Music and a lost generation

I was glancing through the iTunes store the other day, and I had a hard time liking any of the new stuff/recommended.

When you have half your store filled with Various Artists and Dance 100 featuring a host of adult contemporary pop, it makes me wonder the route music has taken in the last 20 odd years.

The new age artist dresses impeccably, with his work centred on laptops, trying to mix tracks and create a groovy tune that blends with the repetitive, innocuous beats blasting in the background. And so, House was born.

House took off just before the new millennia, being infused with mainstream pop and dance. A confused genre, in my opinion that branched out into many sub-genres that we have today.

The concert experience has evolved as a result, with a lot of electronic and synthesised baselines, and a closed hall that amplifies the energy within.

It's what Jim Morrison envisioned about 40 years ago, when he said there would be one man playing all the instruments with machines surrounding him.He probably meant a future where the experience was metaphysical, and less emotional.

A far cry from the fabulous 70s where music was the forefront of change and revolution, or the political 90s where it was a reflection of the evil society and anger that stemmed from it.

The meaning is something that's lost along the way. The thrill of picking an album, and spending an hour transporting yourself into someone else's world making sense of their perspective, that's appreciating art.

It's something you can't do anymore with contemporary genres, where there is no beginning and no end. Just a set of tracks without an underlying theme.

Pretty apt that Pink Floyd celebrated the 40th anniversary of the album Dark Side Of The Moon, last week. A timeless album, a work of art, and something that reminds me of what I miss in music these days.

Funny how they say, 'the song is over, the time is gone, thought I'd have something more to say'. I wish.






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