The previous post...

[hmpf]

probably exposes my astounding ignorance about all things musical. Which I will readily admit to (and which, let's face it, is probably obvious from everything music-related I've ever posted here. *g*)

I've lived under a rock, for most of my life. So, chances are I just didn't notice great bands and so on before because of that, and not because they weren't around.

Comments

[nick-101.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, good bands are hard to find, even if they've been around for a while.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, especially if you don't know anybody who's into the kind of music you like and could give you some tips.

[herdivineshadow]

I think that's true of anyone who is unfamiliar with a particular genre of music - one day you listen to something or read about a band (and probably see names of bands they are compared to) and suddenly...

There's a whole new avenue of music that you realise you're into!

I know this happened for me when I got into punk and hardcore - up until then it'd been all pop, indie and a bit of rock for me since that's what I used to see on TV (and what was on the radio station I used to listen to).

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I'm not even actually moving into a new genre here. It's just that one of the genres where I've always found some of the stuff I liked seems to have suddenly turned about 200% more compatible with my taste. So, where I used to find only a handful of artists I *really* liked, now there seem to be dozens. It's exciting, and a bit aggravating (because I'm not sure how much money I want to be spending on music per month (at the moment I'm at 1-2 CDs per month, which is already much more than I'm used to.) And also, since for the past fifteen years I bought maybe three CDs per year, my CD shelves aren't really prepared for such a huge influx in a short period. I have space for maybe 50 more CDs, total, and that was supposed to last me at least until the next move. Seeing as how it took me more than twenty years to amass the 150 CDs I have, it seemed more than enough.

Before you ask: no, digital-only isn't an option. I'm a bit of a fetishist of physical media, if not much else. ;)

Funny thing is, I still couldn't tell you what unites all the music I like, other than that it's music I like. A lot of it is on the artier side of rock (the area that's described by Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Björk, Kate Bush, Nick Cave - those five have always kind of been the mental markers of a certain type of musical terrain for me), but I also like some singer-songwriters, some prog (though it tends to be, to quote my favourite artist in that area, the stuff that's "too rock for prog, and too prog for rock"), some eighties rock... some "world music", too. I dunno. One of the things that seems clear is that my formative period were the 80s, even though most of the CDs I own are from the mid-90s and onward. One of the weird things about my taste is that I like quite a few things that are "officially" considered "good music", and I also like a few things that are "officially" considered "bad music". The fact that I like some good stuff might suggest a kind of musical sophistication... but I think I like the "good music" not necessarily for "the right reasons", but rather find in it something that is also present in some of the "bad music", and is entirely incidental to matters of quality.

[herdivineshadow]

Is it that you're getting exposure to more music in that genre that you've not heard before? Or your taste has altered slightly?

I know what you mean about it being annoying though. I like to have tangible music too - I like holding the CD and looking at the artwork and my hard-drives have a tendency to explode. The only music I will buy digital-only is music that cannot be bought in physical formats or... the odd song I've heard on an advert on tv that I don't mind losing forever.

Heh I think the common factor in the music that you like is... that you like it. I like some country music, but you'll be hard-pressed to find hardcore fans who'll willingly admit to that (well, at least it was about 10 years ago!). I love 80s pop music, 90s Britpop, goth-punk, punk, rock, hardcore...I like Alec Empire and Atari Teenage Riot and they're sort of... digital hardcore or electronic speed metal or something.

I'm just glad that CDs are about half the price they were when I started getting into music.

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

>Is it that you're getting exposure to more music in that genre that you've not heard before? Or your taste has altered slightly?

Well, I am getting slightly more exposure, but not enough to explain the sudden explosion in interesting music. I really think something about the musical zeitgeist has shifted a bit, and it's aligned with the kinds of things I like in music, for the moment. Probably won't be for long...

My taste hasn't changed, I reckon. It's been remarkably stable for the last fifteen years or so, (although maybe I've turned slightly more tolerant of dissonance - but dissonance really isn't what sets today's music apart for me). Most of the things I really loved in the late nineties I still love, and most of what I love now I would probably have loved then if I had known about it, or if it had existed back then.

Kinda sad to realise that, isn't it? Like I'm not developing at all. But, I dunno, my relationship with music has always been a bit weird. I've always been searching for something elusive yet very particular that could turn up in any genre - though perhaps more frequently in rock and its subgenres than elsewhere, and the thing I've been searching for really hasn't changed in all these years. In fact, I think it hasn't changed since I first became aware of it in my early teenage years (late 80s/early 90s). Though I find many of my musical choices from, say, age thirteen or so rather immature today, I can readily identify in them some elements that are still central in the things I like today. But back then, it was *really fucking hard* to find any music that fit my requirements at all, whereas recently - and especially now, it seems - it's become much easier. In the 90s, I'd buy an album because I'd heard a couple of songs somewhere, and more often than not, the album as a whole would disappoint me (I was mostly too nervous in music shops to actually listen to an album there. I hated music shops and the "coolness police" atmosphere that seemed to prevail there). And most music, even from the indie sphere, just didn't seem that interesting (and I did get a fair bit of exposure to that - those were the days when MTV still played a lot of actual music! *g*)

>The only music I will buy digital-only is music that cannot be bought in physical formats or... the odd song I've heard on an advert on tv that I don't mind losing forever.

Yeah. I will buy a digital version of the occasional song from an album that as a whole is not interesting enough to me, too. Also, yes, stuff that's not available otherwise. *glares at Radiohead b/c of In Rainbows "disc" 2, These Are My Twisted Words, The Daily Mail/Staircase & The Butcher/Supercollider*

>Heh I think the common factor in the music that you like is... that you like it. I like some country music, but you'll be hard-pressed to find hardcore fans who'll willingly admit to that (well, at least it was about 10 years ago!). I love 80s pop music, 90s Britpop, goth-punk, punk, rock, hardcore...I like Alec Empire and Atari Teenage Riot and they're sort of... digital hardcore or electronic speed metal or something.

Country is one of the few genres I haven't discovered an example of that I like yet. But I've found metal I like, and hip hop. Those where the most surprising discoveries to me so far, because I'd really thought I didn't like the genres as such.

>I'm just glad that CDs are about half the price they were when I started getting into music.

Are they?! They seem as expensive to me as ever. But I buy a lot used via amazon markeptplace. (Good for my ecological consciousness, too: I'm keeping more plastic stuff from being produced, and keeping some already produced plastic out of the landfill. ;-))

[herdivineshadow]

Kinda sad to realise that, isn't it? Like I'm not developing at all. But, I dunno, my relationship with music has always been a bit weird. I've always been searching for something elusive yet very particular that could turn up in any genre - though perhaps more frequently in rock and its subgenres than elsewhere, and the thing I've been searching for really hasn't changed in all these years.

I don't know that it's sad - some people know exactly what they like to hear (even if they can't quantify what it is about what they like, that they like) and are happy listening to what they like. Which I guess on some levels is one of those things that should be obvious but isn't. Some people are constantly on the lookout for something new or groundbreaking or challenging to listen to...and I suspect this is touted as something to strive for because that way music magazines have something to write about and people who are into this kind of thing can appear cool. I say, if you like indie rock and only indie rock...well, what's the point in forcing yourself to like speedmetal or feeling bad that you don't really want to listen to the latest Jessie J song. :)

In the 90s, I'd buy an album because I'd heard a couple of songs somewhere, and more often than not, the album as a whole would disappoint me (I was mostly too nervous in music shops to actually listen to an album there. I hated music shops and the "coolness police" atmosphere that seemed to prevail there).

I think for me, my totally oblivious nature helped with the listening to music in the shop. That and I only ever could get to Virgin Megastore rather than a possibly more intimidating indie music shop.

Country is one of the few genres I haven't discovered an example of that I like yet.

I am pretty much restricted to Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline for the country CDs that I will buy, but I'm open to listening to anything else in that genre.

>I'm just glad that CDs are about half the price they were when I started getting into music.

Are they?! They seem as expensive to me as ever.

OMG yes. When I was buying CDs as a 12 year old, they were usually priced around £15.99 - £18.99, sometimes more (that 99p was a mean trick to make me feel like I wasn't spending as much). Now? For a brand new, just released album I can usually spend about £7 or £8 online and maybe a pound more in an actual non-internet-based shop.