On tastes in music as one grows older...

BLOT: (23 May 2011 - 01:38:39 PM)

On tastes in music as one grows older...

That comic made me chuckle, but then I stopped and thought about it. When I was a teen, my biggest bands were people like Rush, Yes, The Breeders, Urge Overkill, Nine Inch Nails, Blind Melon, and a handful of various Techno/Electronic artists like Orbital, The Orb, and Underworld. There were pop bands all over the place. One of my favorite eras of music, '92-'94, for instance, was dominated by Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, All-4-One, Celine Dion, Vanessa Williams, Janet Jackson, En Vogue, and, by the end, TLC. All of these are bands I have a passing acquaintance with, but outside of a couple of Top-40 Radio hits, I couldn't name a song by them, much less hum a tune. So...if I come across as a bit cynical about Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, or Katy Perry; how is that any different? I was once a young fogey listening to indie, alt, classical, and techno and I now I am a young-old fogey listening to the same.

I am still buying new music and some of it in [sub-]genres somewhat new to me as a whole. My most awaited albums at this time are Friendly Fire's Pala and whatever it is that Hinaha puts out (by the way, that last link there has a sample I'll talk more about in an upcoming post). I don't know what exactly excites me about music. I like a wide mix of things, and some of it only at specific times. Jazz is one of my ultimate faves, along with [structured] Noise, so it seems to me there is a sense of enjoying music that is a passionate and chaotic release over highly strucutred pieces. Even that, though, is only for certain moods and occasionally the [far too] structured styles of Mozart are what I crave. I know that I am a sucker for very loud, very large choral works and I know that melodic death metal touches me in a very special spot, but most things are guess work.

Just wanted to point out, though, while I think kids these days listen to crap music, most of my generation had shite tastes, too.

OTHER BLOTS THIS MONTH: May 2011