Music and I(pod)

I have a tough time with music.

I was raised dorkish, so I wasn't even exposed to anything other than The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and The Moody Blues until I was a teenager. This left me with a healthy love for music, and specifically the well written songs. When I was in high school, I worshiped at the alter of WBRU and WFNX and couldn't wait until I was in college so I could go to all sorts of college rock shows, grow a spiffy beard, and complain about how hard college was. I always found most of the really good college bands to be the well thought out, well spoken, and well written types who could simultaneously complain but also be introspective. Also, they had cool names like "Soul Asylum" and "Weezer." By the time I got to college, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy replaced flannel shirts and shaggy beards with skinny jeans and cry make-up. This, to me, was a tragic turn of events. Mostly because I think emo music is f'ing horrible, but also because I don't know how to wear a mohawk, fauxhawk, or eyeliner ironically.

I don't remember the day I turned off the radio and plugged in the iPod for good...but it was sometime around there I suspect. That's when I went into my time capsule to avoid what people my own age were listening to that I couldn't stand hearing. In other words: a music snob cocoon of my own creation.

The other day after leaving a concert in Providence, my buddy who was home for the weekend from Texas, asked me if I could recommend any good bands for him. Apparently, the only things popular in Texas are Toby Keith, old Ozzy and every Nickelback song ever recorded. I gave him a few off the top of my head...She & Him, Gnarls Barkley, some of Ok Go, The Fratellis....then I realized I was out. I thumbed through the 1500+ songs on my iPod and realized that I don't have anything new. I couldn't even recommend any good metal bands, because since everybody's favorite gross toilet/venue closed (The Living Room), I hadn't even seen a decent metal show. I had stepped out of the time capsule to realize that I hadn't given modern music a chance in over five years. The last time I had even discussed music, it was an argument over why Trent Reznor and Buckethead were no-talent a**holes and why hack, psuedometal bands like Clutch and Three Days Grace should find a volcano to sacrifice themselves to. But even that was two years ago.

What had I missed in five years?

Were obnoxious BRU DJ's talking about the creative wonders of Panic! At the Disco and AFI? Had Simple Plan, New Found Glory and Something Corporate merged into one high pitched whine known simply as "Found Something Simple?" Could I safely wear leather pants and spiked necklaces and been seen as just a weirdo, not someone going to a concert at Lupos? Had some brave soul broken the mold and created a band with melodic guitars and a singer who sang whilst playing said guitar...or was the world still being run by 65 pound males in makeup bracing themselves on microphones, backed up by overly enthusiastic yet mediocre bass players?

So, I turned on WBRU to see if emo was still in and the time capsule had served its purpose. Emo isn't in, as it turns out. Bands that sound like Brandon Flowers and The Killers are in though, and the bass players are slightly tamer. The singers still make love to their mic stands and can't play anything other than synthesizer...which I guess isn't so bad?

I emailed my brother, who's 16 years older than me, but also has a bigger heart for accepting new bands into his iPod fraternity. He suggested a bunch that I'd casually heard: Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Wilco, etc...I determined that I like Wilco, although I find Jeff Tweedy's fragile, emotional genius thing to be a little much. I'm ok with The Black Keys...and I just flat don't get the popularity of Arcade Fire. Somewhere along the line, the wackier you sound just meant the better you were. Again, all of this still being better than the aforementioned cry make-up and screaming, so I can't cast too many stones.

In all, this revelation of my own dying taste in finding new, good music is a little depressing. I used to love finding new bands that I could latch on to...now, I'm lucky if I can find a song that catches my interest let along a slew of songs from the same band. I know sites like Pandora are out there and are designed specifically to open your mind to new content...but I like my old content. I was ok with The Killers...but I'll go god damned insane if I hear another "my heart is bleeding inside!" song with guys in ironic suits playing behind them.

I'm not going to go back into the time capsule. But I'm also not willing to argue over why Trent Reznor is a douche anymore either. I think I'm just going to let the music come to me, and not the other way around.