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Underground > Radio & Music >

Why do you listen to music?

12:18 / 06.12.03

Ok, so I think about music a lot, sometimes in technical detail. But really why I listen is because it's like mental transportation and a lot of the time I'm not interested in how the music is made or who by as long as I get that response.

I was wondering why other people listened - if it was because you liked the sounds and they interested you or if you listened for the response inside you. If it is for a particular emotional response, then what's that like for you?

22:53 / 06.12.03

I listen to music to change the way I feel. The different sounds determine the leverage music has with me, if it's a better piece of music then it will be able to effect my feelings more, I listen to a broad range of music because I wanna to be able to select a certain emotion, and reduce or amplify it. The sounds communicate the feelings or message of the writer and are for me, secondary to the effect the music has on me.

06:02 / 07.12.03

I listen to music because I have a soul. I always thought if I did a book about a serial killer, one of his traits would be that he hated music. Because that just seems creepy.

13:59 / 07.12.03

Mm yeah I see what you mean about serial killer thing. But why would he hate it? That implies some involvement with music. Why not just be entirely unmoved by it?

I posted this thread and then found a new scientist magazine with a mass of articles in it about emotion response to music. They had a chunk in that about people using music to alter their mood.

It seems odd to me to decide if a piece of music is 'good' or not by how it effects you, despite the fact that I definitely do that myself. I suppose the next criteria that I have is that music must be subtle, rather than corny or manipulative way.

What do you think of music where you can 'feel' the composer trying to push your emotions about? Is that more effective or does it seem creepy and poorly written to you?

19:48 / 07.12.03

Well, lots of reasons, obviously. Part of which is a fascination with other cultures, cultural products, that sort of thing - a kind of experiential way of plugging into something that I otherwise wouldn't know about. Hip Hop has always been like for me, as is Reggae. My interest in both has led me to read up on them and find out about other cultures, and my own, in a way that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I know this isn't what your talking about exactly but it's a big part of my drive and fascination with music. This links in with the way I buy records/cds sometimes - I find myself buying them for what they are, rather than what they sound like. I could describe this as my "inner Wire reader" as a few times when I've brought records reviewed by that magazine, I've felt like my head has ruled my heart, totally, adn I've brought some industrial improvised noseflutist compilation, whne what I really wanted was to dabce badly in my room to a cheapo Northern Soul CD. The reason I mention Northern Soul is because one thing I really get off on but don't factor in enough to my music buying is my response to hooks, melodies etc - that's why I love Hip Hop, Reggae and Soul. Melodies and hooks that I can hum and dance too. It's a real big part of my response to music but somethig I can forget about easily.

Nicklas and context be damned

21:03 / 07.12.03

I listen to music because it makes me feel. Sometimes I listen to music because of my mood and other times I use the music to affect how my mind works. Sometimes just to drift away and don't be bothered about whatever happens outside.

(I think the serial killer needs more to work than just no emotional connection to music. A friend of mine don't listen to music since it all sounds the same to him. And he's not creepy at all even though this trait just seems weird.)

22:28 / 07.12.03

That's a really interesting approach. Cheers very much Illimatic.

What has triggered me to write this is how I react to music that doesn't have a strong emotional content - especially new music and acoustmatica. I just don't know what to make of it. People I know who do enjoy that type of music are a, often composers & b, relate to it as if it were an experiment and you're just gonna listen & find out what the music's like. Obviously reggae and hip hop isn't an 'experiment', but it is a kind of exploration, and I think you could describe the pursuit of composition as such too. That seems to me a very different kind of motivation than the emotional kind.

There is that stereotype of the musician who lives only for the pristine beauty of the pattern - take a piece of Bach for instance and the almost mathematical precision that goes into that. Even so, such music is always played with emotion, the very joy of it is that something so logical can also 'feel'.

No star here laces

07:50 / 08.12.03

There are an infinite number of reasons to listen to music because there is an infinite variety of music.

I listen to gabba and old school hardcore to feel a fierce tide of adrenaline and hunger for action rise up inside me so that I pace and jump around the room.

I listen to hip hop to transfuse ideas into my brain at the fastest pace possible and to feel like I'm an unbreakable soldier pumped up with confidence and ready to show all those fools what I'm made of.

I listen to bhangra because I want to jump around the room like a coconut and watch people dancing with my eyes shut.

I listen to country because I want to sing along with my eyes shut and cry small tears.

I listen to disco in all its multiple forms to feel plugged into an unbreakable continuum of hedonism and fiercely evolving music which is and always will be a mixture of the timeless and primal and the modern and ephemeral.

I listen to garage because it knocks me sideways every time I do - "where the fuck did that come from? how do they make it sound so rough and grimy?" and to feel I'm still connected to London.

I listen to dancehall because sometimes I just want to feel like the sexiest man on earth.

Pretentious enough answer?

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

09:39 / 08.12.03

Re: music which you can 'feel' the emotional manipulation, where the intent is opaque and worn on the sleeve - I'd say that this is the definition of 'cheesey' or 'corny' in film and music...the lizard brain is being manipulated but the cerebellum can clearly 'see the wires' if you know what I mean...

I listen to music cos it amazes me.

Tryphena Absent

10:13 / 08.12.03

I can't answer that but I don't listen to reggae because it frustrates the hell out of me. It makes me physically want to rip things apart because it's so slow and I get so bored. I really hate it.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

10:55 / 08.12.03

*gasp*

There's so much variety under the broad genre, do you really find it all boring?

11:07 / 08.12.03

Nice crass generalisation there, TS. Personally, I hate all that "pop music" stuff for opposite reasons, it's just so fast, it leaves me out of breath. Why can't they slow down a bit, eh?

11:28 / 08.12.03

Tryphena opens can of worms:

I don't listen to reggae because it frustrates the hell out of me. It makes me physically want to rip things apart because it's so slow and I get so bored. I really hate it.

Money $hot tries to herds worms:

There's so much variety under the broad genre, do you really find it all boring?

A large cross section of the music that falls under the incredibly broad label of 'reggae' couldn't possibly be described as slow or frustrating, surely. The stuff I like the most at the moment probably comes from the rocksteady soul era or the DJ era, which is as supremely danceable and exciting as anything ever created.

When you say 'reggae', what specifically do you have in mind, cos it just sounds like semantics to me, and a false impression of what 'reggae' covers. For instance, I can't see how you could apply those criticisms to something like dancehall. Can you explain what you mean a bit more?

(maybe better to shift this to the 'earthquake' thread to avoid thread rot)

Brigade du jour

17:25 / 08.12.03

I listen to music because it provides me with chemical stimulation which is cheaper and less scary than taking drugs.

If I'm going out, I listen to stuff that will cheer me up and bounce me about the room so I stay happy on the bus/tube/train (delete as applicable) eg Prince, Pizzicato Five etc. If I'm doing some sort of work, I listen to stuff that will make me feel younger and angrier and therefore more energetic, eg Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy etc. If I'm trying to sleep or read something undemanding, or just stare out of the window and think lots, it's Goldie or Dvorak or something.

Um, doesn't everybody do that, or am I just old-fashioned?

18:24 / 08.12.03

The worms are winning!

I think most people do use music to alter their moods. I asked because I wasn't sure to what extent, or if people did it consciously. There's more to be gained in the responses from different people than just a straight forward answer to the original question, and probably that's the interesting stuff.

I hadn't ever quite had the guts to put the words 'high' next to my response to music, but that is the best description. Sometimes I perceive music as almost 3-dimensional, and two different people I know have both described a side effect of taking e as the different strands of music separating out in space and going 3-d. I'd be curious to know how similar those two experiences were.

No star here laces

01:07 / 09.12.03

Tryphena, go and get on a bus to Dalston and buy one of those 'Bashment' cdrs they sell at the market for 2 quid each. Ask for one with lots of elephant man on it, go home and listen and tell us all if you still think reggae is 'slow'...

03:48 / 09.12.03

You guys know what she's talking about. She's talking about the Bob Marley Legends CD that every frat boy in the country has to show that he's spiritual and down.

at the scarwash

04:06 / 09.12.03

although I'd never say that I don't listen to music for it's emotional impact, I've noticed that what I look for in music comes from a more abstract place than it did a few years ago. The things that satisfy my ears are more likely to be textures and tonal colors, referentiality, and clever arrangements rather than clever lyrics or a catchy topline melody. The only lyricist I'm finding myself really into any more is Stephin Merrit. I'm not claiming any aural high ground here, just to clarify. I wish I could still get in to straight up pop songs. It'd make buying CDs a lot easier.

Tryphena Absent

18:07 / 09.12.03

Actually I like dancehall but than it's dancehall and only blossomed from the dirt of pure reggae which I hate (clear enough? Alternatively you could read what Denfoiled wrote).

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

18:24 / 09.12.03

Ah, pure reggie, is it? The unrefined, straight out the ground variety, eh? So what of this freebase Lovers Rock, or thrice distilled Dub then?

19:10 / 09.12.03

Actually I like dancehall but than it's dancehall and only blossomed from the dirt of pure reggae which I hate (clear enough? Alternatively you could read what Denfoiled wrote).

Well that's the thing isn't it. What you're calling "reggae" seems to be late-period fairly-commercialised Bob Marley, technically a diluted cross between the 70s roots sound and radio-freindly rock. I suppose I don't mind some of that stuff, but I don't own any of it either. It's awful that when you say reggae to someone they immediatly think of the Legends CD and nothing else.

I thought reggae was really boring when my only experiences of it were stoners at university insisting on playing that bloody album to smoke dope to - I couldn't figure out why it was supposed to be good, and it just annoyed me whenever someone put it on. But that album really isn't representative of Jamaican music over the last 50 years, and I know you might not believe me, but you're missing out on a lot of really diverse and interesting stuff.

19:19 / 09.12.03

Also, when you say dancehall blossomed from 'the dirt of pure reggae':

It's more like, ska gave birth to rocksteady, which gave birth to lovers rock and dub and DJ style, which gave birth to roots, which gave birth to dancehall. All of these things are reggae.

Unfortunately, most people seem to think reggae exclusively means the output and style of one single artist in the final years of his career. It's a common misconception, but it's a wrong one.

01:57 / 23.12.03

Far to tired to go into depth right now, but I've had a few arguments with one of my m8s 'cause he refuses to listen to rave/techno etc. music unless on drugs because it only makes him wish he was. I on the other hand listen to it because I still get energy off it (obviously not as much) when straight. One of the points the arguement raises however, is the fact rave/techno (i'm mainly refering to d&b, hardhouse/hardtrance, hardcore, acid-techno etc.) serves a different purpose to rock music, where lyrical content and musical depth is more important - you need to think about rock music more and usually you need to get to know it to appreciate it fully. Techno sounds can usually be instantly appreciated. I recon one of the other reasons why I like listening to techno etc. while straight is also because the style (when done well) has a kind of purity to it:- it aims for the maximum energy and the coolest sounds. Hence it is largely free from any arty pretentiousness or meaninglessly cryptic lyrics - though I can still enjoy rock music which is guilty of these things. I like listening to rock and techno depending on my mood.

Tryphena Absent

09:57 / 23.12.03

If it makes y'all feel better I have heard a variety of Reggae and dislike it generally. I blame Sun Ra for bleeding my poor mind of any sense of conventional rhythm. Ner, only joking. Seriously it's not something I can explain, I've never liked Reggae but my actual dislike of it came upon me at about the age of 14 and it's like a black thread running through my existence. Dancehall I enjoy because it's quicker, I'm not a Ska or Rocksteady kind of girl. Nope basically there are types of music I just don't want around me.

Tryphena Absent

10:02 / 23.12.03

But, you know, don't you think calling Dancehall Reggae is a bit like calling Soul Jazz? Too pretty different styles cast under an umbrella for the sake of convenience?

10:15 / 23.12.03

But, you know, don't you think calling Dancehall Reggae is a bit like calling Soul Jazz? Too pretty different styles cast under an umbrella for the sake of convenience?

Not at all, since 'reggae' tends to get used as a generic term for Jamaican music inclusive of ska, dub, dancehall, etc.. You can trace a very clear line from ska to dancehall, as the latter is heavily influenced by DJ's like U Roy and Big Youth. Jazz to Soul is a bit more of a conceptual leap. I'd say that dancehall is reggae, in the same way that bebop is jazz.

10:22 / 23.12.03

But yeah, 'reggae' is a misleading term due to vast range of styles and sub-genres that it covers - which is part of the problem really. The popular notion of 'reggae' is generally music that came from the 'roots' period in the 70s, more specifically it's Bob Marley, and even more specifically it's the Legend CD. So it does get a bit confusing.

07:12 / 24.12.03

Listening to music is cool, like smoking cigarettes. Much cooler than reading books. Dinner is better than music but not always as cool. Hmmm... there is much to debate on this interesting subject.

07:12 / 24.12.03

Listening to music is cool, like smoking cigarettes. Much cooler than reading books. Dinner is better than music but not always as cool. Hmmm... there is much to debate on this interesting subject.

19:09 / 26.12.03

Listening to music is cool, like smoking cigarettes.

I always think that about laid-back jazz music - just the atmosphere you want, and you can choose whether to get involved in the depths or just enjoy it superificially.

I'm sure some people would disagree about the books though.

17:06 / 01.01.04

What do you think of music where you can 'feel' the composer trying to push your emotions about? Is that more effective or does it seem creepy and poorly written to you?

I find that it works really well when it's used as an aid to draw or write. Godspeed You... is one good example - it's music that, for me, is very image driven and used more as a tool for creativity than anything else.

It's hard for me to listen to Godspeed when it's more of a direct listening experience. Seems like it's more about desperately pushing towards (and simulating) a very specific emotional state of mind. And at times this emotional state of mind feels more like something that was taught to us by movie/television soundtracks (not entirely a bad thing, but in this case it is).

01:07 / 12.01.04

i like listening to music that allows me to define a specific emotion that i haven't been able to express in words or even thoughts - it's just there. and then that song becomes the expression of that emotion and when i feel it - i can go back and listen to the song.

so in that way music becomes interchangeable where i'm searching for the song to help me with the emotion or i feel the emotion and therefore need the song.

23:48 / 26.04.04

It pulls emotions out of my soul.