Are your music tastes eclectic or quite narrow?

[lowdown]

15 minutes ago, casapete said:

Absolutely, one of my all time favourite songs. There’ something about the way Jimmy Webb writes that gets me nearly every time. He has written some amazing stuff - By the time I get to Phoenix, Do what you gotta do, Didn’t we, Up up and away, Galveston etc etc. If you get chance, try to catch the episode of The Great Songwriters on Sky Arts with Jimmy, it’s fantastic.

 I love Jimmy Webb's melodic style. He's a real master of  catchy tunes and hooks.

Interestingly, you might like this article in the 'Los Angeles Times'. Although, It's mainly about MacArthur Park.

The article is from 2007, but Will Lee posted it up on his Facebook page at some point recently. I only noticed it this morning.

 

'MacArthur Park' Jimmy Webb | 1968 - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

[meterman]

45 minutes ago, casapete said:

Absolutely, one of my all time favourite songs. There’ something about the way Jimmy Webb writes that gets me nearly every time. He has written some amazing stuff - By the time I get to Phoenix, Do what you gotta do, Didn’t we, Up up and away, Galveston etc etc. If you get chance, try to catch the episode of The Great Songwriters on Sky Arts with Jimmy, it’s fantastic.

I don’t have Sky but I’ll see if I can track that episode down. Jimmy Webb wrote so many great songs, everyone usually remembers the hits but there’s so much more to him than the hits.

Bacharach and David were another pair who often wrote really affecting songs. Big hits but with some quite complex arrangements and melodic and rhythmic twists and turns. “A House Is Not A Home”, “Message To Michael”, “I Say A Little Prayer” etc. Love that grand style of pop songwriting.

[Nail Soup]

Eclectic but selective.

I like stuff from a wide variety of genres, but I'm picky - only like the bits which work for me!

I've got more and more open as I get older , including open to more extremity.

When I first started listening to music I was passionate, but not open.

 

Now the reason I don't get into more genres is purely practical - I don't have the time or energy to follow up every lead! Get to the back of the queue Mongolian throat music😀.

[Nail Soup]

On 13/05/2021 at 15:41, BigRedX said:

I'm always suspicious about people who claim to like almost anything or have a very broad musical taste as IME it makes them too undiscriminating. I want the musicians I work with to have definite likes and dislikes and not be afraid to express them. Someone who claims to like most things generally has no taste at all (IMO).

I get what you are saying.

It often annoys me when people say they listen to "anything". It's ambiguous... could mean they are a music enthusiast with a thirst for different styles, or it could mean they are indifferent to music.

It's also not very informative............ tell me a couple of core genres to give the 'centre' and a few more to tell me the breadth. On the other hand if you listen exclusively to grindcore then I'm happy with that too.

I sometimes have to hire a car for work, and the person on the desk may ask what model car I want. I reply "anything", because I don't care about cars.

[Nicko]

Definitely eclectic. 

I only really remember classical from my early childhood, and then when my older brothers got into 70s rock and moved onto punk.

I've been an a bit of a musical journey and had periods where I mostly listened to one genre - Ska, NWOBHM, New Wave, New Romantic, Hip Hop, Post Punk, Indie.  I still listen to a lot of this mixed in with a bit of classic rock, heavy rock, blues, various vintages of pop.  My Mp3 player is pretty much on random and it would not be unusual to have Prince followed by Black Sabbath, Plan B, Arctic Monkeys, the Ting Tings, Eminem, Bowie etc.

My list of don't likes is easier.

I rarely do classical music other than opera and generally only if its live - and I don't like musical theatre even though its basically modern opera.

I don't like grime/drum and bass or the kind of RnB that basically a beat and the only melody coming from the singer.

I don't really like country and western and and modern jazz is a dreadful waste of my ears.

And I can't stand that kind of soft mushy rock that Bryan Adams does.

[Barking Spiders]

3 hours ago, Nicko said:

Definitely eclectic. 

I only really remember classical from my early childhood, and then when my older brothers got into 70s rock and moved onto punk.

I've been an a bit of a musical journey and had periods where I mostly listened to one genre - Ska, NWOBHM, New Wave, New Romantic, Hip Hop, Post Punk, Indie.  I still listen to a lot of this mixed in with a bit of classic rock, heavy rock, blues, various vintages of pop.  My Mp3 player is pretty much on random and it would not be unusual to have Prince followed by Black Sabbath, Plan B, Arctic Monkeys, the Ting Tings, Eminem, Bowie etc.

My list of don't likes is easier.

I rarely do classical music other than opera and generally only if its live - and I don't like musical theatre even though its basically modern opera.

I don't like grime/drum and bass or the kind of RnB that basically a beat and the only melody coming from the singer.

I don't really like country and western and and modern jazz is a dreadful waste of my ears.

And I can't stand that kind of soft mushy rock that Bryan Adams does.

Personally I wouldn't lump in drum n 'bass with grime as d n' b covers a wide range of styles from the stripped back hardstep, techstep, drill n' bass at the harder end to 'liquid funk' and 'ambient d n' b at the melodic end. Fr'instance Squarepusher's drill n'bass thing is very different from early Pendulum. Grime is more of an offshoot of rap and yes it sucks big time. IMO. 

 

[Nicko]

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

Personally I wouldn't lump in drum n 'bass with grime as d n' b covers a wide range of styles from the stripped back hardstep, techstep, drill n' bass at the harder end to 'liquid funk' and 'ambient d n' b at the melodic end. Fr'instance Squarepusher's drill n'bass thing is very different from early Pendulum. Grime is more of an offshoot of rap and yes it sucks big time. IMO. 

 

I don't know enough about the genre to separate the crap from the genuinely terrible.  As someone who listened to a lot of rap it's something I shouldn't object to but it takes all the worst bits of something that I enjoy and puts them together.

[Alien]

On 13/05/2021 at 23:22, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I'm the opposite - I know a lot about art but don't know what I like.

I think we're gonna get along just fine Mr. P

 

A

 

[Alien]

On 13/05/2021 at 19:09, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I follow both genres:

Black Sabbath

Motörhead

 

We have both kinds here - country and western...

Class

 

[Mykesbass]

6 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I get what you are saying.

It often annoys me when people say they listen to "anything". It's ambiguous... could mean they are a music enthusiast with a thirst for different styles, or it could mean they are indifferent to music.

It's also not very informative............ tell me a couple of core genres to give the 'centre' and a few more to tell me the breadth. On the other hand if you listen exclusively to grindcore then I'm happy with that too.

I sometimes have to hire a car for work, and the person on the desk may ask what model car I want. I reply "anything", because I don't care about cars.

I agree. I love loads of diverse stuff - from Dusty Springfield to Therapy?  (oh, and the Terrortones) but equally, there is plenty I can't abide.  @BigRedX is right - anything shows a complete lack of care. 

[Marvin]

I don't really know if my taste is diverse.

Most of what I listen is quite melodic, which I always think is a throwback to my Mum always having Radio 1 on when I was young and she used to listen to things like ABBA. 

I tend to focus in on bands or artists rather than genres. That's why Spotify suggestions are a total waste of time for me. Just because I like artist A doesn't mean (and rarely does) mean I'll like artist B just because they supposedly play similar material. 

The vast bulk of my listening is rock or pop, but there's also blues, metal, soul/R&B, edm... I'm not keen on hip hop, rap, grime or jazz. Most other stuff is ok...I think. If I've eaten some vegetables I've been known to listen to folk music.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Marvin

[Barking Spiders]

10 hours ago, Marvin said:

The vast bulk of my listening is rock or pop, but there's also blues, metal, soul/R&B, edm... I'm not keen on hip hop, rap, grime or jazz. Most other stuff is ok...I think. If I've eaten some vegetables I've been known to listen to folk music.

The Spotify  /Amazon suggestion thing probably doesn't work for many people I guess. I regularly listen to Slayer, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Motley Crue and Rammstein but dislike most  metalcore, hair metal and other extreme metal sub-genres. I'm big into the punk / new wave of The Clash, SLF, Buzzcocks, Undertones and Stranglers but find no space for Green Day, Blink 182 etc. For the funk is epitomised by P-Funk, early Kool ATG, Graham CS and Troublefunk but current funk bands do nothing for me. As for hip hop, it all peaked in the late 89s to mid-90s. The likes of Kanye West, Jay Z etc can't hold a candle to Eric B & Rakim, Run DMC, Public Enemy. Dance/electronica stuff peaked with those acts formed in the late 80s-mid 90s but I've little shelf space for much from those starting out in the 21st century.

[ubit]

When I was young it was Metal or nothing. Then I realised I loved Reggae, then dance. Now I pretty much like anything that's good apart from Hip Hop

[ubit]

13 hours ago, Marvin said:

Most of what I listen is quite melodic, which I always think is a throwback to my Mum always having Radio 1 on when I was young and she used to listen to things like ABBA. 

It's funny, when I was a kid I was subjected to Neil Diamond and Glen Campbell records all the time. I hated them but didn't realise how much they were having an effect on me. now I love both artists along with many others of that ilk.

[ubit]

19 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

t often annoys me when people say they listen to "anything". It's ambiguous... could mean they are a music enthusiast with a thirst for different styles, or it could mean they are indifferent to music.

I couldn't agree less. I am able to enjoy music of many different styles whereas one of my mates likes one particular style. I think he is limiting his enjoyment. I like nothing more than listening to music on random where I can hear Vivaldi, Motorhead, Stevie Wonder, Korn, Garth Brooks, Bob Marley, The Mission, Five Finger Death Punch etc. playing in any order.

[BassTractor]

20 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

It's ambiguous... could mean they are a music enthusiast with a thirst for different styles, or it could mean they are indifferent to music.

Exactly.
Probably a good idea to not draw too strong conclusions from one little remark made under specific circumstances.

Though I do recognise that some indifferent people will answer "Anything!", I too could be found to say it  -  given the right setting.

[Dad3353]

I think that many 'indifferent to music' people would say 'Bof, I'm indifferent' rather than 'Anything' if asked about their tastes in music. Most folk answering 'Anything' probably do like 'anything that's musical', and are not indifferent. Play 'em something truly rotten (concert of chain-saws, pink noise generator, collection of coastal fog-horns...) and they'd mostly not like 'em, I think. 

[FinnDave]

Collection of coastal foghorns sounds interesting - got a link?

[Dad3353]

20 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Collection of coastal foghorns sounds interesting - got a link?

Of course; hasn't everyone..?

Foghorns ...

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by Dad3353

[Doctor J]

23 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

I get what you are saying.

It often annoys me when people say they listen to "anything". It's ambiguous... could mean they are a music enthusiast with a thirst for different styles, or it could mean they are indifferent to music.

I think it's usually used as a means to say "I'm not confined to specific genres". Should someone really have to append "...but only the good stuff"?

Listening to a broad range of musical styles does not indicate the inability to discern quality, just that there is a lot out there to be enjoyed and they have the mindset to be open enough to enjoy it. Is music the only artform where people get so caught up in such narrow pigeonholing?

"Do you like art?"

"Yeah, I love art but only Impressionism and Art Deco. People who like too many art movements have no taste!"

[BigRedX]

Actually it is my experience that many of the people who claim to like everything only have a quite limited knowledge of music, so while that statement may be true within the confines of the music that they are aware of, as soon as you introduce them to music outside of that, you generally find that their tastes are just as narrow as anyone else's.

There is so many different styles of music available to listen to these days that it is truly impossible to like "everything". I confine myself to being open enough to want to listen to anything, but also focused enough not to want to waste my time with what I have already heard and don't like.

[Nail Soup]

2 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Listening to a broad range of musical styles does not indicate the inability to discern quality,

for the reord I didn’t suggest that was the case.

[ubit]

17 hours ago, BigRedX said:

There is so many different styles of music available to listen to these days that it is truly impossible to like "everything". I confine myself to being open enough to want to listen to anything, but also focused enough not to want to waste my time with what I have already heard and don't like.

So you still want to like everything? No wait You like everything you've heard? no that's not it. You like what you like and you don't like what you don't like. Yup, I think I have it now.

[Barking Spiders]

18 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Actually it is my experience that many of the people who claim to like everything only have a quite limited knowledge of music, so while that statement may be true within the confines of the music that they are aware of, as soon as you introduce them to music outside of that, you generally find that their tastes are just as narrow as anyone else's.

There is so many different styles of music available to listen to these days that it is truly impossible to like "everything". I confine myself to being open enough to want to listen to anything, but also focused enough not to want to waste my time with what I have already heard and don't like.

I've come across many posts in fora of the this type, 'I like a range of different styles of music, NWOBHM, thrash metal, groove metal, black metal, drone metal, power metal, recycled metal...' Or what people usually seem to mean  is they listen to daytime Radio 1, Heart, Smooth FM blah blah everyday and deal with whatever comes on

[Graham]

I'd describe my musical preferences as narrow, but deep - where I'm heavily focused around various sub-genres of metal.

I like jazz, pop, hip-hop and folk as well and will go through periods of listening to them quite a bit, but those drop away in a week or so.

I also have a tendency to get really into a specific metal sub-genres for a year or two at a time, it was doom, then I switched to black metal, these days it's post-hardcore/mathcore