January 23, 2012 9:18

Neil Young: 'The sound of music today makes me angry'

Rock legend also talks up his love of Mumford & Sons and My Morning Jacket

Photo: PA Photos

Neil Young has hit out at the sound quality of 21st century recorded music, revealing that listening to it makes him "angry".

The Canadian singer songwriter, who released his 33rd studio album 'Le Noise' in 2010, has said that the sound quality of music is the "worst sound we've ever had".

He told MTV News: "I'm finding that I have a little bit of trouble with the quality of the sound of music today. I don't like it. It just makes me angry. Not the quality of the music, but we're in the 21st century and we have the worst sound that we've ever had. It's worse than a 78 [rpm record]. Where are our geniuses? What happened?"

Young went on to say that he believed people had changed their listening habits to cope with the worsening quality of recorded music.

He added: "I like to point that out to artists. That's why people listen to music differently today. It's all about the bottom and the beat driving everything, and that's because in the resolution of the music, there's nothing else you can really hear. The warmth and the depth at the high end is gone."

Young made sure to say that though he hated the way modern music was recorded, he did not hate the new bands who made it, and talked up Mumford and Sons and My Morning Jacket as two of his favourite new bands.

He said: "Mumford And Sons and My Morning Jacket are great bands. I love them both and I know them well. I feel good about saying that."