Addendum to that age and experience thing
The way it causes you to better recognize music’s component parts and respond less well to novelty.
In a fit of old before my time angst*, I sometimes wonder if it’s happening to me, with my Singles Jukebox review of Cults being the most palpable manifestation of it. (But I think maybe the same thing is happening to me with Skrillex?)
The thing is, I don’t think this should be seen as just a function of getting older. Increased knowledge is good, but the effect Carl Wilson described is a deterioration of critical faculties and should be guarded against. If we’re less well attuned to novelty, we should work on understanding why we were attracted to it in the first place and how to recognize it in newer works.
This isn’t the same as setting aside our personal responses and seeking “objectivity.” It’s about listening well, listening honestly, and asking ourselves “What am I missing?” Of course, even when you’ve worked out what you’re missing, sometimes none of it was worth heeding. Other times you’ll make out new pleasures in what seemed on first glance to be old hat.
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*This is rare. Most of the time, like Rick Ross, I’m only into new shit.
