Is anyone else hitting that age where they're just not up on/don't care about music like they used to be?

[Fenriswolf]

Hot take:
I have a hard time with "the old stuff is better" because, IMO, production gets worse the farther back you go, for the most part, and production values matter. Yeah, some older songs just hit different, I get that, but lets face it - old production sucked. Joe-Nobody with a scarlett, headphones, and free plugins who has never mixed anything in his life makes better sounding productions than we did 30+ years ago.

I mean, personally for me it depends one the music. I like it on the more extreme genres, but the closer it gets to rock and pop, the more I like the old school production where you could tell that someone was actually playing an instrument.

It's just something about albums now, that Rick Beato or someone can youtube could explain a lot better than me, I get what boomers mean when they talk about playing with soul. And that's why I made this tread, I'm understanding boomer opinions on music

 

[Buffnuggler]

I listen to a lot of new music still but it is probably a little less. When I was in High School, I was very hungry to find new bands. Always on blogs etc. Checking out stuff from very small bands that really had no major traction, and some of it I loved, and some of those bands did end up kind of blowing up in their own small little scene as time went on. Others completely fizzled out, nobody would know them now.

In my mid 20s, I had a more developed music taste, but I was still always seeking new music. I have always been a fan of different genres. I go through phases where I listen to a lot of jazz, hip hop, metal, pop. I have really enjoyed a lot of UK rap in the last few years, for example, but now I'm burned out on it.

But now being 33 its hard to deny that things are changing. I don't have any interest in seeking out small obscure bands. I find myself listening to stuff mostly in the car. I hate pod casts so all i listen to is music. I don't really sit down and listen to music anymore, not critically, though I should start doing it again. I used to spend hours just hanging with my friends and spinning records.

I do still play a lot of guitar, though, and music is still a huge part of my life, but that feeling of always wanting to seek new music/find new music has largely died.

I've come to really appreciate live albums as a way to re-experience stuff I love in a different context. Different tones, variations, hype energy. The Linkin Park Meteora anniversary edition they just released has some of the best live tracks I've heard from any band. I don't connect with as much newer music, though. A lot of it feels like generic indie to me, like I'm completely tapped out of the indie scene for the most part (and I loved all that stuff in my 20s). It all sounds the same to me for the most part.

Long post but this is something I've thought about a lot. I've come to prefer more textural music, stuff with a lot of different tones, sounds ideas, and because of that I've fallen out of metal a lot. I still jam a lot of classics and I love Converge, ETID, Dillinger, Knocked Loose, Counterparts etc. But tech death, or metal that has tons of pedal point riffs, I find myself getting kind of bored with, it all just sounds the same. Still love Pantera.

Part of me feels like they don't make them like they used to anymore. The Blood Brothers, Brand New, Glassjaw, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I've seen all those bands and I feel really lucky to say that. I miss when concerts didn't have all the cell phones lol.

 

[Fenriswolf]

But now being 33 its hard to deny that things are changing. I don't have any interest in seeking out small obscure bands. I find myself listening to stuff mostly in the car. I hate pod casts so all i listen to is music. I don't really sit down and listen to music anymore, not critically, though I should start doing it again. I used to spend hours just hanging with my friends and spinning records.

That's one of the reasons I'm going so country these days. With metal, everybody has there genre or 5 and sticks with it, so if I recommend you a new metal song, might be way the fuck off from what you like, so you don't listen to it.

With country, everybody pushes it's more along the lines of its actual country, not the shit they play on the radio. It might not be your preferred genre of country, but its a good song.

 

[owlexifry]

The Blood Brothers

i am so jealous

 

[jaxadam]

One of my big things in life is having respect for your elders. I see there are quite a few people in here I need to put on that list.

 

[ItWillDo]

I find old hits to be better. Stuff like Lorna Shore is only good for a couple of plays. Maybe it's the artificial ambience and super overdone production that makes it not a banger. But like you, I'll find new music like Belakor, Lorna Shore, etc and be super stoked that I have new music to listen to, and then find other old bands like Watain and Immortal with better replay value. You also have to remember that a lot of the new stuff is inspired by the old stuff, so if it's not done right, it's better to go to the root.

Take Angelmaker for instance, inspired by JFAC, All Shall Perish, and all those 2000-2010 deathcore bands.

It was a pleasure discovering them and listening to them live, but it doesn't hit the same as

The current musical project I'm involved in is actually a deathcore "throwback" to put it that way. I (personally) feel like a lot of modern deathcore is straying away from melody and other classical tropes, and everyone is just trying to sound as dissonant/inhumane/"heavy" as possible. It's really starting to sound like slam on hallucinogens.

But that doesn't necessarily mean there's no more market for the former kind. We've just accepted being boomers making music for other boomers (in spirit) .

 

[Marked Man]

I'm in my mid-30s and would say my motivation to find new bands / music has lessened over time, but my enjoyment of music hasn't.

I went on somewhat of a musical journey in my teens and early 20s (as I'm sure a lot of you did), delving into the many subgenres of hard rock and metal. My uptake of new music (new to me, rather than new releases) peaked while I was at university.

I'm now at a point where I have a huge music collection that includes lots of strong examples of a given subgenre (with many more mediocre / subpar examples of the same subgenre left by the wayside). This means I have "enough" music at my disposal to satisfy me, in a way that I really didn't in my younger years. It also means that anything new I hear will need to be that bit better / more original in order to grab my attention.

My CD collection grew from about 20 albums to 800 in the space of about 5 years (i.e. 160 per year). In the subsequent 10 years, it has grown to 1200 or so (i.e. 40 per year), but probably only by about 50 in the last 3-4 years. This slowdown in CD acquisition is despite the fact that I still primarily listen to CDs.

I can identify with this. I still love music as much as ever, although I don't necessarily care about keeping up with allegedly "new" music. Most of my favorite bands were releasing their best material when I was in my teens and twenties, some of them before I was even born, and some of them are still going strong and I still keep up with them.

I am TOTALLY over the idea of jamming with anyone simply because they are willing to, so that has changed. It's more important these days to be on a compatible wavelength since time is precious. Creation has always been my primary goal, and I don't necessarily rely on others for that, although there is nothing better than meeting someone who is a good sounding board for ideas and brings some of their own. I am more interested in meeting creative people than being overly concerned about their technical skill level, although that has always the case. I love working up an obscure cover, especially with some interpretation, but I don't like jamming with people with an "all covers" mentality, especially note for note covers (zero imagination). Covers were more interesting in my early years, but even then I wanted to explore beyond.

 

[Marked Man]

Everyone goes through phases. No, you're not the only one. You'll move onto something else in a few months and suddenly find some enjoyment in some new music you found.

Sure, I fuggin love nineties melodic death metal, metalcore from the early 2000s, and djenty progressive death metal from the 2010s, but I also listen to a ton of industrial, dub, dance, edm, and just switch to a different genre if I start feeling like things are getting stale.

I was totally burned out on the "new" rock/metal scene by the late '90s and early '00s, and got into fast cars instead for a while. Hardly even touched my guitars between '00 and '02.

Was glad when the spark came back though, and it hasn't left.

 

[Seabeast2000]

I’m an old man at 45, but just you try to keep up with me on a bike :
View attachment 133492
My love for music has not waned one bit. I am pretty set in my ways though — I know what’s out there, and I only do metal. Pretty picky about that too. Lately I’ve been on a funeral doom kick and have been really enjoying a bunch of older stuff.

I still love playing too, but have no time for recording with three little kids and a full time career. That’ll have to wait a few more years. I’ve got time, I think.

Whatcha ridin there? Looks like an enduro or downhiller from here but can't tell, just judging from the bottom tube.

 

[KailM]

Whatcha ridin there? Looks like an enduro or downhiller from here but can't tell, just judging from the bottom tube.

Kona Honzo ESD— a hardtail.

You should see what I do on my enduro bike.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I don't care about "metal" like I used to, that's for damn sure. Most "metal" coming out these days is made by tryhard dorks and that's pretty much always been the case.

I, like the universe, am running both forward and backward in time from the point of my creation. I like hot slices of new weird noise, and I like hearing the genesis of genesis, the weird old stuff that makes you wonder how they had those ideas if not by use of time travel or communing with angelic beings. Terry Riley, for example, absolutely is in communion with angelic beings.

I will echo the sentiment of having no time for "jamming." At this point I see improvisational jams as a tool to build cohesiveness between a group of people with specific, long-term creative goals. I have no interest in "jam sessions" for their own sake, it's just not a use of my time that is conducive to my artistic goals.

 

[gnoll]

I find old hits to be better. Stuff like Lorna Shore is only good for a couple of plays. Maybe it's the artificial ambience and super overdone production that makes it not a banger.

I think Lorna Shore is interesting. It feels like music made for youtube reaction videos. It's like everything about it is supposed to grab attention and make you go "wow, look at that". But the music is very basic and formulaic. The song structures are largely the same, the music is simple, they keep reusing the same chord progressions, and even vocal melodies, over and over. And it's all packaged to be overly dramatic and extreme with very fatiguing blastbeats, overblown orchestral elements, and so on. It feels very much like a sign of the times, with all the social media and attention spans getting very short. Music apparently doesn't need depth anymore, it just needs to grab attention.

Hot take:
I have a hard time with "the old stuff is better" because, IMO, production gets worse the farther back you go

I would argue the opposite. Modern production has become very bad. Things now tend to be very flat with not enough room and dynamics. Instruments don't sound like instruments anymore. Take modern metal drums, they sound nothing like an actual drum kit being played. There's also a general over-reliance on things like pitch correction and quantization. In short, terrible.

 

[GunpointMetal]

But the music is very basic and formulaic. The song structures are largely the same, the music is simple, they keep reusing the same chord progressions, and even vocal melodies, over and over. .... Music apparently doesn't need depth anymore, it just needs to grab attention.

This is the same thing as literally every popular genre of music ever since the beginning of recorded music. Last generation says the same thing in different words about the next one. Find something people like, milk it to shit. For some reason a lot of metal enjoyers seem to believe themselves to be of a higher understanding of art or something, lol.

 

[c7spheres]

Old or new and whatever style doesn't matter. If I like it I like it and if not I don't or haven't grown to understand it yet. Almost everything in the 'like' category is pre 2007. After that there's almost nothing. Almost all the best stuff is from 1920 to 2000, and modern stuff from 1960's thru 2000. When music was still created by people and their imaginations and experimentation. I find the same thing with movies. I like almost everything pre 2007 with few exceptions, though the technical ability is now very high and on par with the greatest stuff.

- I think something people tend to forget is most new music is not created so much as it's arranged and edited and produced. Most great music came from a guitar or piano player sitting alone in a room connecting with the universe. Soul bending with a guitar is the way. The action of creating in uncharted territory and forging it little by little or sometimes large chunks at once is more like spilling your soul out than arranging preset patterns and samples. - Real insturments aren't the same thing at all as digital representations of them. They just sound and react different and are too idealized. What this usually means is younger people that haven't experience with them think they sound like shit and that's becauise they kind of do. That's the stuff you gotta chisel off to find you and what you're looking for in there. It's the hard way and a better way, imo. For people trying to be similar to something else and write their own stuff things like plugin's and samples may work better. Uniqueness came from experimenting, problem solving and ignorance and it really shows. Old way of doing things was like painting where new way is like panting by numbers in a way. Not putting down on it so much as putting it in a differerent area or origination and tools to work with, which mostly seems to lead to worse results, probably because most modern tones aren't inspiring or exciting like old stuff was, as back then it was new and uncharted territory etc. I'm pushing 50 now.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Most great music came from a guitar or piano player sitting alone in a room connecting with the universe. Soul bending with a guitar is the way. The action of creating in uncharted territory and forging it little by little or sometimes large chunks at once is more like spilling your soul out than arranging preset patterns and samples.

there's something deeply primal and magical about connecting viscerally with music in real-time, losing sense of self in the physical feedback of mind<>body<>amplifier. when you forget who you are or what you're doing or even that you're making the sounds happen. they are you and you are them and we are all together. that's the shit that keeps me coming back.

 

[c7spheres]

there's something deeply primal and magical about connecting viscerally with music in real-time, losing sense of self in the physical feedback of mind<>body<>amplifier. when you forget who you are or what you're doing or even that you're making the sounds happen. they are you and you are them and we are all together. that's the shit that keeps me coming back.

Don't you do doom or sludge type stuff if I remember correctly? That's got soul bending written all over it. Fuzz and down tuned at a slow bpm is a sure way to get there. Reverb washes, space out and ride the waves until a tube blows out. Add some carrier waves using a buzzy single note action drone or sitar for brain cohesion and you're bonkle bombed for good. lol : )

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Don't you do doom or sludge type stuff if I remember correctly? That's got soul bending written all over it. Fuzz and down tuned at a slow bpm is a sure way to get there. Reverb washes, space out and ride the waves until a tube blows out. Add some carrier waves using a buzzy single note action drone or sitar for brain cohesion and you're bonkle bombed for good. lol : )

tune low, play slow, praise god and crank the master volume

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Hot take:
I have a hard time with "the old stuff is better" because, IMO, production gets worse the farther back you go, for the most part, and production values matter. Yeah, some older songs just hit different, I get that, but lets face it - old production sucked. Joe-Nobody with a scarlett, headphones, and free plugins who has never mixed anything in his life makes better sounding productions than we did 30+ years ago.

To add to what @gnoll said:
What's possible for bedroom / home studio production has certainly come on leaps and bounds. However, while advancements in technology and decades of collective experience theoretically should result in better production by the music industry's big players, this largely isn't the case. Production is tailored to how music is consumed, rather than to sound optimal when consumed optimally.
A lot of people consume relatively low quality digital files through relatively low quality wireless speakers (not uncommonly mono!) / headphones, so (overly) compressed EQ can help to compensate for the harsh treble and loose bass that would otherwise be heard. Listen to the same music through a half-decent hi-fi and it will awful compared to how it should sound with "proper" production.

 

[Musiscience]

Listen to the same music through a half-decent hi-fi and it will awful compared to how it should sound with "proper" production.

This point cannot be overstated. So many modern productions sound flat and lifeless through a good system. Most modern recordings are mastered for headphones, car systems and iPhone/mobile speakers. Just listen to a great jazz recording from 30 years ago through a nice hi-fi, the “depth” and textures of the instruments is night and day.

That being said, good engineers and producers are still very capable, as Neon_knight mentioned its more a product of our times than anything else.

 

[lurè]

I had once the experience to listen to a 70s jazz album through a pretty expensive HiFi setup (McIntosh amp/ expensive speakers) and I was blown away.

Despite the warmth and the details, the space every instrument has in the spectrum is incredibile, almost like listening to an actual gig.
Piano, voice, bass and drum occupy their own space like on a stage.