I've become that guy
Having working in the music industry in some capacity or other from my mid-Twenties until present (while Elephant Stone is currently on hiatus, I still review music for Skyscraper Magazine), I always swore that I would be hip to current trends and not get locked in a timewarp. Over the past few years, however, I've pretty much only been listening to bands that I liked in high school, college and a few years after college. Basically, 1980 to the mid-90's. While I've bought a few releases by new bands, some very good, like the brand new Bubblegum Lemonade CD, I'm mostly digging reissues of stuff I bought eons ago on vinyl. Stuff like Sisters of Mercy, Echo and the Bunnymen, the first two Cure albums, Jesus and Mary Chain, and, most recently, the 'deluxe' editions of the first three New Order and first three U2 albums. The current bands that I do like, such as Interpol, are very influenced by post-punk bands from the 80's, so in a way I feel like I'm never listening to anything 'new' even when it's a new band! I'm at peace with this.
Ben, I know how you feel. I've been going through that shit, too. I've been listening to old stuff I once looked over with the zeal that it is something 'new'. If I listen to anything that is actually new, its new stuff by old artists (well... old artists who haven't lost their edge, that is!) The only really 'new' musician I have any respect for is this guy named Patrick Wolf... basically because he does whatever the fuck he wants, without compromise. He was on the cusp of probably being a pretty big deal, but instead of appeasing the label with a 'follow-up', he left the label altogether to create without executives fucking with his work. Not too many people take that stance anymore, which is why newer musicians are hard to take seriously for the most part.