Are you out of touch with today's music?

[scottcsmith]

I realized the other day that I don't have the faintest idea in the world what music is popular right now. I don't listen to the radio and all of the music on my computer and what I play in the car is mainly the "modern rock" of my youth (The Cure, New Order, Depeche Mode, etc) and I couldn't identify a single artist on the Billboard Top 10 list. Guess I'm getting old (if 35 is old...)

[NightTrain]

1. Oh god, yes!

My radio dial rarely goes up above 92-FM. I listen almost exclusively to college radio, when I bother to turn the radio on at all.

I haven't paid attention to the Top 40 charts since my senior year of high school, and that was 20 years ago. I just got tired of having to wade through gallons of crap to find the ounces of good stuff.

[Maddy McCall]

2. Your cd case sounds a lot like mine. :-)

Add The Cult and our cd cases could be twins. :-)

I listen to public radio as much as--probably more than--I listen to cds. I never listen to popular music on the radio, unless I am having a beer and I turn to one of the "classic rock" stations.

[Kenneth ken]

3. essentially yes

There are lots of bands / artists that show up on the various music threads here that I've never heard of. And it seems like all the raido in my town in Clear-Channel, so not worth listening to.

You might try internet radio; I've listened to a bit of it - some of the sites will have a little note as to what they're playing at any given time, and who it's by. The times I've listened, it has been ok, but some how I just forget to open up that other browser and link to a site most of the time.

I'm certainly not as devoted to music as I was in my teens and twenties.

[scottcsmith]

4. Haven't tried Internet radio yet

I'm content for now to listen to the hundreds of songs on my computer. I've even thought of doing my own Internet radio show but am not sure how to get started, so if anyone has a link, please post it.

I'd love to introduce the world to "Venus Hum" who really deserve to hit it big.

[NightTrain]

5. If you'd like to start an Internet radio station...

...you can do it both cheaply and easily here:

http://www.live365.com

[LincolnMcGrath]

10. THE FUTURE RETURNS ON MONDAY AT 10 AM

http://www.kexp.org/home.asp?noflash=false


http://www.wazee.org/

/www.woxy.com/


http://www.somafm.com/recent/?indiepop

[Syrinx]

6. well, I don't think Spears is pretty anymore

:D

[Jack_Dawson]

7. 35 feels old, doesn't it?

I still get carded (sometimes) but damn I stumbled onto a networking pool party at my gym today and the average age seemed to be...23? That's when it hit me. As for today's music, it's mostly hip-hop, artist-of-the-week crap. Bands that hang around for years are hard to come by but there are still some good ones out there - just gotta look a little harder for them, that's all.

Give "The Postal Service" a listen...

JD

[2cents]

8. Pretty much out of it...

there are a few rap songs I like (but I can't name them).

[Scottie72]

9. Well The Cure just released a new studio album

The Cure just released a new studio album.

It is pretty darn good I would suggest picking it up!

[Ruffhowse]

11. I listen to REALLY old stuff-mostly classic rock and 60's oldies...

...I know that dates me in an awful sort of way, but I like the stuff I grew up with. Or as Homer Simpson said, "Who needs new bands anymore? Rock and Roll achieved a state of perfection in 1974, it's a known scientific fact!!"

[MissAnnThrope]

12. Absolutely

I was flamed by youngens in a chat room tonight for never having heard of some rapper named D12. Sorry, but rap has never done it for me. I feel so old when I say to them, I feel rap isn't music, as it has no melody. *sigh*

[AmyDeLune]

13. Not only...

do I not recognize most modern rock, I don't even know who most of the "famous" tv/film stars are either...already in my dotage at 35...and I'll take your playlists and add some Simon & Garfunkle, Beatles, Jethro Tull, and Queen.

---Amy

[NightTrain]

14. You and me both.

And welcome to DU, by the way! :hi:

[saracat]

15. I guess this dates me too. I hate Rap!

Sorry but its not music. I know I sound like the parents of the fifties who hated rock and roll, but there is a difference.Rock and roll WAS music.Rock is music but Rap is rhythm and bad poetry. Sorry.I also wouldn't buy a cd of nothing but drum syncopation(and put bad rhyming poetry to it!). I like almost anykind of music, but not rap.I'm not overfond of opera either, but it is music!LOL

[Maccagirl]

16. Completely

The snippets I do hear convinces that I haven't missed a thing in the last decade! Music was so important to me growing up that I'm actually angry about the tripe that's out there being marketed by the corps & "artists". I keep trying to find good live shows by local bands.

[dkf]

17. Too weird. I was thinking the same thing to myself today.

Just got a really great new CD/MP3 player in my car and what am I playing? Depeche Mode, Erasure, New Order...

They don't do music like they used to.

[FrankBooth]

39. Sure they do

I'm pushing 40, but there are some fantastic bands right now- most of which are of the indie variety. (I avoid the clear-channel FM stations and listen to college radio.)

If you like Depeche Mode, Erasure, New Order check out the band The Postal Service - it is in the same vein and really good stuff.

[tigereye]

53. I have tried to keep up a little more

since my kid is older. I have to pay some attention since I work with kids and teens, so I do listen to some commercial radio, but I prefer the "left of the dial" indie, non-commercial and college radio. I like the Dandy Warhols and I am checking out some less recent punk I missed, like NOFX and AntiFlag, that I missed when I was in grad school and chasing a toddler. I also like Sheryl Crow, although that is not a popular sentiment around here. Fountains of Wayne is fun. I also like Macy Gray, The Donnas, and some of the Jamiacan rappers, the Roots and the Dixie Chicks. Otherwise, it is old school stuff for me, like the Clash. The Old 97s are cool, if you like rockabilly with great harmonies and hooks.

[skippysmom]

18. Pretty much

I have my favorite artists (mostly singer-songwriter types, mostly female) but I haven't been "in touch" with popular music since I was a teenager.

I'm 32.

[GOPisEvil]

19. Define today's music.

If you're talking about major-label, radio-played Top 40 and other "popular" music, then yeah, I'm out of touch.

If you're talking about independent-label, non-radio played and "not-so-popular" music, then I've got a lot produced in the last 12 months in my cd collection. There's plenty of good music being made, but sometimes you have to search for it a bit.

[HuckleB]

33. Eck-friggin'-xactly! -eom-

[blindpig]

20. there's no there there

Dank Gott for public radio classical & jazz programming. If I want something else, my archives.

[drumwolf]

21. I'm not sure whether to be relieved or alarmed

at all the people here who are the same age as myself (I'm 34) and are already losing touch with current music and becoming old farts.

I was absolutely PASSIONATE about music not only in my teens but all throughout my entire twenties. And even though I haven't particularly LIKED mainstream music since high school, at least I was able to stay INFORMED about it for a very long time.

Now I feel that I'm clueless about current music on both the mainstream and the indie levels. That's part of the reason I'm working at Tower Records again after being away for eight years (well, that and a long period of unemployment). And now that I'm being exposed to mainstream music again, I'm finding that a lot of the bands I'm hearing, I really find to be lame and perfunctory and uninspiring, particularly the current "punk" and "metal" bands. The new bands that I find I like, regardless of genre, tend to be few and far in between.

[Commendatori]

22. I'm with you, just different CD collection here

Hard American and Brit rock of the 70's and 80's is my cup of tea. I haven't heard anything in today's music that is worth paying attention to, and I'm very happy to be out of touch with it.

[Bertha Venation]

23. Yes, and I couldn't care less, Scott.

Most of what passes for music on popular radio stations hurts my ears.

[trof]

24. TOTALLY!

My cutoff date is the mid 60s.

[chenGOD]

25. No...well it depends.

Stuff that's on the mainstream, i guess yes, especially as I live in Asia and so we don't get a lot of the mainstream radio groups/"singers"(not that that's a bad thing).

However, I would say that in terms of music that is not so well known, I am pretty much in tune (bad pun, not intended) with what's happening in terms of music.


There are two problems I find, in keeping current if you're not an avid music fiend.
One: there's a much wider supply of music out there, thanks to the medium of the internet.
Two: because mainstream music has become commodified to such a huge extent, the number of genres created has multiplied exponentially. This makes it easier to market to people, because they identify that type of music with who they are. Thus you have grunge, goth-grunge, metal, dark metal, pop, J-pop, K-pop, alternative, industrial, alternative-industrial, electronic, punk, pop-punk, power-punk, etc etc etc. Since the number of new groups coming out in each genre is growing rapidly in order to spit out more product to sell, it makes it nigh on impossible to keep up with all forms of music, be it mainstream or underground (especially underground). Thus it becomes that much easier to lose touch with music, and stick with what you know. Which is not always a bad thing either.

Just my 2 cents as a person with a bad habit of spending too much money on CDs/vinyl

[TX-RAT]

26. I was out of touch with yesterdays music.

[scarlet_owl]

27. Yes. I have no idea what people my age and younger are

listening to. In the car I have it on NPR or oldies, so I'm pretty out of touch.

[LWolf]

28. Absolutely.

I had a passionate debate erupt over musical taste in my classroom this last year---age range 10 - 12. I had no clue who any of the artists were.

"Fitty cents?"

"Linkin' Park?" (One boy was raving about this one; another boy rolled his eyes and said something about "wanna-be white boy.")

There were more, but these are the two I remember. And the young man who earnestly explained to me that I shouldn't get upset with kids calling each other "pimps," that they'd learned if from fitty cents and other popular musicians.

I asked him if I was missing anything. He thought for a minute, and said, "No, you wouldn't like them."

[Catholic Sensation]

32. fifty cent

:P

And yeah, pimp is now a term of endearment among us youngsters (i.e. Your ride is pimp).

Fo shizzle.

[LWolf]

38. Good to know.

I got a lot of 'fo shizzle.' Which amuses and entertains me, because it takes me back to some of the interesting phrases we used when I was that age, to differentiate us from the already old.

On the positive side, we had some great discussions on the evolution of the english language, on what constitutes slang, on when slang becomes official, on grammar rules and how the definitions of words, and therefore their parts of speech and usage changes.

On the negative, I don't think pimp has evolved far enough for parents to be thrilled that their 9 and 10 year-old daughters are referred to as "pimpalicious" and full of "pimp juice" on the school playground.

[Catholic Sensation]

40. well if they're said to be full of pimp juice on the playground

maybe they're drinking Nelly's new beverage, which I'm sure is as below average as his music. :D

i keep forgetting to add these to my damn posts: :*

[LWolf]

46. lol

I think my kids, being younger, get stuff filtered down to them; it's not always the newest stuff out there.

Dare I ask who Nelly is, or do I really need to know? ;-)

[Maestro]

29. I've never liked the Billboard "Hip-hop" dominated

boards but I am in touch with old school and new school metal while I still keep in touch with some old not so alternative favs that once were.

[CO Liberal]

30. Totally

I'm an oldies freak myself - mainly pop music from the '40s, '50s, and '60s.

[livetohike]

31. Stuck in the 60's and early 70's here

:hi:

I like the old blues artists too. If shown flash cards of any band from the 80's, 90's and present day, I doubt I could identify very many of them.

[HuckleB]

34. Here's a place to start.

Anything by Keb' Mo'
"Kinky" by Kinky
"Twentysomething" by Jamie Cullum
Anything by Cafe Tacuba
"Barricades and Brickwalls" by Casey Chambers
Anything by Arthur H
Anything by Bebel Gilberto
"Black Voices" by Tony Allen
Various by Antibalas
"Clandestino" by Manu Chao
"Flyin' the Koop" by Stanton Moore
"Juan Manuel" by Plastilina Mosh
"Astor In Paris" by 3 Leg Torso
"Lagrimas Negras" by Bebo & Cigala

I could go on and on and on...

But there is incredible music out there today. Go and find it. You'll find joy.

[southpaw]

35. The Rap / Hip-Hop influence is currently killing popular music...

I do like Jason Mraz and a few other current pop artists, but by and large, the insidious influence or shhit music (read rap and hip-hop) is choking the life out of pop and rock.

Linkin Park? Gimme a fuckin' break!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

36. My favorite music has never been "today's music"

I've been listening to jazz and classical music for decades. I keep up with current performers and try to listen to everything in each genre. But I have no idea what "popular" music is like now.

[BigMcLargehuge]

37. those damn kids and their damn rock and roll

that ain't music dammit!!!! Why, back in my day we had real musicians who played real instruments and wrote real songs about real things... Look at Nirvana, they were real rock and roll... so much wisdom in their writing... er.... my libido... a mosquito...

And Right Said Fred, now there was a rock and roll combo that knew how to work the ladies... too sexy for their shirts indeed. Hey, whatever happened to them? Probably up and got married to all their groupies.

and excellent musicians like Milli Vanilli! GIRL YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!!!! Genius, and so cute too... Better still, they could dance AND sing! Today all these premanufactured nobodies like Fred Durst, Britney Spears, Cher...

AND GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN!!!!!!

yes, I am also out of touch... but I don't care.

:)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

41. No I'm not...I have to know it

but in the mainstream, there's barely an ounce of talent

[Catholic Sensation]

42. Let me break down the top ten for you

Usher (1 and 2) - Atlanta based R&B singer who is an amazing dancer, and also an amazing idiot. As anyone who has listened to the lyrics of half his hits (alliteration rules) it's apparent he cheated on Chili of the group TLC. He can sing, which is nice, but his songs get old pretty quick in my opinion.

Juvenile (3) - a rapper. Had some mildly popular hits in the past few years. I dunno much about him, except that the song "Slow Motion" is great to dance to in the clubs :)

Hoobastank (4) - not entirely sure what genre of rock they are, but the song "Reason" is way too overplayed. The video for it is interesting. Someone suggested this group to me a few years ago, and just like now, I wasn't impressed.

Alicia Keys (5) - THE MOST TALENTED PERSON IN MUSIC. The woman can play the fuck out of a piano (heard her play classical stuff on the radio). She also has a tremendous voice, and is very pretty. Unbelievable is the best word to describe her.

Fantasia (6) - If I heard the song, I'd probably have an idea who this person is, but can't think of anything I know about her.

Nina Sky (7) - kind of reggae. That's about all I can tell you, because I'm not a fan of this song.

Petey Pablo (8) - I live like ten miles away from him. Very talented rapper. I learned about him shortly after I moved to Raleigh, and was impressed almost immediately. Freek-a-leek is an amusing song to be heard on the radio since most of it can't be aired without warranting an incredible fine. Unlike some southern rappers, he seems to be able to enunciate when flowing.

Lloyd Banks (9) - Youngest member of G-Unit (he's 22, and only 8 months older than me, G-Unit being 50 cent's rap "clique"). Not particularly talented, but the song "On Fire" is a blast to dance to as well.

Kevin Lyttle - Virgin signee, and that's all I know.

Hope this helped :D

[Kat45]

48. I believe Fantasia is the latest winner of American Idol.

No, I don't watch it. Unfortunately, the folks who win that show always end up somewhere that I hear about them (like on the news). That's because they end up everywhere until their 15 minutes of fame is up.

[Catholic Sensation]

49. yeah you're right

I remembered after I hit submit, and wasn't in the mood to edit.

[leftofthedial]

43. old? old? OLD?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

35 is old?

you young whippersnappers.

But to answer your question, yes, I'm out of touch. I know almost nothing of entire genres of music.

[AlGore-08.com]

44. H*ll no! Check out my favorite album!

[skypilot]

45. I suddenly occured to me a year ago...

...that I am out of touch with today's music. I'm pretty sure that I could not get a job in a record store, especially one of the large chains like Tower Records. I don't know shit about what's out there these days.

[DancingBear]

47. But of course

Rock music ceased being "new" around 1972-3. Everything since is just a poor rehash of what came before it.

As for college radio - well, those of us that remember free-form radio circa '67-'71 can tell you all about it. I do find it hilarious when one of our younger acquaintances tells us of this "great band that they only play on college radio" - one listen and we realize we were listening to that stuff 30+ years ago - at high school dances.

[Kat45]

50. I once was proud of my vast musical knowledge, so I am a bit

bummed to be so clueless about today's music. On the other hand, most of what I do hear sucks. I listened to--and knew a lot about--music throughout the sixties, seventies, and eighties. When I played Trivial Pursuit and the category was music, my teammates would defer to my answer because they knew that I knew my stuff. When I was in my thirties, I wrote for a local music magazine and hung out in the local rock scene where most folks were about a decade younger than me. I was into the same music some of my friends' kids listened to.

I was still writing into the early nineties, then my main magazine folded, the music changed, and I didn't like much of what I heard any more. I'd occasionally hear something that I kinda liked, and only twice did I hear a new band that I loved. Then one day, I saw the list of Grammy nominees and realized that I hadn't even heard of most of them. If I look at the Billboard charts, same thing happens. But I've gotten to the point where I don't really care that much any more. I used to be really passionate about music, but I'm just not any more. Even when someone I really like comes to town, I don't want to bother going to see them. I guess that means I'm finally getting old, now that I'm in my late forties. And I think the biggest problem is that I haven't found a passion to replace the one I've lost.

[LiviaOlivia]

51. Shawn Smith, Shawn Smith,Shawn Smith

Funny a FedEx guy just delivered 2 CD's I ordered almost 2 months ago.

I haven't been 29 for a long long time and Shawn Smith is my new god.

Shield of Thorns and Let It All Begin.

[Canuckistanian]

52. No, I LOVE Genesis!

And those new guys The Thomson Twins, too!
Can't touch this!

[TrogL]

54. I cannot stand rap

And the kids giggle at me when I listen to boy bands.

[Beaverhausen]

55. You just have to know where to look for what you like

there is a great internet station called radioio
http://www.radioio.com

- 12 stations really. Lots of genres to pick from. Lots of great new/old/major/indie stuff here. Amazing music.

and yes- I turn 45 on saturday and I am SOOOOOOOOOOO out of it as far as what's on the radio. and frankly I'm glad.

[Kenneth ken]

56. hey

that's one of the internet radio stations I was thiking of when I mentioned them in my earlier post on this topic.

I do enjoy that, but as I said earlier, for some reason I almost never go there. :shrug:

[Beaverhausen]

61. well...they actually play me on the acoustic station

so I really like them!

[AlFrankenFan]

57. Yes, and I'm 14!

I only listen to John Mellencamp, a lot of southern rock, and some classical music.

[Melsky]

58. I'm 35 and I love new music

I feel sorry for people who think that music stopped in (insert date here). There's a lot of great stuff out there, and I like to support people who are going out and making good music, not just listening to what I was listening to in high school.

One source I like for checking out new music is

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/

[Tweed]

59. Bluegrass, folk, classical, jazz, doesn't get much better then those...

They don't play those on the radio for the most part. They certainly aren't "popular"

[toddaa]

60. I don't think I've ever been 'in touch'

My preference is for avant garde jazz and experimental electronic. I don't care how old I am, David S. Ware is not popping up on Billboard 100 in my lifetime.

[Zech Marquis]

62. when I was growing up

you actually needed some Chenying talant to sell a Cheneying record. Now you have these Cheneyed up Britnet Housewrecker Spears who can only moan, groan, and rub herself all over (when that nuemploed fiance of hers isn't doing it fr the press) and they call that MUSIC (done i the voice of the SNL's grumpy old man) We had real music ats back in the days (th 1970s), and we liked it, we LOVED it! Cheney MTV! :evilgrin:

[Zero Division]

63. Hell, I'm 25 and I listen to the modern rock of YOUR youth...

I don't even want some kind of sweeping music revolution. It'd be nice just to hear a little more of some of the decent indie bands out there on commercial radio (Interpol, Modest Mouse, the more popular bands that get written about in zines like Pitchforkmedia). I know there will always be plenty of bad popular music, but its dominance in commercial radio is beyond overwhelming.

[solinvictus]

64. My Playlist on Rhapsody.com

Let's see some tracks I rotate heavily:
1) Bauhaus "Dark Entries", "Third Uncle", and "Bela Lugosi's Dead"
2) Joy Division "Something Must Break", "24 Hours"
3) New Order "Love Vigilantes", "Crystal"
4) Echo and the Bunnymen "The Killing Moon"
5) Skinny Puppy "Worlock: Eye of the Beholder Mix", "Spasmolytic", "Chainsaw" "Addiction"
6) Front 242, anything from "Tyranny for You", "Up Evil" or "Off"

To give you an idea, I'm 34 and HATE 99.9999999% of new music.

[Rhiannon12866]

65. I know absolutely nothing about it at all, either

The only time I listen is on the car radio and I've got that set on an oldies station.:shrug: