Might rhythm fatigue be a factor as much as tastes?
I mean we’ve been hammered by backbeats for what seems like most of my life span. Jazz, Dad rock, disco, afrobeat, plus mutations of genres from str8 4x4 to breaks to just about anything else. Add Aphex’s micro sequences of drum programming intricacies generating millions of shit clones, EDM’s perversion of rhythm as a whole, plus masses (masses) of diabolical & lazy dance-orientated music. I read a thread on here about culling 130bpm 4x4 bs & that’s an entirely sane response. Turn off, tune out.
It’s a bit of a cul de sac. How can anyone innovate? Does consolidating solid ground come with a price? Mark Fell is someone to drop in here, but, tbh some of his material I find a bit too abstract (but by no means generalising). Mates worship at his alter though. You can take the pulsing rhythms of drone worlds & ambient as a more fluid (& usually very well produced) landscape of sound that continues to push forward. Power electronics, industrial & noise too, but it’s a short step to conceptronica. If the track comes from someone spouting “my art is informed by...” then that’s as good a guide as any of bunk, ego-driven wank. I think harmony is in a similar position to rhythm in lots of ways, but taste & exposure play a massive part too.
The bottom line is I still haven’t listened to every lp I should, still plenty of Hafler Trio releases that need a thorough rinse, that’s where the real fun lies, finding the music you won’t know you’ll like until you actually listen to it. And there in lies the rub.
It’s been a long day, much of this may well be dribble.