Six Degrees of Musical Strings

Coming Full Circle

Everyone over 25 is a popular music contrarian.

Once you get to a certain age, you realize you’re not the target audience. Your only hope for a moving musical experience is a “back together” tour of your faves who are already on beta blockers. You’re grimly reminded to get your cholesterol checked.

Popular music speaks to the youth and young at heart. It’s a movement about creative freedom, falling in love, deepening understanding of life, and unadulterated fun. Once you’re outside the club scene and start turning down the radio on the work commute, there’s a loop of those reliable hits.

I was proud to say I didn’t listen to modern music. It was crap. Full of fluff and nothing like the deeply meaningful albums I spun in my college days. Eventually, I realized how much I was missing when I caught a song I liked. The Portlandia theme song called “Feel It All Around” by Washed Out was that song. I hadn’t heard anything like it and my callous millennial heart softened.

I told my brother about the song and he keenly suggested I listen to Trevor Something. What a ridiculous name… Perfect. I was loosening my grip on the sacredness of the late 90s. I wanted something new, something less cerebral. I had enough on my plate and didn’t need to work on the way to work.

I started a Pandora station from Trevor Something which thumped with a variety of synth wave and electronic artists. The music glided like hands…