Answer for question 4595.

[sabotabby]

[Error: unknown template qotd]Let's not kid ourselves in thinking that our music is inherently superior to the music of today's young people, lest we become as smug as the Boomers claiming that the Beatles were the greatest band ever. We are all drawn to music out of sentiment. The music that I listened to as an adolescent—mainly 80s and 90s post-punk, goth, industrial, and alternative—is always going to sound better to me than anything coming out now, but it's because it's what I liked when my musical tastes were developing, not because it's the greatest music ever written.

I think pop music is on a downward slide because of autotune and—at the risk of getting repetitive, economic forces—but pop music has always kind of sucked.

As a counter-argument to "there is no innovative music these days," I present to you Tanya Tagaq, who I'm late to the party discovering: Animism trailer. And here she is covering the Pixies.

As for music I don't know why anyone would like—I can't think of anything. I know why people listen to music that's shit. It's because they have shit taste, like most people who aren't me. :)

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

The 90% of pop music is crap has always applied. I mean, I got into David Bowie in the 80s, and I think his 80s albums are awful, but they were marginally less awful than most of the other top 40 stuff at the time, and were my gateway drug into 70s glam rock and punk.

[sabotabby]

Ayup.

[princealberic.livejournal.com]

I hate The Beatles and will take any opportunity to express this since it's an unpopular opinion. I blame Boomers for everything, including bringing us the trash music that are The Beatles and claiming they're ~the best band ever~.

I don't even think that everything Bowie did was great. "Let's Dance" sounds like 80s poppy fluff, and there are bands that (in my opinion) did the 80s poppy fluff thing a lot better. I want to slap everyone who posted that on FB (which includes people my age, so it's not like "I danced this a lot when I was a teenager" is an excuse).

That, and the person who thought that the "golden dawn" mentioned in Quicksand was an actual dawn, that was golden, and I gigglesnorted (I thought you might find that funny like I did).

[sabotabby]

I don't even think the Beatles are that bad but I love going on about how they're shit because it pisses off Boomers.

Bowie did some crap but he did enough great music to more than compensate.

That, and the person who thought that the "golden dawn" mentioned in Quicksand was an actual dawn, that was golden, and I gigglesnorted (I thought you might find that funny like I did).

The, um, second line didn't tip them off? No? Hahah.

[princealberic.livejournal.com]

I won't start shrieking in pain if I have to listen to The Beatles, but I also don't think their music is that special -- I just love claiming that they're The Worst for that reason you mentioned.

I agree, Bowie did excellent stuff too so it compensates! My point was more about the discussion following Bowie's death being all "music just isn't what it used to be...", which ignores that Bowie did some crap too, and especially that not all musicians in (say) the 70s were Bowie.

The, um, second line didn't tip them off? No? Hahah.

To be fair, I'm honestly confused because this person just quoted the line without capitalising those words (and this is someone who cares deeply about capitalising things properly) and given the context of that post/their personality, I assume they think it means something it doesn't mean. Or maybe they do and I'm missing something.

I'm amazed that the second line didn't tip them off either, and I'm so tempted to comment with "immersed in Crowley's uniform of imagery, RIP" just to see what happens.

[ironed_orchid]

I hate Let's Dance, and that whole album like burning. China Girl is the actual worst. And yet Bowie was my fave despite it.

My former housemate wrote an awesome thing which I will blatantly copy and paste:

David Bowie produced some music that I absolutely adored, some I hated, and some that didn't speak to me. But that's his genius, right? And why our timelines are filled with Bowie tributes. Because he tried new things, innovated, and pushed boundaries, even at an age when most musicians have retired or simply dine out on their old hits

And the best bit is that the people replying to her all agree, even though they probably disagree about which songs/albums were the good ones.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Perfect answer. I too do not listen to shit music.

[sabotabby]

*briefly scans your profile and blog*

You listen to good music.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Thanks/

[eyelid.livejournal.com]

I keep trying to listen to and discover new music. I find that once I get used to new music I can like it just as much as music I liked in high school. Sometimes more- my tastes appear to be changing, actually.

[sabotabby]

I make an effort, but it's hard because most of the new music I'm exposed to comes from high school kids, and high school kids always have the worst taste in music. But I go out and see new bands and such whenever I can. The vast majority of things I listen to are probably still 30+ years old, but I attribute this to me being old, not to new music being shit.

[ironed_orchid]

When I find stuff I like I often listen to it on repeat so it works it's way into my memory. And also because it makes me happy.

[firecat]

I am suspicious of most claims about things not being as good as they used to be, for the reasons you describe. I reserve particular scorn for the one about music. Also, innovative music today tends to be called noise by people familiar with other styles, the same as it always was.

[sabotabby]

Well, my favourite band has pneumatic drills and jet engines among their instruments so I'm hardly going to lecture anyone about noise.

[franklanguage.livejournal.com]

How do they get them on stage?

[sabotabby]

Very carefully.

[annaleafe.livejournal.com]

I don't know why I was reminded of this. Maybe it's a David Bowie thread and you brought up covers... Anyways, Marilyn Manson was a huge Bowie fan (weird, right?) and covered Golden Years. It's actually phenomenal.


I don't get it, but it works. I think there is definitely something to be said for nostalgia.

[sabotabby]

I always get weirded out when a Marilyn Manson song (usually a cover) comes on and I end up liking it.

[marrythebed.livejournal.com]

You're great. But we already knew that.

[sabotabby]

:D