Today's Music

Nowhere Man

I always hate when people say to me how shitty music is these days. Yes I agree there is a lot of crap out there (Or just not my taste) but I think this is a great time for music in general. I can think of a ton of bands or artists that are around right now that I love. Some may fly under the radar of "mainstream" but I think that's the way it is for most decades in music. I remember being a early teen in 1999-2003 and thinking music was crap (Only seeing music channel countdowns or whatever) but realizing I wasn't exposed to the music of that period that I would later get into.

For me there are the older bands still making great music like:
Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Wilco, Trent Reznor etc.

Then newer ones say 2000 and up:
MMJ, Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire, Gaslight Anthem, Florence and the Machine, to name a few.

What's your opinion on this topic? Or some Artists/Bands you think fit this category.

Attaway77

I think it's just a matter of getting older, you know what you like. There is a lot of great music out there and there always will be,I still search for it... Guess it's just a matter of taste for what your looking for or your mood that moment you hear something you never heard before, could make or break a great song..

capthowdy1027

There isn't much new stuff out there that I listen to. It's not that I just think it all sucks so I won't listen it's more of just I don't really seek out new bands much anymore. For example:

Nowhere Man wrote:

Then newer ones say 2000 and up:
MMJ, Mumford and Sons, Arcade Fire, Gaslight Anthem, Florence and the Machine, to name a few.

I haven't heard a single song from any of those bands.

I don't hate on new popular music because I just don't really know much about it. I never listen to the radio or any music tv channels (are there even any left that actually play music?) so I don't really know what's "it" right now. The things I listen to I listen to by my own choice. I'll take some recomendations from friends to seek out new stuff, somebody that I value their opinion on the topic. I'll look up something on YouTube and form my own opinion and go from there. Sometimes it's a hit, most times not though honestly.

I've noticed that when I was younger I listened to alooooooooot of different bands, but now I've noticed that I really listen to the same things over and over now a days. And most of that stuff is bands that I've listened to for 20 or so years of my life already.

jshin

I have found out about so many great bands by going to indie record lable web sites and digging around..

Of The Aggie

I'm really just not into the genres of music that are popular today. Occasionally I'll get turned on to something new and will actually like it, but mostly I seek out new releases from old standbys that I've followed for years and I've really gotten into Electronic music over the last 10 years.

What's popular now is just so generic. There was just something about pop music of the 70s and 80s. Now it seems all pop music follows the same formula using the same songwriters and producers and every song has to "feature" somebody. Alternative music of the 90s had substance. What passes as alternative today is so boring. I can't tell one band from another. I've also never been into rap/hip-hop.

I was very impressed with the new R.E.M. album and I'll be anxiously awaiting what's to come from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Tool and forgive me for not caring about Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Ce-Lo, Lady Gaga, Kesha, etc.

keeponrockin

Of The Aggie wrote:

I was very impressed with the new R.E.M. album and I'll be anxiously awaiting what's to come from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Tool and forgive me for not caring about Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Ce-Lo, Lady Gaga, Kesha, etc.

You're comparing the Arcade Fire to Kesha?...

musicismylife78

there was a period of a good oh maybe 5, 6 7, 8, years where after kurt died, i listened to alt rock radio and pined for the days of grunge to return.

we have our own grunge revolution going on and all it takes is to realize that it sounds nothing like Nevermind, or Ten.

Its the sound of You Forgot it in people. Or Transtlanticism, or Good News for People who like Bad news. It sounds like Funeral. And Silent Alarm. It' sounds alot like 0, and (). It sounds like Chutes Too narrow. It no longer is found on MTV, or VH1 or in SPin. Its on Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork and Stereogum. And while the bands of the 90's hated the spotlight, and hated fame, you can find alot of the important bands of our generation, now, in movies, and on tv, and even our parents like the music. Our little sisters do. Our younger brothers. We dont have long hair and thermal. We wear skinny jeans, ride fixies and have beards.

Im happy to have all these bands and albums soundtracking my existence.

We are living, right now, through an extratordinary time.

Of The Aggie

keeponrockin wrote:

Of The Aggie wrote:

I was very impressed with the new R.E.M. album and I'll be anxiously awaiting what's to come from Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Tool and forgive me for not caring about Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Ce-Lo, Lady Gaga, Kesha, etc.

You're comparing the Arcade Fire to Kesha?...

Am I saying they make the same kind of music? No. Are they all popular right now? Yes.

UpSideDown

I find some new bands tolerable (and in rare occurances enjoyable), but for the most part these bands just don't really speak to me. The writing and vocals just doesn't seem to match what I grew up with.

Seems to me like there is a lack of strong rock vocalists anymore.......

musicismylife78

i think the general point is, we all can bemoan the fact that music doesnt sound like the 1960's or the 1990's and it isnt like that anymore. and we all can wait a long time for that stuff. But i think if you feel that way you miss out on all the essential and life affirming music that is coming out right now, thats just as amazing and powerful as anything from the 60's or 90's.

People get hung up on the sound of it. They want the resurgence of "new music" to sound like the 1960's artists they love. And they want a grunge revival to sound like grunge. What we know though is, the new scenes, sound nothing like that, yet are influenced by those scenes nonetheless

musicismylife78

UpSideDown wrote:

I find some new bands tolerable (and in rare occurances enjoyable), but for the most part these bands just don't really speak to me. The writing and vocals just doesn't seem to match what I grew up with.

Seems to me like there is a lack of strong rock vocalists anymore.......

i disagree. lots of great vocalists, though not in rock specifically. ben harper of course. ray lamontagne. Dan Auerbach. James Murphy. Jonsi, Thom Yorke. matt berninger, Britt Daniel. James Blake.

Again, you cant expect people to be like Ed, or Kurt, or Robert Plant, or whoever. You are gonna be waiting a long time for that.

iluvcats

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

BamaPJFan

In my extremely humble opinion, I do think that there is great music out there today, but it is being made by the artists who have been around for a long time. I can't think of any newer artists who I really enjoy. I will see Florence and the Machine this summer when she opens for U2, but other than that, I'm not into any new bands. (I still prefer my old staples such as PJ, AIC, STP, Soundgarden/Cornell, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ACDC, Metallica, REM, Wilco, Widespread, Phish, Queensryche, U2, etc.)

BinFrog

It's a generational thing. Every generation stays rooted in its "own" music. The younger generation these days I'm sure think the stuff that is around now is the best that music has to offer. And we sit back and go "those crazy kids wouldn't know a good song if it bit 'em".

I'm sure there is a lot of good music out there if you know where to find it. I knew where to find it 10-20 years ago. Still, every once in a while I buy some newer music that is surprisingly good (to my ears at least). Plus there is a lot of good jazz out there right now.

BamaPJFan

iluvcats wrote:

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

Good point. The best new rock today is found on indy labels.

musicismylife78

BinFrog wrote:

It's a generational thing. Every generation stays rooted in its "own" music. The younger generation these days I'm sure think the stuff that is around now is the best that music has to offer. And we sit back and go "those crazy kids wouldn't know a good song if it bit 'em".

I'm sure there is a lot of good music out there if you know where to find it. I knew where to find it 10-20 years ago. Still, every once in a while I buy some newer music that is surprisingly good (to my ears at least). Plus there is a lot of good jazz out there right now.

you read my post? Thats what I was saying. You dont find the "new" good bands by reading Rolling Stone or Spin or turning on MTV or VH1, or even listening to the radio. The way to find new bands has changed. I find it easy to find new bands, in fact there are so many new bands coming out and albums released, I have the opposite problem. Instead of feeling like there isnt any good music, I feel there is an overabundance of music and good music out there. Look at how many good bands will release albums between now and December? its an absurd amount.

I think in general it takes a passion. I listen with perked ears to every song played on a commercial, or on tv shows. I listen to every song i hear when Im out and about, playing on the radio on the job, or in that car speeding by. I read the blogs and pitchfork and stereogum religiously. I make sure I check out the music of all the bands on the bills for lolla, and sasquatch and coachella even if Im not even attending. My life is art. I mean that literally.

And I disagree about the generational thing. The new generation is pretty damn unique. Decades ago music was so genre specific. You listened to rock, or jazz or pop or hip hop. And you got into that niche and very rarely ventured out. Nowadays, peoples ipods and harddrives are packed with every genre in the world, with music from all over the world. People can be indie kids like myself, who also enjoy a pop song, or hip hop or country music. Musicians like Girl Talk are perfect soundtracks to such a time in the world, because of how it fits this description perfectly. He samples Elton John, then throws in Belinda Carlisle, then will sample Biggie, then sample Nirvana.

musicismylife78

BamaPJFan wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

Good point. The best new rock today is found on indy labels.

the best new music is indie music, period

musicismylife78

in the past 2 or 3 months alone, we've had kurt vile, lykki li, james blake, the decemberists, iron and wine, toro y moi, destroyer, the odd future's endless stuff, cut copy, william fitzsimmons, Smith Westerns, The strokes, REM, Lupe Fiasco, Wye Oak, Elbow, Adele, Cave Singers, Bright Eyes, Mogwai, Cold War Kids.

Those are notable releases since January 1st. Its a stunning amount of music. And its only March right now. We've got 9 more months to go.

I find the amount of music out there overwhelming myself.

hockeygrrl

BamaPJFan wrote:

In my extremely humble opinion, I do think that there is great music out there today, but it is being made by the artists who have been around for a long time. I can't think of any newer artists who I really enjoy. I will see Florence and the Machine this summer when she opens for U2, but other than that, I'm not into any new bands. (I still prefer my old staples such as PJ, AIC, STP, Soundgarden/Cornell, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ACDC, Metallica, REM, Wilco, Widespread, Phish, Queensryche, U2, etc.)

I'm much the same way. I try not to hate on any musicians, even if they are not my cup o tea, but I don't really look for new stuff. My cd player has a regular rotation of PJ, Metallica, Beck, AIC, etc. Every so often I will check with some of the younger crowd at work to see what bands are out there and try to give them a shot, but I always end up back to what I know and love.

iluvcats

musicismylife78 wrote:

BamaPJFan wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

Good point. The best new rock today is found on indy labels.

the best new music is indie music, period

I see other people said that too (I did not read the whole thing)

Nowhere Man

iluvcats wrote:

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

Yes this is what I get a lot of, I try to convince them otherwise, sometimes it works other times not so much.

iluvcats

Nowhere Man wrote:

iluvcats wrote:

nowhere man, who tells you today's music is awful? are they going by the poisonous radio? they could spend some time and find some good music (independent labels).

Yes this is what I get a lot of, I try to convince them otherwise, sometimes it works other times not so much.

also, the band/artist from the indie label isn't "famous" yet or they used to be and no longer are. so, they play at smaller venues and you can talk to them. it also may be different music than the cookie cutter stuff on vh1.