In the new releases section of today's Pause & Play, I have only heard of 9 of the artists, & I have only listened to 1 of those 9 (The Waterboys).

On the other hand, I've heard of every artist in their vault section, & listened to all except 6 (all 6 are country & R&B artists). Wait, that's not quite right, I don't think I've ever heard southern Rockers Blackfoot.

I think today's music scene is passing me by...........

I only remember one song so far from 2007, the mega-hit "Umbrella" by a 19 year old girl named Rihanna. Only one song!

I don't know if this is just me getting old or music changing, but I think the big difference these days is that music seems much more specifically aimed at one genre than it used to be and that genre just don't appeal to me much. I find myself listening more to new country these days, which is no more country than the Eagles or Poco were in their day. I hear the new stuff, because my 15 year old daughter is hooked into the local top 40 station, where they play about the same 10 songs over and over and over and over and over...and there's very little of this stuff that I can actually enjoy.

As for Rihanna, I like her, but her handlers seem to be trying to swing her more towards the heavier hip-hop and away from the breezy caribbean sounding stuff that she started with. I hope she doesn't go too far.

I think if you weren't a teen in almost any era you really had to dig to find the good stuff.

were Yes, ELP, Sabbath, & Floyd ect getting widespread exposure in 72/73?

I know that you wouldn't happen upon The Clash/The Jam/Buzzcocks etc in 78/79 unless you knew where to look.

Radio has always been slow to adapt.

All true...of course when we were younger, we had more disposable time on our hands to actually dig around. These days, we do have the internet, which helps, but it's harder to find the time to do the research. I hate to admit it, but sometimes it's just easier to put on an "Oldies" station and hear things that I'm familiar with.

Another thing that has changed is seeing new bands live. Most of the new music I heard in 75-80 (basic teen years) was live in clubs. I saw a ton of bands that later became big in the clubs of Boston. More importantly I heard a lot of styles from bands that did not make it but led me to bands and styles that did become my basic listening. The last band I saw in a club was The Muffs around 10 years ago. For a number of reasons I don't love going to clubs anymore (anyone nearing 50 can make their own list). I still think there is a lot of music being made there that I would love.

The local professional/college station WXPN runs a three day festival one weekend during the summer. I saw a lot of great music that we know about - Fountains of Wayne, Rhett Miller, Grace Potter, Suzanne Vega, Los Lonely Boys,The Smithereens (who gave one of the best, most fun performances I have ever seen) - but I heard a lot of music on the 2nd stage that I never would have heard otherwise - Ruder than You, Venna Teng stand out. I don't see myself getting out more once school starts.

I think sharing what we know here is a good partial solution. I have discovered a ton of new music just from what I read here.

I have digital cable and while I spend a lot of time with VH-1 Classic, earlier this spring, I was starting to get the same feeling that I was really out of touch with the Top 40, so I spent a weekend watching the MTV Hits channel, which still plays mostly music videos (and mostly current videos), just to get a hint of "what the kids are listening to." By the end of the weekend, I'd bought Rihanna's first two albums (and I bought the third one when it came out - I love "Umbrella", but it's a very solid pop album throughout, and makes several wonderful musical allusions to 80s pop like Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something" and Lionel Richie's "Running With the Night".)

I also found that I liked Fall Out Boy (though I haven't picked up anything by them yet) and the Fall Out Boy associated hip hop group Gym Class Heroes. I found guilty pleasures in songs by MIMS ("This Is Why I'm Hot") and Huey ("Pop, Lock, and Drop It"). And I found that I really really don't like T-Pain.

I think with age comes a large bank of familiarity: things sound like something you've heard before. The things that catch my ear are things that sound like something I previously enjoyed. Around my house my baby, he's 23, listens to classic rock, as do virtually all of his friends. I am stunned by the fact that he knows the words to "my" music better than I do.
Also, pick up a Whiburn Pop Annual book and check out the stats. Back in the sixties and seventies six or seven hundred songs hit the top one hundred chart. It's been tailing off ever since and today, half that make it. Less to listen to? More junk? More segmented audiences? All of the above?

Paul...very good points...thanks for sharing them. There's actually stuff out there that is good, but it's a matter of finding it. You mentioned Fall Out Boy, who I like as well. There's also Panic At The Disco and the Scissor Sisters that I've enjoyed over the past few years. (Though Panic seemed to do a lot better with kids than the Scissor Sisters did.) Sadly though, it seems to get harder and harder to find a lot of this stuff. You seem to have found one avenue though, which is good.

There's still plenty of interesting sounds and music out there, but I really miss classic songcraft. I just listened to Tony Orlando & Dawn's first two albums last night - my goodness, hook after hook after hook!

Here are two interesting guides to (mainly) contemporary music:

http://www.forcedexposure.com

http://www.boomkat.com

Gonna move this to General discussion. (And y'all are not old, you're experienced.)

Some 2006-2007 albums that are chock full of hooks and concise pop songwriting are:

The Red Button - She's About to Cross My Mind
The Format - Dog Problems
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of... and The Animal Years
The Basement - Illiciit Hugs and Basement Thugs
Beaver Nelson - Exciting Opportunity
Limbeck - Limbeck
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Jesse Malin - Glitter in The Gutter
Kelly Willis - Translated From Love
Sarah Borges - Diamonds in the Dark
The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Sloan - Never Hear The End of it
The Fratellis - Costello Music
Lily Allen - Alright, Still...

And those are just some of the discs in my office. There's lots of good stuff out there... you just gotta look for it.

p.s. Love Tony Orlando & Dawn

I've read positive reviews of The Shins and The Fratellis albums, so I might start off with those. In fact Crawdaddy compares The Shins to The Beach Boys!

What does that title mean? I saw it at the store and thought it might be all Elvis Costello covers. After looking at the tracklist, I know that's not the case. I also thought they were an all girl group from looking at the cover. I just found out that's also not true.

No idea why it's called Costello Music, but you didn't think the first Led Zep album was made by a blimp, didja?

Here's what allmusic.com has to say about The Fratellis' Costello Music:

Brash, melodic, and imbued with a more-than-healthy sense of British rock tradition, the Fratellis and their debut album, Costello Music, come across almost like a caricature of bands like the Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things, and Arctic Monkeys — but at least it's a flattering one. The Fratellis take themselves a lot less seriously than some of the other laddish bands popular in the U.K. in the late 2000s, and emphasize hooks and fun rather than samey-sounding rock. Songs like "Baby Fratelli" and "The Gutterati" have a singalong simplicity, and it feels like the band puts as many "la la la"s and "ba da ba"s into each song as they can — and then try to cram in a few more. Costello Music's best tracks go even farther with the band's fun-only agenda; it's easy to hear why "Flathead" — which switches between grinding, aggressive verses and a downright giddy chorus with more of those "ba da bop a dah" hooks — was picked to soundtrack a fittingly day-glo, kinetic iPod TV commercial. The outstanding single "Chelsea Dagger" is just as vibrant, a swaggering glam rock nugget with pints-aloft choruses. "Henrietta"'s loopy catchiness owes a debt to vaudeville or musical comedy, and not just because Jon Fratelli sings "wa wa wa waaaahhh" along with the guitar solo; "For the Girl," meanwhile, has a melody so strong, it could've been a hit anytime between the '60s and the '90s. Elsewhere on Costello Music, the Fratellis show off their knowledge of other corners of rock history: "Vince the Lovable Stoner" is appealing faux country-rock; "Doginabag" adds some blues and grit to their sound; and "Creepin' Up the Back Stairs" nods to '50s rock and skiffle. Even when the band gets a little more complex, as on the darkly twangy "Got Ma Nuts from a Hippy," they keep the focus on rapid-fire rhythms and air guitar-ready solos. Indeed, Costello Music is so high-energy, it's almost too much to take in one sitting. Then again, this music wasn't made for sitting, it was made for dancing yourself silly. They might not have the cultural or historical impact of some of their peers, but the Fratellis are a lot of fun in the moment — whenever that moment is.

Well, Geff R, now you know why the From The Vaults section is practically my second home.

Count me in the group of old (sorry, experienced) guys. Whenever I look at any charts these days, I can barely find anything that I own or have even heard. But there IS a lot of good music being made out there if you know where to look.

A couple years ago, my nephew burned me about 6 CDs from his laptop -- all current albums by young bands that he liked. This is a kid who's smart and has pretty good taste -- he really likes a lot of classic 60's and 70's stuff -- so I was eager to hear what his favorite current stuff was. There just wasn't much that caught my ear, though, and a lot of it just sounded annoying. I wonder if that's how the music of my generation sounded to my parents.

The Shins' last album was pretty good, though.

I just picked up a box set of Tony Orlando & Dawn a couple months ago, a collection of 6 of their albums remastered with bonus tracks (very similar to the Captain & Tennille box set, and by the same label R2 Entertainment), and I had the same sensation listening to it. I mean, you know that it's "supposed" to be cheesy, but a lot of times, it's just really good. I got it new through an Amazon third party dealer for $25 bucks.

I'd add Maria Taylor's "Lynn Teeter Flower" and Jill Cunniff's "City Beach".

-Paul

Forget the charts... they give no guidance for experienced listeners. There are many places on the web to get insight into interesting new music - much of it melodic.



Bingo!

I also don't get the pop charts these days but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised how good 3 big groups for the youngin's were live in concert last week.

I saw Linkin Park/ My Chemical Romance/ and Taking Back Sunday with my 14 yo son and 2 of his friends. All of these groups played great and had lots of hooky songs.

Don't miss the last 2 songs found of Linkin Park's "Minutes To Midnight" CD. "In Pieces" and "The Little Things Give You Away". Both are awesome. Sounds like Linkin Park doing Coldplay.

Yes, they were, although Floyd didn't get "huge" until Darkside. Yes, ELP & Sabbath were considered mainstream, though in those days in the US acts were separated somewhat by whether they were considered "AM radio or "FM" radio; all of the above were more on the FM side.