shudders from my fortunately historical days of online dating where every other profile would make the eclecticism claim beside a truly myopic taste, allied to my own self-realisation of myopia relative to the sheer wealth of style and form across the musical globe
― sounding like a silly Iain Banks on a track (imago), Tuesday, January 5, 2016 9:56 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
can you tell us more about musical globes from your historical days of online dating.
― big Mahats (mattresslessness), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:00 (eight years ago) link
as with any academic interest, self-identifyingly 'serious' music listeners certainly benefit from an area or areas of close expertise
matt you can stop me when my posts get too Aimless but cmon man
― sounding like a silly Iain Banks on a track (imago), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:02 (eight years ago) link
xp dog latin - maybe how you feel about the reign of eclecticism has to do with how you feel about the Retromania hypothesis. if everyone is eclectic we just play around in old forms because the obsessives who drive new forms to prominence don't exist. in simon's book it's all about technology, but it's plausible that it's demand-side
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:07 (eight years ago) link
DO YOU EVEN MUSIC BRO
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:31 (eight years ago) link
My tastes are VERY eclectic; I like both Adele and The Weeknd
― you're breaking the NAP (DJP), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:32 (eight years ago) link
http://i.giftrunk.com/dzjmv2.gif
― a strawman stuffed with their collection of 12 cds (jjjusten), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:35 (eight years ago) link
I prefer to think of my musical tastes as 'interesting'. But also 'intelligent'? They certainly aren't 'run of the mill'!
― Beef Wets (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:36 (eight years ago) link
No way am I eclectic. All I like is jazz and new wave.
― Austin, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:37 (eight years ago) link
I'm not sure how much it has to do with retromania, although I think there's a probably a bit of crossover. but yeah I think historically, a lot of celebrated styles have benefited from conservative obsessives; hardcore punkers, ravers, metalheads, indiekids who don't just listen to lots of different music but define themselves and their lifestyles around their chosen obsession, perhaps even turning it into a career or long-term project. I love eclecticism and listening to lots of things and being smacked in the face by new things but I also kind of miss the fun of when people used to wear band t-shirts or the theatre of tribalism or the idea that a scene with a specific sensibility and fashion could spring up around a particular nightclub. If everyone's a dabbler, it naturally gets harder to recognise these subcultures. instead you end up with much more ephemeral microcosms that form around a blog maybe and tare much harder to to pin down.
― canoon fooder (dog latin), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:38 (eight years ago) link
I mostly just play the Jordy album on an eternal loop.
― Beef Wets (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:39 (eight years ago) link
75% - 80% of the music that I listen to sounds remarkably alike if you know what it is that I am listening for. It's just that those specific qualities, textures, effects that really scratch my itches are very, very poorly predicted by "Genre".
I fully admit that I do not entirely understand "Genre" and how people use it. The stuff that people carve genre up by often seems to me very superficial and not necessarily what attracts me to music. But I know it gets me into arguments quicker than almost anything else on ILM when I say I don't really believe in genre. It's just not a meaningful predictor to me.
I don't consider my musical taste 'eclectic' because I'm not drawn to newness or unfamiliarity. I'm drawn to things that capture some distinct element (texture, harmony, etc) of this kind of platonic ideal of music I have in my head. That ideal has changed as I've got older, but I'm just not particularly interested in listening to music that falls outside those parameters.
But I also think that Retromania is a book based on so inherently flawed a proposition that I bought it in paper form just so I could throw it across the room when it pissed me off. But that's an argument for another day.
― Liebe ist kälter als der Todmorden (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:40 (eight years ago) link
i think the term "genre" can be useful in describing music in terms of form rather than style, but people tend to use it to mean the latter nowadays
― welltris (crüt), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:44 (eight years ago) link
"i only listen to one type of music: the Music That I Like" - bran
virtually everyone on ilx has eclectic taste in music imo, one of the good things about this place
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 17:55 (eight years ago) link
It's a little more specific than "music that I like". I really enjoy phase-shifted drone sounds, though whether it's a synth or a guitar or a flute (hallmarks of genre) does not matter to me. I really enjoy people singing in open fifth harmonies where you cannot tell whether the completed chord would be major or minor. That's something that occurs in many different styles of music! When I say specific, I mean highly specific, but that just isn't the way that "Genre" is typically constructed.
― Liebe ist kälter als der Todmorden (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 18:10 (eight years ago) link
god I'm going to be that person, aren't I? The person who says that eclectic is relative, and thus, eclectic compared to whom? IRL friends and acquaintances? Our parents? What we imagine the "average person" to be?
That said, I'm pretty much in agreement with flopson re ilx and eclecticism.
― sarahell, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:14 (eight years ago) link
i love music
― Does that make you mutter, under your breath, “Damn”? (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:15 (eight years ago) link
you know what i really do too
― marcos, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:16 (eight years ago) link
i love music in theory, but some of it sucks and some of it is really boring
― sarahell, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:18 (eight years ago) link
in college i would deliberately get into genres i had no previous interest in, mostly because i was encountering perspectives on them from people whose taste and ideas i really respected and trusted. so i got into metal, techno, dancehall... like, everything i could get my hands on, bc there was something other people saw in them, so i wanted to find that thing they saw, or find my own thing that i saw.
this has contracted considerably over the years bc eventually i kind of just focused on the music i got the most out of, which was like: boogie/electro funk, emo, death metal, house, jazz, jazz fusion that anticipates smooth jazz, '70s prog bands who tried to have hits in the '80s, etc. a lot of these genres have interrelated qualities that i respond to in each; for instance the way i respond to the lopsided rhythms in afropop is v v similar to my response to the same thing in death metal. idk if it's useful to refer to it as dilettantism, bc i really try to know as much as possible about everything i listen to bc context is paramount for me. but it's also probably dilettantism lol
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:22 (eight years ago) link
i think a good test for eclecticism is half of your favorite records at any given time could not be connected to each other kevin bacon-style with less than 3 or 4 hops.
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:24 (eight years ago) link
― sarahell, Tuesday, January 5, 2016 3:14 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i was almost this person too, i even typed this up in just as many words and then didn't post it
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:27 (eight years ago) link
yeah i'm sort of reluctant to refer to my taste as "eclectic" bc i'm always going to think i listen to a relatively narrow range of music
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:36 (eight years ago) link
fwiw brad i think of your tastes as highly eclective even relative to the ilx median. maybe not quite skot level but up there
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:41 (eight years ago) link
I only like good music
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:43 (eight years ago) link
omg me too
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:50 (eight years ago) link
idk i had a blast listening to the Worst Of 2015 playlist last night
― sounding like a silly Iain Banks on a track (imago), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:51 (eight years ago) link
i guess i didn't like the music tho
it'll be an interesting experiment to compare the two once the Best of 2015 is decided.
― sarahell, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 20:55 (eight years ago) link
I was willfully eclectic during my late teens (not coincidentally, around the same time I discovered ILM);subsequently embarrassed by the extent & the vague neocolonial trappings of my willful eclecticism;and am currently afraid of music.
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:00 (eight years ago) link
sounds like there's only one album for you thenhttps://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmichaelsprott.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2Ftalkingheadsfearofmusic.jpg&f=1
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:03 (eight years ago) link
yes. i have eclectic taste in music.
― i;m thinking about thos Beans (Michael B), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:12 (eight years ago) link
yes i have electric taste in music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk5IUbdH0
― HYPERLINK TO RAP GENIUS (BradNelson), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:14 (eight years ago) link
i agree with most itt that there is something *shudders* about the word eclectic. i think our revulsion stems from an association of eclectic with specific pieces of music, maybe 2000's-era mash-ups?
no, the revulsion stems people thinking it means "i am not like most people, i am interesting and cultured and like many things"
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:16 (eight years ago) link
unlike most people, who only like one thing
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:17 (eight years ago) link
like how ppl get mad at "foodie" because they think it means "i am better at eating food than you/more cultured"
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:17 (eight years ago) link
i mean, it's totally silly who cares
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:18 (eight years ago) link
i'm saying the people repulsed by "eclectic" or whatever just have bad attitudes about others
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:19 (eight years ago) link
yeah I get it - joeks bruv
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:20 (eight years ago) link
ha, namaste
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:21 (eight years ago) link
you guys have eclectic taste in peacemaking epithets
― big Mahats (mattresslessness), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:28 (eight years ago) link
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, January 5, 2016 4:16 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― lute bro (brimstead), Tuesday, January 5, 2016 4:17 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
ding ding ding
― flopson, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:31 (eight years ago) link
A lot of fans of things can come across that way.
― nashwan, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:36 (eight years ago) link
I say that as a fan of fandom really.
― nashwan, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:37 (eight years ago) link
foodie seems more populist though. would you rather be pegged as a foodie or a gourmand?
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:40 (eight years ago) link
i would have to ask compared to who? to be able to answer this question.
Or let other people who know me tell me.
I like to think I do but i maybe dont actually do. Esp compared to music nerds.
― Ted Nü-Djent (Cosmic Slop), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:41 (eight years ago) link
so wait you all are saying that characterizing oneself in a general way is related to the perceptions of others? need a list thread hardcore rn.
― big Mahats (mattresslessness), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:42 (eight years ago) link
i'm eclectic btw
― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:45 (eight years ago) link
I guess all I meant by my comment is that "I have eclectic taste" is not a very interesting thing to say/discuss in 2016 among music fans. It's certainly not a bad thing, it's just not remarkable.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:53 (eight years ago) link
maybe another way to gauge it is to see how many hours of programming the "eclectic music hour" for your local college radio station would you feel comfortable doing before feeling like a fraud
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:55 (eight years ago) link
my local college radio station has a requirement that they have to play at least 3 genres per hour ...
― sarahell, Tuesday, 5 January 2016 21:57 (eight years ago) link
I don't really know what the norm in music currently is since I tend to pick up bits and pieces from various places constantly.Not very sure what is current anyway. Think most of what i'm listening to is normally several decades old but am pickking up current live sets from torrent sites.
Assume that means it's eclectic to some extent.
& do wonder how well known anybody I'm into actually is.BUt then again if it is possible to find the pre-remaster Beatles Rubber Soul cd put in a record shop rack under R I wonder how well known anything actually is generation to generation.
― Stevolende, Sunday, 31 January 2016 12:00 (eight years ago) link
what if there's a silent majority of people with eclectic tastes who just don't think it's anything to crow about
― lute bro (brimstead), Sunday, 31 January 2016 22:09 (eight years ago) link
think i need to make some coffee in anticipation of this poll's results
― bicyclescope (mattresslessness), Sunday, 31 January 2016 22:55 (eight years ago) link
I am so excited about this impending poll result I just nipped off for a quick J Arthur and my hands melted
― calzino, Sunday, 31 January 2016 23:46 (eight years ago) link
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4102/4859727161_504cee7e02_b.jpg
― smoothy doles it (nakhchivan), Sunday, 31 January 2016 23:49 (eight years ago) link
POLL closes: February 01 (in 1 second)
― jaggered little poll (wins), Monday, 1 February 2016 00:00 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Monday, 1 February 2016 00:01 (eight years ago) link
lol
― canoon fooder (dog latin), Monday, 1 February 2016 00:02 (eight years ago) link
50 Rubes, a new comedy by Alexander Payne
― Chikan wa akan de. Zettai akan de. (Noodle Vague), Monday, 1 February 2016 07:01 (eight years ago) link
strong showing from joke response, i <3 ilm forever
― j., Monday, 1 February 2016 17:02 (eight years ago) link