OT: Music's nostalgic effect

[WWW]

I was just wondering to myself why I don't pursue new music too often. I find stuff that I like on a pretty regular basis but it doesn't last too long and gets shuffled to the back of the playlist. My musical interests are pretty broad, but the newer stuff I listen to, and even older stuff that i get introduced to doesn't give the same feeling as the stuff I grew up liking. It's almost as if the music I was surrounded by during my "developing years" really has an emotional effect, bringing back memories of people and places, and even a yearning for former character traits that are either lost, forgotten or that I'm unable to produce based on job/social status/mentor expectations.

 

I'm sure this was covered before in many different forums, but just wanted to get y'all's thoughts on it.

[Jet Bycraft]

What is happening to you is referred to as "Referential Listening."

 

"Sometimes music may remind people of past events, or it may bring to mind particular images, feelings, or situations. At times, these external references are so strong that the music is not really heard anymore; instead, the listener is caught up in the memories of the person, event, or feeling. Although it is undeniable that extra-musical connections or associations may be developed through listening, referential listeners tend to relate to music exclusively in that way."

[t_e_l_e]

i'm in the same boat, the only new music last year was jack white lazaretto which is a really great album...

 

yep maybe i'm also a bit nostalgic, but beginning 90's there was mtv with all this alternative music shows which came up with music you never heard before, i watched them, often not my style music, but i didn't "click" away and when there was something which got me interested i went to the record store and bought it.

 

in todays internet world, if you dont like a song you click to the next until you stop at one you like. there are no music shows anymore which come up with "new" or "old but not mainstream" music. radio degenerated to mainstream only stuff

 

there is too much to chose from and if something out of your comfort zone, you change it to the next you are not "forced" to listen to something which you don't like after the first 3 chords...

 

maybe rant, but also the way to listen music has change a lot over the past 20 years..

[ninjaaron]

I actively try to avoid this by seeking out new music. Sometimes the new music is old, but it's new to me. Recently, Frank Zappa (like) and Weather Report (DO NOT LIKE!)

[Phil O'Keefe]

Arron, do you like jazz in general? If not, I can see why Weather Report might not appeal to you.

 

I like good music. I don't care when it was created. I appreciate and really love stuff from my grandparent's era (Big Band stuff), my parents era (50s rock) and a lot of the material from "my" era, but I also like modern music too, just as long as it's of high quality and somehow reaches me and "moves" me.

 

Unfortunately, the overall quality of the songwriting seems to have slipped. Not from everyone, but IMHO it's not nearly as consistently good these days as it was in the 60s-90s.

[Fender&EHX4ever]

I've spent an incredible number of hours since 2008 organizing my iTunes music library trying to make sense of all the music that has influenced me since my formative years up through the present.

 

I have a playlist for every year since 1964. I was born in 1969, but my musical journey really starts with the first wave of the British Invasion.

 

I also have playlists by life chapters, playlists by themes, playlists by seasons, etc. It's a great way to trigger memories and moods.

 

What I've discovered throughout all of this cataloging and analysis of music is that I really do have a core type of music that I gravitate to, or my "comfort zone" if you will. I have broken down my preferences into 'musical genomes', trends, and patterns.

 

I still listen to and love loads of music outside of that comfort zone, but realizing that I have a preferred musical core was actually a very liberating breakthrough for me. It has helped me to focus my own songwriting, and I've been more productive and inspired as a result.

 

There was a period of my life approximately between about 1995 and 2005 where I felt like contemporary songwriting was declining in quality. Grunge, BritPop, Gangsta Rap, Electronica, Acid, House, TripHop, Lounge... I tried to embrace it all, but I couldn't help the feeling that these were just fringe experiments and tangents that sometimes broke ground, but never really reached my musical core. Certainly the Boy Bands, the Diva pop stars, and R&B were not really doing it for me either. During that era, maybe Radiohead, Coldplay, Keane, and Arcade Fire were about the only bands that came close to the kind of music I grew up on and formed my taste around. I found myself buying only records by the same old bands I'd always liked and not giving a chance to new music.

 

Around 2008 (about the time I joined HCFX) I finally turned on my antenna again and started opening up to new music. I've found that there is a lot of amazing new music out there, and I'm a happier person for discovering it. But if you ask me "Is anyone today writing songs that rock me like Side B of Abbey Road, Side A of Dark Side of the Moon, "Gimme Shelter," "When The Levee Breaks," "Baba O'Riley", "Under Pressure", "New Year's Day" .... ?" Well... that's not an easy question to answer. I'm just glad to have grown up with that music and to have been a part of that generation

 

 

 

 

[WWW]

Wow, excellent input fellas. Some very good insight.

 

But if you ask me "Is anyone today writing songs that rock me like Side B of Abbey Road, Side A of Dark Side of the Moon, "Gimme Shelter," "When The Levee Breaks," "Baba O'Riley", "Under Pressure", "New Year's Day" .... ?" Well... that's not an easy question to answer. I'm just glad to have grown up with that music and to have been a part of that generation

 

 

^^This is really closer to what I was getting at.

[ninjaaron]

Arron' date=' do you like jazz in general? If not, I can see why Weather Report might not appeal to you.[/quote']

 

I like jazz selectively. Hate bop! I also typically don't like '80s fusion. Hate that awful electric piano sound that's so typical of the genre, and those super clean, chorus'd, in-between strat sounds. The production on that stuff is the opposite of anything I would listen to on purpose. Jaco's alright though. Only redeeming quality for Weather Report, IMO.

 

I like cool jazz quite a bit, and some of the modern fusion (Tom Quayle! woo!) I like a bit of the earlier stuff too, and smooth jazz is alright.

[AJ6stringsting]

Arron, do you like jazz in general? If not, I can see why Weather Report might not appeal to you.

 

I like good music. I don't care when it was created. I appreciate and really love stuff from my grandparent's era (Big Band stuff), my parents era (50s rock) and a lot of the material from "my" era, but I also like modern music too, just as long as it's of high quality and somehow reaches me and "moves" me.

 

Unfortunately, the overall quality of the songwriting seems to have slipped. Not from everyone, but IMHO it's not nearly as consistently good these days as it was in the 60s-90s.

 

 

Seems like many forms / styles of music has degraded .... or at least the music industry makes it look that way, by not signing new good acts like they did in the past.

[WWW]

 

 

Seems like many forms / styles of music has degraded .... or at least the music industry makes it look that way, by not signing new good acts like they did in the past.

 

 

I tend to agree. There's plenty of great performers these days, but I feel like the focus is on the $$$.

[WWW]

I think there's lots of great performers out there, but it's almost like the true spirit of Rock & Roll is dying.

 

These guys seem to have something going:

 

http://therecordcompany.net/

[Danhedonia]

There's no spirit of anything dying; culture changes. Most of us are static points in the trajectory of culture; that's why 'referential listening' ("the stuff I grew up on") feels so good.

 

Listeners must make a choice: how much familiar comfort do I seek, and how much challenge? I don't consider that a moral question, unless/until one starts lying about what one chooses. I'd prefer someone who is "classic rock only" vs. someone who's eclectic tastes are simply an attempt to be cool.

 

On the other hand, if you are serious about pursuing an art or science (and music incorporates both) as a purveyor and not just a fan, you really do need to challenge yourself to grow. You go hear new things; you listen for what you might be missing; you take a conscious choice to work on your palette just like you make a choice to improve your arpeggios or blues solos, etc.

 

Knowledge is part of 'the work,' and the moment you think you know enough, you can be assured you're fooling yourself.

 

That's not to say you shouldn't have favorites, and work from them as strengths (shout out to FHX&Fender; it's a great thing to come to know one's core loves and tastes).

 

***********************

As for Phil's statement that "the overall quality of the songwriting seems to have slipped. Not from everyone, but IMHO it's not nearly as consistently good these days as it was in the 60s-90s," I'd passionately disagree and amend it this way: back before the indie rock / DIY explosion of the early 90's (no, I don't mean grunge, I mean Simple Machines putting out a free fanzine that showed you how to press your own 7"), a lot less music reached the marketplace, as an overall percentage of listeners.

 

In 1975, there may have been 200 great releases, and 2,500 less distinguished albums.

By 1997, we saw perhaps 300 great releases, but 30,000 less distinguished efforts.

 

Same number of needles, many more haystacks.

 

I think Tame Impala write tunes that are as deeply moving (and as artistically expansive) as Pink Floyd - and they've only just begun (apologies to Karen Carpenter). Jack White certainly puts out great records as well as writing great tunes, and the list goes on and on. Neko Case compares quite favorably to Dusty Springfield for me; your Genesis is my Of Montreal; you may prefer "Pictures of Matchstick Men" while I would take Peaking Lights' "All The Sun That Shines" 6 days out of 7.

 

And then there are the records that are simply lost in the crush these days: few people realize just how good the most recent Meat Puppets albums are (including me, if I weren't having them shoved in my face all the time by their "I'm not their manager I'm their attorney" manager). I'm the target market personlified, (I used to work with a great many semi-famous alternative acts in the 90's) and I'm oblivious. I had an artist who played a house show for me last year release his record without my knowing it, and stumbled over it on Spotify, where it is (rightfully) gathering a small but rabid niche audience.

 

The real story is how much amazing music we're missing.

 

What we didn't see so much "back then" was stuff that got screened out. Record stores had square footage to limit them; the internet does not. Recording studios with Neve consoles were not available as a free software download.

 

I'm not arguing for gate-keeping and snob appeal, mind you - just trying to suggest that it's a numbers game, and fantastic songwriting still abounds.

[AJ6stringsting]

Todays artists, are trendy / disposable products ...... can we say Blink 182 much ?

The way the industry is going, it's self destructing and imploding. They are signing people with little talent, imagination or creativeness and disposing of them like tuesdays trash.

Bands like the Beatles, evolved before the eyes of the World, turning from a teeny bop / boy band to melodic creative geniuses with in three years of their discovery. The industry allowed artists to reinvent themselves and the world came along for the ride.

In the early 1980's, Mtv, opened the doors to many great artists from New Wave, Metal, Rock, Pop and slapped the music industry in the face with new artist that were being largely ignored by the main industry.

Then in and around 1993, music became a fashion statement and has degraded ever since ..... no more new ground breaking acts like the Beatles. Alice in Chains, Police, Zep, UB40, The Church, Metallica, The Cure, Rush, Ozzy, U2 or Jimi Hendrix .... now new acts are like a diaper .... used up and thrown away.

Rock since 1993, has become nothing more than a prepackaged rebellion.

The industries scapegoat used to be that the internet down load sites were destroying their revenues from them and their new artist. Most of the downloads done on the internet, when it came to Rock music, the majority of music downloaded was music from 1964 to 1993.

[AJ6stringsting]

 

I like jazz selectively. Hate bop! I also typically don't like '80s fusion. Hate that awful electric piano sound that's so typical of the genre, and those super clean, chorus'd, in-between strat sounds. The production on that stuff is the opposite of anything I would listen to on purpose. Jaco's alright though. Only redeeming quality for Weather Report, IMO.

 

I like cool jazz quite a bit, and some of the modern fusion (Tom Quayle! woo!) I like a bit of the earlier stuff too, and smooth jazz is alright.

 

 

At least Jazz hasn't sold out !!!!