Why don't you listen to something modern?

So goes the refrain of a certain work colleague who shall remain nameless, when he heard I'd been to see Marillion. He accuses me, quite wrongly, of living in the 1970s.

Nonsense! Here are some of the bands I've seen or will be seeing this year:

Rammstein, only three (or is it four) albums so far
Porcupine Tree, who I think you'll find started in the 90s
Marillion, who played nothing from earlier than 1989
The Mars Volta, who have only been going for about 18 months
Mostly Autumn, first album 1996
Paradise Lost, yet another 1990s band

So what's this 'modern' music I'm supposed to be listening to instead? Turns out it's the likes of Franz Ferdinand and The Kaiser Chiefs. In other words, ridiculously overhyped reheated 80s new wave pastiche, doing nothing that the likes of XTC or Magazine didn't do 25 years ago. I find Franz Ferdinand boring and shallow, all style and no substance. And while The Kaiser Chiefs "I predict a one hit wonder" might be a decent song, they're no better overall than The Darkness.

I fail to see why Rammstein, Porcupine Tree or The Mars Volta is dated and old-fashioned, while the current crop of retro four-chord poseurs is considered state of the art. Perhaps some people need to tune out the media hype.

Posted by TimHall at November 23, 2005 10:36 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Yeah, but the 'modern' music is so bland that people forget it, and forget that it was all done years ago. To them, it probably sounds new!

Most people seem to want comfort; a cosy, simple tune to hum along to, without really paying it attention.

Posted by: NRT on November 24, 2005 11:00 AM

What's worse, this guy is in his forties, and goes to a load of gigs, and boasts of spending �30-40 a ticket for each one.

And needless to say, his response to "Porcupine Tree" is "Never heard of them!".

Posted by: Tim Hall on November 24, 2005 09:03 PM

Hell, I couldn't get to see PT recently and wish I'd been able to see them!

Was talking about Ian McDonald with a friend the other night after Hot Tuna in NYC. He couldn't believe it was the same man in both Crimson and Foreigner...

Posted by: Scott on November 28, 2005 02:39 PM

Ah, Foreigner. The epitome of soulless corporate rock. The Coldplay of their day....

I do actually have a couple of their albums, which I haven't listened to for years.

Posted by: Tim Hall on November 28, 2005 10:41 PM

Its like this... why do we still revere the works of Beethoven? Because good music doesn't ever get dated. PT and Marillion have lasted because they have talent. These are the legendary bands of tomorrow that people will be talking about like they talk about bands like Zep now. Too bad your friend won't get to appreciate this.

Posted by: davindium on December 5, 2005 06:32 PM

We have to face the fact that most people are less interested in the actual *music* than they are at 'being cool'. So they pretend to like whatever's been hyped this week. So they boast about going to see a band 'who are going to be really big' rather than one who are really good.

Posted by: Tim Hall on December 5, 2005 06:39 PM


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