There's a bit of a #musicmonday theme to today's blog post, which was inspired by spending All Day yesterday playing with iTunes, from installing the new iTunes 9 onto new computer, copying over files from external hard drive and then the hard part: playlists. I admit I cheated and just made 1 - stuff I actually listen to.
I also spent several hours exploring the iTunes store. Being less than flush with the readies at the moment, I concentrated on the free stuff. Podcasts and iTunes U. Imagine my excitement to discover that you can, for absolutely FREE download lectures from Yale, Oxford, and some bloke named Ned on anything that tickles your fancy! In the near future I am going to be a World Expert on subjects ranging from "Cooking in Ancient Egypt" to "What is consciousness", oh yes!
Anyway, back to music.
To sum it up, I am a 40 year old mother who listens almost exclusively to Triple J, a radio station aimed at the teen and 20-something market. They simply play Stuff I Like. My idea of utter hell is being cooped up in the car with kids demanding to listen to commercial FM radio. I cringe at the sound of Lady Ga-Ga, sob when I hear Beyonce (except that shouldaputaringonit song, that gets me bouncing around the drivers seat) and think the Pussycat Dolls should be banned for lack of talent. Oh, and that I kissed a girl chick. *vomit*
Other ideas of musical hell for me include Mariah Carey, Boyz to Men (or whatever they're called), Britney FUCKING Spears, J-Lo and anything hip hop related. Let's not forget Guy Sebastian, Shannon Noll, Backstreet Boys and Kelly Clarkson. Oh dear, I'm feeling nauseous. Enough with the stuff I can't stand, already!
I think it's safe to say that I prefer "alternative music", although I don't know why they call it that. It should be called "good music" and the rest of the crap should be called "alternative" or "forced to listen to at gunpoint" music.
I don't know if this is normal, I really don't. When I hear the average listener call into JJJ they sound somewhere between 15 and 25. What are other 35+ people listening to? Are they REALLY grooving to J-Lo, appreciating her noise in some mysterious way which I am completely missing? Or are they stuck in the 80's, with Queen, Blondie and U2 on continual replay?
Don't get me wrong on the 80's. As an official child of the 80's myself, it's what I grew up with. It's what I know every word to, and every song holds a special memory of what I was doing at that time in my life. There would be at least 300 or 400 80's classics in my library, and they get a lot of headphone time, I can assure you!
But there is only a finite supply of 80's music, to state the bleeding obvious. I've heard it all before, and, although I adore it, life trundles on, and so does the music industry.
I suppose even back in the early days I was into slightly off-mainstream music, being influenced by a few Goth friends from high school and Uni, who introduced me to the joys of Nine Inch Nails, Love n Rockets and lots and lots of The Cure, but I still appreciated most of the top 40 tunes. Has mainstream music changed, or have I?
These days my iPod is blasting out Muse, The Panics, Tame Impala, the Presets, Sarah Blasko, The Wombats, Eskimo Joe, The Shins, Blue King Brown, Regina Spektor, Josh Pyke and the like. I hardly ever get to go to any live gigs, basically because (a) I can't afford them (b) they don't provide creches and (c) I don't want to be the oldest person there!
*sigh*
It's not just me, is it? What are all the other ageing children of the 70's and 80's listening to these days?
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11 comments:
Spooky, I was just thinking this the other day as I was listening to JJJ - and quickly turning it off when the 9-year-old got in the car (you know, language alert and all...) Nearly all my iTunes music's classified as alternative or alternative/punk. So don't fret - at 42 I've got a couple of years on you - and next year plan on being one of the oldest in the moshpit when Pixies tour australia...
HUGE MEXICAN WAVE OF EXCITEMENT at the Pixies, lol! See you in the moshpit, and I hope they have zimmerframe parking nearby!
Goddamn it - kill me if I ever listen to top 40 Lady Gaga crap. Honestly! I listen to "alternative" stuff too and also some old 70s cheese when it takes my fancy but if you ever hear me playing Justin Effing Timberlake, just shoot me. In the head. Make it quick. As a thirty-something person I say eff the mainstream! Well done you.
I'm with you ALL the way Sparkly! :) My 17 year old students treat me with contempt and awe when I tell them I was at the first Big Day Out & have been to every one since. Like someone over 25 (if only they knew how old I am) doesn't know a jot about music.
I don't really listen to the radio at all, but I read the list of the JJJ hottest 100 of all time, and from that I gathered that clearly JJJ's listeners ARE all children of the 70's & 80's, because it was all the music I grew up on.
Didn't you think?
I like JJJ and am also a bit partial to some top 40 stuff but can't stand DJ's on the radio - they just dribble on and on and on when all I want to do is listen to music!! I channel surf till I find something I like!
I'm a JJJ girl too and I'm 38. It can get a bit tricky with the little ones in the car but the language warnings are much better than they used to be.
The electronic stuff gets a bit too much sometimes though. I've been trying a station that plays a lot of 80's stuff for the last week but OMG the ads!! I'd rather listen to songs I don't like than all the bloody ads.
I actually went to a gig a few weeks ago and there were quite a few people there older than us but it was a Whitlams gig :)
Oh, gawds, this is where I admit to my dagdom, isn't it!
I LOVE the Dixie Chicks. I also listen to a lot of 60s stuff. The Beatles "Love" album (a remix) is a fave at the moment. I love Flight of the Conchords. I'm a John Denver fan. Wendy Carlos (who you've probably never heard of) Is A God (or at least a minor deity, thanks to her Beauty In The Beast album).
Ummm...what else? Faith Hill, Green Day, The Hollies and Jack Johnson all rate a mention, as do Loreena McKennitt and Norah Jones.
And Elvis lives.
Now I'm sure you'll want nothing to do with me ever again. But before you write me off entirely, Kylie Minogue is has less talent than a singing potato. In fact, I think the potato would be more tuneful.
Kylie is beaten in the talentless stakes only by such musical greats as her sister, Scandal'Us, and anyone who wins one of those Idol competitions.
Do I get a reprieve? ;-)
You're ok there Daharja, but I'm going to have to look some of those up! I do adore Norah Jones especially, though, and wish she'd hurry up and come out with a new album!
Unfortunately, the toddlers have taken over the cd player in the car. Leaving me banging my head against the window to "wheels on the bus"....I'm going insane!
I came across this blog searching for something else, and was interested in this post.
Someone doesn't need to be 'young' to listen to TJ and they don't need to be 'old' to listen to music from decades past.
The bands and artists listed in the post are mainstream and commercial. They're played on Nova etc just as much as TJ. It may not be pop/rnb/hip hop (and I should point out, some artists like Lady Gaga, who might not be everyone's cup of tea, are very talented musicians), but it's no more special.
Big Day Out is just as mainstream and commercial, a quick glance at the lineup could confirm that.
Why does music have to fit an age group?
I listen to all sorts incl classical, world, modern jazz, electronic, rock, pop, dubstep, and 'indie'. I'm in my early 20's and I don't feel that has to pigeonhole me into a certain musical genre.
It's such a shame that people say they're 'alternative' with almost a smugness, and that their music taste confirms this fact. The type of music a person listens to makes them neither a better or worse person and it's not an indication of their status, individuality or 'coolness'. Music is made to be enjoyed, shared and to bring people together.
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