As in, what’s something you loved as a kid, found cringe as you get older, then gained a new appreciation for as an adult? Here are some of mine:
- Pokemon. I expect this will be a common one. It’s got cute creature designs and fun tactical battling, and since I’ve outgrown my shame at liking cute things, I’ll happily keep coming back to it.
- Yu-Gi-Oh. I still don’t much care for the CCG (I’m opposed on principle to any game where your ability to win largely depends on how much money you’re willing to sink into it), but the anime bursts with dorky charm and the video games are fun. A setting where reincarnated ancient sorcerers and billionaires are stone-dead serious about a children’s card game is also a nice break from the modern plague of “well that just happened” Marvel soy banter.
I think The Band are one of my favorite bands of all time so definitely them. Big Pink, self-titled and of course their live concert The Last Waltz are the staples for them.
But I’m not listening to anything too obscure. Neil Young, Bob Dylan. A lot of people have a strong opinion on Dylan but imo Highway 61 is a perfect album, and one of Huey Newton’s favorite albums in fact.
The Byrds, Van Morrison. The Grateful Dead do some folky stuff, especially on Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. Also if you want obscure check out their pre-Dead jug revival band Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions.
Buffy Ste Marie is one of my favorite musicians of all time. Sweet America is good by her. There was some controversy with her earlier in the year calling into question her claim to Native American ancestry. It was mostly reactionary bullshit iirc. She also has an album called Illuminations which has been praised retroactively for being a very forward looking electronic album. There’s also Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell, and more traditional folk revival stuff, like Dave Van Ronk and Odetta.
