What is the most offputting barrier to you listening to and enjoying certain types of music

Absolutely. I remember that photojournalism of Nigerian (I think?) metalheads... some bad-ass dudes but they def. are rolling with a different aesthetic than US and Europe. Purely homegrown, it's great.

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/05/egypt-culture-of-the-undefeated/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/06/african-metal-2-libya-and-tunisia/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/08/african-metal-algeria-morocco/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/09/african-metal-4-cameroon/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2013/10/african-metal-5-uganda/
http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2014/01/african-metal-6-zambia-and-zimbabwe/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tfwZnKW4pCw

I remember that photojournalism of Nigerian (I think?) metalheads.

was it not Botswana?

For me, it's all about the lyrical themes. You have your choice of:

-Satanism: I would loved it at 13. But as an adult, it seems so silly and immature.
-Fantasy-based lyrics, Dungeons & Dragons, hobbits: see above.
-Cliched teen angst: doesn't appeal to me as an adult
-Cliched anti-war lyrics: I agree with the sentiment, but metal anti-war lyrics seem perversely pro-war. Because war is the only thing more brutal than death metal, man

The vocals don't help either. It's not that I hate death metal vocals. I think they're a interesting novelty that's good for 1 or 2 albums, but that's it.

There there are the metal hipsters, the absurd emphasis on keepin' it real, the hyper-masculine attitudes, the prog-rock tendencies of "good" metal bands, on and on. I can't entirely dismiss any genre, but metal isn't my favorite by a long shot.

-Fantasy-based lyrics, Dungeons & Dragons, hobbits: see above.
-Cliched teen angst: doesn't appeal to me as an adult
-Cliched anti-war lyrics:

its not the 1980s; things have moved on since!

Seriously though, got any bands in mind you speak of?

Not really, but I've downloaded quite a few metal albums that I frequently see cited as the best of all time. I didn't really like any of them.

my biggest hangup with metal is i haven't heard any metal song that is as good as surfin bird. "you suffer" comes close.

tetrisattack which ones?

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:)

http://www.thejabberwock.org/blog/2/strychnine.png

Also, Cookie Monster vocals. Are...are you actually trying to scare...anybody? And has it ever worked?

so, old post, but I gotta address this common myth - the appeal of death vocals isn't being scared! Screaming has existed in multiple genres, and nobody is doing it to freak anybody out! Death growling is atmospheric, meant to mirror the bleak tone of the music it accompanies.

when done well, it sounds mega cool, just like when a punk rocker yells over some intense power chordage, it's cool. but also, it's meant to be percussive. on Cannibal Corpse album liner notes (and many other DM liner notes), they used to address vocals as "vocal patterns" because, similar to hip hop, it's meant to be percussive, rhythmic, creative, not just following a repetitive meter. there are of course degrees to this, dude from Anal Blast wasn't exactly Twista. likewise, it doesn't quite have the same polyrhythmic feel of rap, no, but there's reasons Corpsegrinder does rapid-fire, double-timed growls, or employs triplet patterns during a bridge. it's like a battering ram of sound.

"Battering ram of sound" is pretty much always the most offputting barrier to me listening to and enjoying certain types of music.

yeah I agree there's a part of me which thinks I could get way into metal someday but every time I listen to an actual album it just winds up sounding like aural sludge after a few minutes

I love old school metal, but I agree--I just can't wrap my ears around a lot of black or death metal.

Also, much of contemporary country music sounds like it was pumped out of a hit factory. I ain't buying it.

Stoner or sludge metal, like Sleep, I can get into for a while, but an album side or two is enough. I'd probably be able to tolerate a lot more if I actually got stoned.

Yeah it’s not about sounding scary it’s about sounding inhuman and weird and monster-like, plus sometimes it’s funny, and yeah the key for me getting into death metal vox was to hear it as another textural instrument, think of it like someone playing a blast furnace like a pump organ or something

my goal is to start all of my posts with “yeah”

Tbf I hated death vocals at first and you can find posts from me on USEnet in 96 getting clowned for complaining about them on alt.music.slayer.

David Vincent going “Oough!!” is the f’in best

From the poll, definitely music with "chops" or other ways of being mister smartypants (we just discovered dissonance and it's now our sole compositional device), lack of rhythmic sense (groove is a plus), and just generally the poor songwriting (our shortest song is 9 minutes but it could also be a bridge in our 16-minute epic).

In other genres:
- Cuteness, quirkiness, maximalism, the nerd's definition of happy or dancy
- Repetition, formalism
- Electronic music imitating nature, background music, mood music
- Experimental, deconstruction
- Actually most music with prefixes like avant-, alternative, hypnagogic, vapor-, indie, -core... seem to cultivate aspects that I find gimmicky, but I also hate to think of music in this closeted way, so it's more a discourse thing.

Sounds like my only options will soon be Fleetwood Mac and remembering how subversive and open-minded my tastes were in my twenties.

80s-00s uk indie
- the fans: some of the most bigoted smallminded "real music" fans and bullies I've ever known, as well as all the biggest wankers in british media, these associations can be hard to shake
- the music: you get the sense that things like good singers and competent rhythm sections are seen as unnecessary indulgences or at best an occasional nice bonus when it comes to this music

thrash metal - boring macho bullshit

the biggest barriers to me enjoying music are rote melodic choices, needlessly repetitive songwriting, the feeling that the music is about 'vibes' rather than melodic, dynamic, textural or lyrical narrative, and any sort of feeling of cheap emotional manipulation. these can be found in all genres

Opera singers stop me listening to opera tbh. Classical soprano is almost literally my least favourite noise made by human beings. In other words, "the vocals".

there are basically no vocals besides Anthony Kiedis', Jacob Collier's and Paloma Faith's that put me off, and those are three historically annoying vocalists

I guess anyone in that Paloma Faith mould of Winehousey jazzy inflection is risking my wrath tbh

never listen to extreme metal at home, but always enjoy it at concerts

barrier for me is that some genres don't have a venue where I'm at (or only very expensive venues)

I must be one of the few people who loves the sound of classical soprano while generally hating opera itself - so much of the culture around it seems to be this hideous self-serious pseudo-aristocratic posturing and gatekeeping while the plots are infuriatingly ridiculous and bathetic - opera queens love that tension and more power to them but I can't stand it

a relatively recent development afaik, used to be a popular (as in vulgar) art form until they got rid of the cheap seats (part of an intentional attempt at turning it into hideous self-serious pseudo-aristocratic posturing and gatekeeping)

I've been told it's less like that in Italy, idk how true that still is

it's a shame and mirrors what's happened to theatre and classical music in general. In the case of opera I blame wagner for a lot of it

xps to Neanderthal

let a death man growl
it’s meant to be percussive
let a death man growl
although he ain’t exactly Twista

Lolol

I can get into a lot of weird/annoying/"bad" vocal styles, but still I have never found a way past the belting emo vocal style. I spent the past two years dating someone who was really into MCR and I know a lot of people around here rate them highly. But I just couldn't do it, man. I like a lot of the other stuff Gerard Way does with his voice! But as soon as he starts with the "I'M NOT WHOA-KAAYYAAY" shit, I'm in for a bad time :(

And as for "cookie monster" vocals, these usually sound goofy as hell rather than bleak or atmospheric to me. But I can appreciate what they're going for.

I was just about to mention, coincidentally, that I only can't stand singers who sing entirely through their nose.

Also admittedly a lot of the mainstream rap in the last five years, I just don't get. And I love hip hop.

But I can appreciate what they're going for.

I guess I'm still trying to figure out what that is.

We hosted an exchange student from northern Germany about 15 years ago. He was devoted to the really scary-sounding Scandinavian stuff. It struck me as an affirmative act of nonconformity.

Strangely enough, I can really appreciate the sound of an operatic soprano. The Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute is sublime. I do prefer lieder, though, whether sung by a soprano or sung by an alto.