It was reading this post the other day over at 17 Seconds (and then this one just yesterday at To Die By Your Side) that got me musing on things.
Ed from 17 Seconds has waxed lyrically about his favourite songs, so far, of 2008 and how he’s been buying a lot of CDs recently. In particular, he was highlighting the efforts of a lot of emerging acts and bands.
Coxon from TDBYS on the other hand was commenting about how the year was more than halfway through and while there's been a lot of decent stuff, its been largely the acts of old that he's enjoyed most.
And its Coxon's view of the music world that I find I'm in agreement with......
Up until a year or so ago, I was someone who actively sought out new bands and new music, spending way too much money and too much time and energy trying to stay in tune with what was going on. But not any longer....
I guess the beginning of this sea-change can be traced to me spending quite a few months away from home and over in Toronto in the summer of 2007. I was unable to keep abreast of the latest happenings in terms of indie music in the UK – my normal method had been to tune in regularly to the likes of MTV2 and see if anything caught my fancy – but this of course, was not an option open to me so many thousands of miles away.
In addition, I was also away from my home PC, and while I could get round some blogs and read what folk had to say, I was unable to listen to any mp3s, far less download them and then shove them on the i-pod for a listen at my leisure.
When I later tuned into the 2007 end-of-year round-ups on TV and radio, I found myself strangely detached from it all. There was nothing that really made me sit up to give it extra attention, or that made me think it was something worthy and special. So much so, that I must have been one of the few bloggers to actually not do a personal rundown of the year that had just gone by….
And nothing has changed in 2008.
On the blog itself, I've become completely distracted by nostalgia. I find myself spending more time trying to find innovative ways to bring great songs from a bygone era to the attention of the folk who pop by. I've a lot of admiration foe the likes of Ed, and more particularly, Matthew aka Toad, were are constantly able to bring all sorts of wonderful new things to our attention, and while I do often listen, I don't get the wow factor all that often.
In his posting Coxon says:
There are some okay bands with some alright songs but none that really make me want to bring them to your attention. None that get me really excited..
And that's how I feel. But what Coxon goes on to say next, totally nails it. He asks himself a $64,000,000 question (and then answers it perfectly):-
Have I finally reached some kind of musical saturation point? Have I had my fill of music? Am I finally growing up and getting bored of teenage interests?
No, of course I'm not. At least I don't think so. With the barriers of creation, communication and distribution having been broken down by the internet, great bands should be flourishing more than ever. But it doesn't work like that. I think maybe I'm just expecting the next big thing to be along any minute. That I've been conditioned to expect that. The media are so desperate to find my next favourite band that they proclaim some band as the greatest thing since whichever band graced last week's cover. The disappointment of discovering it's just another Strokes/Libertines/Oasis hybrid playing generic indie music is becoming crushingly inevitable. Worse still, is when it's some unmitigated shite like Scouting For Girls. Our attention spans are becoming so small and our need to be ahead of everyone else so great that we're moving onto the next big thing before the last has had a chance to bloom. We're proclaiming the next messiah without realising they're just a bunch of over rated Brian's. We're so desperate for 'new', that we're willing to accept whatever third rate crap is foisted on us by a media desperate to increase readership.
In reality, I'd guess that the percentage of great bands making great records is about the same as it ever has been. What's different, is that where in the past, every Tom, Dick or Harry in a shit band would have disappeared without a trace, now they have an outlet for their shit music. An international outlet that not only increases their longevity, but also grants them a certain amount of unwarranted credibility, purely because they can get it heard by a global audience. The great bands are out there, I'm sure of it. They're just not as easy to spot. So I guess I'll just have to keep sifting until I find something that sparkles. And then, rest assured I'll share it with you guys.
I had actually pre-drafted much of this post before I read what Coxon had to say. And while I dont think I can really put it better than him, here's what I had typed out....
The CDs and gigs I've most enjoyed in 2008 have been from the old stagers that I’ve loved/admired/appreciated for years.
I did a little experiment the other day by going over to The Hype Machine and listening to a some songs by bands that I’ve noticed have had a fair bit of media attention in recent times – Ting Tings and Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong.
Afterwards, I felt as if I was turning into my dad - as it all sounds the same and it all sounds like stuff that was recorded years ago.
The question I then asked myself was whether I had reached the stage in my life that I’m not interested in change and innovation….or is it just that there is no innovation for change out there in the new and emerging bands??
Or was I looking at this from the wrong perspective?? Technological advances have made it easier than it ever was to make music and to gain some sort of following. There seems to be more bands and acts than ever before – I’m not arguing that this is necessarily a bad thing – but I just feel we’re all at the stage where we cant find any genuine quality as the pressure is on bands and singers to make it big and get rich from Day 1.
I've come to the conclusion that I've reached a stage in my life where I'm happy to look back and recognise that I've more or less completed my tour of duty manning the barricades and fighting for the rights of new bands to be listened to at the expense of the old guard. The most scary thing is that it has seemed to happen overnight and without me really noticing until reading Ed's post a few weeks back.
I am now the 21st Century equivalent of easy-listening. I’m Radio 2 and not Radio 1 or XfM. I’m Mojo and not NME. I’m Club Chocolate Biscuits and not the SubClub. I'm wanting to mostly sit down at gigs and not lose my head down the front...
OK, not entirely. I’ll still rave on about the likes of Frightened Rabbit to anyone who cares to give me 5 minutes. But that’s the exception rather than the rule, as its the singers and musicians I adored in the 80s - Morrissey, Nick Cave, Edwyn Collins, Lloyd Cole, David Gedge and Billy Bragg - who have been the highlights of 2008. If you had told me 20 years or even 20 months ago that I'd feel this way, I'd have laughed and probably had a sense of disappointment about myself. But now that's its actually happened...I'm not the least bit bothered.
Anyone care for a debate or contribution on all I've said?? Or did you switch off halfway through it all and come straight down here for the songs??? Suit Yourself.
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Don't Look Back
mp3 : Frightened Rabbit - Music Now
mp3 : Morrissey - The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
I'll get off the soapbox now......
Ed from 17 Seconds has waxed lyrically about his favourite songs, so far, of 2008 and how he’s been buying a lot of CDs recently. In particular, he was highlighting the efforts of a lot of emerging acts and bands.
Coxon from TDBYS on the other hand was commenting about how the year was more than halfway through and while there's been a lot of decent stuff, its been largely the acts of old that he's enjoyed most.
And its Coxon's view of the music world that I find I'm in agreement with......
Up until a year or so ago, I was someone who actively sought out new bands and new music, spending way too much money and too much time and energy trying to stay in tune with what was going on. But not any longer....
I guess the beginning of this sea-change can be traced to me spending quite a few months away from home and over in Toronto in the summer of 2007. I was unable to keep abreast of the latest happenings in terms of indie music in the UK – my normal method had been to tune in regularly to the likes of MTV2 and see if anything caught my fancy – but this of course, was not an option open to me so many thousands of miles away.
In addition, I was also away from my home PC, and while I could get round some blogs and read what folk had to say, I was unable to listen to any mp3s, far less download them and then shove them on the i-pod for a listen at my leisure.
When I later tuned into the 2007 end-of-year round-ups on TV and radio, I found myself strangely detached from it all. There was nothing that really made me sit up to give it extra attention, or that made me think it was something worthy and special. So much so, that I must have been one of the few bloggers to actually not do a personal rundown of the year that had just gone by….
And nothing has changed in 2008.
On the blog itself, I've become completely distracted by nostalgia. I find myself spending more time trying to find innovative ways to bring great songs from a bygone era to the attention of the folk who pop by. I've a lot of admiration foe the likes of Ed, and more particularly, Matthew aka Toad, were are constantly able to bring all sorts of wonderful new things to our attention, and while I do often listen, I don't get the wow factor all that often.
In his posting Coxon says:
There are some okay bands with some alright songs but none that really make me want to bring them to your attention. None that get me really excited..
And that's how I feel. But what Coxon goes on to say next, totally nails it. He asks himself a $64,000,000 question (and then answers it perfectly):-
Have I finally reached some kind of musical saturation point? Have I had my fill of music? Am I finally growing up and getting bored of teenage interests?
No, of course I'm not. At least I don't think so. With the barriers of creation, communication and distribution having been broken down by the internet, great bands should be flourishing more than ever. But it doesn't work like that. I think maybe I'm just expecting the next big thing to be along any minute. That I've been conditioned to expect that. The media are so desperate to find my next favourite band that they proclaim some band as the greatest thing since whichever band graced last week's cover. The disappointment of discovering it's just another Strokes/Libertines/Oasis hybrid playing generic indie music is becoming crushingly inevitable. Worse still, is when it's some unmitigated shite like Scouting For Girls. Our attention spans are becoming so small and our need to be ahead of everyone else so great that we're moving onto the next big thing before the last has had a chance to bloom. We're proclaiming the next messiah without realising they're just a bunch of over rated Brian's. We're so desperate for 'new', that we're willing to accept whatever third rate crap is foisted on us by a media desperate to increase readership.
In reality, I'd guess that the percentage of great bands making great records is about the same as it ever has been. What's different, is that where in the past, every Tom, Dick or Harry in a shit band would have disappeared without a trace, now they have an outlet for their shit music. An international outlet that not only increases their longevity, but also grants them a certain amount of unwarranted credibility, purely because they can get it heard by a global audience. The great bands are out there, I'm sure of it. They're just not as easy to spot. So I guess I'll just have to keep sifting until I find something that sparkles. And then, rest assured I'll share it with you guys.
I had actually pre-drafted much of this post before I read what Coxon had to say. And while I dont think I can really put it better than him, here's what I had typed out....
The CDs and gigs I've most enjoyed in 2008 have been from the old stagers that I’ve loved/admired/appreciated for years.
I did a little experiment the other day by going over to The Hype Machine and listening to a some songs by bands that I’ve noticed have had a fair bit of media attention in recent times – Ting Tings and Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong.
Afterwards, I felt as if I was turning into my dad - as it all sounds the same and it all sounds like stuff that was recorded years ago.
The question I then asked myself was whether I had reached the stage in my life that I’m not interested in change and innovation….or is it just that there is no innovation for change out there in the new and emerging bands??
Or was I looking at this from the wrong perspective?? Technological advances have made it easier than it ever was to make music and to gain some sort of following. There seems to be more bands and acts than ever before – I’m not arguing that this is necessarily a bad thing – but I just feel we’re all at the stage where we cant find any genuine quality as the pressure is on bands and singers to make it big and get rich from Day 1.
I've come to the conclusion that I've reached a stage in my life where I'm happy to look back and recognise that I've more or less completed my tour of duty manning the barricades and fighting for the rights of new bands to be listened to at the expense of the old guard. The most scary thing is that it has seemed to happen overnight and without me really noticing until reading Ed's post a few weeks back.
I am now the 21st Century equivalent of easy-listening. I’m Radio 2 and not Radio 1 or XfM. I’m Mojo and not NME. I’m Club Chocolate Biscuits and not the SubClub. I'm wanting to mostly sit down at gigs and not lose my head down the front...
OK, not entirely. I’ll still rave on about the likes of Frightened Rabbit to anyone who cares to give me 5 minutes. But that’s the exception rather than the rule, as its the singers and musicians I adored in the 80s - Morrissey, Nick Cave, Edwyn Collins, Lloyd Cole, David Gedge and Billy Bragg - who have been the highlights of 2008. If you had told me 20 years or even 20 months ago that I'd feel this way, I'd have laughed and probably had a sense of disappointment about myself. But now that's its actually happened...I'm not the least bit bothered.
Anyone care for a debate or contribution on all I've said?? Or did you switch off halfway through it all and come straight down here for the songs??? Suit Yourself.
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Don't Look Back
mp3 : Frightened Rabbit - Music Now
mp3 : Morrissey - The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
I'll get off the soapbox now......
20 comments:
I was feeling something like this earlier this year. At first I put the blame on my approaching 40th. But I realized that while I hadn't been listening to new bands/music, I was listening to music that was new to me. I was exploring lots of music that I hadn't heard before - ie the soul and reggae stuff, the rare/unheard/unreleased stuff, and the things that I'd never had the money or time to go out and buy when it was in vinyl form. MP3 blogs put a lot of that in my reach. And there is only a certain amount of time in the day!
And then there was the realisation that I had way too much music already that I simply don't listen to very much. I made a conscious decision to make the most of what I already had.
But I will add that I haven't heard much new this year that stands out and goes OI SIMON!!! I am waiting for something to do that...
Well, I often think that at the end of the day the whole dilemma reduces itself to be just a question of time: we all have our daily jobs and only after work we can listen to music, either new or old stuff. One folk can spend more time on it, the other (married? with children?) folk can spend less.
For example, only recently I heard my very first Toadcast done by the brilliant Matthew out of Song, by Toad. After having done that I downloaded (the first) ten of these Toadcasts, all in all about 800 minutes of stuff to listen to. I'm currently working myself through them in the car on me way to work and back, which is great fun, I admit. But then again I often think: oh boy, you're spending too much time on these: as soon as you get home, you have to have a look at, for example, 17 Seconds, in order to find out what brilliant new stuff Ed has posted. Also this week's episode of the Contrast Podcast has to be worked upon. Ah, yes, and of course it's high time to post a new edition of 'My Peel Tapes' for my own site. And these are just three examples out of a dozen! Then I get home and my wife says: 'Listen, have a quick shower, we have to go to my cousin's boring birthday party right now' ... and all my wonderful plans to explore the amazing world of music are being ruined within a second! But bloody hell, what am I supposed to do? Mrs. Loser can get very angry at times, believe me!
So, in other words, you can't have everything, right? And that is also the case with 'new' music: of course there might be, hidden somewhere deep in the jungle of the internet, a new Elvis. But does it really count if it is me who discovers him? Certainly not. I don't have the time to do that. Nor do I want to. I'd rather spend the limited time I have with bringing the stuff I already know to the attention of people who don't know it yet. And mind you, after all, I - or should I say 'we' - have already done our duties: most of us have already given away half a lifetime in spending lots of money and queing outside crap venues in cold winter nights to see hundreds of shitty indie bands ... just to make a handful of good discoveries.
You still have to achieve this, kids. But before you have done so, spend your free time and find the fucking new Elvis for me in the www.
I'll have a bottle of red with Mrs. Loser in the meantime ...
Aged 38 I agree with everything you have all said. More and more I find the new stuff is the same as stuff I used to listen to , but worse, and the old stuff just sounds better and better. At the moment I listen to HMHB, and wish any modern band had half the wit and ideas. Ditto Andrew Weatherall, Nick Cave, the Cramps, Flaming Stars, Edwyn Collins etc etc. The NME used to be written for adults (I think). I've had this conversation recently. It's age I guess. But something new will come along that sounds great at some point. If not new.
Also, I think as we get older and have proper jobs and kids, and serious stuff to deal with as well as the usual demands on our time, time spent actually listening to music shrinks, listening habits change. I'm a vinyl fanatic, but spend more time downloading from blogs and listening in the car than at home, unless it's while washing up. Rock and roll. There's far more outlets for music but fewer filters. On the other hand blogs like yours do what Peel and the NME used to do- introduce me to or remind me about stuff, which I then listen to almost immediately. Previously a review on the NME singles page or hearing something on Peel etc meant a trip to town and a search through the record shops, followed by either ecstacy or crushing disappointment when I got home. A problem I've found is that with the internet etc I listen to music in accelerated snatches, often while doing something else, but at least I can get hold of the stuff fairly quickly. Then follow it with trip to record shop/ebay. Does anybody else have a kind of ranking system? Some things have to be bought on vinyl, some can be bought on cd, some never get beyond mp3. Maybe we're all nuts.
Yes, I'm 44, and agree with all of what's been said here and on the blog. Personally, I think what happens is that you simply gain perspective as you get older, and with that perspective you realize that nearly all 'new' music is in some shape or form similar to 'old' music. Every artist has his/her influences. When you're older, you hear those influences clearly. When you're a teen, you don't necessarily know what music has come before 'yours' and so everything sounds fresh. That, I think, is what makes you take ownership of the music, and it's why that music stays relevant in your life will into middle age. It happens every generation - I've got a 13-year-old daughter going through it right now.
I find myself, instead of looking for the next big thing, looking backward to music that was around before I was born. Lots of big band and early jazz and world music find their way into my studio now.
Having said that, I still keep an ear open, and can recommend a few new artists for anyone interested: Hotrod Cadets (from Scotland, no less), Basic Shape and Art of Fighting (Aussie), Devotchka and Calexico are all doing great stuff. And the new Tim Keegan (ex-Departure Lounge) "Foreign Domestic" is fantastic.
DC
I'm partly posting because I'm enjoying the experience of following 'swiss adam' around and partly to agree with everyone else, especially about the coming up to 40 business, although I also still feel in the first flush of youth with lots of musical things because I've only been back in the game for a couple of years. I'm very busy catching up with things I didn't listen to in the 90s still and going back to bits and pieces of favourite things from back before then. There are a handful of recent things that I like an awful lot - Battle and New Rhodes particularly - but most of the time - well, I liked Matthew's post about Black Kids the other day and think that said a lot of what the problem is - when people become the new big thing before they've even had a chance to be the next big thing then nothing makes sense anymore and everything's moving to fast.
Well I'm a bit younger - 32 - and I think the time factor might be just about the most important one. There's just only so long you can spend doing all this stuff. Remember back when you got into all the classic stuff, how much was played once on a radio show and then forgotten - it's like much of the stuff nowadays: a few blogs get hold of them, they don't really stick, and then they quietly vanish.
And those great bands you talk about don't just spring into existence overnight either. Devotchka and Calexico, who Dave mentioned, are at least three or four albums into their careers - that's what is usually needed to make a legendary group.
One of the most frustrating things is that a brand of indie has been taken over by the pop industry, and they are pushing stuff that is superficially described as indie to an indie target audience. This muddies the waters though, because these bands are just plastic pop groups who happen to play guitars. Scouting For Girls are Not A Band.
Also, what's to get excited about anyway? I have maybe twenty bands that I would say hold legendary status in my estimation. Twenty bands in the history of recorded music. So I guess it's no surprise that we don't come across bands of that stature every day. It's what makes the ones we do love all the more special.
P.S. Thanks for all the nice words, lads. It's genuinely appreciated.
Where has Adam been following me? I'm intrigued/perturbed (delete as appropriate).
Well I'm awfully young compared to you guys, turning 19 in August, but I've felt like this most of my life. Actually growing up I had the idea that I just didn't like music at all because so much of the stuff that everyone raved about did absolutely nothing for me. I grew up without cable or internet so the music I heard was basically limited to pop radio and what the neighbors were listening to. But now that I have more exposure I'm realizing that I actually love music, its just that its so hard to find things that I do like that I get frustrated, and it feels like it takes a great effort to find music that is actually worth listening to, and most of its from years past. There's just so much music available, most of it crap, that it takes a great deal of effort to form your own music tastes nowadays. I normally don't comment on blogs and such but this just seemed to go along so much with what I've been fighting with with my own music tastes lately. It has nothing to do with age or how much music you've heard. Its just how hard it is to find the good stuff through all the bad now that its so easy for bands to get their stuff out there.
new stuffs always been crap it's a well known fact. apart from the bits i liked obviously. but not once anybody else did. then it was crap again. when i was little nowness and newness mattered desperately cos i thought i was so new and now and even though i delved into the past it was often the past shown be by my happening heroes.
somehow you kind of catch up and for me the old stuff takes over cos there's so much magical stuff out there to be discovered new stuff has to be bloody bloody good to compete.
or something
x
WHAT FOLLOWS CAME IN AN E-MAIL TO ME....BUT I THOUGHT IT REALLY BELONGED IN HERE. IT WAS WRITTEN BY A FELLOW GLASWEGIAN CALLED SIMON......
I read with great interest today's blog about enjoying acts of old more than current acts.
There is far more music out there for people to hear than probably any other time thanks largely to the internet. Obviously for new acts this is a good thing as they can get their music heard by people everywhere and thanks to blogs like your own people can hear music they may not ordinarily of heard.
The downside is the amount of second rate bands that are "the next big thing" who are propelled almost overnight into the limelight and believe what the media are saying about them. I still try to keep up with what is new out there but ultimately most of the time end up putting on "George Best" or "Psychocandy" or some other album that brings back a sea of memories.
There will always be great new bands being discovered but will they give you that same feeling of joy you got when hearing New Order do "Age of Consent" live for the first time or seeing Edwyn Collins get on stage at Oran Mor and perform "Blueboy".
I would like to think a new band would get me that excited but if one doesn't come along there is so much wonderful music out there from the last 50 years to keep me going that ultimately that's enough for me. After reading today's post I recalled the last few gigs that I've been to - Edwyn at Oran Mor, The Police at Manchester Arena, The Cowboy Junkies, The Blue Nile and The Wedding Present doing George Best - and thought to myself with music as good as that who needs anything else...........
Great thought-provoking post, JC. It reminded me of an interview with Lloyd Cole I read in the SF Chronicle back in the autumn when he played here. This is what he said:
'"It's possible to get to an age where you feel full up with culture or music or sometimes relationships, and you just don't have the desire to go out looking for something new and fresh anymore. That's not necessarily a bad thing," he says. "When you're young and constantly digesting new art and music all the time, you see the idea of some 45-year-old geezer sitting in his rocking chair digesting nothing, and you might think he's a sad character.
"But, at 45, that person may have digested 1,000 times as much as you have, and he's got so much in his brain he needs time to ruminate. Quite often, I listen to Brazilian music because I don't know what they're saying. That may sound like a cynical exercise, but sometimes it works."'
The full article is here:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/11/PKALT42ED.DTL&hw=lloyd+cole&sn=001&sc=1000
For me, I never felt like I could keep up with it all, so I don't worry about it so much now. I'm grateful that a lot of the acts I liked earlier are still around making good music. I accept that I can't go out every night to listen to bands and like Simon said in the first comment, there is still so much old stuff for me to explore too. So, I guess I just kind of poke around and see what catches my fancy but that's it. I have no system :).
I can relate to an extent, though the recent debut album by Tiger! Tiger! is the greatest thing I've heard in ages.
"The downside is the amount of second rate bands that are "the next big thing" who are propelled almost overnight into the limelight and believe what the media are saying about them."
I think this may have more to do with celebrity culture hitching a ride on the music bandwagon than it has to do with the health of the music industry, although one obviously has an impact on the other.
I also think there is an air of desperation about the major labels at the moment, so the second they catch a sniff of a buzz around a group they jump all over it, with that vacant, defeated stare of the bankrupt old gambler who never leaves the bookies.
And I just don't think we are as bombarded with new music as we think. We are, but we are here on the interenetz looking for it, so we can't really complain. In the old days we'd be listening to John Peel and pirate radio and reading the NME instead, and we'd have just as much shit pushed in our direction, only we wouldn't feel as obliged to have an opinion on it. What with blogs and fora and comment threads and so on, it seems that at the moment we feel somewhat overburdened with the imaginary need to actually think something about the mediocre stuff, instead of just enjoying the one time we hear it and then moving on without a second thought.
Any music I haven't heard yet is New to me - might be from 68, 78, 08: don't care as long as it's good. Message ends x
It's great to hear that so many people feel like I do.
I'm 46 and music has always been one of the most important things in my life, but as the years pass there does seem to be less and less really good music out there.Is this because of my age? or is new music just crappier than before.Well, I know it's my age!Most of todays decent music sounds like or reminds me of music of yesteryear...but evey now and then something special comes along to remind me that I still have a pulse.
Thomas Dybdahl and Obi are two newish artists that are excellent ,and I have to listen to something new untill Paddy McAloon get's off his arse.
Phil
Tel Aviv
p.s.Bugger the new Elvis ,I want to hear the new Paul Quinn
If I can back up what Matthew said a couple of responses back about not actually getting new stuff presented to you unless you go hunting for it, which is what a hardcore - but significant minority - of us musicophiles use the internet for now that the traditional routes have been blocked..
I used to listen to XFM in the mornings because I generally prefer music with guitars and drums (and humans) on it to music performed by five shop mannequins fed through an autotune system (I know, call me fussy); but I soon realised that XFM were just playing the same dozen or so songs every day. You'd only have to listen for around an hour-and-a-half until the same songs started looping round again.
Obviously the large corporations were dictating what I heard.
That realisation - which happened around the start of 2008 for me - is what prompted me to start hunting round the web and looking at blogs like this to get my fix of something that actually engaged me. Music that turned me on, made my hair stand on end, repulsed me, made me laugh. I want to experience an emotional response when I hear music. I want music to make me feel like I felt when I first heard Easy Lover by messrs. Collins and Bailey when I was ten. (Come on - you know you love that song!)
And, if during that period of barely six months, I've encountered magical stuff like The Young Republic and Mumford & Sons, stuff that gives me that Easy Lover tingle of a ten-year-old, then it looks like I'm on the right track.
(I'm sure there was a point back there somewhere...)
DITTO. DITTO. DITTO
If it weren't for ALL of you music bloggers, I don't know what I would do. I am a 50 year old stay at home mother of 3 who needs to get back to the working world as my oldest will be going to college in the fall.
I still haven't found the "new Elvis", but thanks to all of you, I have come close.
Unfortunately, we live in clear channel air space and every day I express to my kids how sorry I feel for them. It's so bad here (CT) I won't even play the radio in the car.
Thanks to all of you, my kids have a well developed taste for great music. I make many cd's for their friends and hand them out like candy!
My standard response to hubby's weekly question - "come across any good jobs yet hon?":
No honey, I'm afraid not. It's a full time job just trying to feed my kids good tunes.
“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”
Many many MANY thanks again.
o.k. I'm gonna REALLY show my age here......
have a listen to this b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l song that Ringo dedicated to Harry Nilsson
Harry's Song
hope you all like it.
Glad to have inspired a post, if not the impact that I had with Orange Juice a few months ago!
Just to add my penny's worth, I still wonder if I'm still into newer stuff as much as I once was, after all, the top of my songs of the year is the wedding present and I've not made it to anywhere near as many gigs so far this year as last.
I do try and ocver new acts at 17 Seconds as well as old, but believe me, I don't post everything that appears in my inbox (not that I have been accused of this, but I seem to get a lot of bands sending me stuff, which is great, but then spend forver trying to get through it all).
There are always times when you wonder if you feel exicted by new music any more, I have believe it or not, felt like it in the last six months at times, and as for 2000, that felt like a bad patch too...
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