[Hey_Porter]

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OP--I think others are making this point, too, but the difference is that the good stuff has moved underground. Record labels in the 60s and 70s were owned/run by men like Ahmet Ertegun and Seymour Stein--businessmen, yes, but businessmen with taste and vision. That simply doesn't exist today. If you scratch beneath the surface, however, and look at the underground artists being put out by labels like Merge or Sub Pop, I think you find a lot of comparable quality to the artists you're mentioning, although not Bob Dylan-level.

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I figured that this would be mentioned, and it's certainly valid, but I just don't think it rises to the level of the 60s. Maybe I just don't like the sound enough to really let it impact me. Back in the day I LOVED Built to Spill, Pavement, Sebadoh, Modest Mouse, etc., and just haven't gotten into any of the "new" (as many have been around for ages) indie bands. Ben Gibbard writes some awesome stuff, but it's of a different vein. I don't know, maybe I need to give newer indie another chance.