Music

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Andy Wilson
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Re: Music

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Re: Music

Post by JimBentley »

Excellent. Here's the B-side.

Actually I think this one is even better.

[Edit] I was wrong, this is the clear winner.
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Re: Music

Post by Andy Wilson »

Haha. I can't judge as I'm incapable of sitting through either of the latter two.
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Re: Music

Post by JimBentley »

It's the timing on the last one that makes it - it's very, very close to being spot-on without (seemingly) any major edits.
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Re: Music

Post by Andy Wilson »

Cool! Yeah, the one I posted is quite edited right?
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Re: Music

Post by JimBentley »

Andy Wilson wrote:Cool! Yeah, the one I posted is quite edited right?
I think there's probably a similar amount of editing going on in both, but the Gaga track is rhythmically much simpler than the Beyonce one, so it's easier to edit the footage to fit.
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Re: Music

Post by Matt Morrison »

Aloe Blacc is the black Mayer Hawthorne. Fuck yes.
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

'I Need A Dollar' is the first time I've been able to do the hipster thing of "I liked that before it was popular!"...

So many songs I could recommend, so little space. This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lP7JG5cYg) is delightful, as is the whole House of Tomorrow EP - it's only 12 1/2 minutes, but its five tracks take you from perfect summer lovin' (Young and Insane) to the relationship's death (Either You Don't Love Me Or I Don't Love You). If you're interested, the EP is on Spotify.

Oh, and if that track needed selling to Apterians, its lyrics include the word 'execrable'. Conundrum-length and everything.
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Re: Music

Post by Ryan Taylor »

Jennifer Steadman wrote:'I Need A Dollar' is the first time I've been able to do the hipster thing of "I liked that before it was popular!"
I like that song and I'm not even black.

It was only today I noticed the link to your blog in your sig. Cool blog, particularly the recent Countdown post and the university life post.
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Re: Music

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I liked Matt Morrison before he became popular.
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Ryan Taylor wrote:It was only today I noticed the link to your blog in your sig. Cool blog, particularly the recent Countdown post and the university life post.
Thank you! Hopefully a national magazine/newspaper Ed-in-Chief will one day stumble across it and see fit to hire me, but until then it's something to keep me busy :)
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

"There's leaders, and there's followers, but I'd rather be a dick than a swallower" - Aristotle
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Re: Music

Post by JimBentley »

Jennifer Steadman wrote:This has got to be one of the biggest musical turds in chart history. Belief-defyingly dire.
I don't mind the verses, excellent use of Stylophone. The chorus is absolute shite though and she in general is annoying. In conclusion, I've heard far worse.
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Re: Music

Post by Mark James »

Jennifer Steadman wrote:This has got to be one of the biggest musical turds in chart history. Belief-defyingly dire.


Then don't promote her videos. Had a great night last night on apterous with people recommending shit yet good songs from the nineties in the chat box and then checking them out on youtube. A nice trip down memory lane.
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Re: Music

Post by Ryan Taylor »

Just heard this shit song.
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

I just wanted to see what other people thought of it, it's the sort of song that is inspiring extreme opinions online at the moment.

Speaking of terrible songs, this is so bad it's hilarious. At least, I think so anyway.
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Re: Music

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JimBentley wrote:
Jennifer Steadman wrote:This has got to be one of the biggest musical turds in chart history. Belief-defyingly dire.
I don't mind the verses, excellent use of Stylophone. The chorus is absolute shite though and she in general is annoying. In conclusion, I've heard far worse.
I heard this a couple of weeks ago for the first time and thought it was awful, without really paying that much attention. As I respect Jim's opinion on a lot of things, I thought I should give it another listen. I'm totally with Jennifer, it's an absolute abomination.
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Re: Music

Post by Jon O'Neill »

Yeah, it's atrocious. It's the most artless thing since that black-and-white naked family portrait.
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Re: Music

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Jon Corby wrote:
JimBentley wrote:
Jennifer Steadman wrote:This has got to be one of the biggest musical turds in chart history. Belief-defyingly dire.
I don't mind the verses, excellent use of Stylophone. The chorus is absolute shite though and she in general is annoying. In conclusion, I've heard far worse.
I heard this a couple of weeks ago for the first time and thought it was awful, without really paying that much attention. As I respect Jim's opinion on a lot of things, I thought I should give it another listen. I'm totally with Jennifer, it's an absolute abomination.
Yeah, I was probably a bit hasty previously, it is absolute shit, and I know that if I listened to a radio station that played it I would become seriously enraged if it was played more than once a day. But I stand by my comment about having heard worse.
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Re: Music

Post by Jon Corby »

JimBentley wrote:Yeah, I was probably a bit hasty previously, it is absolute shit, and I know that if I listened to a radio station that played it I would become seriously enraged if it was played more than once a day. But I stand by my comment about having heard worse.
Even if she just farted and shat over the microphone you'd have probably still "heard worse". The song is total garbage, it doesn't deserve any kind of defence. It's a real shame, because the terrible execution means that the lyrics' message - which is a very powerful, moving and thought-provoking one - gets somewhat lost.
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Re: Music

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Jon Corby wrote:the terrible execution
She was executed? Not so terrible.

(And yes, very funny, Corby.)
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Re: Music

Post by JimBentley »

Jon Corby wrote:Even if she just farted and shat over the microphone you'd have probably still "heard worse".
Well, of course I fucking would, I've heard records by Nickelback.
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

JimBentley wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:Even if she just farted and shat over the microphone you'd have probably still "heard worse".
Well, of course I fucking would, I've heard records by Nickelback.
If only I could 'like' this comment. I now see where you're coming from; 'Swagger Jagger' is a turd but 'Rock Star' is chronic diarrhoea.

On a different, non-faecal subject, what are c4cians' favourite albums? Mine are Dog Man Star by Suede, Modern Life Is Rubbish and 13 by Blur and Definitely Maybe by Oasis. Not too much variety chronologically, but marvellous albums nonetheless :)
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Re: Music

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Jennifer Steadman wrote:
JimBentley wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:Even if she just farted and shat over the microphone you'd have probably still "heard worse".
Well, of course I fucking would, I've heard records by Nickelback.
If only I could 'like' this comment. I now see where you're coming from; 'Swagger Jagger' is a turd but 'Rock Star' is chronic diarrhoea.

On a different, non-faecal subject, what are c4cians' favourite albums? Mine are Dog Man Star by Suede, Modern Life Is Rubbish and 13 by Blur and Definitely Maybe by Oasis. Not too much variety chronologically, but marvellous albums nonetheless :)
Hmm, tough question to answer.

Dare - Human League
Seasons In The Abyss - Slayer
The Key - Nocturnus
Third - Portishead
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious - Carcass

Maybe. That list would change daily.
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Re: Music

Post by Mark James »

For a good few years now I've been trying to compile a Top 10 Ten Albums I'd give 10/10 to list .This is what I've got so far.

Forever Changes - love
Leviathan - Mastodon
Slaughter of the Soul - At The Gates
Blind Melon - Blind Melon

Most of the other albums I really like still only get a 9.
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Re: Music

Post by Lesley Hines »

Jennifer Steadman wrote:
JimBentley wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:Even if she just farted and shat over the microphone you'd have probably still "heard worse".
Well, of course I fucking would, I've heard records by Nickelback.
'Rock Star' is chronic diarrhoea.
Not fair; that choon has its uses :lol: :)
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Re: Music

Post by Andy Wilson »

Favourite records eh?

All of these...

Bring it On - Gomez
Deserters' Songs - Mercury Rev
Heartworm - Whipping Boy
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Souljacker - EELS
Hazards of Love - The Decemberists
Mule Variations - Tom Waits

I could pick any of four or five by Radiohead. Lately I've been listening a lot to Being There by Wilco, Monsters of Folk (Eponymous) and Milk Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsome. I've also been listening to 'The Lemon of Pink' by The Books a hell of a lot, but mainly last thing at night as it's a nice wind downer/fall asleep to record.
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Re: Music

Post by Matt Bayfield »

I've generally been avoiding posting in this thread - once I get started yapping about music, I'm unlikely to stop. I see a lot more live stuff (up to 730-odd concerts now, since '95) than I listen to recorded music, but here are some records which I love and which get a lot of airplay round mine. All fairly poppy:

Lovely - The Primitives
All Pop, No Star - Slingbacks
Set Yourself On Fire - Stars
Vacation - Go-Go's
A Week Away - Spearmint
Hotel Winston - Soviet Sex
Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous - David Devant & His Spirit Wife
How To Meet Girls - Nerf Herder
Split - Lush
Thunder, Lightning, Strike - The Go! Team
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Re: Music

Post by Ian Volante »

Mark James wrote:For a good few years now I've been trying to compile a Top 10 Ten Albums I'd give 10/10 to list .This is what I've got so far.

Forever Changes - love
Leviathan - Mastodon
Slaughter of the Soul - At The Gates
Blind Melon - Blind Melon

Most of the other albums I really like still only get a 9.
That At The Gates album is on our jukebox at the moment, what I've heard from it is quite impressive. Definitely seems to be a latter-day extreme classic, I'll get round to buying it at some point.
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Re: Music

Post by Mark James »

Ian Volante wrote:That At The Gates album is on our jukebox at the moment, what I've heard from it is quite impressive. Definitely seems to be a latter-day extreme classic, I'll get round to buying it at some point.
There's a special edition that comes with a making of dvd. Keep an eye out for that one. And get their other three albums too.
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Re: Music

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What is it about music that makes humans like it? It confers no genetic selection advantage on any level I can think of, unless it's just a really obtuse social construct. It's really fricking weird. I suppose you could ask the same question of all art.
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Re: Music

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Jon O'Neill wrote: It confers no genetic selection advantage on any level I can think of, unless it's just a really obtuse social construct.
There is a bunch of theories about this, I don't know which one is currently popular, but my guess is that you have a pattern-recognition system in the brain, which obviously does confer a survival advantage, and therefore the pleasure system is hooked up to reward successful identification of patterns. Music tickles that part of the brain with artificial patterns, leading to pleasure, even while actually short-circuiting the purpose of the system. So it's completely analogous to masturbation. And arguably in both cases, they're actually not pointless, but rather serve as a kind of mental practice environment for the real thing.
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Re: Music

Post by Jon O'Neill »

Charlie Reams wrote:
Jon O'Neill wrote: It confers no genetic selection advantage on any level I can think of, unless it's just a really obtuse social construct.
There is a bunch of theories about this, I don't know which one is currently popular, but my guess is that you have a pattern-recognition system in the brain, which obviously does confer a survival advantage, and therefore the pleasure system is hooked up to reward successful identification of patterns. Music tickles that part of the brain with artificial patterns, leading to pleasure, even while actually short-circuiting the purpose of the system. So it's completely analogous to masturbation. And arguably in both cases, they're actually not pointless, but rather serve as a kind of mental practice environment for the real thing.
So all those years I spent listening to Kid A with the lights off wanking myself into a sweaty stupour should have paid off by now then right?
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Re: Music

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That sounds quite plausible. I know this isn't music-related, but I had a theory about ironing today, which is to all intents and purposes, a completely fucking retarded social convention. OR IS IT? Perhaps it is the case that ironed clothes simulate young, taut, fertile skin, whilst wrinkled clothes bring to the subconscious mind saggy old unchildgiving wrinkles. And that's why we find ironed clothes more aesthetically appealing.

Back on topic. I'm redoing my mp3 player, so any suggestions for new stuff to download and put on there are very welcome.
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Re: Music

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Jon O'Neill wrote:That sounds quite plausible. I know this isn't music-related, but I had a theory about ironing today, which is to all intents and purposes, a completely fucking retarded social convention. OR IS IT? Perhaps it is the case that ironed clothes simulate young, taut, fertile skin, whilst wrinkled clothes bring to the subconscious mind saggy old unchildgiving wrinkles. And that's why we find ironed clothes more aesthetically appealing.
Huh, could be. Fits with lipstick and things like that. On the other hand it could just be a sort of arbitrary task, and the objective is to show that you have the time and resources to undertake it.
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Re: Music

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Charlie Reams wrote:
Jon O'Neill wrote:That sounds quite plausible. I know this isn't music-related, but I had a theory about ironing today, which is to all intents and purposes, a completely fucking retarded social convention. OR IS IT? Perhaps it is the case that ironed clothes simulate young, taut, fertile skin, whilst wrinkled clothes bring to the subconscious mind saggy old unchildgiving wrinkles. And that's why we find ironed clothes more aesthetically appealing.
Huh, could be. Fits with lipstick and things like that. On the other hand it could just be a sort of arbitrary task, and the objective is to show that you have the time and resources to undertake it.
Yeah, maybe. I prefer my sexual one though.
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Re: Music

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Jon O'Neill wrote: I'm redoing my mp3 player, so any suggestions for new stuff to download and put on there are very welcome.
http://alonetone.com/dn0619
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Re: Music

Post by Mark James »

I don't know if it holds true for music, but on the recent QI Stephen Fry said that, during experiments of pain tolerance, people could endure more pain in rooms that had works of art on the wall, as though the works of art had pain killing properties. It wouldn't surprise me if listening to music you enjoy could have a similar effect on your brain.
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Re: Music

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Mark James wrote:I don't know if it holds true for music, but on the recent QI Stephen Fry said that, during experiments of pain tolerance, people could endure more pain in rooms that had works of art on the wall, as though the works of art had pain killing properties. It wouldn't surprise me if listening to music you enjoy could have a similar effect on your brain.
I refer you to: Cepeda MS, Carr DB, Lau J, Alvarez H. Music for pain relief. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD004843. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004843.pub2
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Re: Music

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But 99.9% of music IS painful. I feel like I have to like 0.1% else I'll be excommunicated by society as "the weirdo who doesn't 'get' music". I saw on some TV show a while ago that someone (Chris Evans I think) quoted a person they'd met as saying that they don't like music, so he asked them "what music?" and they said "all music" and he was stunned. It's just a completely foreign concept to most people. Conversation would go like this:

A: So, what kind of music do you like?
Me: I don't
A: What do you mean?
Me: I don't like music
A: You mean you don't like the music on the radio?
Me: Yes, but other music too
A: Huh? So what kind of music do you like then?
Me (giving up): I once had an iPod (a gift) with a handful of songs that I "liked" on it. I also like the sound of my own (singing) voice - does that count?
*A gives me a quizzical look and never speaks to me again*

Then again, I'm thinking of 'music' here mostly in the narrow sense of the stuff that's released into the charts. People singing / playing musical instruments can be OK as long as it's not too loud. Here's the big controversial no-no though: (I think) I could live without it (sorry ABBA).

I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only person on this forum who feels this way about music, as it seems to be an extremely rare standpoint (it is possible to like other things without liking music; I'm not a completely miserable sod). Does anyone else feel this way or even understand this viewpoint?
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Re: Music

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Adam Gillard wrote:But 99.9% of music IS painful. I feel like I have to like 0.1% else I'll be excommunicated by society as "the weirdo who doesn't 'get' music". I saw on some TV show a while ago that someone (Chris Evans I think) quoted a person they'd met as saying that they don't like music, so he asked them "what music?" and they said "all music" and he was stunned. It's just a completely foreign concept to most people. Conversation would go like this:

A: So, what kind of music do you like?
Me: I don't
A: What do you mean?
Me: I don't like music
A: You mean you don't like the music on the radio?
Me: Yes, but other music too
A: Huh? So what kind of music do you like then?
Me (giving up): I once had an iPod (a gift) with a handful of songs that I "liked" on it. I also like the sound of my own (singing) voice - does that count?
*A gives me a quizzical look and never speaks to me again*

Then again, I'm thinking of 'music' here mostly in the narrow sense of the stuff that's released into the charts. People singing / playing musical instruments can be OK as long as it's not too loud. Here's the big controversial no-no though: (I think) I could live without it (sorry ABBA).

I wouldn't be surprised if I'm the only person on this forum who feels this way about music, as it seems to be an extremely rare standpoint (it is possible to like other things without liking music; I'm not a completely miserable sod). Does anyone else feel this way or even understand this viewpoint?
Interesting... you're definitely an anomoly in that regard. I only know one other person like you, but I'm almost certain he has Schizoid or Borderline Personality Disorder.

What were the few songs you had, out of interest?
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Re: Music

Post by Jon Corby »

Adam Gillard wrote:Does anyone else feel this way or even understand this viewpoint?
Not in the slightest, ya weirdo.
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Re: Music

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Phil Reynolds wrote:
Mark James wrote:I don't know if it holds true for music, but on the recent QI Stephen Fry said that, during experiments of pain tolerance, people could endure more pain in rooms that had works of art on the wall, as though the works of art had pain killing properties. It wouldn't surprise me if listening to music you enjoy could have a similar effect on your brain.
I refer you to: Cepeda MS, Carr DB, Lau J, Alvarez H. Music for pain relief. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD004843. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004843.pub2
You're not meant to do this before I say {{citation-needed}}, you spoilsport.
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Re: Music

Post by Charlie Reams »

Adam Gillard wrote: Then again, I'm thinking of 'music' here mostly in the narrow sense of the stuff that's released into the charts. People singing / playing musical instruments can be OK as long as it's not too loud. Here's the big controversial no-no though: (I think) I could live without it (sorry ABBA).
Not liking chart music isn't that unusual. It sounds like you just haven't found your niche yet.
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Re: Music

Post by Adam Gillard »

I just asked this question in aptochat and Dylan Taylor said he also doesn't like music, but most other people were of Jon C's persuasion. I'm sure there must be other people out there who despise all music, be it songs or instrumentals or whatever. As someone who's recently taken to teaching himself to play keyboard / piano and is enjoying it, I can't say that I hate / am apathetic about all musical things. I also like singing (a capella stuff like opera (Nessun Dorma in the shower) or Jewish songs) because I have a good singing voice and it's a bit of vanity on my part. I just don't like listening to the radio or background music because it's almost all rubbish or indifferent.
Jon O'Neill wrote:What were the few songs you had, out of interest?
I picked some songs from the collections that my family had, lots of random stuff basically. The only recurring theme in a handful of songs was Sinatra and stuff like that. I also had a bunch of Travis songs on it because I got a Travis album as a present when I was younger. Not liking music in general means that I also don't really have a genre and it's just the odd song that I thought was worth including, but still on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. I remember I had a bit of Elvis, Al Green and older stuff, Football's Coming Home and a few 2000s songs too - certainly not a collection that really made any sense.
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Re: Music

Post by Mark James »

Jon O'Neill wrote:
Adam Gillard wrote:But 99.9% of music IS painful.
I love music but would probably have to agree that 99.9% of it is pure shite. Fortunately there's so much music that that .1% is enough for me. I still don't get how people couldn't like any though. The same for sport. If you say you don't like say, football, I could understand that but to say you don't like all sport? I can't fathom it.
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Re: Music

Post by Adam Gillard »

Charlie Reams wrote: Not liking chart music isn't that unusual. It sounds like you just haven't found your niche yet.
Who says I have to have a niche? It could be that I like performing music (playing/singing) but dislike listening to music. Listening to performance music probably falls somewhere in the middle.
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Brian Moore
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Re: Music

Post by Brian Moore »

Charlie Reams wrote:
Jon O'Neill wrote: It confers no genetic selection advantage on any level I can think of, unless it's just a really obtuse social construct.
There is a bunch of theories about this, I don't know which one is currently popular
There are two that have lodged in my mind (no citations, but could dig them out eventually) - both of them using as evidence (as I recall) on the universality of both music and spoken language.

One is from one of the Stephen Pinker books, and is along the lines of saying that the musical tendency is merely a by-product the brain wiring we have for spoken language.

The other (I can't remember off the top of my head whether this was a Sloboda-related suggestion, or one more specific to my jazz/big band studies) is that music communicates something, and that that something is something we can't communicate in another way (verbal or visual), therefore music must exist to communicate that (and is why music is present in some form in all cultures on the planet). A phrase that comes to mind (I thought it was the title of a book I'd read, but can't find it now) is "expressing the ineffable", but I like the positive vibe of this idea, rather than the 'happy by-product' basis of Pinker's. I realise than my 'liking' one theory won't be generally accepted as a proof of its correctness.
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Jennifer Steadman
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Maybe it's just me finding it difficult to come to terms with an 'alien concept', but I can't imagine that there isn't, somewhere in the universe, at least one artist who you could listen to and just be blown away by their music, if you get what I'm saying? (I haven't phrased it well.) But then I want to be a music journalist, so I suppose I'd struggle with the concept of anyone not really liking any of it. Out of interest, what do you think of music in films - do you find it annoying/not conducive for adding to the mood of a scene?
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Re: Music

Post by Adam Gillard »

Jennifer Steadman wrote:Out of interest, what do you think of music in films - do you find it annoying/not conducive for adding to the mood of a scene?
It's still annoying most of the time. The rest of the time it's so samey that it's cringeworthy (e.g. the music for a love scene or a farewell scene). Sometimes it's cool, but I wouldn't like the music on its own (i.e., if there weren't a similarly cool action sequence going on in the foreground).
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U

C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)

Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
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Re: Music

Post by Gavin Chipper »

I think I've heard about people that don't get music at all because of some brain disorder and it's just noise to them.

Also, if some people hate 99.9% of all music, it might be possible that someone can like music in principle but hate all existent music, or indeed all logically possible music. But they still have some sort of musical desire.
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Re: Music

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

Adam Gillard wrote:
Jennifer Steadman wrote:Out of interest, what do you think of music in films - do you find it annoying/not conducive for adding to the mood of a scene?
It's still annoying most of the time. The rest of the time it's so samey that it's cringeworthy (e.g. the music for a love scene or a farewell scene). Sometimes it's cool, but I wouldn't like the music on its own (i.e., if there weren't a similarly cool action sequence going on in the foreground).
What about, say, the Star Wars theme tune? Does the opening minute or so not fill you with joy? (I'm guessing the answer'll be no, but it's so glorious and iconic, etc.)
Incidentally, the phrase 'music for a love scene' makes me think of those diabolical Eurotrash soundtracks for those late night Movies4Men films. Never a good thing to think of. Or listen to. Or watch.
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Re: Music

Post by Charlie Reams »

Adam Gillard wrote:
Charlie Reams wrote: Not liking chart music isn't that unusual. It sounds like you just haven't found your niche yet.
Who says I have to have a niche? It could be that I like performing music (playing/singing) but dislike listening to music. Listening to performance music probably falls somewhere in the middle.
I thought I couched that gently enough that it would be obvious I wasn't making an absolute statement of fact. If someone announced they didn't like food but then mentioned that they'd only ever eaten Ryvitas then we'd probably be justified in guessing that they should try some other foods, right? It could be that you really don't like any music, but still the balance of probabilities is against it.
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Re: Music

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Adam Gillard wrote:
Jennifer Steadman wrote:Out of interest, what do you think of music in films - do you find it annoying/not conducive for adding to the mood of a scene?
It's still annoying most of the time. The rest of the time it's so samey that it's cringeworthy (e.g. the music for a love scene or a farewell scene). Sometimes it's cool, but I wouldn't like the music on its own (i.e., if there weren't a similarly cool action sequence going on in the foreground).
It's certainly nothing like your brain not being able to "get" music anyway.
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Re: Music

Post by Adam Gillard »

Some good points here. I certainly agree that it's plausible there is some area of 'listening music' unbeknownst to me that I might like. I suppose I "get" music (as in I understand how it works and why people like it), just I don't follow the normal culture and views that come along with it.
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U

C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)

Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
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Re: Music

Post by Brian Moore »

Adam Gillard wrote:I don't follow the normal culture and views that come along with it.
I was definitely the odd one out when I was at school. Never listened to pop music (Dad watched Top of the Pops with the sound turned down so he could see Pan's People every week), Radio 3 was on the whole time at home, and I got my parents' prejudices ("what a horrible noise!" when anything rock-ish came on TV). I only got into jazz & big band in my thirties from playing the stuff. Still don't get most rock or pop, though the odd song sticks in my mind. I had to get over the fact that I had very abnormal tastes in music (for my peer group) early on. The compensation for the fact that I didn't 'get' the stuff that everyone else seemed to was that I had an appreciation and understanding of something most of 'everyone else' didn't.

In truth, I really don't do much listening to recordings (or even going to concerts) these days - I'd rather be playing. One thing to consider is that the relatively recent advent of sound recording has not only changed the way we 'consume' music, but has also changed the very nature of music and how we think about it.
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Re: Music

Post by Matt Morrison »

Adam, what about "Jermain Defoe, he's a yiddo" ?
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Re: Music

Post by John Gillies »

Brian Moore wrote: The other (I can't remember off the top of my head whether this was a Sloboda-related suggestion, or one more specific to my jazz/big band studies) is that music communicates something, and that that something is something we can't communicate in another way (verbal or visual), therefore music must exist to communicate that (and is why music is present in some form in all cultures on the planet). A phrase that comes to mind (I thought it was the title of a book I'd read, but can't find it now) is "expressing the ineffable", but I like the positive vibe of this idea, rather than the 'happy by-product' basis of Pinker's. I realise than my 'liking' one theory won't be generally accepted as a proof of its correctness.
This sounds like a really interesting theory. I looked up Amazon and found: Music and the Ineffable by Vladimir Jankelevitch. Perhaps this is the book you read. Knowing nothing about music theory, it may be way over my head but the philosophical aspects of it appeal to me.

I've been a music nut since my early teens when I got into 70's rock. Now, some decades later, I can appreciate most forms of music from early blues & jazz up to the latest dance and electronica. However, I still would say I dislike all classical music (and opera) which classical music buffs find incredulous. They say there is such a diversity of styles and composers within the genre that I must not have found my niche yet (as Charlie referred to). However, no classical music I have heard has ever done anything for me, so I can't be arsed searching for my niche.

So there is a slight parallel here with Adam's stance on music in general (but I still think he's a bit weird ;) ).
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Re: Music

Post by Jon Corby »

Music is a powerful and perhaps the most powerful medium in the world.
Plato said "when the music of a society changes, the whole society will change."
Aristotle, a contemporary of Plato, said "when music changes there should be laws to govern the nature and the character of that music."
Lenin said "that the best and the quickest way to undermine any society is through its music."

Music, ladies and gentleman, is the gift of God. It was given to man to offer praises to God and to lift us up to Him and to exalt Him and to touch the tender recesses of our hearts and of our minds.

Satan has taken music and he has counterfeited it, convoluted it, twisted it, exploited it and now he's using it to hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer a message into the minds and the lifestyles of this generation.
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Re: Music

Post by Andy Wilson »

Jon Corby wrote: Satan has taken music and he has counterfeited it, convoluted it, twisted it, exploited it and now he's using it to hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer, hammer a message into the minds and the lifestyles of this generation.
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