Breadth of musical tastes - do we all delude ourselves?

[jandl100]

I've had quite a few folks over for a musical / hifi sesh over the years, and have visited many other folks who have been kind enough to host me.

Almost always, when queried about their musical tastes, people say "well, I listen to pretty much everything, really".

:eyebrows:

Great, I say, have you got any Shostakovich?
Worried look ... Shosta-what? Ah, classical - err, no, I don't really do classical.

Fair enough, I like prog rock, I say, peering at the music shelves (in the days before, spit, computerised music) ....
Ah, no, not really my scene.

Any female celtic folky singers? .... I get a 'where's a strait-jacket when I need one?' kind of look.

I've had folks visit who have looked at my (literal) wall of 3000 CDs and 500 LPs and say, ah - I'll get a CD from my car. :lol:

Let's face it, despite what we like to think, most of us are buried deep in our own particular musical ruts!
... although many many folk are happy - nay, eager! - to try something new.

It's amazing the amount of music, and different types of music, that is out there.

Don't worry - I include myself in this! :)

[John]

We do have a few people here with quite wide taste i think Barry is very open minded, my taste are not as wide I am afried
I guess what we all share is that love of music

[Dominic Harper]

I find discovering new music a personal thing. If someone says to me 'you must listen to this' I find myself pretty closed minded. Now if it were left with me to listen to in my own time I would give it a fairer crack of the whip.
It sometimes happens that I will hear a LP etc and will instantly like.Thats what happened with Dead Can Dance. My friend Steve brought some over and as soon as the stylus hit the groove I was hooked!
He brought over other stuff over time, some was listenable, others not, but thats just my taste.
I do listen to a multitude of styles. From trance to Tellemann, Muse to Mozart etc etc.
For me it's very influential how I ingest new music, it has to be on my terms, when I want to listen.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I find discovering new music a personal thing. If someone says to me 'you must listen to this' I find myself pretty closed minded. Now if it were left with me to listen to in my own time I would give it a fairer crack of the whip.
It sometimes happens that I will hear a LP etc and will instantly like.Thats what happened with Dead Can Dance. My friend Steve brought some over and as soon as the stylus hit the groove I was hooked!
He brought over other stuff over time, some was listenable, others not, but thats just my taste.
I do listen to a multitude of styles. From trance to Tellemann, Muse to Mozart etc etc.
For me it's very influential how I ingest new music, it has to be on my terms, when I want to listen.



I like to discover music under my own steam altough I remember when I heard the first few chords of phantom of the opera by iron maiden I just had to get into the band and now 26 years later I still buy new albums ;) I sometimes hear things and then many months later might experiment or I may borrow stuff froms friends. I honestly couldn't tell you whats in the charts nowadays as the music I've migrated to simply wouldn't chart :lol:

[Alex_UK]

Well I don't have any Shostakovich (yet!), but I think most folks would find something without going to their cars.. (Pretty sure I'm the only one with all of Britney's albums!) So I don't think I'm deluding myself... I genuinely do listen to Jazz one minute, pop, rock, singer-songwriters, some heavy rock, chill-out, electronica, easy listening - I can only think of "death metal" and opera as being areas I usually wouldn't touch with a bargepole, but there may be others, and this may change!

However I do gravitate to female singer-songwriters and chilled more than anything, possibly because I tend to listen late at night when everyone else is asleep so it needs to be pretty mellow. (I am a bit of a sucker for "chillout" collections - I knew I had "quite a few" but it wasn't until I ripped my CDs that I realised "quite a few" = 238 discs!)

[Tim]

Let's face it, despite what we like to think, most of us are buried deep in our own particular musical ruts!
I tend to view it differently to that - I have very wide musical tastes (which includes Shostakovich) and I'm always on the lookout for new artists. For me it's not so much "well, I listen to pretty much everything, really", but more "I'm happy to try anything" I also know what I don't like and will tell people if they ask ;)

I definitely don't consider I'm stuck in a musical rut, far from it, but there are a lot here that seem to have very narrow boundaries. I think for some the gear is just as important if not more important than the music - but that's what keeps the place interesting IMO. For me it's the music and always will be, but I'm very thankful there are folk here for whom the system is more important, as I have learnt so much from them.

[Bluedroog]

I think there is truth to what you’re saying, the fact is music is virtually limitless in it’s diversity but we’ve been conditioned to recognise certain genres which we are exposed to. I actually do listen to quite range of music but what about all the music I don’t even know exists? Musical that has cultural roots such as from a tribe, Gypsies or what ever.

Within the music we know about I like a fair amount of it, quite happy to go through Stravinsky, The Ramones, Chemical Brothers and Chuck Berry in an evening.

I’ve been to festivals such as WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) which is a good way to expose yourself to music you wouldn’t normally know.

I have to say this is also the main reason I love Spotify, it great for discovering new music. I haven’t bothered with premium and only listen through my laptop but don’t consider it for serious listening, I use it more as a research tool.

I hear a track on an advert, track it using the Shazam app on my phone or by googling the lyrics, fire up Spotify and listen to a few tracks, then try the ‘bands similar to’ and see what’s about. If I like it I’ll buy it.

[John]

A good open approach you have Christain
Where abouts in NW London are you based

[jandl100]

I tend to view it differently to that .... I'm always on the lookout for new artists. For me it's not so much "well, I listen to pretty much everything, really", but more "I'm happy to try anything"

Yup, good points, well made! :)

One of the reasons I really enjoy visiting other hifi-folks is to hear new (to me) music.

I've expanded my music collection and my interests no end by such visits! :thumbsup:

... and folks who visit me often say the same. In fact, I feel I've failed somehow if visitors don't go away with a list of music to investigate or obtain having heard it at my place!

[Bluedroog]

Hi John,

To be honest it can also become a little bit obsessive too searching around for music, I've got so much stuff I've added to my library when I get in these moods then I forget what it is and can take a while getting round to listening to it. I think it aids your enjoyment when you're familar with music too, I guess like most things in life it's about finding a balance. But also like many people I go through fazes too, for example I come in an out of electro music and find it quite refreshing if I've been listening to a lot of acoustics stuff, then after a while it gets a bit much and you start longer for something a bit more organic.

BBC 6 Music is a good station for a bit of mix and new music too. Not as good as it once was mind.

I'm based in Kensal Rise. Have you ever visited AudioFlair?

[John]

I visited Audioflair a good few years ago I was looking at different speakers before I discovered open baffles
I love discovering new music I use spotify similar to yourself

[Alex_UK]

Spotify is indeed brilliant for trying new music - though I do pay the £10 a month for the Premium subscription as I can't be doing with the adverts, and I'd rather have 320kbps quality, even for evaluating stuff. To be honest it more than pays for itself every month with albums I would probably have bought that after a couple of Spotify listens I have decided against - and for quite a few "pop" albums now, I just use the Spotify version.

[WOStantonCS100]

I have a tape trader friend in the UK for whom I'm currently scurrying to finish up a 2-tape mix tape. Despite having, I think, almost 4K LP's and possibly 1K CDs, 500 cassettes, bunch of 45's and 78's, the truth is I will never have all the music there is to have, first and foremost; because, I haven't yet heard all the music that I will grow to love. Each time I think I've gotten all I care to have, a mix tape arrives with a bunch of stuff I've never heard before. After listening, my "stuff to get" list is always longer than it was.

It's been my experience that the US is a little bit closed off musically. Yes, we've adopted Brazilian music; but, from where I stand, we remain behind the curve when it comes to a swath of Japanese artists, UK artists, etc. (basically any artist who doesn't land high on a billboard chart or can't sell a million units here, regardless of how great the music may be). :doh: That means my link to this music is generally through forum Spin Lists and people who reach out to me and say, "Hey, try this."

But, as for the catch phrase of the day... yes, I dig Shostakovich. :D

[griffo104]

Well I have quite wide musical tastes, classical, jazz, indie, metal, rock, folk - little bit of most things.

I've tended to go this way as I hear something that excites and then I end up having 3 months when I'm really getting in to it big time and then the next thing comes along.

I meet up with Ray (emma royd on the Wam) and he always struggles with the fact that one minute I can be listening to a Haydn string quartet, then nip in to KT Tunstall and then finish off with Isis or Godflesh.

I've even got a couple of hip hop albums which is a genre I don't like but have heard tracks that have made me buy the album when I've seen it in sales.

My big problem is turning up to hifi sessions and having to listen to the same old hifi standards. People always say they don't listen to them but it always surprises me when I spend 75% of my evening's visit listening to the same standards. Not all of these are old and usual expectations (like Pink Floyd) - I can't remember the name of the two bands but it seemed to spread round the Wam like wildfire so when ever I went round to bake off these 2 albums would be played - always with the same introduction "Have you heard these yet they are great".

they weren't, they were rubbish and ,yes, I keep bloody well hearing them.

and I've also had to nip to the car to get a CD out of the changer in order to hear something different.

[Jac Hawk]

Hi Jerry, great thread by the way.

You know you're absolutely right, most folks say they like almost everything but when it comes down to it, it's just not true and just the easiest way of answering that type of question, i can honestly say i'm not a classical music fan, there are some pieces of classical stuff i like but haven't and won't go and buy them. Also a lot of the stuff in the charts at the moment is just tripe, but maybe that's my age.

Like Alex i've gone down the spotify premium route for listening and evaluating new stuff, and also older stuff that for whatever reason I missed, i wouldn't say that I have one preference or another when it comes to music and i tend to listen to what fits my mood at the time.:)

[Rare Bird]

I listern to Psychedelic & Progressive Rock nothing else :lol:

[Joe]

I don't like jazz that just noodles along for hours, or modern classical stuff where it sounds like they're making it up as they go along. I don't like Metal, either Heavy or Nu, and I don't like stuff aimed at ten year olds.

Apart from that, I like all sorts of music; pop, blues, rock, classical, jazz, even some C&W.

[Marco]

And Celine Dion.

Marco.

[jazzpiano]

Great reflection Jerry! Yeah, you always have to be careful when you get that "broad tastes, listen to a bit of everything" comment. To some folks, everything means everything that's popular: what's on Idol, urban cowboys, smooth jazz, classical lolipops... It's a little deflating if you first think you've found someone who delves a little deeper. It's not to be snobbish, but I'm sorry, Spyro Gyra is not the same as Charlie Parker, and Alabama is not the same as Townes an Zandt - sooo, let's just talk about something else... That's how it feels.

Best and Merry Christmas,
Barry

[Pete The Cat]

The range of musical genres is as broad as the globe and as long as history, so nobody can ever experience, never mind like, a bit of everything. The exploration is part of the thrill :)

As far as I'm aware John Peel is still the broadcaster who covered most ground in every programme.

I can never understand why, when an artist breaks into the mainstream, people who buy their successful album often don't dive into their back catalogue :scratch:

Pete

[Rare Bird]

I don't understand why people buy mainstream musik. It so common darlings

:eyebrows:

[jandl100]

Non-mainstream is the new mainstream. :lol:

[Pete The Cat]

Non-mainstream is the new mainstream. :lol:

So-called "indie" music has very much become the mainstream. The likes of Kasabian, Beady Eye and The Killers don't seem to have much in common with the artists who were on Cherry Red, Rough Trade and Postcard 30 years ago...

Pete

[aquapiranha]

Good thread Jerry, and very true to an extent too. ;)

I currently have over 3700 CD's in FLAC format, and I have not listnened to a large chunk of them so I am 'discovering' music all of the time. I do have some types of music that I simply do not like despite listening at length to them. I tend to favour 'folky' stuff as well as some prog and older rock music but also some newer bands too. I also have a thing for nice female vocal stuff but generally the quirkier stuff as opposed to the mainstream as I find that kind of thing a bit bland and formulaic.

There are some people who I honestly think believe that listening to a particular type of music elevates them to a level above other music lovers, mostly those who claim to be fanatical about jazz, and who claim that is the only 'proper' type of music! These also tend to be the sort who nod there heads and stroke beards while listening.. :lol:

http://acriacao.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/belf01.jpg

[MartinT]

It's a complex thing and I would never claim to like everything in music. For me, there are great slabs of genres I like within which there is music I don't like, and vice versa. For example, I generally love classical music but I can take only small quantities of string quartets and even smaller amounts of opera. I generally detest club music but there are one or two stand-out tracks. I can pick things from most genres that I can listen to, but there are some black holes, such as free jazz or military bands. There is no discernible pattern that would make sense to anyone else.

However, when I visit other enthusiasts I like to think that I can listen to what they select and be prepared to listen to new things. I am also fairly certain that I could find something to keep any visitor happy. For each of us, some music will stick and some won't. Isn't that what it's all about?

[keiths]

There are some people who I honestly think believe that listening to a particular type of music elevates them to a level above other music lovers, mostly those who claim to be fanatical about jazz, and who claim that is the only 'proper' type of music! These also tend to be the sort who nod there heads and stroke beards while listening.. :lol:

http://acriacao.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/belf01.jpg

Mmmmm. Nice.

I love jazz - possibly above all else other than Berlin school electronic, but could never get snobby about it. Indeed I dislike segregating music into genrés (I don't like it that 'Classical' has its own sub-fora here) for this very reason, even though I occasionally listen to that music and enjoy learning more about it.

[sq225917]

How much grind core and thrash metal do you have Jerry? Do you have any gabba, socia, dancehall? Everyone thinks they have wide tastes but music is so diverse that we simply can't cover every genre.

When asked I say I like everything but reggae, which is true, but it doesn't mean I own it, just that I don't actively dislike it like I do with reggae.

[WOStantonCS100]

...military bands....

A-HA!!!!!!! There it is! You've done it! I was riding on my high horse thinking that I was a Zen master and truly able to lose myself in all "genres" of music. The shock and horror of it is that, alas, I am, not, a Zen master. When I read "military bands", it reminded me of "marching bands". I hate marching bands (especially those that butcher songs which are horrible corporate sponsored drivel to begin with)! Maybe, that's why I don't ever go to parades. It grates on my nerves almost as much as listening to devastatingly truncated, great classical at an ice skating event where the frequency deprived, echoing music screams at you through really loud and crappy PA's only to be picked up by a microphone being barraged by applause, or groans of horror, and the sound of a blade scratching ice... all of this squeezed back into your living room/bedroom through the tele. :spew:

...oh dear, I've made myself ill... ...mother...

:D

[MartinT]

:lol:

[bobbasrah]

Good points made in the last few posts, and cause for reflection whether my own tastes are indeed as broad as I would like to think...

However broad I like to consider my own musical tastes, they are in reality quite conservative with respect to the massive catalogue available, and if you take out the regional marketing which restrict exposure, a drop in the ocean.

Rap, and pretty much all the commercial offerings currently do nothing for me at all, any more than the bubble gum production line of my teens found anything to compare with Led Zepp, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan or Little Feat.

However broad we would like to think our tastes are, it is more likely that they are simply less narrow.
Exposure to the tastes of others socially, and in modern times on forums such as these, may slightly expand our horizons, but they remain limited to a comfortable range.