I don't think I quite understand what you mean by dark. Do you mean unfamiliar, alien, or outside the realm of our everyday experience? In that case, I'd agree with you -- I'd say good art, including good music, pushes our boundaries and invites us to explore whole ways of thinking and being that we might not have had opportunity to do. But I've never heard the word 'dark' used to mean this.
Sorry to take so long responding. I've actually had a hard time coming up with a response to this. It's tough to put my exact meaning into words.
This is gonna sound wanky but I think that good art is seductive and submerging. I think that in order to be truly evocative, music must possess within its guts a bohemian spirit. Even looking at the more traditional Broadway, opera, and musical theatre, the best, most acclaimed pieces possess a theme of hedonism; whether a celebration, or a lamentation of that which makes us feel good. Ditto for TV, movies, literature, and of course, modern music.
Now that said, I don't really enjoy Tim Burton's movies either. While obviously dark in the strict sense, I find his work lacks all the heady goodness that brings one to 'that place in time' and what's left of his work is a sort of artsy macabre. I also dislike gruesome or twisted film and music, and have an aversion to that which is demonic or spiritless. No love is lost between me and scary and aggravated music.
I feel that good art is magnanimous.
I agree with you that good music is always complex and moving. But can good music not be at the same time complex AND light? I think one of the most genius composers of modern times is Nintendo's Koji Kondo. Using very simple synthesizers sometimes, Kondo has written lush and lovable pieces that distill the essence of melodies played at entertainment venues of days gone by: silent movies, penny arcades, circuses, minstrel shows, and carnivals. I find the background music for the Wii's 'Mii' control center (the one with violin and xylophone solos) very beautiful, even when heard repeatedly.
Oh yes, absolutely. There is a real submerging feeling when listening to epic orchestral pieces, especially when the theme is familiar or nostalgic. I hope it goes without saying that when it comes to good music, lyrics are optional.
I also think that bossa nova is about as good as music ever got. Even when I can't understand a word being sung, its melodies are among the most emotionally moving there are, and the orchestrations can get quite complex and layered. (I'd list Antonio Carlos Jobim as my number two composer, after Kondo). Bossa nova is definitely not happy music -- it's sweet but sad. But it's most certainly not dark.
Sometimes a good trance set just hits the spot, too. It's incredibly textured and complex, and for the most part very uplifting. I don't see myself ever 'graduating from' this music the way you did. What made you sour on it?
I'd be interested to know whether I'm an anomaly when it comes to the maturation of my musical tastes. FWIW, I follow absolutely no one when it comes to picking music. If it sounds good and truly moves me, I listen to it, regardless of what my friends are putting on and recommending.
I didn't mean to imply that maturation had to follow a certain genre. I don't think that at all. Just because a specific type of music doesn't conjure up good things to the listener, doesn't mean it's immature or shallow by nature. Who knows, maybe a few years down the road I'll discover a liking for Bossa Nova.
As far as trance goes, I think once you've heard 1,000,000 trance songs, your tastes tend to gravitate toward music that captures all the best elements of trance, but doesn't follow the formula. Thus you submerge, deeper down the rabbit hole.
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