Music is dead.

[Eetu]

To me stuff from Big Thief (UFOF), Jessica Pratt (Quiet Signs), Julia Holter (Have You In My Wilderness), The Weather Station (Ignorance), Cassandra Jenkins (An Overview on Phenomenal Nature), Sun Kil Moon (Benji) etcetc. are up there with music you mentioned. And that's just a few folk/rock artists, an overwhelming amount of good music is being released currently in every genre. Just have to dig deeper, easier to research past decades' music since the classics are what stay afloat.

 

[Bastia]

Or take metal music. I am too young to remember when headbanger's ball was on MTV, but a friend of mine had an older brother and we inherited all his CDs when he went to college.
When grunge took over the mainstream in the early 1990s, metal never went away. Today, you can probably find more good metal music than at any time before - if you know where to look.

Metal has changed and evolved so much throughout the years, it's ridiculous. There are literally hundreds of bands and artists in the current metal scene who are doing something great and exciting. Forget all the mainstream acts...

Did I say scene? It might even be multiple scenes, metal is big! Metal spans from the traditional stuff that started in the 80's to acts who kind of use the foundations of metal to do their own thing. They might not even sound like metal...

I can't help but feel that older music is just is so much better than all the new stuff being released today in all music genres.

You're not looking in the right places if that's what you think.

 

[abdo123]

that's just... your opinion man. there have been many masterpieces in pop music in the last decade.

 

[Frank Dernie]

There is always a majority of dross which won't last.
It was probably the same in Beethoven's time, the thing is we only get to hear what was good enough to stand the test of time.
I am sure 5 to 10% of the music being produced today will last and you may well enjoy if you are persistent enough to plough through the dross to get to it.
In 10 years time the dross will have been forgotten and the good stuff still played and you will be able to be pleased that you found it early.

I am not following this advice myself btw - I am listening to Mahler 6 at present, so this will have been considered awful by a lot of people 120 years ago

 

[Jim Matthews]

Sturgeon's law applies.

The barriers to entry and distribution have fallen.
Now, the remaining production companies are conservative and only promote according to formula.

There's plenty of fresh stuff produced, but it's floating in a torrent of dross.

I would suggest Joe Bonamassa bucks the trend to mediocrity.

 

[Sukie]

The barriers to entry and distribution have fallen.
Now, the remaining production companies are conservative and only promote according to formula.

It does seem to be like that. There are only 3 major labels (in terms of ownership): Warner, Sony and Universal. They are geared up to dominate radio play, streaming and (when they come back) mega-venue concerts. Essentially they want products that sell! Can't blame them as it's a business model that works. However it does make it difficult for artists on independent labels to break through into "mainstream" success.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

Try this, go back and pick a few months in years past. Look at what the top 40 music was. Look at how much of it was considered dreck by you even then. Not that much different now. Maybe 15% will in the future be considered good with maybe 5% considered great for the genre and time period. And then some aging guy in 2061 will list a few of the greats from now and opine how music isn't good like it used to be.

Try this list for 1990 which includes songs from Donny Osmond, Vanilla Ice, and INSX.

https://top40weekly.com/1990-all-charts/

Or this one from 1991 which does include one Nirvana song along with MC Hammer, Boyz II Men, Cher, Bryan Adams, and Michael Bolton.
https://top40weekly.com/1991-all-charts/

exactly right. It's just survivorship bias

 

[Vini darko]

 

[Zensō]

Well almost...
I can't help but feel that older music is just is so much better than all the new stuff being released today in all music genres.
There isn't one modern rock band that even comes close to Radiohead, Nirvana, PJ etc..
No artist that comes close to MJ
No new Bob Dylan, no new Jeff Buckley etc...
Well you get my point.
All new music and artists are just mediocre at best, except in some rare cases (Joanna Newsom, Regina spektor)
Does anyone here feels the same way?

You sound just like my father did in 1970, waxing poetically about Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra while bemoaning Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. As much as we’d like to think it’s not going to happen, we inevitably end up sounding just like our parents.

Sadly, rock has mostly run its course and is now the music that makes up golden oldies playlists.

 

[Foxenfurter]

I first became aware of this kind of sentiment in about 1977, and of course there has been no good music since then whatsoever . If you think that, then you should try broadening your horizons. Most of the music you site looks like it would have been in the pop charts.
Personally I am still trying to catch up with all the music that I have missed out on over the years and rarely listen to anything I bought 20+ years ago.

 

[mhardy6647]

There's plenty of good modern music, and much of it is coming from modern (i.e., young) artists.
It is easier to - ahem - access* now than it ever was, too, albeit at a price (i.e., virtually no broadcast radio of any merit is still extant), but sources like Bandcamp seem to be a win-win for artists and consumers (although I am far from expert on current trends in content delivery).

That said -- and tag-teaming off of @restorer-john's post earlier -- I found it both funny and sad, when our son was in college (2006-10) to see the dorm rooms and doors peppered with Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead posters. I mean, yeah... college (some things never change**), but "kids" deserve their own music and ethos, don't they?

Maybe it's different now; I dunno -- our kids are grownups now and one has two kids of her own. We'll see what the next generation's like, I suppose.

___________________________
* " verbing weirds language"

** or, as I like to say, as long as marijuana is popular, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon will continue to be very popular.

 

[AudioAaron]

It takes a long time to go through all published music and find the gems. It's easier when you go back at least one decade from present to find examples that stood out.

 

[Sukie]

It takes a long time to go through all published music and find the gems. It's easier when you go back at least one decade from present to find examples that stood out.

For some of us, looking for the gems is the fun part. I have subscriptions to Uncut magazine here in the UK and an online subscription to No Depression. Lots of gems tend to surface really easily.

 

[SimpleTheater]

I grew up with Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, etc. I have an affinity for music from the 60's and 70's.

But there is a good deal of great music being written today (or past decade).
"Bad Guy" from Billie Eilish and her new release are pretty good.

If you were a fan (as I was) of the late Nick Drake, you'd probably like the 2018 release of Isaac Gracie. The track 'Reverie' was, IMO, fantastic.

Cage the Elephant are very good.

One of my favorite stations (yes, because I live there) and a great way to discover new music with a lot of old hits thrown in, is Radio Woodstock.

 

[Soniclife]

For some of us, looking for the gems is the fun part. I have subscriptions to Uncut magazine here in the UK and an online subscription to No Depression. Lots of gems tend to surface really easily.

And for lazier people the end of year charts as voted for my the journalists of a publication are a great way to mine new discoveries. One of the problems with reviews is that far too much gets a positive review, critics rarely are, when you have an end of year top 100 not everyone can be a winner.

 

[symphara]

I like a great deal of music going back to the '50s but I disagree, I frequently find superb music made in the last 10 years.

Within the past 2-3 years I discovered just off the top of my head Gogo Penguin (silly name, great music), Nils Frahm, Food (another silly name but the jazz is great), A Winged Victory for the Sullen, many others.

 

[Sukie]

And for lazier people the end of year charts as voted for my the journalists of a publication are a great way to mine new discoveries. One of the problems with reviews is that far too much gets a positive review, critics rarely are, when you have an end of year top 100 not everyone can be a winner.

I agree that reviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to look at reviews for indicators of style/genre etc. Often an article about an artist is a better starting point. Nothing beats a good listen though!

 

[Inner Space]

** or, as I like to say, as long as marijuana is popular, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon will continue to be very popular. View attachment 129674

And sex. I was 17 (or 18?) when DSOTM came out. You tried to last through the first side, until "Great Gig". Often many attempts were required. No hardship. Also "Careful With That Ax" from Ummagumma's live half was good for that, trying to hit the scream. I wish I was young again!

 

[Frank Dernie]

And for lazier people the end of year charts as voted for my the journalists of a publication are a great way to mine new discoveries. One of the problems with reviews is that far too much gets a positive review, critics rarely are, when you have an end of year top 100 not everyone can be a winner.

I gave up reading reviews many years ago since I had both bought records that had rave reviews and found them awful and read reveiws slagging off records i like.
I decided unless a reviewer has exactly the same taste as me reading a review was pointless.

It is less of a lottery now it is easy to listen to a sample on the internet though.

 

[Ron Texas]

Sturgeon's law applies.

The barriers to entry and distribution have fallen.
Now, the remaining production companies are conservative and only promote according to formula.

There's plenty of fresh stuff produced, but it's floating in a torrent of dross.

You nailed it.