Retro Music and Modern Music

A couple of my friends met at my home the other day so that we can have a chance to see and talk to each other in person before we're separated for an extended time again. As it happens, the ones I met were from my clique, which as I explained a year ago, had some of its start in Pokémon. Sure enough, it became a hot topic when we gathered. One of the things we discussed (and experienced) was the music pieces from the older games and how they made us feel. They obviously have a different character compared to music pieces from more modern games, even of the same pieces as older ones, and this is what I wish to ruminate in this post.

Retro music pieces at the least have the component of nostalgia when viewed in a modern light. They may only be rudimentary in their arrangement and instrumentation, but that is what is perhaps liked about them. They're simple and no-frills the way as they are, evoking the greatest feelings from the past when we played the games as they were. One of my friend seemed to agree, as we discovered when we played some of the retro music pieces as they were arranged back then. For my friend, there was a rush of feelings from way back when as we did so. It's certainly a great feeling to have, if nothing else.

Modern music pieces may not be as nostalgic or simple as retro music, but they do have complexity going for them. They don't necessarily have to be arranged in the same way as the older pieces for even the same ones, but that is what makes them unique. They can introduce arrangements and instrumentation that may at times be quirky or just plain different, but this may just be a good thing, as is their richness, something that the retro pieces don't really have. These are all qualities that are appreciable.

Of course, "retro" and "modern" are relative; what is now "modern" may later become "retro" as we perceive them to be less of the qualities that make them the former and more of the qualities that make them the latter. Yet when it comes to Pokémon and in particular the music from the games, we'll take them however we see them fit, as the "retro" of yesterday and "modern" of today. And then later on in the tomorrow, we'll talk about them and listen to them again as we did the other day.

One year ago: More LINE Pokémon Stickers