Music: family rivalry & rebelry

M., you make some good points there, re: discovering music yourself.  I think that is indeed similar to what I am experiencing.

The thing is though, sometimes I "discover" a band and then tell a lot of people on P.A. and sometimes I keep them to myself; it depends on the mood I am in and also what type of band it is.  Zeuhl bands for instance most people know already, because it's one of those genres that people keep tabs on a lot.  However, lesser known bands, like Nuit Caline a la Villa Mon Reve and Kandahar I tend to not wax lyrical about quite as much (although most people know I like them).

I guess I not only like to be as unique and individualistic with my tastes as possible but I also tend to want to discover as much as possible by myself.  However, I am normally impressed by P.A. friends' recommendations, because I know their taste is similar to mine.

At the same time, I am also a completionist.  If I buy an album by a band or artist I like who have a large discography, I then try and buy all of their discography, even the not so good stuff.  I must stop doing this!  That is why I have yet to officially buy any Magma, because it could take me some time to finish buying it all.

Addendum: the funky keyboard riff in Superstitious is great, it's a shame Stevie went a bit weird in the 1980s onwards


Edited by James - May 06 2008 at 10:00

Well I'm the opposite.  I've been listening to a lot of Classical music whilst driving (on a radio station called Classic FM) and I know my family don't listen to much classical, except for my father, who has Holst's Planet Suite on vinyl, plus my eldest sibling had "Big War Movie Themes" on vinyl too.

Apart from that, we're not a classical music orientated family.

I have to say it's weird to like an artist but to not listen to them by rebelling against your brother.

My dad (and mom to a lesser extent) used to be into a lot of good stuff, mostly Talking Heads, Pink Floyd, Yes, Focus, etc.  Now they are typical, only-purchase-greatest-hits-cd type parents which is kind of annoying, as I always tell them it's better to not have their music dictated by the masses, but of course taking advice from someone a generation younger is basically an insult so now I don't even say much.  My brother listens to crap, like 99% of teenagers.

My Dad  (now 78) was as musically open minded as anyone could be as a young man...  He embraced the Pacific Jazz (koonitz Baker et al) bunch in the 50s,  he caught on to The Beatles and Dylan in the 60s but in the 70s he fell into a musical purgatory of Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand,  Kenny Rogers and John Denver... The 80s found him listening to almost no music at all and the 90s he came back to life via Paul Simons Graceland and started listening to Clifton Chenier and that kind of zydeco stuff.... Today at 78 he has been re-living the music of his wartime experience which included Sammy Kaye and some of the big bands, Sinatra and Crosby.   You can go back!

James wrote: King Crimson not rocking enough?

Edited by Sckxyss - May 05 2008 at 16:58

King Crimson not rocking enough? 

You know, this probably is the need of all human beings to set its own symbolic self in order to build its personality. In order to do that many people choose the opposite side or choose not to follow some steps followed by parents, friends or relatives.

For example, me and my brother were raised listening to prog rock, blues, classical music, jazz, pop rock, among other kinds of music, coming mostly from my father, who was a genuine audiophile guy (was because he don't have time to listen to anything right now and, to top that, the hi-fi stereo is f**ked up). I followed many steps of my father and like prog rock, classical music and jazz (although i don't have any  jazz or classical cd) wile my bother listen to rap, hip hop and brazillian funk (some kind of rap created here). 

Hard to draw any conclusion from one example though. But still fairly interesting considering that our families have at least a comparable background in music. My mother has always been more into artsy pop/rock.

Hm. My own experience with this:

Parental influences:

My dad doesn't really listen to music, except casually and rarely. He's not really been any influence at all. I usually don't mind the 80s stuff he'll rarely play, but I've never really been struck by it enough to go and hunt it down.

My mum was responsible for my introduction to ELP [even if I like almost all of it, when she only really likes the softer songs and Fanfare] (labelling it 'intellectual rock music' and lending/donating to me her Works Live and Fanfare anthology albums), and consequently prog rock. She also introduced me to the brilliant 10cc. I don't mind some of the older and more artsy things she plays (such as Van Morrison or Peter Gabriel), even if we disagree on the specifics. What's interesting is that she really dislikes some of my musical tastes [to a lesser extent, vice versa, though in my case it's usually apathy rather than dislike], especially Maneige's 'Les Aventures...', lots of Yes and anything heavier by Crimson. I'll occasionally check something she's mentioned or recommended, and usually won't love it, but won't mind it either.

I think the difference really was that I've been much more interested in the heavier and experimental forms of progressive music, and have developed a lot independently and with recommendations from others. I go for atmospheres, musicianship and textures, where my mum goes for songs.

The interesting difference, really, is comparison with my sister, who's more into modern indie/emo/metal music (and got into music a couple of years before I did, even if I'm a couple of years older), though open to just about anything. She's expressed interest in Steve Hackett's guitar on Shadow Of The Hierophant, and admired a couple of Mahavishnu Orchestra solos, but that's it. I don't mind a couple of the things she plays (though rarely enough to check them out, I'm probably lacking Led Zep and Hendrix collections mainly because she likes them), even if some others really annoy me. The biggest difference, really, is listening style. She'll only listen to things she likes, and often skips tracks partway through, so atmospheric intros or contrast are really lost on her. Probably our single biggest overlap is on Rush, which she likes, but doesn't really know at all.

Both my uncles on my mum's side (one's a drummer/musician) also listen/listened to Genesis and Yes (though they're both more diverse listeners than me), and I've discovered a couple of interesting things from them (Simon and Garfunkel, ELO and Genesis when younger, now things like Renaissance, The Who and The Primitives). I tend to agree with a lot of their tastes rather than my sister's, for some reason, but I think that the difference is just that 70s/80s rock is generally more my thing that recent music.