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Love of Music Declining With Age?


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Now that I'm firmly entrenched in my 30's and fast approaching the mid-point, I'm finding that my love for music isn't necessarily declining, but rather nostalgia is coming back in a strong way and I'm probably listening to older stuff rather than newer stuff. This may explain why - after being a Wilco fan since around 97' - I've joined this forum...despite a false start back in 2011.

 

There's still a vast amount of current music that grabs me (St Vincent, Nosaj Thing, James Blake, Algiers, Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus) but I've also been discovering/revisiting a wealth of stuff in older groups like Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Grateful Dead and The Lovin' Spoonful.

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When I graduated from college I stopped being at radio stations for the first time in a decade. I stagnated and I couldn't get out of my rut. So I dug deeper into the history of music. Country blues is now one of my most listened to genres. I listened to gospel for a while to see the roots of the blues. But it took more digging and an impulsive decision to learn piano after 10 years of guitar for me to unlock the music I've been driven to ever since, baroque and modern classical music, I can also thank Frank Zappa for that. There's too much history in music to get bogged down with new stuff unless it's really, really good (like Wilco or DBT). So, I'll just keep listening to Bach and Mozart and Shostakovich obsessively for the time being. Nothing like getting into those guys with powdered wigs. They're spectacular (and it's fun to see what melodies of theirs have been reused by your favorite bands!).

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There's too much history in music to get bogged down with new stuff unless it's really, really good (like Wilco or DBT). So, I'll just keep listening to Bach and Mozart and Shostakovich obsessively for the time being. Nothing like getting into those guys with powdered wigs. They're spectacular (and it's fun to see what melodies of theirs have been reused by your favorite bands!).

That's how I feel too. There's so much rich history to dig through. I've been listening to a lot of Debussy recently. There's so much beautiful music to discover. As Zappa put it, "Music is the best."

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I love Debussy (though "Clare de Lune" is not favorite of his....). Have you listened to much Satie? Debussy was a huge financial sponsor of his (not to mention his tremendous impact on Brian Eno, among others). And I believe Zappa said something about old dead guys in powdered wigs writing the best music too... Ironic when Varese was his favorite composer.

 

That's how I feel too. There's so much rich history to dig through. I've been listening to a lot of Debussy recently. There's so much beautiful music to discover. As Zappa put it, "Music is the best."

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Hey you guys, listen to my Classical and Beyond show sometime.  Played Shostakovich this week. 

 

Although I didn't see the recent Bessie Smith movie, I did read the bio it was based on and it is extremely interesting. Check it out.

 

LouieB

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Hey you guys, listen to my Classical and Beyond show sometime.  Played Shostakovich this week. 

 

Although I didn't see the recent Bessie Smith movie, I did read the bio it was based on and it is extremely interesting. Check it out.

 

LouieB

I will. And thank you. I will also try to seek you out at Saturday's Pitchfork to introduce myself. I know you've mentioned that you're usually there in the record tent?

 

 

I love Debussy (though "Clare de Lune" is not favorite of his....). Have you listened to much Satie? Debussy was a huge financial sponsor of his (not to mention his tremendous impact on Brian Eno, among others). And I believe Zappa said something about old dead guys in powdered wigs writing the best music too... Ironic when Varese was his favorite composer.

 

I don't know Satie - but thanks for providing the lead. I will take it from here.

 

Edit: Oh, of course I'm familiar with Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossienes. It's just one of those things that I didn't know I knew. And the pleasures of digging continues!

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Roger Wilco. Nothing beats Shostakovich,

I'm hoping to go see some of his orchestral works for my birthday.

 

Hey you guys, listen to my Classical and Beyond show sometime.  Played Shostakovich this week. 

 

Although I didn't see the recent Bessie Smith movie, I did read the bio it was based on and it is extremely interesting. Check it out.

 

LouieB

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A friend and I are on a rotating basis on the Classical and Beyond Show (my thread says R and B Flashback because I can't figure out how to change it..) on WNUR.org   We played Satie and a whole bunch of cool stuff on our three shows already. Next up are 20th century American composers. Last week were the Russians.

 

Sure I will be in the record tent selling used LPs with my buddy Carter at Pitchfork. We are just inside the tent by the basketball court.  It's gonna be hot and wet.

 

Back when I was young Satie had a huge resurgence due to being included on the second Blood, Sweat, and Tears album.  Funny how that works.

 

LouieB

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I was going to reply to that thread, but after Zappa and Fahey my mind went so, so blank. (And Nels... Ok maybe i should make a list.. ).

 

Nice to see some more Zappa love here. I was just silently lamenting how few people had him on their Favorite Guitarist lists. He used to play Octandre a lot with the Mothers.

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  • 4 weeks later...

As today is "new music Friday", I decided to listen to the Spotify "new music Friday" playlist.

I gotta admit, there wasn't much I liked.  If it was even somewhat tolerable, I gave the whole song a listen.  But there were still a lot of skippers, and the vast majority was just not very appealing.  20-some songs in, and the only one that has really piqued my interest was EL VY which turns out to be Matt B from The National in a side project...

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