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How do you do it?

  
  

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Rage
06:59 / 07.08.01
Like, I haven't of heard half of the bands that you have. There are so many bands to listen to. I'm very overwhelmed. Uncool too.
 
 
6opow
07:22 / 07.08.01
[see: New Day Rising]

[ 08-08-2001: Message edited by: the godog ]
 
 
The Strobe
10:37 / 07.08.01
OK. I don't have precisely the same taste in music as many people here, nor as wide, but there are several easy ways to expand without having to feel bad about it.

I grew up almost devoid of pop until about the age of 14. Suddenly, I threw myself into it, and as a result have a nutbag CD collection and taste in music. Easy ways to accumulate knowledge/taste:

1)Your local library. Go down, and borrow CDs. I get them for 80p each per week - fairly cheap. And you can always copy them (or even buy!) if you really like them. Just dig out stuff that looks interesting, either because you've heard it's meant to be seminal, or good, or maybe because it's got a cool cover, or maybe because you want to check you don't hate an artist because of one song. Look off the beaten track, find curios that look interesting despite you've never heard of them. They may be rubbish. They may be, in your eyes, great.

2) Have a look around places like here, see what people who like some things you know like in the way of things you don't; see what's generating a buzz; search the net for similar artists to ones you've discovered.

3) Read the music press if you like, but take everything with a pinch of salt. I am not as easily led by the NME as many people I know. (I'm also far less sceptical of Q than the same people, why this is, no idea).

4) If you see any local gigs, get cheap tickets. I try and go to anything that looks _remotely_ good when I'm up at University, purely because the gigs there are a) v close to home and b) fairly decent, unlike the ones where I live at home. Just experiment.

And that's the best word to use: experiment. You know that's what you want to do, you just aren't sure how. There's some suggestions. Things like Gnutella/Audiogalaxy also make trying stuff out easier.

We weren't all born with the taste we have now. Otherwise I'd have come out the womb with Bach in one ear and 70s funk in the other.
 
 
Opalfruit
11:43 / 07.08.01
Yeah, do what Paleface says. Look in Second hand shops, small dingy backstreet record shops are great... it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who buys things because it's got an interesting, cover, title, song title etc...

Sometimes it pays off buying something just because it's cheap - especially vinyl.. I've bought some of the oddest, the worst and the best records i own just because they were cheap...

there's lots you can do to discover music -

....sometimes it's worth sticking to a record label, or even reading the sleeve notes to see who guests, or is thanked on the album, chances are they'll be in a similar vein...

Buying a magazine just because it's got a CD on the cover can help too....

I think that's it... one thing that does irritate me are people who have no time for support bands, they either miss them entirely or won't give them a listen - sometimes they can be laughable.. but I've seen a lot of good support bands that I've got into over the years...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
12:22 / 07.08.01
quote:Originally posted by Opalfruit:
one thing that does irritate me are people who have no time for support bands, they either miss them entirely or won't give them a listen - sometimes they can be laughable.. but I've seen a lot of good support bands that I've got into over the years...
Amen. Admittedly, I've seen my fair share of utterly shithouse support acts, but I don't understand why anyone'd pay admission to a gig and not want to get all the entertainment they paid for. Even if they suck, surely having something to bitch about with your fellow gig-goers will be a Good Thing? To be honest, you might like it later, in a different context: I hated the band Crow for ages, having seen them play support for various bands in Sydney for a long time - one day, I was in a different headspace and realised that they were fucking brilliant. Stranger things have happened.

I'd play down the music press part of finding your own taste, personally - I find it makes you aware of band names and the links between them (which can be a good thing) but it can also feel weird to be reading about lots of acts you haven't heard, y'know? Hell, go into the mixtapes thread here and beg people to make you samplers. Talk to people here. Find what you like and ask "what sounds like this" - if there's one thing that people tend to be loquacious about, it's music. Write down suggestions that sound cool to you. Go to gigs. And don't feel uncool or stupid or whatever because you haven't heard album x: it's not that important to your status as a human if you don't discover an artist right now, y'know?

Oh, and trawl secondhand shops like a motherfucker. If you see a band live and they have their CD on sale with 'em, and you liked it, then buy it, as they'll get the bulk of the cash - but anything else, it's worth just cruising the bins. What you're looking for will come up; eventually.

I guess the most important thing to remember, though, is to never discount anything as an option. Who says you don't like country/rap/rock/emo/whatever? Maybe you've not heard the right artist in that field for you? You'd be surprised the music you pick up on when you're not expecting it. Give anything a chance; I'm glad I started trying, actively, to lose my prejudices about what "sounds good" or not - without doing that, I'd never have discovered the joys of Jimmy Rogers or Penderecki.
 
 
wembley can change in 28 days
12:31 / 07.08.01
I'm down with that - I first saw my favourite band, the Rheostatics, as an opener for the Barenaked Ladies. In grade nine, no less. And I thought they were too weird to possibly buy the CD, and look at me now - I steal their setlists and ask the rhythm guitarist for a ride home.

As for eclectic musical taste, it is a long, beautiful, involved process. I actually made most of the headway in high school, when I had enough money and free time to buy lots of new CDs, drool over every band in NME (in London, Ontario, the NME can appear exotic and exciting to a poor kid), and I took out everything from the library from Berlioz' symphonies to african music and Tom Waits. A lot of it I didn't really like on first or second listen. But I certainly put a lot of effort into finding the 'new' stuff, and I learned not to judge music based on marketing, or make blanket statements like "all country music sucks."

Then university hit, and now that I have no money and less energy to tolerate crap, I've gone backwards and started looking for the roots of all the music I listen to. So I get a kick out of 60s soul, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, other stuff that I should have heard by now. It's still a slow process, but what a delicious education it can be. I think next I have to go back and brush up on my classical (I've forgotten just about everything, and when I was 16 I couldn't handle anything post 1920 anyway) and get into electronica. I have no idea who the fuck is doing what the fuck in that woop-woop-beep wonderland.

And I'd add one more to Paleface's list: exploit your friends' older siblings. One of my friends' sister's boyfriend gave me my first nine inch nails tape while he simultaneously got me into Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits.
 
 
rizla mission
13:30 / 07.08.01
Hey, I'll do you a free tape, Rage.

Musical evangelism is it's own reward.
 
 
Rage
09:54 / 08.08.01
I was feeling that self hatred thing yesterday. I went through a lot of shit. I got assaulted by some idiot because I wouldn't fuck him, and lost all of my shit that I brought with me up here.

Now I'm ok.

Free tapes sound like a good idea, because I'm pretty broke at the moment. If only I had a permanent address. Hmmm.
 
 
bio k9
09:54 / 08.08.01
[PSA/] Girls, if you're ever assaulted, make sure you leave and call the cops. Who knows, the dick may have a documented history of this kind of behavior (if not he will now) or, even better, a warrant. Sometimes the cops crack the right heads. [/End PSA]


If you own a portable CD player take it to the library in whatever town you're passing through. If you're not a resident they probably woln't let you check anything out but you can still sit and listen to whatever CDs they have laying around.

If you like a song and you learn that someone else recorded it first, look for the origional version.

And always always ALWAYS listen to your favorite artists when they go on about their musical influences.
 
 
mondo a-go-go
11:27 / 08.08.01
mix tapes. i prolly would never have got where i am now without mix tapes.
 
 
grant
12:33 / 08.08.01
quote:Originally posted by eeevil kookybunny:
mix tapes. i prolly would never have got where i am now without mix tapes.

Definitely.
 
 
tSuibhne
13:26 / 08.08.01
So, I gave it some thought the other day about how I've gotten into the things I've gotten into.

First, being in communities like this. I just make a mental note of the bands that are mentioned. The more they're mentioned, the more likely I am to remember them when I get to the shop. And then I pick them up. A piece of paper with a list on it, might be more effective, but I've tried that, and I keep loosing the piece of paper.

Second, as someone above said, pay attention when people list their influences. And not just their influences, but who they're listening to these days is also a good question. Back in the late 60's Dick Cavett asked Janis Joplin that question, and she mentioned an unknown band by the name of Ike and Tina Turner.

Learn to read reviews. Even a bad review, could be cool. I've got a pretty open mind for music, with an inclination towards weird strange things. So, when a reviewer slams an album because it the band doesn't use melodies, or writes in odd time signatures, my ears are perked up. Read a review, and pay less attention to what the reviewer thinks of it, and more attention to how the reviewer DESCRIBES it. Does that description sound cool to you?

Finally? Find a really good/cheap used shop, and spend a day combing through their stacks. Not looking for anything in particular. But, look at each CD they have in stock, and grab the ones that give a good feeling.

For me, finding new music is a bit of an addiction. About once a year or two, I get bored with everything I own, and I don't feel right again untill I discover something that sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. Plus, that feeling you get when you throw on a CD by a band you've never heard before, and they just fucking rock, is a great feeling. And, if they suck? Sell it back to the used shops. If you bought it used, you're probably only out a couple of bucks.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
13:36 / 08.08.01
quote:Originally posted by I Am:
Find a really good/cheap used shop, and spend a day combing through their stacks. Not looking for anything in particular. But, look at each CD they have in stock, and grab the ones that give a good feeling.


I second that. I used to spend ridiculous amounts of time and money in the local second-hand record store, checking out each and every album they had and buying the ones that grabbed my attention. You're almost guaranteed a greater variety in the music sold than in a major store, you can find all kinds of out of production albums and lost classics. Relatively cheap, too.
 
 
Opalfruit
13:41 / 08.08.01
quote:Originally posted by I Am:
..And, if they suck? Sell it back to the used shops. If you bought it used, you're probably only out a couple of bucks.

Hmmm, not sure about that. I've only ever sold 3 CDs and that was because I needed the money.

Sometimes on a first listen I've not liked certain Artists/bands, but on subsequent listens (sometimes I forget what some sound like 'cos I don't listen to the very often after the first listen) they've either grown on me or I find a few tracks I do actually like.... it took a few listens to get into Roundhead, I liked one track on the first listen "Race Car Driver" which I put on a lot of compilations for quite some time without really listening to the album, recently I've given it another listen and well... I'm listening to it quite a lot now.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
13:59 / 08.08.01
The problem with secondhand CDs are that buying them is fine - they're relatively cheap - but you will get next to nothing trying to resell them to stores. Lots of discs that've been lifted flood into these places, some of which buy 'em, some of which don't - and I guess that there's a fuckload of 'em out there, so they're not spoiled for choice. If you buy something (if a secondhand place has a listening post, use it!) that you don't like, you're probably better off trying to orchestrate some kinda swapsies here - you'll find that someone might be interested in whatever it is that you hate...

Steady on with the purchases, though - be careful or you'll end up destitute. It'll sound rockin', though. I should know: my CDs take up more space in my room than I do, damnit. Which takes some doing, I might add...
 
 
Opalfruit
06:58 / 09.08.01
quote:Originally posted by Rothkoid:
sound rockin', though. I should know: my CDs take up more space in my room than I do, damnit. Which takes some doing, I might add...

Same here although, more of a battle between my Books, CDs, Vinyl and tapes... (cassette is a pants format, but seems to be the cheapest, especially during the Sales Woolworths always has a bargain basket selling them from 50p upwards and how can you refuse....
 
 
deletia
07:35 / 09.08.01
So, the answer so far is spend your leisure time trawling bargain bins. Go to gigs every night. Smell of milk.

Alternatively, read the NME once a year and fake it. Nod and smile when people talk about music. Affect to dislike every third band somebody mentions. Be unusually effusive about every fifth. Invent a couple of bands, or, hell, an entire record label - nobody will call you on it. Buy a Kill Rock Stars T-shirt.
 
 
The Strobe
11:28 / 09.08.01
Damn. We've been rumbled.
 
 
Opalfruit
11:52 / 09.08.01
quote:Originally posted by Paleface:
Damn. We've been rumbled.

I'll get the car..... <shriek of tyres, rattle milk bottles, whir of electric milk float engine>
 
 
Graham the Happy Scum
12:07 / 09.08.01
Erm, I just on a chance bought the Sounds Of Sunset album. Yurgh! Somewhere between Weezer and goddamn leprous motherfucking emo. I don't like it. First time I've bombed out to this degree since I got the last Curve album.

At least I also got Ministry's "Dark Side Of The Spoon" at the same time, which is fairly duufer.

Actually, I've invented bands for the hell of it before. I was particularly taken with a psychobilly outfit I made up called The Dangling Strangers...
 
 
tSuibhne
12:24 / 09.08.01
quote:Originally posted by The Haus of Jericho:
So, the answer so far is spend your leisure time trawling bargain bins. Go to gigs every night. Smell of milk.

Alternatively, read the NME once a year and fake it. Nod and smile when people talk about music. Affect to dislike every third band somebody mentions. Be unusually effusive about every fifth. Invent a couple of bands, or, hell, an entire record label - nobody will call you on it. Buy a Kill Rock Stars T-shirt.

More or less, yeah.

Years ago my friend and I considered making up a band and then trying to see how big a buzz we could get going for the band. Never did do it. Hmm, it is a fun idea though. And with the global scale of Barbelith, we could have some real fun with this. Anyone up?
 
 
Opalfruit
13:02 / 09.08.01
Curve - I didn't like the first album on the first listen it grew on me (I kept hearing Garbage in their, and then realised I was hearing Curve in Garbage)... but then how could they top Doppleganger though?
 
 
bio k9
08:25 / 10.08.01
quote:Originally posted by I Am:

Years ago my friend and I considered making up a band and then trying to see how big a buzz we could get going for the band. Never did do it. Hmm, it is a fun idea though. And with the global scale of Barbelith, we could have some real fun with this. Anyone up?[/QB]

My old roommate and I did the same thing after someone bought us drinks and asked us how our show went (cause his band had already played and they left before we went on). So we played along, enjoyed our drinks, and laughed our asses off when we got home.

I would love to start a world wide street buzz about an imaginary band though. We could create a name, design some logos, and have a downloadable image for Barbelith members to use for stickers, flyers, T-shirts, ect.

Suggestion for band name:

Maybe a name of one of the background characters from the Invivibles?

Suggestions for label name:

Hand of Glory Records
Barbelith Records
Invisible Records

Sugg for album name:
Alien Stone

Anyone? Maybe we should start this over in creation.

[ 10-08-2001: Message edited by: Biologic K-9 ]
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
08:41 / 10.08.01
When I was writing for a student paper at Uni, I did a full-page feature on a UK hip-hop band made up of Oxbridge graduates, The Sophisticates. Who didn't exist. The photos of the band were nicked from fashion spreads and adverts in The Face... It was worth it just for the moment when some would-be DJ at a party started moaning at me about how they'd nicked one of his sampling ideas...
 
 
Jamieon
08:41 / 10.08.01
What a cunt!

That's brilliant. I really want to try this on a DJ friends of mine. Around 95ish we tried to get him into 'Slayer' by playing him some shit rock tape and telling him it was the new thing, and all the clubbers were getting into heavy rock now as a kind of postclub chillout type deal. We couldn't keep it up for long, but, if we'd persevered, I'm sure we could've got him to turn - his "likes" and "dislikes" are more informed by image and what other people will think of him than by personal taste (which isn't such a bad thing really, but he hates that fact to be exposed and it's fun watching him squirm. I know, we're all evil......).
 
 
No star here laces
11:02 / 10.08.01
On that imaginary worldwide buzz thing, I'm convinced that the White Stripes do not actually exist. What the fuck is up with that? All over the press, but they've never been to britain and you can't buy any of their records...

Anyways, music. Personally i think the best way to learn about music is to go to lots of clubs and not read any magazines. That way you find out what the stuff you like sounds like, without ever knowing who it's by or if it's popular. Then go into record shops, and if you're buying dance or hip-hop vinyl this is much easier cos the culture of these shops is to try before you buy, and listen to shitloads of stuff till you find something that sounds right. Then get someone to pay you to play the records you bought and spend the money on more records. And look through all the other peoples boxes and have nerdy conversations with them about which record is sampled by whom and which artist is really another artist under another name. Etc.

Then miserable misanthropic fuckers will accuse you of being a cunt and making up all your opinions. I dunno, can't really win, can you?
 
 
jUne, a sunshiny month
17:11 / 10.08.01
Biologic K-9 :
quote: And always always ALWAYS listen to your favorite artists when they go on about their musical influences

that's a real good thing. now, you've gotta spend times readin' press or checkin medias to know what these influences are. but, yes, it's always, if not good in your ears, at last so interesting...
yep yep...
 
 
Jamieon
17:26 / 10.08.01
quote: Then miserable misanthropic fuckers will accuse you of being a cunt and making up all your opinions

Oooh, I hope you're not talking about me!

Seriously though, I know the guy in question really well, he's a very close friend and I really like him. And he does have his own taste, but it's, I dunno.... malleable.

Sorry for the delay, folks! This topic will be up and running again in no time........
 
 
rizla mission
21:28 / 10.08.01
Trying to start a buzz about an imaginary band is a great idea.

We can gather together as many people with music biz/media/fanzine connections as we possibly can and try to slip in as many reviews and mentions of them as we can..

Then you'd have to make sure that the made up band had some kind of extreme 'no sell out' philosophy, so that when people couldn't actually find any of their records, they'd just assume that they were too underground to be stocked in un-cool shops..

You could even advertise & review gigs in non-existent venues that sell out immediately so no one can get a ticket..

Let's start a new thread about this!
 
 
invisible_al
22:08 / 12.08.01
Just wondering why no one has mentioned the genius of John Peel, he's always playing new stuff from all over. Theres always something I like when I listen to him.
Oh yeah Xfm in london have a good idea called the hijack, bands come in and play what they want out of their music collection for a hour or two, usually some gems in what they play.
 
 
Opalfruit
08:15 / 13.08.01
quote:Originally posted by Tyrone Bongolaces:
On that imaginary worldwide buzz thing, I'm convinced that the White Stripes do not actually exist. What the fuck is up with that? All over the press, but they've never been to britain and you can't buy any of their records...


I've not heard anything by them, but they have just played the Roadhouse in Manchester (I missed them 'cos I had no money - it's an almost permenant state of existance at present).... but I can't confirm a definite sighting of them as I don't know anyone who went... so they still could be imaginary...
 
 
deletia
08:37 / 13.08.01
For God's sake, what's wrong with you people? I've had "White Blood Cells" for months, my uberindie source of reccomendation had the album before that (he's three miles from milk and a hundred miles from indie rock, you know), and I'm about as unhip as they come. It's available on CD, in Heaven's name - how much more commerical do you want?
Sympathy for the record industry, serial number SFTRI 660. Ask your pharmacist.
 
 
No star here laces
08:37 / 13.08.01
I've heard it on mp3 now and don't know what all the fuss was about. At the weekend I'd told myself it was mind-broadening time and I was going to give the Strokes and the White Stripes a jolly good listen because these guitar johnnies deserve a chance every now and then.

Fuck that. Prejudices have been strongly reinforced.
 
 
deletia
08:37 / 13.08.01
I'm warming to the White Stripes, simoly because they are the punk Steeleye Span, and I find this an endearing and beautiful thing. But not to everyone's taste, I can well believe.
 
 
rizla mission
10:47 / 13.08.01
Well I've liked the White Stripes for ages and ages. I recorded some of their tunes off the radio over a year ago. So there.

quote:Originally posted by invisible_al:
Just wondering why no one has mentioned the genius of John Peel, he's always playing new stuff from all over. Theres always something I like when I listen to him.


The last time I mentioned the Holy Peel on Barbelith, some smarmy know-it-alls tried to diss him and I got upset.

I'm currently such a John Peel fan-boy it's untrue. Most of my record purchaces this year have been a direct result of listening to his show.

He is simply the coolest guy on earth.
 
  

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