Music taste

My first post on this blog was about musical nostalgia. As one moves through life it is more of a challenge to take on new things. It is sometimes easier to fall back on the known and trusted. This is certainly the case when it comes to music taste. It is even harder to take on new taste when disconnected from the mainstream of the musical culture of which I have been a part.

Before living in Canada I boasted that I would listen to almost any form of music apart from Country music. This was actually quite a bigoted attitude, and one which many Melburnians hold. Then when I lived in Saskatchewan, Country music was often the back ground music in truck stops and on the radio. It became a part of the landscape and psyche. As always, lyrics are important and I did not like everything I heard, but there was a calmness and spirit that grew on me. After living in Canada for two years, country music grew on me.
I would often lament that the one Rock station in Saskatoon was seriously outdated and played very little new music. They were stuck in the 70s and played way too much AC/DC. So it did become harder to keep up with new creative music in the genres I had listened to. Many of my friends in Canada had creative music tastes. This was fostered by a community of people with similar tastes. Even though people found new material on the internet, they would always share it with their friends and so people stayed in the loop.
Since living in Russia I have been out of all my old loops of picking up on new music. I don't even listen to the radio here, partly because I don't have one. Perhaps I should get one. Perhaps this shows that the radio is actually fading out. But there have been times when I have noticed Russian music that I like and I have purchased it. I purchased a disco of MP3s by a singer called Yulia Sachikova after seeing her video on tv. I purchased another disc by a group called DDT after hearing the music in a taxi and asking the drive what it was. When you are a part of the landscape then it is easier to pick up on local music, despite the presence of the internet.
The music I have purchased in the last couple years has all been from groups that I have listened to in the past- Silverchair, Radiohead, Vineyard Worship. I subscribe to Delirious?'s email and am looking forward to their new album in April. For Christmas I received some iTunes credit from my sister in law. It took me a long time to buy something. I was determined to buy something new, but I could not find anything that I like. I have asked people to recommend music in the past, but that hasn't elicited much response. After looking for a few weeks I decided it was a waste of time, and that I should fill out my back catologue. I realised that there are some early Midnight Oil records that I don't have. But iTunes Canada did not even have them, which really sucked. So that didn't work.

The other day I finally spent my credit. A DVD came for Abigail in the mail. It was the Curious George movie. Abigail has watched it numerous times, including the Jack Johnson video for "Upside Down." I decided that I liked his music enough to give it a shot, even though I didn't find his latest record inspiring. (I prefer my music to be rockier.) I also purchased "King of Fools" by Delirious? as "Mezzamorphis" was the earliest I had.
I'm not sure whether I am getting too old to find new music. I have also heard many say that there is nothing good coming out these days, as the music industry is gasping for air. Others would claim that grass roots music is thriving. I guess the record industry is a topic for another day.
Oh well, bring on the new U2 record.