Musical Choices
I have been threatening to post here for some time I guess now is the time to take the plunge.
When I was younger I did not think music was music unless it would melt your ears. Fortunately during the "disco" years I was in the Navy and stationed in Japan, although it's presence was felt in the Americanized areas, once these were traversed, it was to the land of stick and Steve Miller.
As Nous pointed out in another post, she has become more eclectic in her tastes. I can say the same for myself, as a matter of fact it is so bad that with the exception of her seasonal stuff I have all that Loreena McKennitt has on the open market (OK let the laughter begin). Now she is not all, I used to hate Jazz but now I can listen to Brubeck. I really disliked Steely Dan now I don't even have to choke it down. The list goes on.
Now my question is why? Ask my friends, it's not because I've matured. I still like the same music that I used to and Alternative to boot, so what's up?
I have troubles with abstract art, but others can "see" things inside the abstract that I cannot. Is this a problem with the art or a "problem" with my eyes. In the same way, your early ear was able to listen to the limited types of music, but you learned to be able to listen to other types and enjoy their statements.
Re: Musical Choices Nous wanders in and dusts the few cobwebs out of the corners of the forum.
I think there are a few factors to this, Keld.
When we're kids and we start listening to music, we have rather strong associations with the sort of message the music sends. In other words, Marilyn Manson fans don't just like the music, they like being someone who others think of AS liking that music...the music you listen to, like the art you hang on your wall , is an expression of *you*. While teenagers and adults are equally complex, teenagers do have a few overriding characteristics which designate them as such: angst (of being accepted, of adulthood, responsibility, the future, powerlessness, our own image, etc.) and a sense of power which was completely denied in childhood. Complex jazz doesn't cater specifically to that emotional range...whereas heavy metal, Brittany Spears pop, Marilyn Manson, etc. does.
By adulthood:
1. One no longer feels the need to identify oneself with the music one listens to...(in fact, sometimes I think I buy certain music specifically because it is "unlike me").
2. One has learned that the radio is not necassarily the "source" for hearing good new music and searches out unusual tidbits elsewhere.
3. Having been on the planet longer, one gets a bit more accustomed to "odd" sounds and increasingly bored with "conventional" sounds, i.e. an increase of tolerance for difference combined with a boredom with sameness means you seek out new things.
4. As age increases, so does patience: At 15, if I didn't like an album on the first listen, I tossed it. If I did like it, I played it to death for a month and never listened to it again. In my advanced age, I tend to listen to albums around 3 or 4 times before I decide whether I like them or not. While some get more airplay than others, all come back to the cd player at different times over 2-5 year periods when I'm in the mood for them.
There's still stuff I don't listen to on principle (read: I don't want to be "one of the many people who listen to it"...)
Grateful Dead and CSN
Otherwise, my taste is pretty much defined by the complexity and originality of the music. If it's overproduced pablum in any style, I won't listen to it. If it has substance, I will. There's even music which I don't actually *enjoy* emotionally/aesthetically but I like following the structure of it intellectually. Some of the very complex acid jazz recordings sound like a dying hippo in one's living room but the way they are composed and structured, with the dissonance carefully plotted out, is amazing.
Edited by: NousPoetikos at: 8/25/01 10:33:21 pm
Quote: Some of the very complex acid jazz recordings sound like a dying hippo in one's living room but the way they are composed and structured, with the dissonance carefully plotted out, is amazing.
I had to laugh with this one. Yoko Ono has got something out that sounds just like what you describe. If I make someone mad over this sorry, but I don't believe I have heard anything as ridiculous in my life. Short of me getting up there but then I certainly wouldn't record it.
Got hit by the spelling bee.
Edited by: Keld Feldspar at: 8/28/01 10:31:34 pm
Wanderer Intervention and Flow
Posts: 28
(11/9/01 10:41 am) Reply
Re: Musical Choices
I think patience and open-mindedness have a lot to do with it, Keld. You say you haven't changed, because you still listen to the music you liked when you were younger. I would think otherwise, though. I imagine that you have matured a great deal in your ability to listen to music, to appreciate some of the more subtle aspects of music. There is no reason to think that this maturation would lead you to dislike alternative music (or any other genre, for that matter.)
When we are younger, as Nous pointed out, we project our identities through the music we like (covering our walls with posters, changing our dress, hairstyle, etc.) Some people don't grow out of that habit. Many of us do grow out of it, though, and eventually get exposed to a great variety of attractive and persuasive influences. Since we no longer look to a particular music "scene" to structure our identities, we are more open to listening to something different--something we thought we would never like, because the image we had of it contradicted our desired identity structure.
Creativity is Key
I will give anything a listen as long as I know the artist composes and performs his/her own music. Boy bands who sings the songs of others and can't play their own instruments-- this is a problem area for me. I deeply respect anyone who has the talent to perform their own work! Someone like Jewel. . . not my personal favorite, but I respect that even though she isn't very good, she at least performs her own stuff!
Re: Creativity is Key
I forgot to mention one thing about Jewel . . .
Her poetry is crap. She definitely got a book deal because she is a celebrity, which is a shame because there are so many talented poets out there who have to work at McDonald's part time while they try to find a publisher. Bummer . . . .
The Muse
"A thinking woman sleeps with monsters" A. Rich
http://pub66.ezboard.com/bthemelancholymuse
Re: Creativity is Key
If identity wasn't the key to adolescent prejudice, as Nous describes so nicely, the record companies wouldn't spend so much time selling image and attitude.
I also recall from my sound engineering classes a discussion on how hearing develops as we grow. Girls, for example, tend to become more aware of high frequencies and stereo seperation at around 13-14, so music for that market is engineered with an appealing shimmer of treble.
Animals seek resources from the environment in order to survive. For developing humans, this means acquiring language, ideas and resource manipulation skills in order to construct an identity.
As we mature and the identity becomes more integrated, we feel less pressure to conform to the identities of our peers, so we are little more open to listening to the actual noise.
re: Jazz - the word "cacophony" comes to mind for some variations.
, is an expression of *you*. While teenagers and adults are equally complex, teenagers do have a few overriding characteristics which designate them as such: angst (of being accepted, of adulthood, responsibility, the future, powerlessness, our own image, etc.) and a sense of power which was completely denied in childhood. Complex jazz doesn't cater specifically to that emotional range...whereas heavy metal, Brittany Spears pop, Marilyn Manson, etc. does.
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