighties, I think. One of my favorite songs ever is "Mexican God."

RH used to play a 330/12 sometimes, iirc. He's been playing a dark blue tele for years, and I can't remember seeing him with a different electric since about '91, but I've missed his last few tours (technically, he missed me this tour.)

lyle_from_minneapolis · Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:54 pm

Thank you, Mark! I knew it! I saw him play First Avenue many years ago, and he did a killer rendition of "Eight Days a Week" and I've been wracking my brains lately trying to remember if he really did play that on a Rickenbacker like I thought.

Anyway, I love that guy's music and voice, and I go back to the Soft Boys days. I talked to him once at a gig. I praised him and he said, "Thank you very much." I talked to Prince once, too. I looked up and he was walking passed, and he said "Hi," and I did too. These conversations with the stars are really revealing.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:02 pm

Some of the new stuff I like is Staind, 3 Doors Down, Creed, Nickelback, Tool, Puddle of Mud, Foo Fighters ... Now I don't like everything those bands do but for me it is really nice to have something new to play so I don't have to keep playing the same few songs that were popular back in the 70s ...

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:37 pm

I've seen Hitchcock play live 4 or 5 times. For electrics he plays a Tele, although he once played a Strat. In his 'So You Think You're In Love' he is shown miming with a 360/12 FG. I think I have a video showing him play 'Eight Days A Week' live with a white Epiphone Casino. During one memorable solo show in Dallas (You And Oblivion Tour), he finished several acoustic sets (in a very small club) and then came back to play an encore set with a black Strat, a fuzz box, and a Fender Champ. It was odd to hear him singing and playing solo electric with extended feedback solos. It was very entertaining!