Fun Stuff > BAND
On Taste Relativism and Judgement
casull:
--- Quote from: Oscaio on 30 Jan 2008, 23:47 --- I am, sort of, the same... kind of in reverse, though :| I looooove to show new music to my friends, and "teach" them something outside of what they are used to listen to (of course, this process goes both ways sometimes). So, assuming this, if I meet somebody and this person is not INTERESTED in opening their musical horizons, then I feel total disrespect for them and I judge them pretty harshly (for their lack of curiosity).
I guess the worst is when somebody claims to be an "expert" after listening one band, or one album... without knowing influences, etc.
--- End quote ---
Motherfuckin' bingo. I can deal with someone who doesn't really know where to find music outside the mainstream, but has an open mind. If they simply lack curiosity, fuck 'em.
Also, trading/recommending music is a great way to get acquainted with a girl in a totally honest, fun way.
ledhendrix:
I used to be awful at listening to new music. It was Rock or nothing for ages, i don't think i listened to a band post 1990 at the time. I used to be a right prick about other peoples music tastes as well. I am glad to say that now i have a massively broader taste in music and will pretty much listen to anything if it is in the right place at the right time.
Ernest:
--- Quote from: casull on 30 Jan 2008, 19:58 --- I have the dubious pleasure of talking music IRL with flaming ostrich pretty often, and it's usually a blast, despite our tastes differing wildly.
--- End quote ---
John, there is no need to refer to me by some stupid screen name I thought was cool when I was 14. You are John and I am Ernie. We live a few thousand feet from each other. This is okay. We can do this.
And I think a lot of guys are wrong in wanting to judge people based on musical taste. Instead of thinking of musical taste as an indicator of personality, perhaps you should think of the person as an indicator of musical taste. Or rather, consider everything you can about the person before judging him based on his musical taste. Tim is probably my best friend here and he thinks Good Charlotte's new album is good. He also appreciates NMH's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, so he almost immediately defies categorization. He likes GC's album because it is dancy, and even though I think it is just the next incarnation of a band run by interfering producers, I understand what he means.
There are lots of people like that, who may have some mainstream tastes, but not necessarily "bad" taste. And as we all should know, much of what we consider good is good under the pretense that the band defies the corporate merchandising system. That is our pretense. Think about the last time you heard a band's music without knowing anything about them. It takes just a bit longer to make a judgment about the band if you don't know whether they're signed to a major label or not. I'm not saying that all of us judge everything based on whether it's mainstream or not, and I know what appeals to my aesthetic and taste, and I can certainly make the judgment I described above, but it's easy to write off everything popular as "bad" because it's popular, and therefore to write of people as "conformist" and not worth your time based on something as insignificant as musical taste.
Think about how much stock we put in music. We really fucking care about it. Much more than most people. And still, we are not the only people worth knowing. If you can't carry on a conversation about anything other than music, you need to go outside and meet some people. Most people have other interests, so why not see what you can infer from them by those. See how much you know about something completely unrelated to the arts and see if you can find anyone worth knowing who likes that. I for one am extremely glad that I have such an interest in baseball, as it has gotten me some exceptionally interesting friends. Baseball even got me a girlfriend last term, though she's a bitch who won't talk to me now, so whatever.
Then there's the case of my roommate, who could pretty easily be judged by his musical taste. He listens to all that faux indie shit like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand that would indicate that he is a wimpy follower, which is totally true. He's a nice guy, but he can be judged by his taste (also he is an annoying Mac elitist). Willi, who did not know my roommate, had an assignment for a class where he had to look at someone he didn't know's section of the room and write a character based on it. He looked at my roommate's and crafted a character who basically was my roommate. But he wasn't just judging by musical taste, he was looking at where the guy lives. Anyway, I'm gonna stop bitching about my roommate, who is really a nice guy, just a bit of a loser.
Anyway, in conclusion, everyone should suck me off while I'm on the toilet, shitting up a storm. Go Siwash!
a pack of wolves:
--- Quote from: bff on 30 Jan 2008, 21:54 --- if someone's music taste begins and ends at the Top 40 list that tells me that they accept whatever crap the mainstream wants to feed them.
--- End quote ---
No it doesn't, that really is a ridiculous generalisation to make. It tells you they like what's in the top 40, or quite possibly that they just don't have much interest in music at all. I know somebody whose musical taste is extremely limited, a handful of very popular music with a few CDs of folk music from a few different countries. She just doesn't know or care very much about music at all. She's also a sociology researcher who knows a vast amount about politics, philosophy and science. Hardly someone who just accepts what she's told.
A person's musical taste tells you what sounds they enjoy hearing. The way they approach music appreciation will possibly tell you something about how they approach art in general, but maybe not. That is all.
Spinless:
Wow, Ernie, you are really cool!
I don't judge people based on what they listen to at all. I judge them based on how they judge me for what I listen to. It seems fair that way!
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