ever noticed how...

[cosmo105]

...usually, the ones that talk the most about "music" (i.e., "music is my life," "check out my guitar/note/staff tattoo") are the ones that have the crappiest, most boring and predictable taste? i'm not talking about people that talk about artists or albums or anything, i'm talking about the ones that talk about it as an abstract concept like a hobby or something. they have Spin subscriptions and shop at Borders FOR MUSIC.

[Freebasser]

Don't be so hard on yourself.

[Documad]

What is wrong with Borders? :( I've never purchased a CD there but they have a nice selection of history books.

[cosmo105]

i mean for music. not books. books and magazines there are nice.

[Documad]

It's funny because I've tried to find a CD at Borders a few times. Not only are the prices very expensive but they have no selection -- not even in basic classical music.

I run into a lot of people who are proud of the fact that they haven't been to a concert in years. Even if you like some perfectly horrid music, how can you not be curious enough to see it live?

[cosmo105]

seriously. their prices are ridiculous. and it's always such a ridiculous mess...not even worth looking at CDs there.

wtf? why would someone be proud of that?

[Documad]

wtf? why would someone be proud of that?
Maybe it will happen with your friends as you age. Some of them get less fun. They're the same people who claim that there has been no good music made since they were in college.

I suspect they're intimidated at the idea of going downtown at night and standing in a pit with scary youths. :p

[mickill]

I almost never talk in-depth about music to people, unless they want to talk about it. And I usually just dumb down and talk about really common stuff that they're into already. If they ask, I might suggest some stuff I think that they'd like. But I don't try to convince people to stop listening to whatever garbage they're into.

I'm not anywhere near as pretentious in real life as I sometimes can seem in this forum. I don't even barely own any band shirts, apart from a couple of tour shirts from when I was young and maybe one or two with album covers on them. I think my tastes are quite eclectic, personally. And I've never bought a CD at a bookstore either.

[Caribou]

Maybe it will happen with your friends as you age. Some of them get less fun. They're the same people who claim that there has been no good music made since they were in college.


SpanishBomb stylee. :cool:

But hey, Music IS a hobby isn't it? I keep myself occupied with it, so it's a hobby, what's wrong with that exactly? I bet you think it's wrong and boring that I like High Fidelity as well. Well poo-ey to you! I'd do John Cusack on a pile of records anyday.

[DroppinScience]

While Diana's brother was looking for some books at Border's, I perused the CD section for the first time (we don't have Border's in Canada), and for a bookstore, it was semi-decent and not a bad way to pass a few minutes. I managed to find the "Dub Side of the Moon" (reggae tribute album to Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon") and that was a pleasant surprise. Price wasn't bad, either ($15.99).

But yeah, I much prefer an actual record store. But at least it wasn't Wal-Mart.

[QueenAdrock]

You should mention how badly I embarrassed you by screaming "LOOK BRETT, NEW FLOCK OF SEAGULLS BOX SET!" etc.

God, that's the worst thing you could do to Brett. Question his musical integrity around other snobs. I loled.

[saz]

well, i'm into music and play instruments. i guess i consider myself some sort of musician, but i'm clearly not a professional and already have one career going. i've never bought a cd at a bookstore and wasn't aware that you could, other than those crummy compilation things chapters carry. i can listen to and enjoy pretty much anything, (from nick drake to fiddy to broken social scene to cream etc), besides from about three or so genres of music (punk, pop-punk, new country). and my friends who've been playing for a lot longer than i have are pretty much the same, albeit much more into jazz and prog. and whenever we talk about music, it's just songs or melodies or rhythm sections we like, or ideas for riffs and jams or whatever. just pretty basic, common discussion and ideas. then again, my other friends could care less and are more into video games and ufc. different strokes for different folks. but i suppose the point of this is that some of us have beefs with others we perceive as pretentious, or boring and predictable. sometimes i can't stand all the metal heads in the music stores, because they'll crank up the amps and be playing steve vai inspired licks for eons and act like pretentious, condescending twits. but, not every metal head is like that so i try not to categorize people.

[Videodrome]

i've bought a couple cds at borders before. they seem to have albums i can't really find anywhere else besides online. i think that's because the cds were like $18.99 though. plus i can't stand waiting on someone to finally ship my shit so i pay up rather than go the online route.

[Documad]

I didn't mean to derail the thread into a discussion about Borders. B&N has better CD selection, but at about $5 more per CD than Amazon.com. :p

[yeahwho]

I think the radio stations of america are a pretty good barometer of our fellow citizens musical taste. The talent shows on TV seem to sum up much of the populations taste. The Beastie Boys are pretty much as adventurous as most folks I know go with their musical tastes.

That is cool, I've been a sucker for the next big thing forever. I've read back issues of rollingstone magazine, especially the 70's reviews. Spin just sucks IMO. I like popmatters.com and a few other music sites on the www.

Anyway I figure if your posting here on the BBMB you must have interest in something other than what the radio is playing.

I am a huge musical snob, but at least here on the BBMB there are even bigger musical snobs, which makes me feel happy!

*I do own alot of vinyl
**I have shoeboxes of 45's in their original covers
***Paul McCartney is my criteria artist (your either better or worse than Paul)
**** I own all of the Carpenters
*****I own a fuck of alot of Grateful Dead (even obscure live shows)
******I love novelty songs

[DroppinScience]

You should mention how badly I embarrassed you by screaming "LOOK BRETT, NEW FLOCK OF SEAGULLS BOX SET!" etc.

God, that's the worst thing you could do to Brett. Question his musical integrity around other snobs. I loled.

No, I think it was a different band. Like Fall Out Boy, or something.

I don't think Flock of Seagulls (who are good on a greatest hits set) have enough recording material to necesitate a box set, let alone a fanbase interested to hear 4 discs worth of stuff :p

[cosmo105]

...a lot of you are missing the point, methinks...

[zorra_chiflada]

...usually, the ones that talk the most about "music" (i.e., "music is my life," "check out my guitar/note/staff tattoo") are the ones that have the crappiest, most boring and predictable taste? i'm not talking about people that talk about artists or albums or anything, i'm talking about the ones that talk about it as an abstract concept like a hobby or something. they have Spin subscriptions and shop at Borders FOR MUSIC.

those people are so boring, and irritatingly smug about themselves.

[pshabi]

...usually, the ones that talk the most about "music" (i.e., "music is my life," "check out my guitar/note/staff tattoo") are the ones that have the crappiest, most boring and predictable taste? i'm not talking about people that talk about artists or albums or anything, i'm talking about the ones that talk about it as an abstract concept like a hobby or something. they have Spin subscriptions and shop at Borders FOR MUSIC.
Never noticed that, but I'm too old and work in a "jock" profession so music doesn't really come up a lot.

[pshabi]

i mean for music. not books. books and magazines there are nice.
That sounds snobby. Are you cooler cause you buy a CD at a "record shop" that you could get at Border's for less $$$?

Just read a few more posts. The Borders in South Florida (the only one's I've been to) were pretty cheap, but I agree, poorly organized.

[korn_phr33k]

yeah i dont really ever talk about music in the "art" way, talking about stuff like forms of expression and outlets. but i am kind of a nerd, i usually end up describing wht i like about it in the technical aspects, like HOW they did what they did, or where it came from, or how they made that one sound.

albums like pauls boutique (of course) dj shadow - endtroducing..., d-styles' phantasmagorea, massive attack - mezzanine (really liking that one now) are stuff i end up over analyzing.

pretty sure i got off topic, sorry.

[yeahwho]

...a lot of you are missing the point, methinks...

sure, but isn't that the whole point?

[HEIRESS]

WHEN I CONTROL THE MUSIC AT PARTIES ATLEAST 5 PEOPLE EVERYTIME COME BEGGING FOR ME TO MAKE THEM A MIX CD CONTAINING SOME OF THE SONGS OF THE NIGHT

DO I MAKE THEM FOR THEM? FUCK NO, GO GIT YOUR OWN MUSIC ASSHOLE

[Ally Al]

WHEN I CONTROL THE MUSIC AT PARTIES ATLEAST 5 PEOPLE EVERYTIME COME BEGGING FOR ME TO MAKE THEM A MIX CD CONTAINING SOME OF THE SONGS OF THE NIGHT

DO I MAKE THEM FOR THEM? FUCK NO, GO GIT YOUR OWN MUSIC ASSHOLE


thats just mean!

[QueenAdrock]

...a lot of you are missing the point, methinks...

Yeah, Brett certainly did. The point wasn't whether or not Flock of Seagulls had enough material to go into a box set, it was that people thought that he liked them. GOSH!

[Drederick Tatum]

WHEN I CONTROL THE MUSIC AT PARTIES ATLEAST 5 PEOPLE EVERYTIME COME BEGGING FOR ME TO MAKE THEM A MIX CD CONTAINING SOME OF THE SONGS OF THE NIGHT

DO I MAKE THEM FOR THEM? FUCK NO, GO GIT YOUR OWN MUSIC ASSHOLE

Heiress, being nice to people increases the chance of making friends.

[mickill]

I don't care for other people's mixes.

[Ally Al]

I don't care for other people's mixes.


me neither, yours suck arse big time, i just put them in my whatever file

[ET]

Man I just got that Gnarls Barkley cd at Barnes and Noble for like $17.99 man and I know all them damn track titles. Don't be telling me to put it on track 8 cuz every song has a name. And also, it's not a track it's a song, bitch. And don't ever touch a black man's radio! I left my Japanese copy of it at home cuz that shit costed like $35 plus shipping and it's got that one track on there where's it's just Ce-lo breathing and shit. But it's before the first track so you gotta rewind it exactly 52 seconds. And I got one of the copies that's got the extra second of silence on it. I could totally get $50 bucks on it on eBay but I'ma keep this shit 4 lyfe. :cool:

[FunkyHiFi]

I think the radio stations of america are a pretty good barometer of our fellow citizens musical taste
Mmm, not really.

Most radio stations' music choices are what THEY think is good, or at least what some clueless focus group study said was good :rolleyes:, a group very possibly made up of the people the OP is talking about. Big corporations are notorious for not wanting to take risks with their product (and music IS just a product with most of the radio companies) because any loss of $$$ upsets the all-important shareholders which is a very bad thing for a CEO who wants to keep his job and buy that second house in Malibu.

This is an excerpt from a pretty typical article on this issue (http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2004/07/clear_channels_.html), written in late 2004:

Listen to music on the radio much lately?

If you answered “no,” you’re in good company. Americans are listening to broadcasts -- especially of music -- much less frequently then they used to.

And with good reason, too: Stations which were once a way to discover new music have become bland sources of uniform playlists. At present, the heavy emphasis (or over-emphasis) is on hip hop; This comes after a long dalliance with insipid boy bands. Listeners left in droves.

.............

This efficiency, cost cutting, and uniformity came at a cost: Clear Channel wracked up big margins with their streamlined McMusic programming, but they ended up driving away listeners, also.

Consider the state of radio before Clear Channel was given the greenlight by Congress to consolidate: There were many hundreds of local radio stations -- which required 100's of station managers, 100's of musical programmers, and many 100's of DJs. Across the U.S., you could hear music with a more local flavor. In cities, as you scrolled across the radio dial, you could hear a broad variety of songs, bands and musical genres. Even the same radio format -- classic rock, alternative, pop, etc. -- there were diverse playlists within each genre.

................

Clear Channel replaced most of this unique programming with a handful of their own "talent." Depending upon the format the mega-station decided upon, they could simply plug in an existing show from their roster.

Local music sources were local no more.

..................

Clearchannel didn't only hurt radio -- they drew first blood from the recording industry also. Music fans only buy what they hear; Less music on the radio meant decreasing purchases of CDs. I'm convinced that the ever shrinking national radio playlist caused by radio consolidation is one of the key factors in the declining CD sales nationwide.

As I've mentioned before, listening to the radio used to be really fun - now its mostly a wasteland of programmed/preplanned crap, mostly due to a lovely piece of legislation called the Telecommunications Act Of 1996 which allowed big companies to buy up many more stations than they were previously allow to do (the original law was put into place to prevent exactly what radio has turned into now).

For more info on this corporate takeover of the publicly owned airwaves and how to help reverse its effects: the Prometheus Radio Project (http://www.prometheusradio.org/).

[QueenAdrock]

But yeah...You can easily tell what music they listen to by the way they talk and dress and where the tattoo might be. They are boring people. Almost phony too, if you ask me.

It's really sad, but true. I love how they're like "I'm so not mainstream," and then I look at their tie-dyed clothes and dreadlocked hair and say "You must love Moe, Medeski & Woods, Galactic, String Cheese Incident, and Phish." Yup! You may not be "mainstream," but you are by no means "unique."

If you don't dress "normally," you can be labelled...and most of the time, correctly. I wear plain tees and jeans, you can't guess that I like hip-hop and alternative music from that. I could like anything. However, back in high school when I had blue streaks in my hair, 6 ear piercings, wore Vans or Airwalks and loved those tee-shirts that were parody of other things (Like Punkin' Gonuts instead of Dunkin' Donuts...goddammit I want to punch my old self), you can tell that I was into alternative music.

And yet myself and the other 40 people at school who looked just like me, we all thought we were being unique. My best friend even got the "Marches to the Beat of Her Own Drum" senior superlative in the year book. She had purple streaks, UFO's, spiked jewelry and basically looked exactly like her boyfriend at the time and his friends. Sad.

[skra75]

...a lot of you are missing the point, methinks...


yeah, tumbleweeds.

733T

[monkey]

...usually, the ones that talk the most about "music" (i.e., "music is my life," "check out my guitar/note/staff tattoo") are the ones that have the crappiest, most boring and predictable taste?.

a picture of a dude that always says "GnR, man, GnR!!!!" all the time comes to mind.

i think i know those kids.

[korn_phr33k]

.....I look at their tie-dyed clothes and dreadlocked hair and say "You must love Moe, Medeski & Woods.....

dont wear tie dye or have dreads, but i like medeski, martin, and wood. theyve got a rediculous drummer, breaks for days.

[FunkyHiFi]

....(Like Punkin' Gonuts instead of Dunkin' Donuts...goddammit I want to punch my old self), you can tell that I was into alternative music.IMO there's nothing wrong with letting people know who you are via clothes/tatoos/etc but what really sucks is when the posers start copying what you are doing. :mad: So visually speaking you are no longer unique. I finally got tired of trying to visually differentiate myself from others because it's a never ending race with the shallow people, so I stopped trying......for the most part (and anyway in a world with 6 b i l l i o n people there are always going to be some other people with similar tastes so no one can always be 100% unique). I still like my wooden bead necklaces from Earth Traders (two of them at once; so far I've seen very few people doing that), baggy Dickies $20 carpenter jeans, short hairdo ("1.5 blade on the sides please") Simpsons t-shirts* and other "late 90s" gear.

BTW: I've put this link here before, but one reason some cool trends get exploited and tossed to the side so fast is Big Business, with MTV being one of the worst examples IMO: "The Merchants Of Cool" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/). This online documentary (I got pretty pissed off watching it) is about 5 years old now, so I'll bet MTV has changed its tactics so beware! ;) Many corporations don't mind trying to unfairly manipulate you (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/etc/press.html) if that means you open their wallet for them.

* and about 50% of my other shirts are wrestling-related. No not the fake stuff on TV but the real version done in high school and college. Talk about being involved in an activity that isn't ultra-popular! (it's fun as hell though) "Eeeeewwww, you touch other sweaty guys!" :rolleyes: