Well, maybe because new music suxx

[emal]

... I was a major consumer of music in the 90s, the last rock explosion you could say, and I remember for every 1 good band record stores-companies-MTV tried to shove 10 horrid bands, not being old enough 60-70-80 (i listened to Jackson, Boy George and Poison in the 80s, so yeah...), was it true back then?
like were there Led Zep clones everywhere?

 

[Honkey tonk]

Behind All the good music was lots-o-bad style our fashion doesn't suck so our muisic does

 

[TyBo]

There's absolutely that much talent in music today, it just may be spread into different genres.



Yellow Submarine, in fairness, is not their best work.



I think what we are running into is the argument that the average band today is not as good as the absolute best band from 50 years ago, which is certainly true but also a pointless exercise. There have always been average bands putting out okay music that nobody listens to a few years later, there's no sense comparing those bands to Zeppelin or the Beatles any more than there would have been sense comparing, I dunno, Tex Wilkinson's Big Acid Band and their debut album "Honky Tonka Mushroom Trucks" that sold six copies in 1971 to Duke Ellington. There's MORE music now. That doesn't mean it's WORSE. It just means that there's MORE of it.

Well sure, Yellow Submarine may not be the Beatles best work (though it was a HUGE hit, for whatever that's worth), but it's just one of about a hundred of pretty great tunes they wrote. Their impact, and the actual quality of their music is not readily ignored or dismissed, even if it's not one's cup of tea.

I think you're missing the point that was made in Truand85's post. He said that if there's a similar quantity of impactful great music being made today,let's hear it. In other words, not comparing best from yesteryear to average today, but rather to what might be considered"best" today. Bring 'em on let's hear some examples. I already posted one that does it for me (Japanese Breakfast), but I'm an old guy, so not the best source for newer music. The proof is in the pudding, as it were.

 

[bmusic]

True! One has to go back pretty far to find the origins of the commodification of art.

It's a complex web of long-term trends, behavior patterns, and economic structures (for starters) that have brought us to where we are with today's music.

I just think that it's a gross oversimplification (and a disservice to everyone involved) to chalk it up to today's kids. Human beings haven't changed.

This, 100%. The idea "there just isn't the talent today that there was in the 1960s" is ridiculous, and I'm speaking as someone who worships the Beatles above all others. But it was a different world back then, and talent was received by an exploding youth culture hungry for a means of expression. In the years since, an ever-more-sophisticated business world latched onto that development, made it a market, commodified its expression. Justin Timberlake may be every bit as "talented" as Robert Plant—maybe more so—but we'll never know, because his music arrived in a different world. His music means something else, and was created through production pipeline with different means and ends. (Think of auto-tune; JT may have never been auto-tuned in his life, but he has hit his apex at a time where that kind of perfection is a value, and on the table.)

But I'll tell you one thing that's different about today's kids: they all carry around a little device that eats up time—time that previous generations used to daydream, to be bored and to invent, and to rage against the machine. Someone more talented than Stevie Wonder may be out there, but too busy scrolling through Instagram to explore that spark he's got. And recording/distribution contracts will be given instead to someone with no talent but a million followers.

 

[Phaidrus]

Don't really agree with the back-then-it-was-all-good, now-it's-all-deteriorating frame of mind. It's never been so good musically, methinks. All the older stuff is readily available plus all the new and fresh stuff as well. What more can one ask for? I mean, don't you like Blu's neo funky version of a Talking Heads classic, which version wouldn't have been possible in the 80s?

 

[Boneless]

Well, let's face it, Millennials and Gen-Z haven't come up with anything new except avocado toast, the man-bun, and covering your ENTIRE body with tattoos (Yeah, I know, my father's WW2 Navy buddies had tattoos...). No wonder they're constantly trying to cop our music.

This must be the most boomer (and I loathe the word) sentence I've read in a while.
I'm technically a millenial (I'm 33), but I have never had avocado toast, I have no tattoos and I don't wear my hair in a bun (even though I do have long hair).

 

[bass12]

okay bud...

Great sounding band and Thundercat kills it on that second song. Love that bass line.

 

[Knavery]

This must be the most boomer (and I loathe the word) sentence I've read in a while.
I'm technically a millenial (I'm 33), but I have never had avocado toast, I have no tattoos and I don't wear my hair in a bun (even though I do have long hair).

Yeah turf3 is wrong with just about everything he says in this thread. It's just a lot of opinions and assumptions. And yeah, he's no different than anyone else that's aged and thinks everything today sucks.

 

[Mastermold]

The real reason I think new music seems less popular is because people have other things to consume. I don't listen to as much music as I did when I was 15 because I also watch a lot of YouTube. Tiktok is also wildly popular, and people would rather watch those short videos for a half hour than play an album. Long format is difficult these days because you get constantly pulled from one thing to another. Connectivity makes people not take time doing things like watching full length movies or listening to entire albums. From my personal experience, long formatted media gets interrupted by text messages, calls from work, etc.

This is my experience too. The culture has shifted and everyone seems to be too busy all the time.

 

[emal]

But I'll tell you one thing that's different about today's kids: they all carry around a little device that eats up time—time that previous generations used to daydream, to be bored and to invent, and to rage against the machine. Someone more talented than Stevie Wonder may be out there, but too busy scrolling through Instagram to explore that spark he's got. And recording/distribution contracts will be given instead to someone with no talent but a million followers.

so so so so soooo True... I have this issue with my kids, we "force" them to be bored, how to learn to use up their time on their own etc, but its tough to convince them.

 

[truand85]

Well sure, Yellow Submarine may not be the Beatles best work (though it was a HUGE hit, for whatever that's worth), but it's just one of about a hundred of pretty great tunes they wrote. Their impact, and the actual quality of their music is not readily ignored or dismissed, even if it's not one's cup of tea.

I think you're missing the point that was made in Truand85's post. He said that if there's a similar quantity of impactful great music being made today,let's hear it. In other words, not comparing best from yesteryear to average today, but rather to what might be considered"best" today. Bring 'em on let's hear some examples. I already posted one that does it for me (Japanese Breakfast), but I'm an old guy, so not the best source for newer music. The proof is in the pudding, as it were.

Right. How many immensely impactful bands can you name that started between 1960 and 1980? How many can you name with similar impact that started after Y2K?

Facts are what they are. You think people complaining about this wouldn't love to hear a ton of new great bands that will define their generation and still be listened to a hundred years from now? We're all musicians here...

 

[PeaveyPlayer]

Dua Lipa doesn't have a band in the studio, it is all made in DAW ... Sad But True

Well..

 

[truand85]

Well..

So what's so fresh about this? Aren't there a hundred bands on soul train that did this even better, without the Poppy "a thousand singer sounding the same" front(wo)man?

Yeah, the bass line is dope. The song grooves. It's catchy. I won't change the station if it comes on in the car.

I also will have forgotten all about Dua Lipa in 5 years.

 

[jerry]

My credit card statements tell me there is and has always been great music.

 

[lfmn16]

There's absolutely that much talent in music today, it just may be spread into different genres.

Not even close.

 

[Brich]

What is impactful and meaningful to a single individual is subjective. For me, these two bands have impacted me greatly. I discovered both by attending shows here in Cleveland, and searching for them after I was blown away in person. I'm so glad for the amount of new and refreshing music from all genres. For anyone who would care to enjoy with me.

ATW

King Buffalo

 

[MichelD]

Look at it this way: When I first became a fan of popular music 57 years ago in 1965, the songs below were in the top 10.

Today you can still hear these top 10 songs from 1965 on the radio and elsewhere.

1. Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs
2. I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) - The Four Tops
3. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
4. You Were On My Mind - We Five
5. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - The Righteous Brothers
6. Downtown - Petula Clark
7. Help! ...
8. Can't You Hear My Heartbeat - Herman's Hermits
9. Crying In the Chapel - Elvis Presley
10. My girl - the Temptations

Believe me, in 1965 we were NOT listening to the top ten hits from 1908.

 

[wintremute]

So what's so fresh about this? Aren't there a hundred bands on soul train that did this even better, without the Poppy "a thousand singer sounding the same" front(wo)man?

Yeah, the bass line is dope. The song grooves. It's catchy. I won't change the station if it comes on in the car.

I also will have forgotten all about Dua Lipa in 5 years.

It seems to me that you're are looking for people to name bands that appeal to you, that inspire you, that elevate you...and that you dismiss bands that appeal to other people, that inspire other people, that elevate other people.

It reminds me of when some of the forum got upset because Billie Eilish didn't know who Eddie Van Halen was. Right now there are a lot of people being inspired by Billie and her brother, and in 30 years they will still be talking about Billie, but they won't be talking about Eddie.

Enjoy the music that you enjoy, and try not to get to lost in the possibility that some other people are not inspired by it nor enjoy it.

 

[Herrick]

I'm 41 and have no problem with new music. I do not rely on the radio or stuff like Spotify.

 

[lamarjones]

This topic is done about as much as torts. Someone just said we are all musicians, I mean to varying degrees.. a lot don't really work at digging into the lateral.branches of genres, both old and new. Also, a chart from the past two years is kind of weird given the one true crazy thing that has happened in my lifetime is COVID killing gigs.

Periphery is pretty much one of my fave bands these days, and the category of dient has spawned some players who are beyond insane and worthy of recognition. I'd take Snarky Puppy over the Weather Report any day. Reggaeton is a ridiculously huge vibe that gringos are just unaware of with their 1 and 3 clapping selves...I mean I could go on but it's not just this article, TB has always been filled with people stuck in the past. The baddest players are straight up now as they have previous giants to draw from. Also, the amount of crazy good asian kids doing tunes I actually like instead of just classical stuff is unreal, good for you kids!

That said, I will agree that there is a lot of distraction in younger generations these days.. But even during my youth, most people bought the same force fed tunes that the Imagine Dragons of their time were pumping out. Searching out the new and exciting was always a pain. People are generally terrible at that. Tb ain't no different.

You may continue cultivating your dad bod.