did i change?

sure.

a little.

but, ideologically speaking, i went in one direction and they went in the exact opposite.

by about 2003/2004, i was listening almost entirely to what became labelled "post-rock", bands like tortoise and gybe!, and a collection of electronic artists that got grouped under the label 'idm', which was centered mostly around the warp records catalogue.

as such, i consider alternative rock to be a mostly 80s phenomenon, that happened as an outgrowth of the punk movement and had completely run it's course well before the year 2000.

the basic idm/post-rock combination remained where my musical brain existed until roughly the year 2010, when i became aware of a punk revival being led by bands like touche amore, screaming females and la dispute. this rekindled an interest in me in a new generation of punk bands, in a period where alternative rock was long dead and both idm & post-rock had become stale. there was some outgrowth in acts like son lux, but the act i was hoping would lead the way forward - 65dayofstatic - seems to have largely evaporated.

the last couple of years have been pretty stale, in terms of new music, and i have't found myself attracted to much of anything. there's been some guitar-driven techno-funk acts like sunsquabi, but not much else. so, i've been mostly exploring music from the past; i've been more excited about beethoven than anything really new.

there's an opportunity here for new music to assert itself, and we'll see what the kids can come up with. i'm trying to get my head around this myself, but i may never solve my living arrangement concerns and, as such, may never finish my discography. sadly.

what i'd like to hear is a more serious fusion of electronic music & classical music, and there's lots of space for guitars in that synthesis. but, we'll see what other people think - and if i like it or think it's worthwhile or not.

styles i'm not likely to get excited about include folk, metal, opera, country, pop and hip-hop. together, that seems to be saturating even independent music circles, right now. but, things will get better in time, they always do.