[EDITOR’S NOTE: Today’s guest post is from Timbus, the guitarist, back-up vocalist, and co-founder of NCS favorite, Nekrogoblikon. He has some thoughts about musical taste and what it means to be open-minded . . .]
Sometimes people are just walking piles of bullshit. In fact I bet half the people you see day-to-day are made solely of poop. It’s really horrifying. I wonder if they know? Probably not. They’re all stomping around *splunch* *splunch* “I’m so smart!” *splunch* *splunch*. Their footsteps probably make that noise. That’s how poop walks. Probably. Maybe one day some dude will try to talk to them and quickly determine that the human being they’re interacting with is really just sentient excrement. Then the dude will sit back and go “Ohhhh, I see what the problem is. We disagree because you’re actually just made of poop.” I think that doesn’t happen very often though.
People can bullshit just about anything. You’ll hear stories all the time about how either people bullshit the government or the government bullshits us. Or maybe it’s a job. Or maybe it’s Enron. Or maybe it’s Osama Bin Laden, I don’t fucking know. The entertainment industry is definitely made up 90% of poop. But so are the consumers! So it’s ok!
Have you ever asked anyone “What kind of music do you like?” or “What’s your favorite band?” I’m a musician. Music is such a big part of my life that relating to other people is much easier if I can find common ground musically. So, naturally, I ask those questions of people I meet. Sometimes I get really interesting answers. Sometimes I get a response that’s more like “Oh I just listen to radio” or “I watch MTV” or some other mainstream response. Those are fine! If you’re not really “into” music, and you just listen to whatever’s on your local rock station, that’s totally chill. Hey, I like eating out a lot, but I don’t really care about the particulars of how my food was prepared, just as long as it tastes good. Not everyone is a musician or even a music nerd. (more after the jump . . .)
Anyway, I’m sure you’ve met people that say things like “Oh actually I listen to everything! I don’t have a favorite band or genre! I’m pretty open minded!” No. You’re a fucking pile of shit. You are not open minded. Saying “I like everything!” is basically saying “I have no taste! I can’t discern differences in the songs I hear! It all sounds the same! Tee hee!” Moreover, when you confront someone like that by saying “Well, what about grindcore?” or even less extreme genres, they’ll say “Oh no, I don’t like that. How can people listen to that? Isn’t it just noise?” Ugh. My blood pressure shoots up and I have to punch a shark in the face repeatedly.
The trouble is, liking everything and open-minded-ness have nothing to do with each other. Having an open mind is about being able to try new things and learn about them before making a judgment. So when you do make that judgment, it’s an informed one. Saying “I don’t like grindcore” when you’ve heard one band that’s not actually even grindcore is fucking retarded. It’s even more retarded when the genre you’re talking about is huuuuge.
Heavy metal and its various sub-genres form a massive categorization of music. I mean seriously, go to Metal Archives and look at the sheer number of bands on there. That’s not even all of them! By the way, for the un-informed, death metal, power metal, doom metal, black metal, thrash, metalcore, grindcore, stoner metal, progressive metal, folk metal, and nintendo-core do sound quite different from one another. But to know that, you’d need to actually listen to some bands in all those genres instead of talking out of your GIANT POOP MOUTH. Of course genres blend and there’s bands that cross over and bla bla bla. So does pop music. You can tell country from rock apart right? They both have guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and keyboards. Well, same with death metal and power metal. Check that shit out. The thick film covering your ears and brain might start to break up a little.
Also if you make fun of someone for liking Meshuggah or The Black Dahlia Murder or Opeth, keep in mind they’re probably snickering at you for listening to 50 Cent, Christina Aguilera, or Outkast. Poop everywhere! People need to calm down and realize that people listen to music differently and for different reasons. Yeah, maybe Christina Aguilera doesn’t have any sick breakdowns, but hey, it sure is fun to dance to her music. And yeah, maybe Meshuggah has ridiculous screaming vocals but good luck getting 50 Cent to memorize their polyrhythms. The moral is: tastes vary! And no one is right! If someone was, we’d be left with one genre of music – poop music.
19 Responses to “ON TASTE . . .”
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This was really well written. Serious question: what do you listen to? I have this conception in my head that most dudes in extreme metal bands were influenced by and used to listen to most of the stuff the fans do, but on tour they’ll branch out to different genres. Any truth to this, or am I spewing poo?
Thanks!
To be honest, I listen to a bunch of music that most people here would really dislike. I definitely have a very large selection of extreme music in my library, but it is tempered with stuff that’s completely out of left field.
You can check out my somewhat metal-skewed last.fm over here: http://www.last.fm/user/tlyakhov
I really really enjoy good pop-screamo bands like These Green Eyes, Attack Attack, The Receiving End Of Sirens (R.I.P), and even Fall Out Boy. Fall Out Boy’s recent album is like a master-class in symphonic rock songwriting and genre blending. I have discovered over the years that writing incomprehensible tech death songs can be a thousand times easier than writing a single catchy pop song, so these bands that manage to do it on a regular basis while involving genre throwbacks to 40 years ago and hundreds of layers of vocals, orchestras (sometimes), and samplers just makes me go apeshit. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw0lFJ-1_-k
I also listen to a lot of underground and some mainstream hip-hop. Deep Puddle Dynamics is fucking awesome and mindblowing lyrically, Mobb Deep is fun, Supercommuter is nerdy as hell, Wu Tang Clan is classic, and Eminem is like the Yngwie Malmsteen of rap. (Forget all of Eminem’s celebrity bashing nonsense, listen to his songs about serial killers, songs that never go on the radio. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAuo8IOFNuE)
I listen to a lot of electronica with a big dubstep emphasis, artists like Ratatat, Excision, Rusko, Cookie Monsta, The Glitch Mob, Pendulum, and Telefon Tel Aviv. Some of this stuff can be heavy as fuck. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSc3YxNIZ6c
(Expecting quick evisceration by NCS readers)
-Timbus
I definitely dig some of the good rock that Fall Out Boy has done, especially lately having moved away from their very emo roots. And I totally agree with you on writing catchy pop songs – there are just as many terrible, generic pop-punk bands as there are deathcore bands. Why? Because you can’t just copy the formula of the class leaders, change the power chords and expect recognition. I am very surprised you like Attack Attack – aside from the whole crabcore thing, I can’t get down with how they use the synth in their music.
I do enjoy some Wu Tang from time to time, but it’s rare. I have a friend who showed me that stuff about Eminem and D12 – that guy is a dark SOB. The only other hip-hop I listen to is Immortal Technique, who is particularly cool because he does everything on his own and won’t sign to a label.
Electronic is also reasonably big for me, also very heavy on the dubstep. Excision/Datsik/Skrillex are mainstays on the electronic playlists. Totally agree with you that it can be really heavy stuff, and that Cookie Monsta song was a great example. I also recently heard some of that Commissioner project that Big Chocolate (of Disfiguring the Goddess) is doing with Mitch Lucker (Suicide Silence) and it’s pretty cool. I guess it’s like deathcore crossed with dubstep (deathstep?) or “industrial deathcore.” Anyway, I’d even go so far as to recommend it here: http://www.myspace.com/commissionermusic
(Also awaiting NCS community rippage)
You dudes may be waiting a while for the NCS rippage to begin. For reasons I can’t explain, comments at this site are remarkably civil. For myself, I’ll just say that I know some of the bands/musicians you two are talking about and it’s not to my taste (except I do like Commissioner), but as Timbus correctly explained, that doesn’t mean I think you have no taste. As for the bands/musicians I don’t know, I’ll have to wait til I get back home to a better internet connection before checking out the YouTube links.
I do listen to a lot of different stuff, mostly metal but sometimes I need a break and will go for something else. But I’m not going to say that I listen to everything, though. There’s a lot out there to listen to and a lot of it I don’t really care for and don’t willingly stray too far from my comfort zone (meaning, sometimes I have to tolerate music I don’t like when at work).
So, I don’t really know what that makes me, musically. Probably doesn’t matter anyway.
For some reason, I now want to put in Green Jellö – oops, sorry, Green Jellÿ – so I can listen to “Misadventures Of Shitman”.
You do get around! I’d never heard of Green Jellÿ, but the article about them at The Font of All Human Knowledge is a riot. The first paragraph just sucks you right in: “Green Jellÿ (pronounced “green jello”) is a Grammy-nominated comedy rock group. Originally named Green Jellö, the band changed its name due to legal pressure from the owners of the Jell-O trademark, Kraft Foods, who claimed that it was an infringement of their trademark. Despite the spelling difference, the new name and the old are pronounced identically.”
Dude, I can’t believe you missed out on Green Jellö. Here’s their most popular video from back in the day http://deathmetalbaboon.com/green-jelly-the-three-little-pigs and while on the subject of comedy metal did you ever listen to Scatterbrain? http://deathmetalbaboon.com/scatterbrain-dont-call-me-dude
I’m gonna have to watch these after I get home. The net connection I have is too slow — they play for about 2 seconds and then stop to continue caching.
But the point is that I have missed out on a lot — and the comments on NCS (in addition to sites like DMB) continue to expand my horizons. Though I do worry sometimes that the musical world is flat and that once I reach horizons like this one I’ll just go over the edge down into the void, never to return.
Even if the name’s supposed to be said the same, I think on the Green Jellÿ version of Cereal Killer, it’s not. For a band that started off horribly (think the Plan 9 From Outer Space of metal), they actually became quite good – but lawsuits are a bitch. I remember they were aiming to be the world’s first video only band, but then became liars by releasing the soundtrack, yet they were already lying, since they had already released albums before that. But this was back when obscure bands could remain in obscurity and only the longtime followers of the band knew that there was life before cereal.
And yeah, Scatterbrain’s worth checking out. “Don’t Call Me Dude” is probably their best known song, but there’s much more to be had, such as “Down With The Ship”, “Grandma’s House Of Babes” and “Tastes Just Like Chicken”, not to mention their kickass classical covers.
I don’t listen to anything at all. Recording your music is selling out!
Hail Santa!
I’m so down with silence-core!
“Hail Santa!”, “silence-core”. Awesome. This could be the start of a new nihilistic movement. TNWOSC.
Well… there have been two albums that I know of (but I don’t remember who) that actually are silence. The first person sued the second.
Fucking lawsuits. I think bands should be allowed to record silence without legal interference. In fact, I can think of many bands who should replace their music with silence, permanently.
Great Topic 100 % I’m willing to venture out on a limb here and say that ppl that talk shit about music can all go ahead and fuckoff. Great thing about my personal taste is that it didn’t require your personal approval in order for me to develop it. So Kudos to today’s post, I hope people listen. Also, to all who always talk shit on music (BTW couldn’t find your records that you worked your ass off on and put out?!?!?!?), Shut the fuck up! If the only energy you put into this world is negative, especially when regarding the creative efforts of others, then that means you fucking suck as a human being. Couldn’t feel more strongly about today’s post…
Right on Timbus!!!
“Anyway, I’m sure you’ve met people that say things like “Oh actually I listen to everything! I don’t have a favorite band or genre! I’m pretty open minded!” No. You’re a fucking pile of shit. You are not open minded. Saying “I like everything!” is basically saying “I have no taste! ”
no it isn’t; it’s more saying “I’m open to listen to any kind of music you might want to show to me and I don’t want to say anything that would accidentally deter you from showing me what you want to.” IMO. In fact it’s a really similar way of saying what I think this rant was supposed to be about.
“Yeah, maybe Christina Aguilera doesn’t have any sick breakdowns, but hey, it sure is fun to dance to her music. And yeah, maybe Meshuggah has ridiculous screaming vocals but good luck getting 50 Cent to memorize their polyrhythms. The moral is: tastes vary! And no one is right! If someone was, we’d be left with one genre of music – poop music.”
The entertainment industry is definitely made up 90% of poop. But so are the consumers! So it’s ok!
Perspective; for instance: what if, to someone who “likes everything,” the entertainment industry and its consumers are definitely made up “60% of poop?” I could go on… but why. This percentage is pure malarkey, and just as fickle as it is subjective.
“The trouble is, liking everything and open-minded-ness have nothing to do with each other. Having an open mind is about being able to try new things and learn about them before making a judgment. ”
at least now someone can explain to me precisely what it means to have an objectively “open” mind. I was a little worried about whether or not mine was, but now I can just plug this formula into my life!
All in all this was a pretty good rant, but IMO shouldn’t be seen as gospel
chears
T_T
To be honest I have encountered, on numerous, numerous occasions, the type of person who claims to be eclectic and likes everything, but by “everything” they just mean everything that appears in the charts. They like it simply because it’s THERE, not because they actually have an opinion on it. If nothing else, they’re actually mis-using the word “like”.
Understandably however some people just don’t “get” music (and yes, I am of the opinion that there are intrinsically better, or at least deeper, ways to listen to and appredciate music, of all different styles and genres). The issue of taste isn’t really an issue of competing tastes though, I think it’s perfectly obvious that some people simply don’t HAVE any taste – and by that I don’t mean they have bad taste, more that their brains simply don’t consider music to be an issue worth activating their brain-cells over.
It could in fact be considered a by-product of our consumerist society that these people are actually unaware that music IS an art-form of any type, instead of just a ring-tone or product. It’s neither ignorance or prejudice on their parts, just a result of many years of steady decline in the presentation of music to people.
“no it isn’t; it’s more saying “I’m open to listen to any kind of music you might want to show to me and I don’t want to say anything that would accidentally deter you from showing me what you want to.” IMO. In fact it’s a really similar way of saying what I think this rant was supposed to be about.”
I have never EVER EVER met a person who has responded with “I listen to everything” and meant it in the way you mean. Also along the same lines, I’d have a hard time believing that any of our friends would respond like that. Most would say “Oh I’ve been digging such and such lately” or “I listen to a a bunch of shit mainly metal” or whatever. The only person that could honestly say “I listen to everything” would be Ashleigh, and she’d be the first to acknowledge that she has no real musical taste, it’s effectively random.
That said, you’re absolutely right, this is all somewhat subjective just like musical taste. What I don’t like is people proclaiming themselves open minded or having good taste while bashing the tastes of others. That’s what I was trying to get across.
“Perspective; for instance: what if, to someone who “likes everything,” the entertainment industry and its consumers are definitely made up “60% of poop?” I could go on… but why. This percentage is pure malarkey, and just as fickle as it is subjective.”
That’s pretty much exactly what I said, but you’re taking it one level higher – analyzing how someone sees another person’s taste is filled with just as much closed-mindedness because it’s subjective.
“at least now someone can explain to me precisely what it means to have an objectively “open” mind. I was a little worried about whether or not mine was, but now I can just plug this formula into my life!”
Dude, some people don’t know. Seriously! Some people don’t know that they’re closed-minded, racist, or sexist, or whatever. It bugs me so I write this shit. Maybe someone will read it and re-evaluate how they treat people. Or we can have a discussion on what musical taste or open-mindedness are. Still pretty rad.
-TIm