Remarkable talent still exists in this day and age, setting itself apart from the mainstream fodder that bandies itself as Pop music.

I was hanging out at my good friend’s small office one early evening. When the work day winds down, they usually begin playing music (off Spotify) as a way to unfray themselves from the rigors of the work day.

Earlier in the week, it was a throwback of Shaggy hits transporting everyone back to the heyday 90s. Sometimes it’s a favorite 80s playlist of theirs with staples such as Haircut One Hundred, Thompson Twins and Tears For Fears.

This evening, it was an onslaught of millennial music. One song in particular, by Rihanna, caught my ear; or should I say snagged it in its incessant beat. It was a song called “We Found Love,” and contrary to its title, little else could be found with regards to redeeming factors.

I know I sound like the grumpy old guy who snobbishly sticks his nose up at today’s crop (that’s an “o” there) of so-called hits. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some catchy tunes out there;

ones that have most likely gone over my head, but c’mon… a song that’s so tipid on lyrics over a redundantly lilting dance beat that’s enough to make you gnash your teeth and roll your eyes (not in that particular order), that’s pushing it. But, for every “Price Tag” by Jessie J, there’s always an annoying dance track by (the late) Avicii, just waiting in the wings. But, allow me to nitpick here.

Are gone the days when someone sits in front of a piano to write a song? Or strummed a guitar with a friend and conjured a song out of thin air? Apparently, nowadays they do still use keyboards, usually a multi-functional synthesizer that can produce a plethora of layered effects; a sampler and a drum machine and you’re good to go.

Minimalist seems to be the name of the game today, with repetitive melodies, even more repetitive beats with machine generated fingersnaps drenched in reverb and a vocal hook that’s repeated over and over and over again, with the bare minimum of word economy. That pretty much sums up Rihanna’s “We Found Love.”

Again, don’t get me wrong nor offended. I’m all for forward moving musical progression and the production of new styles stimulated by a real passion for music and exudes a flair supported by that passion. I do question today’s music, wondering where the Carole Kings, Laura Nyros, Richard and Karen Carpenters of today are; where are our present day Burt Bacharachs and Jimmy Webbs? Who is today’s Bob Dylan? Did the Beatles set the bar way too high for anyone else who came after them to ever hope to reach? I believe these are valid and potent questions that need answers. Can we perhaps find them in today’s so-called music?

A few years ago, in my attempt to educate myself and expand my musical horizons, I willfully immersed myself in the contemporary music of the time and was unsurprisingly pleased to discover lots of refreshing new music in many varying styles and genres from both sides of the Atlantic. Even our very own local product showed much promise, and still does. Without naming specific names, I was right. Remarkable talent still exists in this day and age, setting itself apart from the mainstream fodder that bandies itself as Pop music.

I guess it’s no different from music in the 80s, when synthesizers ruled. It reminds me of my tenure as a program director at an oldies FM station that purportedly played the latest and the greatest, whose owner made no bones of his partiality to 60s music (his era) and his open disdain for 80s music — his reasoning based on the fact that 80s music sounded sterile and synthesized.

I tried to explain to him that not all 80s music was like that, and that there was still a lot of great music that utilized more contemporary instrumentation. In retrospect, was I talking to an older version of myself there, explaining the virtues of a misinterpreted decade of music?

Has today’s music lost its nuances and intricacies of old? Is clever songwriting and melodic genius now a lost art? Are we doomed to merely yearn for the (Oh God, I hate saying this) ‘good ol’ days?’ When music was music, as some may declare. Or is this just a generational thing, the inevitable cyclical older generation’s dislike of the current generation’s musical taste (or lack thereof)?

Okay, so I understand the argument that music is limitless. The genres and subgenres are equally limitless and that there’s always something for everybody, and not everybody likes the kind of music you like and vice versa. The point I was making is this.

Because some (quote unquote) artists choose to keep things simple because it’s the trend, it’s what people like. It’s what kids like. They like simple inanity, fine. Give the people what they want.

But, having said that, there are also the people who want a little bit more than that. Some people still want their music to carry essence, to be creative, well-written, well arranged and passionately performed with a heart, whose beat will continue long after we’re gone and outlive trends. It’s different strokes for different folks. If Rihanna floats your boat, then by all means. I still prefer and revere Steely Dan.