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Some posts have been making the rounds for the last day or so in Gemini space about what type of music one listens to at different ages, and whether it evolves. This is something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years. Currently, I am in my mid 40s, so have had enough time to listen to plenty of music. In my experience, there are certain touchstones in terms of genres and artists that I continue to return to. However, it’s in my nature to be curious, so musical exploration has always been there.
One thing that I’ve really cut out of my listening habits is music with lyrics. In high school and college, I was much more open to this stuff, even enjoying what artists have to say. Now, though, I look at much of what is discussed in lyrics as the sort of thing that should just be common sense. I chalk it up to having a lot more life experience, and being around enough to have developed a decent shell consisting of pure cynicism. Lyrics more often than not strike me as a younger person in the process of figuring things out as they navigate early adulthood. This is totally fine and natural, but that period of my own life is squarely in the rear view mirror now. I’m still figuring things out in my own way (as all people are at every stage of life), but my mindset has changed and isn’t on the same wavelength as it was when I was 20. As such, I find a lot of lyrics a lot more difficult too digest nowadays. About the only music I listen to with lyrics now is stuff in languages I don’t understand or metal where the singer is taking an incomprehensible, guttural tone. Basically anything where the voice simply becomes another instrument.
Meanwhile, I’ve explored other genres a lot more. I listen to far more classical music than I used to, and my interest in ambient has actually gotten me into borderline new agey sounding stuff. While I didn’t enjoy a lot of music from the 80s as it was happening growing up, that has also changed. This is due, in part, to all of the 80s throwback genres that have emerged like synthwave, retrowave, and a slew of other words also ending with “wave”. Modern artists experimenting with these sounds eventually got me looking up older stuff from the 80s, giving it a second look. Jazz has also slowly made it way into my life. There are a lot of artists that I listen to now, but people like Thelonius Monk and Bill Evans are two that I frequently come back to.
One area that has really gotten my attention in recent years is a lot of Japanese electronic / new age musicians of the 80s and 90s. Artists like Takashi Kokubo, Yoichiro Yoshikawa, and Hiroshi Yoshimura have become staples in my listening habits over the last couple of years. Their music is insanely relaxing, and creates some nice mental images. There is a ton of it on YouTube, and I highly recommend checking some of it out to anyone who might be on the lookout for calm, soothing music to listen to after a hectic day.
Assuming I make it to 80 or so, I do wonder what kind of music I’ll listen to then. Will I have a change of heart and embrace lyrics once more? Will I still listen to metal on occassion? Will I have moved on to something else entirely? I have no idea and see no reason to speculate what my tastes will be like at that time. I like just setting myself adrift on the currents, letting a vague sense of curiosity dictate what I listen to next. It’s more fun that way. I’ll see where I arrive when I get there.
Pennywhether
pennywhether@posteo.net
(April 29, 2021)
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