amphibian, on May 7 2009, 06:42 AM, said:
That being said, I don't like techno much, as the only exposure I have to it is when it's blasted at too loud volumes in clubs I'm not drunk enough to be in usually. But I'll bop along if a friend puts some on.
I thought you were deaf? Or do I have you confused with someone else? Obviously I do ...
stone monkey, on May 7 2009, 11:09 AM, said:
The answer to the question, from me, is: no, I don't. I listen to everything I can make time to hear and like a good portion of it. But musical snobs bore me because they can't help but constrained by those genres they are snobbish about - the same with any kind of taste based snobbery, really. If your major criterion for stuff you like is that it be obscure then sorry, you're quite a dull person imo. And that's not really anything to brag about.
Music, for me, is just a bunch of noises strung together in a sequence that, for whatever reason, appeals to my ear. This can be, and for me often is, random electronic bleeps, or soaring orchestral harmonies, or dirty sounding jazz, or speaker-wrecking dub reggae basslines, or dark drum 'n' bass rhythms or any number of other things...Yes, there are genres that I don't particularly enjoy - metal for one - but that doesn't necessarily mean that there aren't individual tracks that could be considered to be within a particular genre that might appeal to me (one of my favourite songs in the entire world, as I was telling Cougar and anyone else who'd listen at the last Manky Meet, is "Jesus Built My Hotrod" by The Ministry - a band whom I have seen live a number of times. My absolute favouritest song in the entire world is "Groove is in the Heart" by Dee-Lite, but that's another story).
In the end, it's a probability based exercise: if it's music made by long-haired white men with a penchant for wearing black and involves a lot of electric guitars then it's possible I might enjoy hearing it, but quite unlikely... We've only got so much time to discover the music we like to listen to before we're not in a position to enjoy it (or anything else) any more, so it makes sense to narrow our focus to those genres where the previous pickings have been rich. But doing that means that run the risk of missing out on those gems in the genres we overlook.
If I were going to get all philosophical about this I would point out that the world is full of great music you'll never hear, fantastic books you'll never read, amazing films you'll never see, beautiful people (of whichever gender floats your boat) that you'll never kiss and wonderful examples of all the other stuff that makes the human experience so rich that you'll never get around to encountering; we've all only got a limited amount of time, after all. It's a shame to miss out on it by limiting your options but, paradoxically, that selfsame self-imposed limitation means that you're possibly more likely to encounter things you do like. Eclecticism can only take you so far out into the wilds before you find yourself yearning for home.
ps For all you anti-pop snobs out there, popular does not always equal bad; making something good that appeals to a lot of people is almost certainly infinitely more difficult than making something good that only appeals to a few.
Agreed. So very very agreed. Someone should put this post in the Hall of Fame. On the other hand, I doubt we'll be attending the same concerts anytime soon ...

Actually, I wonder who is playing while I am over there in July?
Daser, on May 7 2009, 01:26 PM, said:
It seems that this shit cant be played at anything under 120db. I wish every mutterfukker who likes this shit would go instantly deaf the first time they play it that loud so the rest of us wouldnt have to ever hear it coming out of their shitty cars or from 2 blocks over.
I can already see the sign language teacher stare at his full class room, that now is filled with long haired apes and waterdrinking ecstasy users.
Dunno about the heavy metal (I like a fair bit), but so very agreed on the doof-doof shit. I think it is everyones' right to enjoy their music, but not to make me ENDURE it. Subwoofers are a blight on society, especially when combined with tiny cars and almost anyone under the age of 25 ...
Anything that sounds like a truck reversing or a machinegun being fired into a room full of cymbals isn't music. Also, droning monotonous shit like most Daft Punk - I've been subjected to a couple of their albums numerous times here at work, and I can safely say if I never hear it again, it will be far too soon.
If you need drugs to enjoy it - it ain't music.
Cheers,
La Sombra, audiophile
"Fortune favors the bold, though statistics favor the cautious." - Indomitable Courteous (Icy) Fist, The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes
"Well well well ... if it ain't The Invisible C**t." - Billy Butcher, The Boys
"I have strong views about not tempting providence and, as a wise man once said, the difference between luck and a wheelbarrow is, luck doesn’t work if you push it." - Colonel Orhan, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - KJ Parker