Not so sure music has has improved that much

[JS Esq.]

Don't confuse the massive problems in the commercial music industry (consolidation, top-down control, formulaic songwriting, lack of support for musicians, etc.) with a lack of creativity and talent in contemporary music.

If you like blues, check out artists like Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats or Leon Bridges.

Some of the finest instrumentalists of the last century feature prominently in today's newgrass space - Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, even Yo-Yo Ma.

There are still a number of great rock bands - Cage the Elephant, Frightened Rabbit (well, the lead singer killed himself, so not anymore), Muse, Vampire Weekend, and so forth. They just don't receive a lot of commercial airplay.

The radio dial stinks, but there's a lot of amazing music being made - or at least there was before everything shut down.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The radio dial stinks, but there's a lot of amazing music being made - or at least there was before everything shut down.

The last two weeks I have been binge listening to Home Free (country a cappella with the best human beat box and human bass guitar voice simulator I've heard), Dirty Loops (three mutants in their 20's from The Royal College of Music in Stockholm) and a 17 year old Japanese guitar phenom named Kent Nishimura.

PS: I am a yuge Edgar Meyer devotee. ☺

 

[pharmer]

Don't forget the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hot Tuna, Vanilla Fudge, the Raspberries, the Cranberries, the Lemonheads etc, etc...

I'm trying real hard to remember. Joe

 

[Rustyt1953]

I'm trying real hard to remember. Joe

I have had the pleasure of meeting both Jorma and Jack at the Fur Peace Ranch. Good times.

 

[LennyLames]

I agree with some of you, from a multi-generational perspective. Music does not improve over time.

My grandparents thought my parents' music was a bunch of noise.

My parents thought my music was a bunch of noise.

I think my kids' music is cacophony.

The genre we can all listen to is classical, from long-dead musicians who did not die of drug overdoses, and whose creative talents were not fueled by drugs.

I actually play a couple of instruments for relaxation and I've performed different kinds of music from different periods. One type I can't do is rap.

 

[Bugkiller99]

And this week we are saddened by the loss of the Maestro :
Ennio Morricone has passed

Maybe not the music on your radio growing up, but certainly worth listening to now.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Bugkiller, you are correct in that we all should spend time studying Ennio. Absalom has a nice tribute thread going on him:

Ennio Morricone has passed

 

[oldbrownhat]

My grandparents thought my parents' music was a bunch of noise.

My parents thought my music was a bunch of noise.

I think my kids' music is cacophony.

Hence this:

 

[oldbrownhat]

Some of the finest instrumentalists of the last century feature prominently in today's newgrass space - Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, even Yo-Yo Ma.

Speaking of which, this new release sounds interesting:

'Not Our First Goat Rodeo' combines the talents of the four solo artists, each a Grammy Award- winning talent in his own right, to create a singular sound that's part composed, part improvised, and uniquely American.
The music featured in this stunning album is so complex to pull off that the group likens it to a goat rodeo — an aviation term for a situation in which 100 things need to go right to avoid disaster
​

 

[Telecaster]

I like Saint Motel. This song has "Smith and Wesson" in the lyrics, and it's not anti-gun

SAINT MOTEL - Van Horn (Official Music Video) - YouTube

 

[S42N8]

Not altogether sure thaT music gets better or worse by generation, but I do subscribe to the notion that the more formulaic music is, the worse it gets. Certainly exceptions to that, but I'd much rather listen to 50s jazz than the 2010s pop — the overproduced, compressed and generally loud mixes don't work for me. Just an opinion.

 

[ancient-one]

I am glad that I have a bunch of Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, Mickey Gilly, Ray Price, George and Tammy, Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson, Take it away Leon and other good stuff.
The stuff they play for Country stinks up the airways. My grandson is in process of putting a lot of my stuff on a thumb drive so I can play it in my car.

 

[Texas Star]

Music hasn't IMPROVED since, Greensleeves was written, or the days of Bach and Beethoven. It's just different

And some is more noise than music.

 

[M1A]

40's through 80's was music. It's gone. Even country is generally no good anymore.

 

[Rustyt1953]

De gustibus non est disputandum.

What he said!

 

[mike from st pete]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Vt0UGwmgQ[/ame]

 

[Cleandean]

I really miss the big band live behind and with us as the " RATPACK"
11 in the group and we three knockoffs ... Singing and joking.
Not enough gigs, still too much travel , and growing disentiion. Nothing's Forever. We were almost as good as the originals.
At least I have us on CD & DVD.

 

[Deceasedeye]

Some ain't too bad. Wife and I watched "Hamilton" on Disney the other evening. It's sort of "Hip-Hop History." High energy singing and dancing with some "real" information that young folks might like. Except for making Thomas Jefferson foolish we enjoyed it (and the tickets cost $0). Joe

You missed the point, the idea was to make ALL look foolish not just Jefferson!

 

[Kinman]

As far as I'm concerned the ONLY music genre that has continued to be of any listening value is Jazz/Blues , there are some excellent musicians that carry on the Bluegrass Tradition but what is known today as Country Music is of little value to me. The only radio station my car is tuned to is a local Jazz station, the only music played daily in the house is the same local Jazz station. While down in New Orleans a few years ago I was amazed at the number of excellent radio stations playing local Jazz/Blue and Creole (Zydeco) music. I never get tired of listening to that stuff, its uplifting, makes me smile.

 

[walkin jack]

I think EVOLVE is a better word than change as it applies to music. Older groups like the Stones, Eagles etc endure but they evolve and still incorporate an element of their original sounds.

Also singers like Tony Bennett, George Strait, etc.

All music evolves as tastes change with each generation but if a form of music is good enough or if enough people continue to enjoy it it will endure as it started.