What am I listening to? (Part II)

[improbus]

This can pretty simply be characterized as Art vs. Commerce for me...

Even that can be hard to recognize. The Monkees are an obvious example, but so many other bands could fit either bill.

I tend to agree with Dom. Music is so taste driven and the reasons people like/dislike bands are strange/varied/inconsistent. For example, I am not a big fan of the Doors. All I hear are drugs and Jim Morrison seems like the kind of guy whose sole reason to exist was to steal and bed your girlfriend. Those are totally irrational and subjective things. I like rock organs (like Elvis Costello), I like bands who used alot of drugs (almost all of them), and I like insufferable guys like Jim Morrison (too many to name, but everything I've ever heard about John Lennon seems to fit this category) and yet I don't like the Doors. Is that rational? No. Is my feeling real? Yes.

I have a friend who soured on Arcade Fire after going to a concert and being surrounded by obnoxious frat guys. As if that was the fault of the band. How dare they make music that appeals to more than just his demographic.

I do have some very broad, general things I tend to lean towards. I am a sound guy more than a lyrics guy (but I love Randy Newman), I like innovative bands (but love stripped down rock like the Black Keys), I love upbeat music (but prefer Beck's Sea Changes/Mutations/Morning Phase to his more exuberant stuff), I like subtly (but love most rap). None of this makes any sense, but I know what I like and know what I don't like. Oh, and I'm right...

[*BaseClogger*]

Even that can be hard to recognize. The Monkees are an obvious example, but so many other bands could fit either bill.

What's an example of an artist you are unsure of? I think it's usually pretty easy to distinguish...

[Superdude]

I love when people debate music. You guys are getting me in the mood to bash Pavement and Radiohead.

Raisor loves that...

You leave SM out of this. Spiral Stairs is fair game.

[westofyou]

You leave SM out of this. Spiral Stairs is fair game.

No. without Spiral Steve is insufferable

[vaticanplum]

I love people who love music. I do.

This is just a great post, because only someone who loves music could write it.

It's why I love bashing bands I hate- even if I end up liking them later like Dylan, Zeppelin, Nirvana (I think it's something against rabid fan bases). It's an absolute joy piecing together an "argument" that is subjectively based...and when you can't come up with a concrete idea, you just say "Radiohead sounds like someone took a lawnmower and played it against a violin."

There's a little record store clerk in all of us.

That's a nice way of saying "obsessive" And I appreciate that.

There's no way for me to put this down without sounding at least a little pretentious, but it's extremely important to me to quantify opinions across art forms. I believe very strongly in technique, and that emotional impact of any art is limited without at least an understanding of technique (whether one chooses to use it or abandon it). But although I try, I have a harder time backing up my opinions on music than I do for any other art form except maybe visual art. No doubt in huge part because I'm not a musician.

For what it's worth, the Beck album is growing on me. The first half of it, anyway.

[Superdude]

No. without Spiral Steve is insufferable

Correlation doesn't equal causation. Giving Spiral credit for Pavement is the music equivalent of catcher's ERA. (This is all a thinly veiled plea for admission into RaisorZone)

[improbus]

What's an example of an artist you are unsure of? I think it's usually pretty easy to distinguish...

Later career U2 immediately comes to mind.

[Dom Heffner]

That's a nice way of saying "obsessive" And I appreciate that.

There's no way for me to put this down without sounding at least a little pretentious, but it's extremely important to me to quantify opinions across art forms. I believe very strongly in technique, and that emotional impact of any art is limited without at least an understanding of technique (whether one chooses to use it or abandon it). But although I try, I have a harder time backing up my opinions on music than I do for any other art form except maybe visual art. No doubt in huge part because I'm not a musician.

For what it's worth, the Beck album is growing on me. The first half of it, anyway.

You can't really back up an opinion on music to someone who doesn't agree.

Because I'll tell you Taylor Swift is the best pop song writer of the past decade, you'll tell me no way, but then you'll heap praise on "Call Me Maybe."

It's why it's so much fun. You can't really lose an argument on music- you put it out there why you like it and because it's subjective, it can't lose.

I'll tell you Jimmy Page is the best guitarist of all time. Someone else may say Hendrix. Sammy Hagar in Van Halen didn't bother me. I may only like half of Bob Dylan's stuff but I think that qualifies him as a top 5 artist. For being a boy band, Hanson wasn't half bad. I love Nirvana, I think they benefit from Cobain's death. Nobody ever got to see the decline, which is a big deal. I have Radiohead*,Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. songs on my ipod, I like them, and I think their fans are insufferable.

And none of what I just said can be defeated with any type of logic that I have to bow to.

These threads are great because it shows the power that music holds over us. I just got back from an elementary school talent show where the entire school was singing along with the performances. I had goosebumps seeing a little girl singing Joan Jett (honestly, is there anyone cooler?)....another girl sang "Let it Go." Rihanna, that "Happy" song....and we're all in this little auditorium singing along.

And here we are in this tread debating and sharing our tastes. It brings us together. It's my "baseball" anymore. I have it on at my desk, my workouts, the car....it's everywhere and I love it. And I love to see this board talk about it, too.

Great thread.

*For you Walking Dead fans, Norman Reedus is in the "Fake Plastic Trees" video. That is cool.

[Dom Heffner]

Later career U2 immediately comes to mind.

Later career anybody, for the most part. The creative fires smolder at some point. Nobody goes to watch Eddie Murphy's standup anymore, either.

[Rojo]

I like rock organs (like Elvis Costello), I like bands who used alot of drugs (almost all of them), and I like insufferable guys like Jim Morrison (too many to name, but everything I've ever heard about John Lennon seems to fit this category) and yet I don't like the Doors. Is that rational? No. Is my feeling real? Yes.

Although I love the Doors, I know what you're talking about. I should like the Violent Femmes. But hate them for some reason. I think they were just too College Radio for me. (College radio -- wiki it, kids).

[westofyou]

You can't really back up an opinion on music to someone who doesn't agree.

Because I'll tell you Taylor Swift is the best pop song writer of the past decade, you'll tell me no way, but then you'll heap praise on "Call Me Maybe."

It's why it's so much fun. You can't really lose an argument on music- you put it out there why you like it and because it's subjective, it can't lose.

I'll tell you Jimmy Page is the best guitarist of all time. Someone else may say Hendrix. Sammy Hagar in Van Halen didn't bother me. I may only like half of Bob Dylan's stuff but I think that qualifies him as a top 5 artist. For being a boy band, Hanson wasn't half bad. I love Nirvana, I think they benefit from Cobain's death. Nobody ever got to see the decline, which is a big deal. I have Radiohead*,Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. songs on my ipod, I like them, and I think their fans are insufferable.

And none of what I just said can be defeated with any type of logic that I have to bow to.

These threads are great because it shows the power that music holds over us. I just got back from an elementary school talent show where the entire school was singing along with the performances. I had goosebumps seeing a little girl singing Joan Jett (honestly, is there anyone cooler?)....another girl sang "Let it Go." Rihanna, that "Happy" song....and we're all in this little auditorium singing along.

And here we are in this tread debating and sharing our tastes. It brings us together. It's my "baseball" anymore. I have it on at my desk, my workouts, the car....it's everywhere and I love it. And I love to see this board talk about it, too.

Great thread.

*For you Walking Dead fans, Norman Reedus is in the "Fake Plastic Trees" video. That is cool.

I saw Joan Jett open for the Police in 1981

I saw L7 blow the doors off the arena and then saw Nirvana slog through their last album after... L7 was amazing

[Dom Heffner]

I saw Joan Jett open for the Police in 1981

I saw L7 blow the doors off the arena and then saw Nirvana slog through their last album after... L7 was amazing

Joan Jett is awesome.

[Larry Schuler]

Going back a few posts to the "indy" question...Indie can mean anything these days. To me, indie means rock, pop, and folk bands that are usually on a smaller label and/or have the freedom to experiment beyond the radio-ready demands of mainstream artists.

However, if you ask Spotify or most magazines these days, "indie" means electronic gimmicky pop music that is as derivative and homogenized as the mainstream pop acts or (often electronic) folk-y music like Bastille and Mumford and Sons. Basically, it's all about electronic dance-y music right now, even when it comes to folk and rock music.

[jojo]

I saw Joan Jett open for the Police in 1981

I saw L7 blow the doors off the arena and then saw Nirvana slog through their last album after... L7 was amazing

L7 were like a LOOGY...limited repertoire but in the right venue, they're really,really good at what they do throw at you.

[Dom Heffner]

Going back a few posts to the "indy" question...Indie can mean anything these days. To me, indie means rock, pop, and folk bands that are usually on a smaller label and/or have the freedom to experiment beyond the radio-ready demands of mainstream artists.

However, if you ask Spotify or most magazines these days, "indie" means electronic gimmicky pop music that is as derivative and homogenized as the mainstream pop acts or (often electronic) folk-y music like Bastille and Mumford and Sons. Basically, it's all about electronic dance-y music right now, even when it comes to folk and rock music.

If you have a banjo you're in, paraphrasing Mick Marrs.