Not sure if any here have heard of an Italian band called The Sidh. They are a new Genre of Irish Music, I’d be tempted to call it Electro/Folk or even Dance music. They don’t seem to have broken into the UK market yet and that is a crying shame as they are very, very good.
Now, before the ‘Trad’ fanatics start screaming, let me say one thing - they are NOT trad, they play many so called Trad tunes but in a new way. Iain Marr, the whistle player/piper is very good at what he does, as are the rest of the band.
They play music that appeals to younger musicians/fans (heaven knows why I’m listening to it then).
Would I like that music without the whistle? …eh, maybe.
Do I like that music with the whistle? YES!! I love these fusions of traditional with more modern styles of music, especially when they come together as well as this group does it. I may just go searching for an album to buy.
This was posted recently on “thesession.org”, and attracted the above comments. I found the statement “They play music that appeals to YOUNGER [ my emphasis ] musicians / fans”, quite depressing, and even annoying. Am I not supposed to be able to like or appreciate their music merely because of my age ? I’m certainly qualified enough to comment on the whistle playing, and would quite probably go to hear the band if they were ever to play a gig her in the North-east of Scotland. But are you telling me that I , nearing 60, would not be welcome going to hear them ? My advice to you is to leave age out of it altogether. I said on the above discussion, and will say it again here, best of luck to them - but you need to take more care in not alienating potential customers.
@Kenny, It’s not supposed to be depressing or annoying and I’m sorry that you are so sensitive as to your age! I’m no spring chicken myself - 48 in 3 weeks, but I understand that some music DOES appeal to a younger audience and I don’t get depressed or annoyed by that fact . I’m quite happy to accept that there is music for a younger generation, I don’t have any hang-ups, some I like some I don’t, but I accept that it is aimed at younger people.
You read something into the post that was not written or intended and where you got the idea from that you can’t go to their gig because of your age is beyond me. I didn’t put this post up to alienate people, I didn’t realise that some people were so sensitive about their age.
Age doesn’t stop you liking music, but it is fact that some music will appeal to younger people. But hey, if you like it then that’s great. But if you don’t then I guess that it’s proved a point .
Oh, and it was me that put the post on the session, but you might have already guessed.
Now I’m confused. I went to a session just the other day. And there were real live people playing trad music. On mostly new instruments, and many of the tunes they played were written in the last 10 years or so. They were even wearing clothing and shoes, and looking up tune info on their iPhones. That all seems pretty modern to me.
I like it! It was more pleasing to my ears than eyes the video got a little to much I think (being old 38 years), but I have almost listened through the whole album on spotify and they are really good!
I’m 24, and I couldn’t stand watching/listening to that. I think maybe this music is targeted towards older people
By the way, none of you are actually what I would consider old! But I do think you’d be surprised at the age bracket a lot of bands are popular in. Not always what would be expected.
I didn’t like the song, but I think the video made it much worse for me, also.
I think the suggestion that this is music for young people, and with it the implication that if you don’t like it, you must be too old, is just daft.
I don’t like it. It’s got nothing to do with my age. It’s just terminally dull. Very repetitive, very reminiscent of all sorts of similar attempts over many years, and really not with anything much new to offer. I found that it had a similar effect on me as Nyan Cat did.
I think that my age (I’m 56) makes me jaded and positively craving anything new, different and original. This was just depressingly the same old *%$@. Boring. Shame - the whistle player’s clearly a great player.
I was going to say that I didn’t listen to any of their other stuff, but, in the interests of fairness, I now have. I want those bits of my life back. I also now need to go and listen to something with some actual energy in it, or I’ll stay depressed for the day.
But if you were not old enough to be able to reminisce about “all sorts of similar attempts over many years” maybe would you think it had something new in it ?
I may well be closer than some posters above to the stereotypical older person who doesn’t like that sort of stuff (and never did…). My (similarly aged) friends who I go to festivals with would predict I wouldn’t like it. Correctly in the case of the clip linked in the OP. The festival stage (I guess) clips of the band on youtube would be better for persuading folk like me to give them a listen.
If I was “sensitive about my age” then I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it, would I ? But if the band are “playing music which appeals to younger musicians” [ and I can’t help wondering if that’s the band’s description of their music, or yours ], then that’s fine. They can get on with it, and I sincerely wish them all the best. No more for me to say.
I love music that blends old and modern elements, especially stuff coming out of Sweden and Denmark; bands like Garmarna and Valravn. I thought these guys did a good job overall, but the beats and the look were pretty corny. I think I’d enjoy their music more if I shut my eyes while listening.
Damn, I thought I was clicking on a link to another Sidh song or something similar. I wish I could get those 10 seconds back.
Ah, well maybe there’s something to that. I happen to like nyan cat as well. I know modern music is progressing toward previously unknown levels of loudness and repetitiveness, and I do lament that for the most part. Sometimes something is just catchy though. Sometimes I like things that are repetitive and don’t have and breathing room. And sometimes I don’t.
For what it’s worth, I think age has almost nothing to do with it. The younger generations are more likely to hear louder and more repetitive music on the radio because of the trends in that direction. It might cause a bit of a bias in them because they aren’t as exposed to other styles of music as much. That is no guarantee that they’ll like it though, and it’s certainly no guarantee that older generations won’t.
(Note that I can only speak for my limited geographical location. This may be different in other places. Also note that the large preponderance of Mexican stations around here doesn’t seem to be influencing youngsters to listen to polkas and mariachi music.)
Aren’t exposed to other styles of music nowadays? With the internet and all? I’d say people are exposed to more styles of music than ever.
Instead of only hearing what’s on the TV or Radio, now the option exists to listen to virtually any style of music from anywhere in the world. 100% of the music I listen to is stuff I found out about becuase of the internet, and simply isn’t played on the TV and radio. I know many many other young people who are the same way, and many older people as well. The internet is a huge factor in what music many people listen to. Even with there still being a large amount of people who learn of music from the TV and Radio, even those people often listen to music they learned of via the internet along with it.
With the internet, I’d say now that people of all ages are exposed to a wider variety of music than ever .
Back to the original post - the whistle player seems competent on his instrument, although the playing appears repetitive when many of their other youtube clips are taken in to account. He would probably be better performing alone, or with Nora the piano cat ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM ).
I said they aren’t AS exposed to other styles of music. There’s always room for those who branch out and look for new things and of course there are multitudes of ways to do that, especially with the internet making music discovery so easy. I’m simply claiming it’s easier for them to hear loud music, not that loud music is the only thing they’ll hear.
I’m right behind you-I’ll be there later in the year!
. I’m quite happy to accept that there is music for a younger generation, I don’t have any hang-ups, some I like some I don’t, but I accept that it is aimed at younger people.
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