Like many people, as I get older, I partake less and less of popular culture. For example, the Grammy for Album of the Year was won by Arcade Fire (the person or group) for the album “The Suburbs”. It may be a great album but I’ve never heard it. The Oscar for Best Picture went to “The King’s Speech” and I haven’t seen it. The Emmy for Best Drama was won by “Mad Men” — I watch it now (so I’m not a total isolate) but I had to go back and catch the first two seasons on DVD. Then there’s Snooki, Marc Anthony, Katy Perry, Usher — who are these people? What am I missing?
You watch a river long enough and something interesting is sure to float downstream and catch your eye, only to be swept along by the current, tumble over a ledge, and disappear from view. And your gaze returns to the river to await the next small passing pleasure.
There’s a natural tendency to consider the music of your youth to be the best or at least the reference point for what’s normal. Some would say that the late 60’s period was truly a special case and not just what happened to be popular – maybe so (Betty’s daughter once told me that she envied us for having been able to experience the Beatles as the new music of our teenage years). Of course your youthful tastes were probably broader than most, not only the Beatles, but Zappa, Kinks, etc. as well, so you were clearly open to a wide range of music, not only what was popular at the time.
I share this sentiment and more or less reflexively reject most new or “recent” (80’s on!) music that sounds like rap or disco or metal, whatever it may be called nowadays. But the good news is that you can pick and choose, and the other good news is that there is a lot of intelligent, clever, moving, original and quality music out there, being created by more people than ever, and more accessible than ever before. It is far from monolithic. I actively strive to find and hear new music that appeals to me, and there is a lot that does – singer-songwriters, rock, some pop, some R&B, even some country. Part of this is related to my persistent desire to create new music of my own – not that I am trying to make that music conform to what people are doing now (which is everything, including new “70’s music,” which is more or less where I fit). I don’t expect many people to buy or hear my music, but it’s fun to make, and if a few people also hear it, that’s fun too. The internet makes that possible with SoundCloud, SoundClick, CD Baby, and even Amazon and iTunes without much effort.
Which brings us to Arcade Fire and The Suburbs. Great album – modern rock but not TOO modern. They write cool songs and you know they listened to their 60’s music though they are not any sort of retro sound. I happened to buy that album last year, I think as an Amazon MP3 deal of the day (I buy most of my MP3 albums for $5 or less, many for $2 or $3 as daily deals). I also download a lot of free MP3’s from Amazon and iTunes – low risk previews of new music. I also have subscribed to Paste Magazine which used to have a monthly CD but has morphed into an online thing now. Paste is really geared for people like me – people beyond their 20’s who still have an interest in new music, but not in Katy Perry or Rihanna (teen pop and dance music) or rap etc. I don’t watch TV so I don’t know or care about Snooki either, but that’s cool. We don’t go to the movies much but we do have Netflix and we did see The King’s Speech (after it won), very good movie. I rarely have seen more than one or two best picture nominees before the Oscars (which I usually don’t bother watching).
So I say don’t worry about being out of touch with 90% of pop culture. That’s probably a good plan. But don’t let that discourage you from dipping a few toes into the 10% that might actually appeal to you. This may require wading out a few feet into the river.
I also want to mention the Grip Weeds, a NJ band I discovered recently. They really are connected somehow to the 60’s in their sounds and sensibilities. Some call it psychedelic music but that’s only part of it. They remind me at times of the Moody Blues, the Beatles, the Who, and others, but they are not “doing” any particular 60’s thing, they are evoking the 60’s. I really like them. I blogged on them a few weeks ago. If you look at my “music” key word you can see the recent history of my music obsessions as well as notes about making music.
Thanks for your expressive note and encouragement, Bruce, and I am also happy to include a plug for your blog.