I’ve been thinking a lot about musical taste recently.  By which I don’t mean ‘discernment’ or ‘judgement’ or ‘liking the (so-called) right things’ or something like that…  But more like particular, specific, personal, individual preference.

I’m not talking about such broad matters as ‘pop v prog’ or ‘commercial v serious’.  I’m talking about the moment when you suddenly pin down what it is that links all the things you love together – the aspect that you have been instinctively seeking out, probably subconsciously, when going about your everyday listening/music acquiring activities.

For myself, it hit me only very recently: my key phrase would have to be ‘flamboyant and disciplined’.  My two musical favourites are Frank Zappa and – duh, no, really?! – Magma.  And who else does ‘flamboyant and disciplined’ like those two?  (If you can think of anything, please alert me, because I’m in wide-eyed music discovery mode at the moment, and I’m composing an epic shopping list that you are welcome to help me add to… )

It occurs to me also that I tend to like things that not everybody else in the universe likes or has even heard of.  I’m rather picky about music – not one of those people who can boast that they ‘like everything’!  For a while I was a bit worried that I was being unintentionally snobbish… but you know what, it’s not so much that I won’t listen to ‘normal popular music’, more that I won’t pay money for it.  I will happily pay money to be amazed, but it doesn’t seem worth it to feel – how can I put this? – pleasantly indifferent.  My music collection is, for that reason, small, but is pretty much ‘all killer, no filler’ (well, I think so... ).  I’m kind of an ‘all or nothing’ person with music, although not usually obsessive (I’ll make an exception for my untreatable Magma addiction!  ).  I’ve got a reasonably high tolerance for weirdness, but I put that down to repeated exposure to ‘Trout Mask Replica’ during late adolescence.

My usual yardstick of quality: if ‘I could have done that’, it’s probably not worth paying money for…  If it makes me wish I could play [instrument name] just like [musical genius], or – even better – has me gibbering in soundbite-metaphors and turning into an amateur music journalist (of the most irritatingly verbose kind), then you can lead me by the ear to the nearest cash register.  (I’m opinionated, not to mention fond of writing, so anything that unleashes my ‘inner columnist’ will probably have me enthralled from the word go.)

The final thing that’s important to me is ‘mode of discovery’.  I’m always glad to get recommendations, at least in part because any excuse to talk to other people about a shared love for music – beyond-the-valley-of-the-top-40 music especially – is worth taking, in my book!  But most of the things that I love best sort of fell into my lap almost, rather than being introduced to me.  (Has anyone else had any of those spooky experiences where you can look back and trace your inexorable, unknowing progress towards something that you were made to love…?  I know, that sounds witlessly pretentious, but perhaps you know what I mean…)

So now I’m interested to find out what governs others’ musical habits.  Especially: have you got a neat phrase that sums up the essence of your favourite music, however diverse it might be?  I’m also quite fascinated by the range of musical attitudes out there.  Presumably music is a passion to you or you wouldn’t be looking at this site, but musical passions come in such a wide variety of flavours!  What are the facets that make up your particular appreciation for music?

Wow, hmm, I ask a lot of questions, don’t I!   Well, if any of this strikes a chord and you feel like writing a little bit about this stuff – I realise it’s rather a large subject, but don’t let that put you off! – I’d be genuinely interested to read your thoughts…

for me I would say "weirdness with a magic". plain old weirdness is not enough. some examples:

for movies: "The Holy Mountain" by Alejandro Jodorowski, "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa, "Don't Look Now!" by Nicholas Roeg
for paintings: Hieronymus Bosch, many surrealists
for music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Mahler, Stravinsky. you may ask what is so weird about Bach, but I find his high complexity extremely weird. and he was definitely weird for his time (which is why he had to be rediscovered in the 19th century)


Edited by BaldJean - June 17 2008 at 11:20

I'm attracted to music I find playful and what I mean by zat is zat I enjoy it when an artist or group experiments in ways zey enjoy - think of The Residents (or Mr. Bungle's!) plundering, overt nonsensicality and grotesque interpretation of rock music, or else Gentle Giant's (or After Dinner's!) jaunt anachronism. Maybe that is enough to draw a circle around most of what I enjoy but it's not to say I don't like more serious bands - Magma, KC and Henry Cow are/were very purposeful groups (no matter what Belew thinks) but they all have an obvious whimsy of their own, whether it's histrionics and apparent profound belief in quite an absurd story, relentless self-referentialism or just sheer inaccessibility to the casual. Bands with quirks, shall we say? Outside of prog I like plenty of music, but I find the most remarkable singers most memorable too - Bjork, Gruff from the Super Furry Animals and so on. That scene is good pretention.

What I don't like (and what is abundant in the prog of 2008) is when a band is serious without really meriting it, IE, any band responsible for one of the ~30 albums I've heard which rip-off straight-faced the foundations of their genre, sprinkle on contrived lyrics and make no real attempt to advance the form. That scene is bad pretention.

[QUOTE=BaldJean] for me I would say "weirdness with a magic". plain old weirdness is not enough. some examples:

for movies: "The Holy Mountain" by Alejandro Jodorowski, "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa, "Don't Look Now!" by Nicholas Roeg


Lol, yes The Holy Mountain was a rather interesting movie, not neccessarily wierd, nothing is really wierd for me, just funny, interesting, moving, whatever......I think the best example of what a advant-garde would look like if it was a movie, would have to be Eraserhead by David Lynch. Check it out!

I like quirky. I like "weird". I like experimentation. I like diversity within music (not just across genre lines but within the same song/album). I like the willing to do the unconventional. I like the unexpected. I like to be surprised...to an extent at least. I like smart. I like emotion...to an extent again. I like fun. I like energy.

NaturalScience wrote: Excellent post, very thought provoking.  I started to make an attempt to describe my personal tastes, then discovered I had a very hard time doing so.  Hate to do this, but I'll need to get back to you - which, again, means your thread is already a success.

Hehe, thanks!   I've not put anything on the 'blog' section before, so even this much of a reply was nice to have!

Bluesaga wrote: Most music I enjoy because it spirals around in deeper cerebral levels that are difficult to access otherwise.  I can always tell how much I enjoy an album by how many layers I can jump between and still maintain a level of entranced mindf**k (no other word describes it quite like "mindf**k").

Oh goodness, you've put your finger on it with that phrase!  "Entranced mindf**k"...  Yes, oh yes, that feeling you get when one layer of meaning slides across another... meaning-friction... oooh....  Stop, I'm getting carried away...

Er, um, seriously, yes, that thing with the complexity, the multiplicity, et cetera... I really like that.

And re. 'music as a drug':

Myself, I'm always sober chemically (she said smugly ) but I totally agree on the psychoactive effects of music!  I think with me it tends to occur most when my sense of time is thrown out of joint (usually by something contradictory in the rhythm).  A bit like the sonic equivalent of looking at flashing lights!  My theory is that if you confuse your brain enough, eventually it gives up and leaves you in this sort of fugue state, 'between the notes'...  Like being 'between the dots' in a printed picture...  The emotional content is important as well, of course.  I notice these effects a lot more if I'm very tired/drained.

I guess (!) I'd pin my tastes down to dark-eclectic. I really love the dark stuff. The blacker the better - anti-heroes in a dystopian nightmare - the melancholic romantic - lost love - a morose by any other name would sound as sweet - the unhappy endings - the modulation to a minor key - a dissonance - the augmented forth - diabolus in musica. Once they invent Prog-Goth I'll be a happy bunny (there is a breed of Goths who are perpetually happy - they are called Perky Goths and think everything is peachy keen - they are as depressing as they sound).

Hawkwise wrote: Pinning down your personal taste?I have no idea what so ever all i know is if i like what i hear i like it and then will more than  likely  buy it that would explain that i am the opposite  to you  in that i have huge  collection of Music spanning  many different   genres  ,  though i would say most of it being Prog Rock(ha ha what ever that means ?) , Jazz and Folk Roots (English and Celtic) So if my Ears Like it then thats good enough for me .

Haha, that's put me in my place!   Of course, that's the only real criterion: do I like the noise it makes...?

MikeDupont wrote: If you like Frank Zappa, but don't particularly find the extreme advant-garde of albums Like Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart...I HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest you get "Shiny Beast" by Captain Beefheart. At times It reminds me so much of albums like Hot Rats...its highly melodic even for Beefheart, but the wierdness and fun is still there.

Well, you picked a good 'un - I absolutely love 'Shiny Beast'!  Probably my most-played Beefheart.  (And always my personal recommendation for anyone who's looking for an entry point to Beefheart...)  But I LOVE 'TMR' as well!  In fact, without that record, I wouldn't be listening to half the stuff I like now.  Train your ears up on that and you're equipped to listen to pretty much anything...

MikeDupont wrote: Since you claim to like music thats flamboyant and Diciplined, and also seem to enjoy the more Yang side of prog. (Magma) I suggest you try out some stuff by Van Der Graaf Generator.

And you read my mind again!  I've been thinking that might be my next experiment, although it'll have to wait its turn (the Zeuhl/RIO/Avant Shopping List now begins to rival War and Peace for length...)!

MikeDupont wrote: How could I have forgoten? Perhaps the most diciplined band of them all.. CAN!

Another very perceptive suggestion...  I have to say that I've rather avoided Krautrock up till now - there seems to be so much of it, and I get weary thinking about the vastness of it...  Still, at least now I know where to start, if the urge takes me!

MikeDupont wrote: Well I hope these few things help you out...;)

Thanks indeed!


Edited by song_of_copper - June 17 2008 at 18:36