Now that I'm gettin' older, so much older...

[sundari]

How have your musical tastes evolved as you have gotten older?  Do you still like music you liked when you were younger, or have you moved on to another genre/type entirely?

[Tracy 2112]

I have gotten into ambient music pretty heavily - Eno, Stars of the Lid, Eluvium, oophoi, Fripp, Harold Budd, Steve Roach, As Lonely as Dave Bowman, Igneous Flame, Amir Baghiri, Boast/Rothe, Bruno Sanfilippo, Matt Borghi, Michael Stearns, Robert Henke, Seconds Before Awakening.

Eluvium | Everything to Come

[Jaimoe]

How have your musical tastes evolved as you have gotten older?  Do you still like music you liked when you were younger, or have you moved on to another genre/type entirely?

Yes, evolved and devolved.

I still love the artists of my early youth (age 5-12) such as Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, Who, Hendrix and Neil Young, but can't really stand most other classic rock, including prog and art rock. When I hit my late teens to early 20's, I started loving the Allmans (I liked the Dead before high school) and moved onto jam bands, but I can't stand that dead genre anymore (except for the aforementioned pioneers). I always liked blues, but became more of a fan in my mid '20s (same with jazz). My love of blues and like of jazz won't ever go away - same with funk (everyone should own Maggot Brain). I started loving Zappa when I was around 26 (I'm in my early 40s now).

However, my taste in blues, folk and rock has devolved over the past decade. I love rawer music now such as the White Stripes, Black Keys, Junior Kimbrough, Stooges, Tool and Muddy Waters over slicker stuff that rots all genres. 

I finally got into punk and some important '80s bands about 15 years ago thanks in some ways to my punk-drumming roommate (he was in a punk band that had a bit of a run on the indie Canadian charts in the early '80s and his group opened a few shows for the Ramones). I liked the Clash in high school, but it took me awhile to understand and embrace other great punk bands. I used to brush off the '80s as garbage, but I didn't really have a good outlet for important bands and was pretty ignorant of the greatness of The Replacements, Pixies, Galaxie 500, Sonic Youth, Husker Du (and a few others) in the '80s; I was too busy "evolving" back then to care. Idiot.

[el_chode]

I was a victim of a teen angst marketing machine for a few years in high school. Aside from most of the "big" 90s act that I can't stand anymore, I still remain true to the artists that first turned me on to good music - Mule, Crowes, Hendrix, etc. The only 90s "big" acts I can stomach anymore are Soundgarden, PUSA, and Pearl Jam. I don't consider Sonic Youth (a 90s act to me), Pavement, etc to be "big" in the same way as Smashing Pumpkins, AiC, STP, and whatnot.

I am 28

[Jaimoe]

The '90s was a godsend though. I could hear 'real' rock establishing itself once again. I didn't and still don't like some of the big bands of the era such as Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis, but certainly appreciate what they were doing. The late '90s and through the last decade was a boon for popular music. The last 15-20 years of music is a Golden Age from where I'm sitting; same with television.

[Tracy 2112]

I finally got into punk and some important '80s bands about 15 years ago thanks in some ways to my punk-drumming roommate (he was in a punk band that had a bit of a run on the indie Canadian charts in the early '80s and his group opened a few shows for the Ramones). I liked the Clash in high school, but it took me awhile to understand and embrace other great punk bands. I used to brush off the '80s as garbage, but I didn't really have a good outlet for important bands and was pretty ignorant of the greatness of The Replacements, Pixies, Galaxie 500, Sonic Youth, Husker Du (and a few others) in the '80s; I was too busy "evolving" back then to care. Idiot.

Man, you just took the words right out of my mouth. Even the part about 15 years ago. Scary. I didn't have a punk-drumming roomate; I waited tables at a restaurant and the guys in the kitchen turned me on to all of that. It was a solid learning and my mind opened up. I was a "metal head wannabe" in the 80's and would literally get into fights about how bad The Violent Femmes were. Although, curiously enough, I was a huge REM fan. You know, that heavy metal band from Athens, Georgia?  :-\ :-\   

[Jaimoe]

I finally got into punk and some important '80s bands about 15 years ago thanks in some ways to my punk-drumming roommate (he was in a punk band that had a bit of a run on the indie Canadian charts in the early '80s and his group opened a few shows for the Ramones). I liked the Clash in high school, but it took me awhile to understand and embrace other great punk bands. I used to brush off the '80s as garbage, but I didn't really have a good outlet for important bands and was pretty ignorant of the greatness of The Replacements, Pixies, Galaxie 500, Sonic Youth, Husker Du (and a few others) in the '80s; I was too busy "evolving" back then to care. Idiot.

Man, you just took the words right out of my mouth. Even the part about 15 years ago. Scary. I didn't have a punk-drumming roomate; I waited tables at a restaurant and the guys in the kitchen turned me on to all of that. It was a solid learning and my mind opened up. I was a "metal head wannabe" in the 80's and would literally get into fights about how bad The Violent Femmes were. Although, curiously enough, I was a huge REM fan. You know, that heavy metal band from Athens, Georgia?  :-\ :-\   

I never liked REM from the get-go. I hated "Superman" the first time I ever heard it blaring from the sound-system at my university's pub back in '87. I respect them though. It has more to do with their "sound". Same thing with Genesis.

I was selective with metal, but I still really like Black Sabbath and admire Ozzy. '80s metal sucks ass for the most part. God bless Tool for bringing back the darkness. Hey Tracy, I think we would have gotten along famously back in the day, except for the REM part.

[Tracy 2112]

Hey Tracy, I think we would have gotten along famously back in the day, except for the REM part.

Yeah, agree. You'll dig this> back in 95 while waiting tables I got to be friends with a 20 year old waitress (oh, I meant to say server). We took a Sunday and drove over to the delta from Ole Miss to visit the sites, Rosedale, Clarksdale, Helena. It was during harvest season too, late September/early October or so. So, we're doing the "you play a CD, I'll play a CD" thing; I probably laid some Beggars Banquet on her. Well, she put in Goo (I never really had listened, LISTENED to it before) and it was amazing. Barreling down Hwys 61/49/8/1, listening to Kool Thing, hot girl riding shotgun, the ghosts of  those old bluesmen swirling in the air, fields of white as far as the eye could see. Magic.

[Jaimoe]

Hey Tracy, I think we would have gotten along famously back in the day, except for the REM part.

Yeah, agree. You'll dig this> back in 95 while waiting tables I got to be friends with a 20 year old waitress (oh, I meant to say server). We took a Sunday and drove over to the delta from Ole Miss to visit the sites, Rosedale, Clarksdale, Helena. It was during harvest season too, late September/early October or so. So, we're doing the "you play a CD, I'll play a CD" thing; I probably laid some Beggars Banquet on her. Well, she put in Goo (I never really had listened, LISTENED to it before) and it was amazing. Barreling down Hwys 61/49/8/1, listening to Kool Thing, hot girl riding shotgun, the ghosts of  those old bluesmen swirling in the air, fields of white as far as the eye could see. Magic.

I didn't listen to Goo until around 2000. I don't care too much because I started to get into Sonic Youth because of their latter career stuff. Sonic Nurse is a masterpiece. I like most of their albums though and finally saw SY during their Rather Ripped tour at the Kool Haus (the same venue where MMJ are playing in a few weeks).

Did you do the Robert Johnson graves tour too? I really liked visiting Mississippi; so different than from what I'm used to. Clarksdale would have been glorious back in the old days. It's still a fascinating and eye-opening place. The racial divide shook my Canuck roots (I didn't believe the train-tracks actually divided black and white until I saw it with my own eyes), but it didn't seem to apply to foreigners. I want to go back to the South for a longer visit.

[Jon T.]

As I've gotten older, lyrics have become less important to me.  When I was younger, I used to have to KNOW the lyrics to every song I liked.  A lot of times that meant playing a tape ( a tape!) for 5 seconds then jotting down what I thought I heard.   I was borderline obsesessive with this.  Now it's just not that important to me.  I still like a good, lyrically "deep" song, but it's not the end all be all.  I used to think instrumental songs were dumb and pointless, now I love them.  Weird sidenote - Explosions in the Sky just came on my Pandora...

[bowl of soup]

I once visited Mississippi – specifically Biloxi; we stayed in a Quality Inn right next to the Jefferson Davis House.  I too worked as a waiter at a hotel in that fine chain and got a discount  - so being geographically challenged, my friends and I decided that this would be a good place to stay for Mardi Gras in New Orleans (what's a 90 minute one-way, drug-fueled drive between friends?)  Pre-casino Biloxi was an interesting place – mini golf and fast food right on the beach.

My music really came from around that time as I was never a big classic rock guy and didn't discover that I liked weirdo music until I started listening to my brother's Psychedelic Furs (that's right) records.  I quickly found REM, Husker Du, and the Replacements and set off on that path.  While I still get a good feeling whenever I hear early REM, I can't say that I seek out that music too much anymore – and really the same goes for Husker Du and the Replacements, although I still listen to plenty of later Bob Mould incarnations.

It is the next round of bands in my musical life that have really stuck with me – the late 80's and early 90's were my golden age and I still listen to that stuff on a very regular basis – Pixies, the Afghan Whigs, and Superchunck being my holy trinity of music to this day.  Greg Dulli's never made a bad song in my book and I still worship everything he does.  I think Blackberry Belle has taken over the top spot on my all-time album role call.

I find myself more open to mellower music, instrumental stuff, and generally anything geared towards a specific mood.  But at my heart I still yearn to hear Mr. Dulli screaming out of tune about sex and drugs over a melodic wall of guitar – not sure if that will ever change.  Black out the window, it's party time.

[Tracy 2112]

I will also add that some of David Bowie's music, close to his entire 1970's output, is the most amazing, spectacular music ever to come out; then and now. Lyrically and musically, beautiful, moving and perfect. The sound of Mick Ronson's guitar gives me goosebumps.

David Bowie - Queen Bitch on the Old Grey Whistle Test

[mjk73]

Hey Tracy, I think we would have gotten along famously back in the day, except for the REM part.

Yeah, agree. You'll dig this> back in 95 while waiting tables I got to be friends with a 20 year old waitress (oh, I meant to say server). We took a Sunday and drove over to the delta from Ole Miss to visit the sites, Rosedale, Clarksdale, Helena. It was during harvest season too, late September/early October or so. So, we're doing the "you play a CD, I'll play a CD" thing; I probably laid some Beggars Banquet on her. Well, she put in Goo (I never really had listened, LISTENED to it before) and it was amazing. Barreling down Hwys 61/49/8/1, listening to Kool Thing, hot girl riding shotgun, the ghosts of  those old bluesmen swirling in the air, fields of white as far as the eye could see. Magic.

I didn't listen to Goo until around 2000. I don't care too much because I started to get into Sonic Youth because of their latter career stuff. Sonic Nurse is a masterpiece. I like most of their albums though and finally saw SY during their Rather Ripped tour at the Kool Haus (the same venue where MMJ are playing in a few weeks).

Did you do the Robert Johnson graves tour too? I really liked visiting Mississippi; so different than from what I'm used to. Clarksdale would have been glorious back in the old days. It's still a fascinating and eye-opening place. The racial divide shook my Canuck roots (I didn't believe the train-tracks actually divided black and white until I saw it with my own eyes), but it didn't seem to apply to foreigners. I want to go back to the South for a longer visit.

Tracy, you know my thoughts on Goo....

[mjk73]

In high school 99% of what I listened to was rap/hip hop. I went to a primarily intercity school. I was poor white trash and listening helped me fit in, in a very uncomfortable situation. However it all changed when I heard Goo the first time. From then on it was anything "alternative", a term that I hate BTW. I dove head first into Husker Du, The Pixies, Ramones, anything Bob Mould related, many many others, and when grunge hit, that. I also found I really liked the Stone Roses and the La's. Those 2 alone I think started my Britpop obession....that is still here today. yeah, "Britpop"....it still rules me. The 90's to me were a godsend of wonderful music. The last 6 or 7 years I've gotten a lot more into alt country(ish) stuff thankss to MMJ. I've also gotten more into dance/rock bands like the Holy Fuck, Naked and Famous, etc etc.

And Goo still kills me.

[bowl of soup]

Superchunk, "My Gap Feels Weird" + "Punch Me Harder", Metro, Chicago December 2, 2010

[Crispy]

My history is almost exactly the same as Jaimoe's (though certainly not at the same depth), right down to the Allman Brothers -- it would almost be eerie, except for the punk part, though I certainly do appreciate that. Zappa started for me in high school after getting my hands on Apostrophe/Overnite Sensation and Joe's Garage. I have also since overcome my intense hatred for all things '80s to recognize the good bits and the influences. A good example is Joy Division -- I now hear every aspect of that band  (and on into New Order) asserting itself in that era and still inching its way into so much.

I never got much into grunge or "alternative" in college, sticking with classic rock and blues and jam bands, staying ignorant and missing out on a ton of stuff, and then pretty much losing touch with discovering music until finding My Morning Jacket. These days I dig pretty much everything I've heard about from this board, discovering things I should have been hearing back in the old days, and new acts I never would have heard of otherwise -- I cannot stand to listen to the radio, at least not where I live. I think the early loves that have stuck with me most are the heavy psychedelic sounds of Hendrix, Floyd, and Zeppelin, and they have kept leading me to the things I love most today in music like Tame Impala, the Secret Machines, Sleepy Sun, and even the Decemberists. I guess that means my base genre/type hasn't shifted that much, but I also have a really big soft spot for sweet sentimental music too. I think that's why I'm here...

[mjk73]

Superchunk, "My Gap Feels Weird" + "Punch Me Harder", Metro, Chicago December 2, 2010

Yep, them too.

[Jaimoe]

I forgot to mention that I still like the original Van Halen and haven't got sick of hearing some classic Canadian rock from the likes of Triumph, April Wine and Rush. And as I get older, I appreciate the music and guitar playing of Canadian treasure, Bruce Cockburn, more and more. Oddly enough, I'm only the faintest fan of Canada's biggest domestic band, Tragically Hip, although I'm from their hometown and saw them in concert before their first-ever EP came out. Another classic Canadian band I never really got into is Max Webster, who made a nice companion to Rush (Geddy Lee was involved with them and leader Kim Mitchell became a Canadian icon in his own right; he had a US solo hit with "Go For Soda" in the '80s). MW was a comic/poor man's Zappa.   

[Crispy]

I forgot to mention that I still like the original Van Halen and haven't got sick of hearing some classic Canadian rock from the likes of Triumph, April Wine and Rush. And as I get older, I appreciate the music and guitar playing of Canadian treasure, Bruce Cockburn, more and more.

More Jaimoe parallels! Rush is a given.  ;D

[Jaimoe]

I forgot to mention that I still like the original Van Halen and haven't got sick of hearing some classic Canadian rock from the likes of Triumph, April Wine and Rush. And as I get older, I appreciate the music and guitar playing of Canadian treasure, Bruce Cockburn, more and more.

More Jaimoe parallels! Rush is a given.  ;D

Bruce is awesome. I gotta admit that the Barenaked Ladies do a marginally better job of Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time", although both are different enough that it doesn't matter. Ever hear the Jerry Garcia Band's rendition of Cockburn's "Waiting for a Miracle"? It's beautiful. I believe Bruce's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" was originally banned in the States. It's a great '80s tune with fantastic guitar work. Still, his best single is "Wondering Where the Lions Are"; it's wondeful and unfortunately, timeless.

Bruce Cockburn - Wondering Where the Lions Are