I like good music in any genre

[A Lark Ascending]

"I like good music in any genre"

How do you know it's good when you first listen? - beyond listening to what someone else has said is good (which is, I suspect how most people take their first steps in a fair bit of music, especially when it's not widely broadcast).

I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music. Beyond having a rough idea if the players are instrumentally competent I'm not sure I could differentiate between the good and the bad. And I don't have the time (or inclination) to listen to that many genres to a pont where I might begin to have a way of sorting it out.

I suspect that when people say "I like good music in any genre" they actually mean "I have quite broad tastes" (as opposed to being a dedicated jazz or rock or opera fan).

[BillF]

I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music.

Quote of the week?

[carnivore]

I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music.

but if combined?????

[A Lark Ascending]

I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music.

but if combined?????

Don't mock...the Bath jazz festival had a run of avantish bands with alphorns in a few years back.

Worth it to see them walking the bar.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[paul secor]

"I like good music in any genre"

How do you know it's good when you first listen? - beyond listening to what someone else has said is good (which is, I suspect how most people take their first steps in a fair bit of music, especially when it's not widely broadcast).

I've no interest in reggae, rap or Tyrolean Alphorn music. Beyond having a rough idea if the players are instrumentally competent I'm not sure I could differentiate between the good and the bad. And I don't have the time (or inclination) to listen to that many genres to a pont where I might begin to have a way of sorting it out.

I suspect that when people say "I like good music in any genre" they actually mean "I have quite broad tastes" (as opposed to being a dedicated jazz or rock or opera fan).

Perhaps I shouldn't have said "any genre". Rap & Tyrolean Alphorn Music are outside of my interests (tho I've heard nothing of the latter) - reggae isn't.

I've begun most of my listening in different genres through recommendations, but I've found that it doesn't take long to develop my own tastes. And I find that having listening experience in other genres often carries over in getting a feel for a new genre.

[JSngry]

When I first started getting into House/Remix/Etc., I immersed myself - or made an effort to - in anything and everything in the genre, or looking like it might be tangentially related to it. It doesn't take too long before you start finding out what works for you (which is, of course, "good") & what doesn't.

I tend to be skeptical of "dabblers", especially the ones who "only listen to the good stuff", which too often means "the established classics". Hell, any fool can buy a book or read a list or two and appropriate what somebody else says is good. Which is not to say that you can't go about it like that and still grow close to certain things, just that, for me, I prefer (and prefer to discuss/trade recs/etc with those who) have more personal "skin" in the game.

[Noj]

One of the things I've noticed in music of all genres is that there are tons of musicians with smaller discographies who still have these amazing moments/tracks that reach peaks of the same height as the most famous artists with giant discographies. Those "lightning in a bottle," inspired songs.

With jazz, there's a few names that are known in popular culture. However, everyone here knows the genre is incredibly deep with countless talented contributors. It tends to work that way with every genre, and I've noticed that people who claim to only like a few genres will recognize certain hit songs from a wide variety of genres. Their professed tastes and strict genre barriers don't actually represent all the music they consider good.

Being totally honest with myself, I found that even popular songs which I have an adverse reaction to I can still understand their appeal. For example, my mother listens to country pop hits and American Idol winners, and just through passing contact with the music she plays I totally get it. Or I hear some raunchy club rap song my niece likes...and I get it. It's not my bag, but I get it.

[kenny weir]

I know there are some Cajun musicians who think they are improving the music by adding a walking bass or by syncopating in rock style or playing fast when really, they're just messing it up altogether. Addition by subtraction sometimes.

Back in the day, I too sucked up all the cajun I could lay my hands on - good, bad, really bad. So I understand about that.

But nothing stays the same, especially in terms of South Louisiana music, which as much as any other genre/region is pretty much founded on beg/borrow/steal.

Steel guitar/pedal steel was not part of the original cajun equation, but there's no question it's presence has enhanced countless post-WWII sides.

And then there's Belton Richard playing accordian on Johnnie Allan's Promised Land - the best Chuck Berry cover ever!

Or Johnny Sonnier doing The Devil Went Down To New Iberia.

[Neal Pomea]

I know there are some Cajun musicians who think they are improving the music by adding a walking bass or by syncopating in rock style or playing fast when really, they're just messing it up altogether. Addition by subtraction sometimes.

Back in the day, I too sucked up all the cajun I could lay my hands on - good, bad, really bad. So I understand about that.

But nothing stays the same, especially in terms of South Louisiana music, which as much as any other genre/region is pretty much founded on beg/borrow/steal.

Steel guitar/pedal steel was not part of the original cajun equation, but there's no question it's presence has enhanced countless post-WWII sides.

And then there's Belton Richard playing accordian on Johnnie Allan's Promised Land - the best Chuck Berry cover ever!

Or Johnny Sonnier doing The Devil Went Down To New Iberia.

Not to stray too far from MG's topic, but have you heard Joel Sonnier do Chuck Berry's song Memphis? It was with Robert Bertrand and the Lake Charles Playboys. Great! I think many of the older guys were actually closer to the rock and roll spirit than the younger guys. Sung in English, you can even hear Joel's accent when he sings "Hep me information, more dan dis I cannot axe." Great use of steel guitar and fiddle on a rocking number. Memphis.

I certainly don't have anything against steel guitar in Cajun music. That's probably the stuff I love the best. No, I mean the out of whack, busy bass guitar that you even hear sometimes in greats like Aldus Roger. He has two lps on La Louisianne that have either a simple bass or an electric guitar doing barre chords. They're great. A third lp has a too-slick swing bass in it and it's just about unlistenable, even for an icon like Aldus.

If you like steel guitar, here are some YouTube videos of Arcange 'Coon' Touchet of the original Badeaux and the Louisiana Aces:

[Hoppy T. Frog]

What about those of us who ONLY listen to bad music? I have the entire Escape Club and Will To Power disocgraphies, for example.

[jeffcrom]

I have a 1975 single by Latimore on the Glades label called "There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band." It's so bad that it breaks through the wall of badness; it's pretty good.

[JSngry]

OTOH...

[Noj]

I have a 1975 single by Latimore on the Glades label called "There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band." It's so bad that it breaks through the wall of badness; it's pretty good.

Hahaha, I like that title track. It's corny, but it's funky.

[WorldB3]

I was listening to Donny McCaslin's "Recommended Tools" the other day, an album I've enjoyed in the past, partly because it's a trio and that stripped-down sound appeals to me (even if it's less than dazzling, even pedestrian). But while listening to it the other day I found it entirely unenjoyable, almost aggravating. McCaslin (tenor sax) sounded like he was giving the listener little more than an exercise in playing scales (albeit imaginatively). But scales nonetheless. Noodling. No real thematic development, or at least too subdued or submerged to reveal itself, let alone advance.

This 'playing scales' quality -- where the forward momentum of the music is drained away -- seems to affect reed players more than brass, and infects contemporary music much more than bop or prior forms. But it's a definite marker that distinguishes 'good' from 'not so good' to my ear.

I'll have to put that album on again soon to see if my impression is firm.

Have you heard "In Pursuit" by McCaslin? Its one of those newish Jazz releases I find myself coming to again and again.

Music/sound is like weather to me.

Random conditions bring it and I try to

find the interesting aspects within.

I love that. Horrible week and that made everything so much better. thank you.

[John L]

For genres that I particularly love, I am more tolerant of flawed recordings that nevertheless have something special to offer, but less tolerant of truly "bad" recordings.

[A Lark Ascending]

A sidetrack.

One of the common criticisms levelled at recordings is that they lack originality or repeat earlier music.

But just as I find myself enjoying the third division in a favoured genre over the first edition in a genre that does not reach me, so I'm happy listening to music by a favourite performer that doesn't really 'move on'.

I was really enjoying Stan Tracey's latest quartet disc last night. Now Stan does other things - every now and then a freeish experiment with Tippett or Parker or Moholo - but in his core quartet/trio/big band area the style and approach has hardly changed since I first started listening to him in 1976.

You could say something similar about Monk from the late-50s. The same tunes shunted around, the same stylistic approach. Yet they continue to bring great pleasure right up to the early 70s.

[John L]

I have a 1975 single by Latimore on the Glades label called "There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band." It's so bad that it breaks through the wall of badness; it's pretty good.

I can't stand that track, but I do love Latimore.