Neon Musical Insight

The end of 2009 marks the end of another decade, this time, the first of the 21st century. Many fortunate and not so fortunate things occurred. We lost two of the largest towers in the world, and for some of us, family members and friends who remain irreplaceable. We as Americans had to be individually resilient, especially with a barbaric nitwit representing our country. Our economy dropped to a disastrous level, and we are still digging our ways out of the metaphorical hole.

With the bad came the good though, and in 2008, we made a CHANGE that hopefully was for the better by electing our first African-American president ever. In an effort to avoid a full-on political rant, the discussion of music’s metamorphosis is a fluid and easy transition.

The closing of thousands of music retailers over the decade was single-handedly the most heartbreaking effect of the internet for many music lovers. Artists, at first, put up worthy cries of rebellion, before eventually joining in on the support of peer-to-peer services, realizing that overall, the more ears exposed =’s higher tour revenue.

It was easy to miss the assistance of a knowledgeable sales associate and the warmth felt when being surrounded by like-minded people — yet free leaked copies months ahead of time before their official release date were hard to deny. Still, vinyl made a worthy comeback, and even managed to outsell the CD format in 2008 and 2009, with sales continuously rising. For music lovers, this proved our authenticity and support. In the age of the internet, the fan became just as important as the musician.

Trends in music took unprecedented turns this past decade as well, beginning with Garage Rock-Revival bands. New York was once again the coolest place in the world for a musician to be. Art rock was making a strong comeback in the indie world, re-intellecualizing what was considered cool. The folk-rock realm stepped up as well, creating some of the most inspiring, lush, and downright bizzarre music, with a genre being penned as “Freak Folk”.

I can safely say that music remained inventive and curious throughout the decade. Sure genericness was inescapable for many, but at the core of it, creativity persevered. Sometimes, it’s hard to not feel like there cant be a more exciting time to be a music fan than right at this very moment…

Neon Musical Insight presents to you it’s “10 Finest Albums of the Past 10 Years”

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There’s no denying that Sufjan Stevens has been undergoing a huge musically related existential crisis since releasing his more experimental concept piece, the BQE. Stevens has lately stated that he’s attempting to ween his way back into a more traditional approach with music, and that he plans a song-based album for 2010, bringing joy to all of our hearts. Recently, Stevens had this to say to Paste magazine about the 50 state/album idea:

“The whole premise was such a joke,” he admitted. “Maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like I was becoming a cliché of myself.”

As exciting as it would have been to experience an album for every state of the U.S., the dismissing of this project is not nearly as heartbreaking as the possibility of Stevens never recording a pop record again.