Dieter said delete.
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I wonder if ādatedā mostly means: things I heard when I was younger and are so familiar they embarrass me now because Iāve moved on?
I also feel that popular music before say the Beatles has a certain quality that makes it seem itās from a different paradigm. So thereās dated in that more zoomed out sense. How long does a musical paradigm last, I donāt know.
And if you zoom in, maybe something as small as a snare sound from three years ago could be dated within a certain genre.
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Endtroducing is a weird example because I feel like it was so unique and not many bothered to try to copy itā¦it certainly has a retro vibe due to the nature of the samples as others have mentioned, but certain tracks like mutual slump are so distinct and innovative I feel like they would be much vaunted if released todayā¦
To me datedness is more associated with certain scenes with clear beginning and end points, e.g. happy hardcore, late 90s progressive trance, the mid 90s UK trip hop scene, speed garage, early Warp IDMā¦these all feel dated to me (not necessarily bad, just dated).
That being said, certain albums seem to transcend the datedness of their era, for example OK Computer doesnāt sound dated to me, despite it being somewhat associated with the late 90s Brit rock scene.
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I would like to add artists that made something unique that wasnāt copied to often. An example that comes to mind is Sigur RĆ³s. I would definitely say their music is timeless, probably all of it except maybe for Kveikur. Definitely Agaetis Byrjun.
I totally agree on those of you who have suggested that music tends to sound dated if it relied heavily on some gimmicks or studio trickery that was trademark for a time and/or copied a lot afterwards.
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This is a great description of Kraftwerk. I remember playing Man Machine to my kids a couple of years back and they thought it was a new album.
I love it when things sound ādatedā, itās not a bad thing at all I think. Like a timestamp in musical history. And like many have said sometimes things sound dated and futuristic at the same time, like this Chemical Brothers track 
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This Chemical Brothers track sounds uncannily like the Fab Fourā¦
Now, seriously, OP, I think itās oneās experience / childhood that dictates what sounds dated. To me, Iām the opposite - Portishead sounds very new, but Massive Attack sounds dated. So itās very subjective.
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Think āacoustic instrumentsā from early samplers
Nearly fell off my chair when I put 2+2 together!
They did make a great attempt to divorce their sound from their first two albums.
The only Kraftwerk album that potentially sounds dated is Techno Pop/Electric CafĆ© from 1986. It has a different sound palette to all their other work: with typical mid-80s drum machine sounds and synth-slap-bass. Even Tour de France Soundtracks sounds more timeless in comparison - itās definitely a better album in any case, in my opinion.
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