People that listen to "challenging" music

  On 9/5/2017 at 10:42 PM, span said:

listening to noise is retarded

i think "challenging" is subjective. 

makes me think of a talk i heard on "kinkiness" a sex act is only kinky if you haven't done it. one persons kink is another persons vanilla

\

same with challenging 

idm can be pretty extreme

The thing is noise can be good, I know this because I've heard it. Unless it's Russell Haswell, he's objectively awful in every way.

Pretty sure the first time I came across challenging noise music would of been Velvet Underground & Nico The Black Angel Death Song. I remember being fascinated and returned again and again to listen to it, the whole context of that album and the juxtapositions therein always struck a chord with me. Otherwise apart from Richards stuff I'm not really into noise textures. Sonic Youth have ruined many a good tune with it! (either that or either when Kim Gordon opens her mouth)

  On 9/6/2017 at 9:19 AM, Obel said:

The thing is noise can be good, I know this because I've heard it. Unless it's Russell Haswell, he's objectively awful in every way.

i hate music and i hate people that talk about music like it's some kind of thing or something.

There are 2 types of people who listen to challenging music.

1. people who listen because it actually does something for them, they genuinly enjoy the complexity because they are geeks for detail.

2. people who want to look quirky, more intelligent, different to their friends. They want to lord it over people and seem special.

These two types can collide like a venn diagram where people that like the music like to lord it too.

People who don't listen to challenging music at all and stick to mainstream stuff are just normal people.

  On 9/6/2017 at 3:14 AM, NorthernFusion said:

 

  On 9/5/2017 at 10:42 PM, span said:

listening to noise is retarded

 

*proud retard*

I dunno, I listen to all sorts of sounds in my continued quest for seeking the holy grail.

Recently had a resurgence in listening to noise / drone stuff and even been producing my own (I find it strangely therapeutic) - did this yesterday /shameless plug

I've been fucking with some drone stuff too lately, playing modal melodies over 'em. Still can't get much into noise for some reason. I think it doesn't hit me emotionally at all, besides aggravation. Some of my friends listen to way more challenging shit than I do though, and they love their noise shows. 

Lol calling your musical preference "challenging" is so pompous, but i think i still know what you mean

I'm not sure so much of a dichotomy exists in terms of radio-leeching normies vs. holier-than-thou complexity seekers, but i can fathom one such as people who can actively listen to and engage in relatively more abstract music (abrasive sounds, minimal/drawn-out progressions, erratic rhythms & signatures, etc) vs. people who hear said music as pure noise. The second group may tend to gravitate toward accessible pop/radio music as a result, whereas the first group may perceive this "simpler" music for what it is and pursue more uncommon styles of music

I think it really comes down to active vs. inactive listening. For example, i truly wonder how my coworker is satisfied with the same pandora-mandated adult contemporary playlist day in and day out, just constantly bombarding his brain with those same, (in my opinion) disengaged songs. It would physically pain me to deal with it, but he's very satisfied with it. Neither of us is more superior than the other. I also am curious about how someone like him would process incredible works like Ae's Confield or Mark Fell/Gabor Lazar's Neurobiology of Moral Decision Making or even Actress's RIP. I wonder what people of other mindsets feel when they experience these musics. Even if it's just "random sounds" to them, it must still illicit something in their mind

Ya'll are on some other shit with this whole musical master race thing tho, maybe try posting here instead ??

Also worth mentioning i have never found myself interested in noise or drone, and i often wonder what an engaged mind gets out of that experience 

I think the idea of "normies" vs. "weirdos" is fundamentally flawed. Most folks would be listening to some fairly weird shit if that's what was being pushed on the major music highways. Promotion has more to do with what's mainstream than anything else, that's what drives the hegemony of pop music. If some big pop star did a fairly crazy noise-tinged album with lots of I guarantee a fuckton of people would listen to it (perhaps almost all that person's fans!), and a large subset of those people would enjoy it and want to hear more of that kind of stuff. And there's been a decent amount of that going on in recent years! Look at Kanye, MIA, Vince Staples, etc. - a decent amount of interesting shit going on there. I think the only thing that's close to universal is that most people want to hear human voices in their music, but a lot of weird stuff still has vocals.

And a decent number of people were raised on classical or folk music (or, God forbid, smooth jazz) without vocals so they're still able to enjoy that stuff. Lots of people enjoy weird music on a subconscious level, for example, when they watch a movie. Tons of mainstream movies have some really weird shit going on in the score and people respond to that, and love it, often without realizing it. We're all human.

I think it just happens that most of the people on this site happened at some point to get a bug up their butt about something weird they heard and decided they wanted to hear a lot more of it. We figured out that we'd need to exit off that mainstream promotion highway and get onto some of those bumpy backroads, WATMM being a relatively well-paved one. And that formed a pattern in each of us of seeking out that weird shit. It's a fundamentally different music-seeking experience from, yeah, Pandora or Spotify's recommendations. Not everyone gets that itch, but I think it's more nurture than nature. Does that make us special or give us some duty be a musical missionary to proselytize the people who don't have that itch? No, but it can be fun to try if you're not a dick about it.

For example I've known quite a few people who listen to pretty mainstream stuff but loved Autechre's "Laughing Quarter" when I played it for them. But I'll also listen to their recommendations and take them seriously... and gently critique them when I think they're less than great. Not because I need to "correct" them but because I want them to recommend me more stuff, and I want them to give them an idea of what I like personally (and vice versa!). Basically, don't be a condescending dick and you'll open the door for connections and sharing influences... and remember that's a two-way door. You don't have all the answers. And pop music isn't complete shit either, there's some great ideas in there if you open your heart and mind to it.

Anyone else here sick of all the the post-African rhythms saturating modern popular music? Ergh

i dont really listen to music 

i prefer deep space nine

  On 9/6/2017 at 4:34 PM, perunamuussi said:

i dont really listen to music

 

i prefer deep space nine

I can get behind this

  On 9/6/2017 at 3:37 PM, BoomTssPhace said:

Lol calling your musical preference "challenging" is so pompous, but i think i still know what you mean

 

I'm not sure so much of a dichotomy exists in terms of radio-leeching normies vs. holier-than-thou complexity seekers, but i can fathom one such as people who can actively listen to and engage in relatively more abstract music (abrasive sounds, minimal/drawn-out progressions, erratic rhythms & signatures, etc) vs. people who hear said music as pure noise. The second group may tend to gravitate toward accessible pop/radio music as a result, whereas the first group may perceive this "simpler" music for what it is and pursue more uncommon styles of music

 

I think it really comes down to active vs. inactive listening. For example, i truly wonder how my coworker is satisfied with the same pandora-mandated adult contemporary playlist day in and day out, just constantly bombarding his brain with those same, (in my opinion) disengaged songs. It would physically pain me to deal with it, but he's very satisfied with it. Neither of us is more superior than the other. I also am curious about how someone like him would process incredible works like Ae's Confield or Mark Fell/Gabor Lazar's Neurobiology of Moral Decision Making or even Actress's RIP. I wonder what people of other mindsets feel when they experience these musics. Even if it's just "random sounds" to them, it must still illicit something in their mind

 

Ya'll are on some other shit with this whole musical master race thing tho, maybe try posting here instead ??

 

Also worth mentioning i have never found myself interested in noise or drone, and i often wonder what an engaged mind gets out of that experience Fair 

Fair enough, how about "complicated" then? 

I was just using the parlance of our times man, as I wouldn't label any of the stuff I listen to as "challenging" either. Also, I am now realizing that starting a thread with a half-baked idea whilst drunk and bored is not always the best idea. Apologies to everyone!

Anyway, my not-well-thought-out goal was to try and pinpoint any palpable differences between the types of people that listen to these genres, and those who don't. Whether there is anything different at all between them, or, as was posited earlier, it's just a matter of people being interested in different things. 

The only problem I see with the above is that I know a ton of people (a lot of them programmers) that have a passing interest in music, yet do still choose to listen to quite complicated and un-catchy music. 

I don't know ya'll, I was just trying to start a discussion and wasn't trying to claim that anyone is better than anyone else. I meant the OP to come off as halfway joking, but it seems that I can't internet very well. 

Again, apologies to anyone that this thread has irritated. 

  On 9/6/2017 at 4:34 PM, Amen Warrior said:

Anyone else here sick of all the the post-African rhythms saturating modern popular music? Ergh

Absolutely.  I found myself listening to Radio 1 in a work van yesterday as I couldn't pick up many other stations, and every pop dance track that came on literally had the same narrow sound palette of "tropical" sounding synths and very similar drum beats.  Quite sparse sounding.  I think it all started with a Calvin Harris song about a year ago, now everyone is doing it.

  On 9/6/2017 at 9:19 AM, Obel said:

The thing is noise can be good, I know this because I've heard it. Unless it's Russell Haswell, he's objectively awful in every way.

this would've been a perfect conclusion to this thread. best answer + lock is in order

I kinda get what the OP is saying. I don't consider most of what I listen to challenging but most-anyone I have showed any music to (stuff that would be appreciated around here) the general response is "what the fuck is this shit? I don't get it."

Then again I live in cowboyland Canada so there's that.

  On 9/6/2017 at 5:29 PM, fletcher said:

 

  On 9/6/2017 at 4:34 PM, Amen Warrior said:

Anyone else here sick of all the the post-African rhythms saturating modern popular music? Ergh

 

Absolutely.  I found myself listening to Radio 1 in a work van yesterday as I couldn't pick up many other stations, and every pop dance track that came on literally had the same narrow sound palette of "tropical" sounding synths and very similar drum beats.  Quite sparse sounding.  I think it all started with a Calvin Harris song about a year ago, now everyone is doing it.

 

Hei boi, that's from a Stockhausen quote regarding Aphex Twin (and he reacted similarly to all so-called experimental music he was asked to listen to coz he was seen sorta godfather) back in 90s

  On 9/6/2017 at 4:34 PM, perunamuussi said:

i dont really listen to music 

 

i prefer deep space nine

except the episodes that focus on the Ferengi, fuck me

Don't apologise Auditor, I think it's a valid thread.

Basically, boiled down to the bones I think it's whether you see music as an art form or just simple entertainment. 

There's a time and place for both.

Ironically this thread has less to do with music and more with identity. I'm sure half of all the identity-crises related can be cured by simply accepting and appreciating "others" with different opinions. It makes it simpler for the "others" to accept and appreciate you. So why not start by doing the simple thing: accept and appreciate the popular stuff for what it is and more important, what it means for the people who enjoy it. Not saying you should like or enjoy it. But the alternative where either this group of people is wrong or the other, is useless. And you bloody well know it.

But still, here we are. Enjoying our collective identity-crises by wanking off to our sophisticated tastes. Lets shake hands and move along. And actually talk about music...