# Does anyone over 40 like today's new artists ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652 "2013-04-25T09:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/81 "2013-04-26T17:42:05Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > Yes. I love dubstep, particularly Skrillex, Bassnectar, and the Qemists. You might enjoy Daniel Lanois’ latest band, [Black Dub.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_0zrd2u3uk) (And one more, because it’s so frigging good - [Ring The Alarm.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKpV140x7HM)) At 46 I love new music and new artists - I’ll be bookmarking this thread to find a bunch more new stuff. A couple of good sources for good new artists are also David Letterman and Craig Ferguson. One thing that truly irritates me is Boomers saying things like, “There isn’t any good music made any more.” There is so much good new music, and it is so inventive and creative and entertaining. Some of the good new music is even a throwback to the good old music (The Killers, Wolfmother, The Strokes, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/82 "2013-04-26T18:08:48Z")
I’m over 40 and I listen mostly to top 40. I pretty much skipped the 90s and I don’t like hip-hop but everything else is fine. Then again, I think Ke$ha makes great music to dance to and I like Heartache Tonight so just put me down as musically unsophisticated. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/83 "2013-04-26T19:56:05Z")
I’m 47 and my wife 42. We grew up in the 80’s listening to alternative music. New music we have been enjoying: **Alt-J** (saw them live last month, they’re so young!) \*\*Django Django \*\*(saw them live last month, they’re so young!) \*\*DIIV \*\* (saw them live last night, they’re _soooo_ young!) **How to Destroy Angels** (saw them live last night, they’re old!) \*\*Silversun Pickups \*\*(saw them live last year, they’re so young!) **Muse** (saw them live this month, they’re still youngish!) **MuteMath** (saw them live last fall, they’re almost young!) \*\*Vampire Weekend \*\*(will see them live next month) **Cage the Elephant The National Arcade Fire The Killers Mercan Dede MGMT Tame Impala The Bravery Yeah Yeah Yeahs Mumford and Sons** We got XM radio in the early 2000s and left it tuned to Fred on 44 (80’s Alternative) because it always had a great alternative mix. I tried to get my wife to start listening to XMU and Ethel (new alternative), but she just couldn’t get past the great playlists that Fred had. After Sirius bought XM and got rid of the deep playlists, we changed over to AltNation, XMU and Verge. I just have to say that I hate the Sirius music formats and the DJs are useless, but it’s still way better than terestrial radio. That’s the marketing they need, “We suck, but at least there aren’t commercials!” I’m now trying to get my wife using Slacker or Pandora to use as a music provider because Sirius is costing too much, but she is somewhat technophobic so it is taking a while. BTW, put us in the camp with those who don’t enjoy Top40, Todays Favourites, Classic Rock, Hot AC, etc. Our terestrial radio listening is News, Comedy, or specialty shows. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/84 "2013-04-26T20:04:48Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > One thing that truly irritates me is Boomers saying things like, “There isn’t any good music made any more.” There is so much good new music, and it is so inventive and creative and entertaining. Some of the good new music is even a throwback to the good old music (The Killers, Wolfmother, The Strokes, etc.). Not to mention, a great deal of the music the boomers are nostalgic for is a throwback to the blues artists of the 20’s-50’s. I have a younger friend (who knows better, I swear) who thinks the cut off date is 1997. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/85 "2013-04-26T20:29:38Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > You might enjoy Daniel Lanois’ latest band, [Black Dub.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_0zrd2u3uk) (And one more, because it’s so frigging good - [Ring The Alarm.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKpV140x7HM)) Thanks for that. Another artist this 57 year old likes. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/86 "2013-04-26T23:51:43Z")
I’m 45, and I think it has never been easier to find good new music. I don’t _want_ to hear Classic Rock; it’s fine as a kind of aural wallpaper, but I do like to experiment with different genres: there’s a limit to how many times you can listen to the Police or CCR. At the moment I’m pretty much done with rock and the kind of alt-folk that’s in vogue right now and listen to a lot of electronic stuff, but that will probably change in a few months. I tend to go in cycles with what I listen to: this time last year it was a lot of chirpy Brit-rock; now it’s more likely to be something like [Shotgun Senorita](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uemf9RcEqe0). ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/87 "2013-04-26T23:56:43Z")
And [Border Crossing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ploXN6YFweE) by DJ Shadow can be played at my funeral. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/88 "2013-04-27T00:35:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 1. Rock is pretty much dead. Now it’s all about electro house, dubstep, urban hip-hop crossover, indietronica, post-punk, neo-soul, bluegrass indie country, adult alternative singer/songwriter, so on and so forth. The point is, there’s a lot of new music that’s pretty good. I’m 40 and I listen to most of the “[Pitchfork.com](http://Pitchfork.com) top 100 bands of the past decade” bands listed by other posters already ([Pitchfork.com](http://Pitchfork.com) is actually a pretty good site for finding new music FYI). It’s just that there is a lot more diversity these days so every rock band doesn’t sound like a Led Zeppelin or Rolling Stones clone anymore. Although if that’s your thing, there are still bands like Wolfmother, The Hives and The Strokes. Some other decent acts not mentioned (or maybe they have…I didn’t check all of them): Arcade Fire - indie rock Arctic Monkeys - britpop Bloc Party - britpop The Black Keys - indie garage rock The Bravery - britpop Bon Iver - indie folk deadmau5 - electro house fun. - indie pop Kanye West - rap/hip-hop Kings of Leon - indie country rock The Lumineers - folk rock M83 - indietronica Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - alternative hip hop The National - indie rock Neon Trees - indie pop Swedish House Mafia - electro house The xx - indietronica > [@scabpicker](#): > > When did commercials start using recent, contemporary rock songs? I heard [Lightning Bolt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY0oPg1h8fQ) in a Gatorade commercial first. That song rocks too hard to sell sports drinks. Not if it has electrolytes. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/89 "2013-04-27T01:24:38Z")
I’m 40. Recent-ish songs I like: Phillip Phillips - Home Jason Mraz - I Won’t Give Up One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful fun. - Some Nights Train - Hey, Soul Sister Colbie Caillat - Brighter Than the Sun Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait Plain White Ts - Rhythm of Love Ed Sheeran - The A Team The Lumineers - Ho Hey Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks ---
**Author:** ![Noodles\_Fellicini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Noodles\_Fellicini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noodles_Fellicini)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/90 "2013-04-27T02:44:09Z")
55, and adding to my music collection every week. There is just so much music out there to explore, and I do not intend to be the old fogey yelling at those kids to get out of the yard and to turn down their dadblamed music. So many ways to find new music, Pandora, NPR, YouTube --just today I saw the video for Taylor Swift’s collaboration with The Civil Wars and thought it was great, and I love the Live from Darryl’s House series. I try to see all the live music I can, and in the past few years have gotten CDs signed by: Duncan Sheik Dick Prall David Berkeley (just last week, played some cuts off his soon-to-be-released album) Vienna Teng Works Progress Administration Tony Furtado Stolen Silver Brian Vander Ark and more. This week’s unsigned CDs are The Script (#3), Iron and Wine (Ghost to Ghost), and The Shouting Matches (Grownass Man). Besides all the new artists I’ve added over the years (Toby Lightman, Gavin DeGraw, Butterfly Boucher, Citizen Cope, Gotye, John Mayer, Maroon 5, Matchbox 20, Bruno Mars, etc) I’m also filling in gaps with new-to-me artists like Collective Soul and Tonic, and new releases by groups I enjoy like The Wallflowers and Dave Matthews Band. I’ll also be scoping this thread to see what I like that other “old” Dopers like. So little time, so much music, and people who only buy old music off infomercials are missing out. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/91 "2013-04-27T02:54:21Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m listening to a lot of electro swing and modern cabaret lately, such as Caravan Palace. Does that count? Excellent choices. I quite like a lot of Parov Stelar’s stuff, too. Anyway, carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/92 "2013-04-27T05:49:37Z")
Pushing 50 here. Bands that are coming up on my playlist: Pretty Lights Band of Horses M83 The Cinematic Orchestra Janelle Monáe Banco De Gaia Ellen Allien Armin van Buuren Grimes Bluetech Marina & The Diamonds Foals I still love most of the old stuff I grew up with, but I can only take it in limited doses nowadays. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > One thing that truly irritates me is Boomers saying things like, “There isn’t any good music made any more.” There is so much good new music, and it is so inventive and creative and entertaining. Some of the good new music is even a throwback to the good old music (The Killers, Wolfmother, The Strokes, etc.). This. If anything, there’s too much good music out there. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/93 "2013-04-27T06:01:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Now it’s all about electro house, dubstep, urban hip-hop crossover, indietronica, post-punk, neo-soul, bluegrass indie country, adult alternative singer/songwriter, so on and so forth.\ It’s almost pointless to try to categorize music these days. I don’t even really try - if I like it, I like it. End story. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/94 "2013-04-27T06:15:57Z")
I have an 11yo and listen to a lot of pop, top-40, whatever they call it. As when I was her age, some is good, some is irritating, some is bland. Unfortunately, for the purposes of this thread I don’t know the artist’s names. I do like irritating my daughter by arguing that much of what she listens to is very similar to what was popular when I was her age. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/95 "2013-04-27T17:41:23Z")
Over 50 and a head-banger/hard-rock fanatic since I was 16. Athough I find their music to be derivative, I like Ke$ha and Lady Gaga\* as background music. I like the music part of reggaeton. Unfortunately, much of the lyrical content is dumb, sexist or borderline-obscene. I also like dub step and electronica. I’m embarrassed to admit it but, I even like the stuff that _SNL_ parodies in its “Deep House Dish” skits. \*Oddly enough, I can’t _stand_ Madonna, whom LG shamelessly rips off. Go figure… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/96 "2013-04-27T20:33:23Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > Athough I find their music to be derivative, I like Ke$ha and Lady Gaga\* as background music. I like the music part of reggaeton. I like the music part of Lady Gaga (not sure if I’ve ever heard Ke$ha.) But her voice is mega-annoying, which is made worse because she’s a good singer: there are clips of her singing pretty well. I don’t see why she has to alter her voice to make it suck. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/97 "2013-04-27T23:10:41Z")
Well on the far side of forty. Going alphabetically through my iTunes library, I’ve recently purchased songs by Alejandro Escovedo, Amy Winehouse, Avett Brothers, Bell X 1, Dawes, Benjamin Gibberd/Death Cab For Cutie, Brandi Carlile, Calexico, David Grey, Garland Jeffreys, Jack Johnson, Jakob Dylan/Wallflowers, James Maddock, Jason Mraz, Joan Osborne, John Hiatt, Madeleine Peyroux, Milton, Ray LaMontagne, and Regina Spektor. Most only a song or two, some three of four. Of course other artists that have been around for many years, I have more of their songs with a select few having way upwards. So, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/98 "2013-04-27T23:37:55Z")
First you have to define new. I listen to what I consider to be new and then find out they’ve been around for years. Thievery Corporation. Especially Hari Krishna and Lebanese Blonde. Fleet Foxes. Audra May. She’s the great grand nice of Judy Garland. My Morning Jacket. Michael Franti. Damian Marley. Snow Patrol. One Eskimo. Before I got Sirius Radio I used to listen to an independent station out of Annapolis, I was just thinking I should go back to listening to them. They play an eclectic mix and I was always getting turned on to new music. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/99 "2013-04-27T23:45:22Z")
I’m pushing 60, I never listen to the radio or watch shows with singing themes, and if I look at a list of the current top 40 songs, I may have only heard of one or two of them, and maybe five of the artists. Nevertheless, I hear new songs I like fairly often, just from the musical guests on late night talk shows or SNL. That’s how I discovered “Some Nights” and “Suit and Tie,” to name a couple. I confess that the appeal of rap and hip-hop completely escapes me. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-over-40-like-todays-new-artists/656652/100 "2013-04-28T03:29:04Z")
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