Early Gen X here. One thing I find disturbing when I try to insist I’m not an old fart is that most of the new bands I like tend to have a retro sound, so is it really new music?
Greta Van Fleet - I’m very interested to hear their upcoming second album to see if they move beyond “damn, they sure sound like Led Zeppelin”.
I love, love, love The Interrupters - easily my favorite new act of the last 5 years, but… they sure sound a lot like Rancid. And back in the 90s, the knock on Rancid was they sure sound a lot like The Clash. Is that double-retro?
For new sounds, I like Billie Eilish. It’s not her fault that alternative stations latched on to that style and now every other song they play (when not spinning overplayed 90s warhorses) is some variation on low-fi production and mumbled vocals. It sounded great when it was new.
Anything with Punk Rock Percussionist Mike Dillon (Critters Buggin, Les Claypoool’s Fancy Band, Garage A Trois, Dead Kenny G’s, Hairy Apes BMX, Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle
Airtist is a unique music project that creates the atmosphere of electronic dance music with ancient instruments and human voice. The didgeridoo, the Jew’s harp and the human beatbox together create an unmatchable sound-world that is so typical to Airtist.
The band don’t use any electronically produced sound. Only the natural vibration of their AIR- fueled instruments is what makes people dance. This music could have been played thousands of years ago the same way.
Szabolcs Gimesi: Jew’s harps
Markus Meurer: Didgeridoo
Döme: Beatbox
I’ve tended to listen to new genres of music rather than the latest rap or pop. Looking over the best songs and albums of 2020, there were many songs and albums I didn’t knowingly know. I’ve broadened my palette to include a lot more country, jazz, comedy, etc.
That said, a lot of the popular artists are long in the tooth - I listened to Tiesto and the like decades ago. Don’t listen to much really new music - but think some of it is fairly good: Drake, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Adele, a bit of rap and reggaeton…
Sadly, I’m reduced to “Top 40” which probably is far from the best.
I just watched a bootleg “videos of the 70s, 80s and 90s” and more of these songs are on my playlist than the very new stuff.
Phoebe Bridgers, both her new album “Punisher” and her work with Connor Oberst in Better Oblivion Community Center, singer-songwriter genre
-Hallelujah the Hills, a Boston band, “I’m You” is a good album, thoughtful rock
St Vincent has been around for a decade or so I guess, but she’s a terrific, angular guitarist
Lucy Dacus, another singer songwriter guitarist, “Historian” is a terrific album
finally, War on Drugs, their album “Lost in the Dream” has a terrific 70s sound
In looking at other responses in the thread, I see some additional newer artists mentioned whom I like, including Halsey, Postmodern Jukebox, and the Black Keys. From listening to Postmodern Jukebox, I discovered Morgan James, who has an amazing voice.
I also see that I somehow butchered the spelling of Nathaniel Rateliff’s first name. facepalm
And, one other band, whom I recently discovered, but who doesn’t quite fit the OP’s time cutoff, is Pomplamoose (started in 2008).
I’ve been pretty bad the last decade with keeping up with the latest music (I’m 45.) I think the most recent might be:
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (even saw them in concert back in yesteryear when such things were possible.)
Lorde’s second album “Melodrama.” (2017)
Wire’s “10:20”, released in 2020, but they’re a band who started in the late 70s (and still put out fantastic work.)
I think that’s really about it for the last 3 years. Which means I’m probably overdue for a dive deep into music to catch up (something like that tends to happen every 10 years).
ETA: Oh, yeah, and St. Vincent. I’m sure there’s others scattered about, but those come to mind.
My teenage daughters convinced me to add Imagine Dragons & The Killers to my 4Runners CD player. Must admit they got some great stuff. They were pretty iffy about my “Old Fogey music” making some snide remarks at first but they sing along with quite a bit of it now.
I hope this isn’t seen as a threadshit attempt, but I can’t get into any new music. Most of the names in this thread I don’t recognize. The ones I due (Bruno Mars) I cannot stand. I basically don’t listen to music anymore. The old stuff I like I have heard so many, many times I can’t listen any more for more than a few minutes. I do have a Pandora station customized to things I think I like, but I find myself skipping ahead at least 1 out of every 4 songs. And I don’t have the patience to try anything new. So, for this old doper, (I’m 59) music is mostly a distant memory.
Yeah, that’s sort of the point of this thread though. The question to you is do you plan on listening to the suggestions? I’m always ready to give new music a listen.
@Procrustus – do you miss being able to listen to and enjoy music? If so, and you’d like to try to find some newer artists that you’d enjoy, maybe it’d be worth its own thread. You could let people know which older bands and styles of music you enjoy, and ask for suggestions that could fit.
Granted, most pop music these days is heavily produced, auto-tuned, and a lot of it sounds the same (to these ears), but a number of the acts mentioned in this thread don’t fall into that camp.
You know, I think this thread may be a spark to have me give some stuff a try. I hope I didn’t sound as if I was being critical of “new music.” I understand tastes vary. In fact, my main point is based on my surprise that my musical tastes (and interest) has narrowed so much as I have aged.
As I’ve gotten older, I find I spend less time searching out new music than I did in my teens and 20s. I guess that’s natural, as other things take up space during the day. Frankly, I get a lot of my introductions to “new” artists and music on forums like this, just by clicking on links (and sometimes spending a few hours clicking on other links at those links and so on and so on…).
A lot of the “new” music I find is actually “old” music I just haven’t heard. As far as artists debuting in the 2010s and currently in heavy rotation for me, I can think of a few:
First Aid Kit (technically, their first EP was a couple of years before 2010, but they really hit the scene after 2010)
Lauren Ruth Ward (A genuine post 2010 artist. I read an interview in LA Weekly, back when it was a readable publication, and found her videos on YouTube)
Jinjer (The current lineup is definitely post 2010. Just discovered this band a couple of weeks ago in a thread in this forum and spent a few hours over the past few weeks listening to various live and studio performances.)
I’m 64 and well, I’m probably alone in this, but I think Justin Bieber is very talented and I really dig some of his new stuff. Pink is still and will forever be my favorite.
Maroon Five is still doing good music. Bruno Mars is lovely and funky. Miley has a gorgeous voice, but I admit I don’t care for many of her songs. They don’t speak to me.
Rhianna is fantastic.
So many good voices and sounds are out there. I’ve barely touched the surface.
I completely understand – I found myself in the same boat. From when first started really listening to music (at age 9 or so), up through high school and college, I loved finding new bands to listen to. I was a DJ at my college radio station, and I got exposed to a lot of new music there.
And, then, by the time I’d been working for a few years (early 1990s), I discovered that my tastes had ossified. There were fewer and fewer new artists and new songs that I liked.
What opened things up for me was:
Getting exposed to some newer acts that are outside the pop mainstream, thanks to a few friends with more eclectic tastes
Reading Rolling Stone (though, now that they have dropped down to a monthly issue, I finally let my subscription lapse)
Listening to The Spectrum on SiriusXM, a station which has a mix of classic rock and new stuff.
Yeah, this is me, too. I hear something ‘new’ and go look it up, and it’s 20 years old! But I do see a lot of names of acts that I recognize and do like. I got to see Shovels & Ropes and Lydia Loveless live, opening for Drive-By Truckers.
I was about 2 feet away from Lydia, at the edge of the stage looking up at her, and her shirt was literally falling off her, often.
To answer the OP: Honestly, I don’t listen to any new artists, except by accident. I don’t listen to much music at all anymore; on the road I listen to podcasts mostly. But when I do want some music, I fire up my old faves from the late 1950’s thru most of the 1980’s. If I crave something ‘new’ I generally listen to some albums I never got around to hearing from those decades.
I don’t scoff at new music; I’m sure there is a LOT of great music being composed these days. I’m sure I’ve missed out. But I’ve got a 35 year range worth of music that really moves me when I revisit it, and only so much time that I pay attention to it.
Maybe after I retire I’ll expand my range, but I doubt it.