I agree with you re: Overexposure, but Crazy hasn’t been getting saturation airplay here, so it still had a fresh sound to it when I first heard it, and even now it’s still a pleasant surprise to hear it on the radio.
Instead, we have to put up with shit garage bands which don’t even deserve a gig at the local pub getting airplay because they’re “Australian”, but that;s a rant for a different thread in a different part of the boards.
Other than the Fugees and P Diddy, fusing New Age with rap (Nu-Age or New Rapage?) never really took off. (both sampled Enya’s “Boadicea” on songs).
I didn’t say I don’t know rap music. I’ve been listening to rap and hip hop in some form since the days of Run DMC and I’m quite familiar with just about all of the artists you mentioned.
I try and differentiate between “good” music and “bad” music. The question is what makes some music good, and what makes some music suck? There’s music that’s good party music but isn’t particulary good music. There’s music that’s good music that good music but not that great for partying too. There’s music that’s great to party to and great music. Finally there’s music that just sucks overall.
As to the question of “adolescent” or “adult” music being superior to one or the other - it’s more a question of the individuals taste. As an adult, I relate to music differently than someone who is a teenager. For example, I don’t suffer from “teenage angst”. I won’t be able to relate to music that predominantly features that theme on a personal level. Of course, if it is music from when I was a teenager (IE 80s Hair Bands or old-school Beastie Boys), I can relate to it on a nostalgic level. But that’s not to say that my teenager music is better than the current stuff. To a certain extent I’ve just grown out of that music.
And I guess that’s that what makes certain music “good”. If people of all ages at any point in time can relate to it on some level without it sounding “dated” or “lame” (do kids still say lame?).
I have one friend who stated he only listens to either the most current music or music that’s at least 10 years old. The implication being that if it’s still on your musical radar after 10 years, it must have something worthwhile (to him at least).
Tribe Called Quest probably came closer than anybody.
Well, there is (was?) a band called “The The”, but they’ve also had too long a history to be the Next Big Thing. 
I’m going with the “the revolution is in how you get your music” theory. There’s only one broadcast radio station I know that’s worth listening to for new music, and it’s an indie station - not many of those around anymore. So besides WRNR, I’m bouncing around between XM and stuff on the Web like Pandora, which I recommend.
Allow me to suggest some folks like the late Michael Hedges, Acoustic Alchemy, Adam Werner, David Arkenstone, Alex de Grassi, et. al.
::Listens to several clips from artists listed above::
Uhh…what pulykamell said.
I mean, dude. Seriously. If you want quiet, mellow music, could you at least give a listen to something like Coil or Kawabata Makoto or something like that?
I think electronica is the next big phase (and I’m not talking about techno/trance/rave). Check out a band called The Album Leaf, and you’ll get a vague idea. Or röyksopp. Don’t know how available it is in the US.
Yeah, I know royksopp. That’s a reasonable idea, I suppose. I’m not familiar with The Album Leaf, but from the allmusic review, it sounds pretty interesting, so I’ll check it out.
After thinking about this for some time, it seems the major movements have been impelled by technological advances. Rock music has its roots not only in blues & country, but in the development of the electric guitar, the electric bass, the standardization of the trap set in drumming, and so on. Hip-hop owes a lot to samplers, and of course, we have electronica mining the depth of electronic resources, from synths to samplers, to effects processors, etc. I would assume the next major wave of music would have to sprout from such sorts of technological advances. I don’t think it will be any sort of nostalgic movement. Each generation wants to define its own music, and I don’t think a throwback to some bygone era like swing or ska will cut it. At least I hope not. I want to hear something new.
If at least one out of the two exemplar bands are already mainstream (yes, Royksopp are), then how can then be part of a ‘major shift’?
Yeah, album leaf is definitely worth checking out, though keep in mind that they don’t sound like röyksopp… it’s alot more mellow, but also a much clearer sound.
I can recommend some songs for those of you interested in something different:
The Outer banks
Malmo
brennivin
If others follow in the lead, then they can be the harbingers of the major shift. It’s all gotta start somewhere. I’m not saying Royksopp are exactly the future, but something along those lines seems like a reasonable idea.