The article itself makes one universal point: that in your thirties you have less free time with careers, young children etc. than when you were 18. Twas ever thus.
And he’s a bit sad that he’s not got as many friends to go and see the Libertines with as 20 years ago.
But the BTL comments are great, including a prog-loving poster that must almost certainly be an Afterworder by another name.
But really…I’d almost call him a c#######n except he’s got an article on music published in the Guardian and I haven’t. Pull your socks up man!
Are the Libertines, like, still a thing?
Incredibly, yes. Which goes to show, you can give anything a 20-year anniversary.
Patience, my son. Those kids will grow up. Their parents might not.
It’s always been the case that people move away from music at a certain age. Or at least new music. What they were into when they were young, free and single remains forever loved. That’s the norm.
There are many things you notice as you plow deeper into your 30s. It’s a transitional period with incredibly visible milestones: babies, weddings, houses, more babies. What gets added to people’s lives can feel loud and inescapable – but often what drifts away is less visible.
For the last few years, I have felt the inescapable disappearance from my friends’ lives of telling people that we no longer listen to new music.
Even people with whom I have longstanding relationships that were born from a shared distaste for new music have simply let it go, or let it fade deep into the background.
A 2015 study of people’s blogging habits found that most people stop loudly pronouncing that they no longer listen to new music at 33; a 2018 report by Twitter had it at 30. In my 20s, the idea that people’s appetite to bloviate endlessly about their contempt for contemporary music would be switched off like some kind of tap was ludicrous. However, now I’m 36, it’s difficult to argue with.
The capacity to posture as being unimpressed, underwhelmed or unmoved by music remains a constant presence and ecstatic joy in my life. It’s something I’ve experienced a million times but when it hits it still feels new. I write about music for a living, and naturally I don’t expect others to maintain anywhere near the same level of feigned disinterest – and not everyone reaches their 30s and gives up on giving up on music, as the success of the Afterword Blog shows. Not that there’s anything wrong with tapping out, either – interests and priorities change. A parent with two kids under five has things higher up their to-do list than penning a lip curling put down of Harry Styles. Think-pieces about how it all stopped meaning anything after 1973 become less attractive when a small person screams you awake at 5am. I get it.
Nevertheless, it’s a strange and alienating experience to have a fundamental part of your relationship with someone deteriorate. The shift is a subtle one; a sudden realisation that hits as the once regular conversation of “what are you not listening to?” is seemingly replaced permanently by “what are you not watching?” I’ve lost count of the amount of posts enthusing about new records I’ve allowed to pass by unmolested.
It’s easy to chalk this up to simply getting older, as the rabid enthusiasm, posturing and intellectual insecurity of youth dwindles, but that has an ageist presumption baked into it. There may be more hurdles to committing to total cultural ignorance but people don’t become fundamentally more incurious because they get older. Disliking music is a key part of youthful identity formation: once your idea of yourself becomes fixed by reference to what you don’t like, perhaps by distinct markers like marriage and kids, the need for it slips away. Sometimes when I speak to people about avoiding gigs, festivals or raves, I see an almost pitying look wash over their face: “Really? You’re still not doing that? Bless.” As if clinging onto petulant cultural elitism represents some childish refusal to let go of youth, the equivalent of a balding mod refusing to shave off their depleting feather cut.
You are Daniel Dylan Wray, and I claim my £5.
You have the reviews column in The Watchtower! “Bingo’s Bangers! A Sideways Look At The Pop Scene!” That photograph doesn’t do you justice.
Goodness, fancy seeing you here!
I’m drawn like a moth to flame by the near-sexual frisson of hearing what music people don’t like. It fascinates me endlessly – so much more appealing than actual personality.
I expect I’ll grow indifferent to new music at some stage, but I will never grow tired of those daydreams in which I picture BL “plow deeper” (ooh! American spelling!! extra tingly!!!)
I think 33 is about right for me for giving up on new music. However, my teenage daughter has introduced me to loads of new pop music, which is generally great. Would I buy all their albums and travel extensively to see them live? Probably not, and they wouldn’t want “grandads’ coming to see them anyway in all probability
In my case as son is introducing me to jazz musicians who generally died in the 70s no chance of seeing them. We did go the Hare and Hounds a couple of weeks ago to see LTJ Bukem – jeezus he took the stage at 1:30am. However he has worked out that I could have seen Buddy Rich in the 80s and didn’t. Which riles him.
How was Bukem?
@bingo-little Bukem was great – the night was billed until 3am. We bailed at 230. His set is very different from Logical Progression jazzy atmospheric d and b days – His fabric cd gives you a better idea of what he plays now. No MC Conrad these days but he had another guy doing the ‘are you with me’ and ‘let’s Do this Birmingham’ shouts.
Well I’ve been down wiv ver kids to see Dua Lipa and Lorde this year and they were two of the most exciting nights of my gig-going career…both attracted and were very welcoming to all ages.
As per my question on the Danny Baker Collection thread – “Has everyone on here, including myself, never truly grown up re listening to popular music given that all our friends (??) stopped doing so years ago yet happily discuss books, TV shows, art etc”?
Sorry – missed that – can you repost it here?
I’m a bit confused about what we are talking about, so please keep me right.
“New music” as in “newly released music” by “new acts”? Or does it also mean “new to me” music, old music that you have never heard before? I definitely do a lot more of the latter (for example, my recent raving about 70s Genesis) and personally my cut-off point for seeking new acts was probably a lot earlier. Mid-20s maybe.
The term, as used in the article, refers purely to music released by the seminal Krautrock act Neu! Please do keep up.
We are talking here about “most” people really not “appreciating” pop after a certain age. They might listen to Radio 6 all day in the background but pop as an essential part of their cultural life no longer exists (unlike 99.98% of the people (ie men) on here)
I see. So we’re talking about Pop, the 1997 album by Afterword-favourites U2.
No, that’s wrong. You hate all new music because you are horrible and old. If you liked new music you would be a good person. Please try and stick to the rules.