I think I have played Mostly Autumn's "Dressed in Voices" album from this year more frequently than any album I have purchased for years.

Programs like the BBC's "Later With Jools Holland" showcase some of the better new music. BBC radio 2 often features live performances by pop artists that are (IMHO) far better than the recordings.

There is good stuff around if you look for it. (did someone say Steven Wilson and Big Big Train 😊)

Kalle Rantaaho

LaszloZoltan
not to cause any offense, but if you are unhappy with the music you hear then then why not go and make the music you want to hear that will make you happy ?
if no one makes that special breakfast for you anymore-and that's all you want- you either go hungry or make it yourself.

Doesn't work. You can not enjoy listening to your own music. You just concentrate on the things you might have done otherwise. It's like listening to a recording of your own speech in order to have someone to talk with.

 
I don't agree Kalle, I listen to my own music and collabs I've done over the years quite a lot, and enjoy it all for what it is.

jamesg1213

Kalle Rantaaho

LaszloZoltan
not to cause any offense, but if you are unhappy with the music you hear then then why not go and make the music you want to hear that will make you happy ?
if no one makes that special breakfast for you anymore-and that's all you want- you either go hungry or make it yourself.

Doesn't work. You can not enjoy listening to your own music. You just concentrate on the things you might have done otherwise. It's like listening to a recording of your own speech in order to have someone to talk with.

 
I don't agree Kalle, I listen to my own music and collabs I've done over the years quite a lot, and enjoy it all for what it is.

Weird ... I have a "neutral" feeling about reading and interpreting my own poetry from the past ... it's a different time and place, and the feeling is not the same, although I can still feel that old feeling, but have no life for it, since it's own time is long gone.
 
At least you know that you "saw" something and acted on it, and that is a very important process for your inner creativity. I'm not sure I look at any of those works and think ... gee I remember Linda and the night we spent ... because that was not what created the works in the first place ... but some folks might feel differently.

I will most likely get slammed for this-but there is too much metal for me. I mean I loved Jimi-grea up with it, but I guess that's acid rock. Went to Viet nam listening to Iron Butterfly - In a gada da vida (sp?) was one of our "hide from the rocket songs".
But I just cannot get into it today. Well, Jimi I can--listening right now actually
 
The guitars do ot sound like guitars to me-and the screamin vocals do not appeal to me. But I know it definitely has it's place and that's cool for those (many) that like and play it.
 
Not sure what John Petrucci is classified as (genre I mean) but I like many of Dream theaters offerings-mostly appreciate the fabulous musicians, especially John.
 
I am sure it's mostly my age.....
 
But I find some nice stuff anytime I look. From Norah Jones to Old Steely Dan to Jeff Golub (RIP) One of my favorites (but not well known) guitarists of all time.
And please don't slam me for the metal comment, it's merely a personal opinion which means nothing in the scheme of life.

Frank Zappa never listened to any of his music again after he recorded it.

Sorry, but I can only believe one of your last two posts My 'Ol Pal. 

To me you make a really good point.  Why make music in the first place?  And of course this applies to just about everything I guess...why write, paint, sculpt?  Seems like there is SO much out there already. I sometimes think that all the cool and unique beats, progressions, melodies and lyrics must surely all be taken by now.  For myself I guess the best answer should be that the process of creating music is enjoyable, gratifying yet potentially challenging, then when you're done, the sense of fulfillment, accomplishment and satisfaction.  Then after that, if you get feedback from others who've gotten enjoyment from what's been created.  I feel like something is missing when I go for long stretches of time without creating music, then when I do, it's like everything I do is better.
 
I wish I could get out of my mind the idea of music having to compete or even be heard and accepted.  I dread this mentality and ideally I think its just wrong.  For myself, the "why" is what I mentioned above.  Then other aspect I see is being commissioned to do things, or just working with someone else.  That brings in another dynamic.  In that case I personally just see how good of something I can come up with, so I guess the combination of the challenge and how you meet it.
 

Rain
I'm an old fart now. I've recently come to the realization that I don't need really new music and started questioning the mentality behind this form of consumerism. which seems to have been made even worst in the age of the internet. Why the need to always have new songs to listen to?  IMHO, that's how music becomes irrelevant. Me, I need to grow fond of albums, to let them become a part of my life.
 
Pop music is a relatively compact and somewhat restrictive format - it seems a bit illusionary to think that we can keep on piling up song after song after song, decade after decade, w/o the well drying up a bit.
 
I see friends of ours putting out record and I keep asking myself - why? Do you really have anything to say, or do you simply want to have your album, to take your turn?
 
Furthermore, a lot of the new bands I would listen to are actually recreating what was done in the past - they sound and even look like transplants form the 70s. That's fine but personally, I don't need new pseudo-old music. 
 
There's so many things I've never heard going way back centuries ago. I find it sadder to think that I'll never had time to really get to know this or that pice of music by Schubert or Mozart than the latest bunch of pop songs, which are often only as different as one from another as Burger King from McDonalds.

jamesg1213
 
Without analysing too much, I just enjoy old stuff I've done as pieces of music. I liked them when I recorded them, still do. That simple really.

 
Same here ... you don't think I can feel exactly how I felt when I wrote "You are no longer a vision, or a poem!"???
 
As crystal clear as you can imagine ... but my hard-on and excitement about it is a bit different 30 years later ... and it doesn't mean I love that person any less, or can not get excited about having a minute with that person before I die! It (plainly) was something not destined to happen in this life ... and I'm OK with that, regardless. I probably never committed to anyone else in my life, because the series of visions and poems that lasted over several months (not to mention art works), is still very much alive with me ... just a different century, so to speak.
 
I loved it dearly, and still do.
 
But it was a different day ... and age ... and time ... and while it might appear I am sad because it didn't happen, I have her and the visions to thank for some of the prettiest poetry I have ever written and some of the best works I have ever created. But if all I can learn from it, is that "inspiration" is what this is all about ... and I am not sure, that is all this is about ... there is more, way more ... then I'm happy ... and thankful!
 
It's not an analysis for me ... it's reality! The story of my life! However, you could call it .. a dream that didn't happen ... but it was far more than a dream, I can tell you! But for a writer, musician and painter ... it is more than life ... it's your muse and only thing that carries you further than anything else!

jamesg1213

Kalle Rantaaho
 
Doesn't work. You can not enjoy listening to your own music. You just concentrate on the things you might have done otherwise. It's like listening to a recording of your own speech in order to have someone to talk with.

 
I don't agree Kalle, I listen to my own music and collabs I've done over the years quite a lot, and enjoy it all for what it is.

You lucky man :o) I've never done any music I'm happy with...some lyrics, yes.
Then again, I only aim at "tolerable" as I don't have the skills required for anything better.

Moshkito
... it's a lousy thing if you look at the mirror every morning and only see a monkey! 

 
Unless you're Daryl, he likes monkeys. 
 

Moshkito

sharke
Frank Zappa never listened to any of his music again after he recorded it.

I doubt it ... because he redid everything over and over and this is part of the problem with the Zappa Trust right now and not knowing how to address the 55 different versions of Farts in Regaglia ... !!! And many of them are totally different, as an example.

Not necessarily - Zappa frequently recorded different versions of the same song, but you're forgetting that he had all the parts written out on a staff. That's how he wrote. Zappa once said that the key to his talent was that he was good at "organizing stuff" - give him some stuff, and he would organize (arrange) it.

I remember reading that he didn't relisten to his stuff in an interview. In other words, when Zappa was relaxing of an evening, he wouldn't think "hmm, I fancy listening to One Size Fits All tonight."

jbow
Thankfully, we have REORDINGS... (and Spotify).
J

Yep ... now if I knew what reordings were, I would agree faster ... but Spotify is another spam list for me!

jbow
@Craig... most of Zappa's guitar solos on his studio albums are dubbed from live performances. It's where he played best. I imagine the early stuff was studio though.
 

 
His solo on Inca Roads from One Size Fits All is probably in my top 3 all time favorite guitar solos and certainly in the top 3 of Zappa's best (along with the one on Montana). That one was definitely lifted from a live recording, and it just amazes me how good Zappa was at splicing tape together to make it sound so utterly seamless. 
 

Hi,
 
Mandolin ... thought I would let you know that while that guy is good, there are hundreds of pickers in the streets of Barcelona and Madrid that can make that guy go ... wow!
 
They are, simply, all different, and the picking is not really the issue ... it's the heart behind it, otherwise the flower wilts before it blooms!