music hasn't 'stopped' for me.

Obviously, after many years absorbing and learning about music I can join the dots to the past easier and I can usually hear where peoples influences are coming from so you maybe get less of the element of surprise or shock. That doesn't stop me enjoying new sounds and being fascinated by a lot of what I hear.

I also don't think it matters if a band makes something that is clearly derived from something else, as long as the tune is good. It's like hearing something familiar through someone elses filters.

I agree there aren't any big new musical movements happening like Punk or Rap, although those evolved slowly over very long periods and themselves were a blend of other genres...they didn't fall out of the sky.

What I hear a lot is mashing together of different sounds and ideas, younger folk are less snobby about genres and fitting in with one particular sound. In fact they actively go out of their way to confound and confuse and coming up with all sorts of interesting stuff.

So there are things like this for example which is sort of 80s style instrumentation, but with a scuzzy deliberately degraded sound quality, bit shoegazey and a spacey dubby feel to it.

And Dubstep, which never quite 'did it' for me has now become 'Post Dubstep' which is very hard to pin down but is all about messing around with tempo and pitch and ends up like this.

In terms of Rock/Pop/Mainstream, I think the last thing I heard, that I thought sounded genuinely original was 'agaetis byrjun' by Sigur Ros, thought it was spellbinding, magical and utterly captivating. The only thing i've heard since then that has come anywhere near that, it terms of originality, is the Fever Ray cd. But agree, the majority of what I hear is a rehash/reheat of music i've heard many times before, and often better.
If you look further away from the mainstream, then I think there is some very original stuff coming out. William Bennett, of Whitehouse notoriety, has just released a cd under the name Cut Hands called Afro Noise, and it truly defys categorisation, and is excellent.
I'm currently listening to some Black Metal bands, who are taking the genre into some weird and wonderful places, names like Caina, The Atlas Moth, Wolves in the Throne Room and many others.
I suppose ultimately everything, in time, will be done, and there will be nothing new, but until then....happy hunting

I have kind of got back into music in the last couple of years since getting an Ipod and hence the fact I'm here. (I had a few years of getting greatest hits and that was about it.) One of the many benefits of reaching our age it not having to be cool or with it* so being into a new genre is neither here or there and so my tastes have broadened out. I have discovered new artists like Villagers, Hot Chip, Bellowhead, never thought I would be into folk, and whilst they are not necessarily "new" they are good and I enjoy them greatly. Plus I am getting onto "old" music like Grandaddy and Stereolab who I missed out on first time around. I think genres as such will die out in terms of being movements like punk or britpop due to music being instantly acessible and as a previous poster mentioned cross overs. I think there is music you like and music you don't. You can over analyse things. At the end of the day its all just pop music.

*Not that I ever was (sobs quietly to his lost youth!)