Music you don't like

[Fuzzy Bunny]

There's been a few threads here that discuss what sorts of music people do like, but there isn't one (that I know of) that discusses what sorts of music you don't like.

I'd prefer if you gave reasons as to why you don't like the type of music as well. Just saying "I don't like rap music because it sucks." isn't much of a reason.

I like most types of music, but I don't care much for music that is overly profane or sexual. Some profanity or sexuality is ok, but there is a point where it gets ridiculous. I also tend to dislike slower music, but that isn't always the case.

 

[Gopha]

Drum n Base, garage, club music basically

 

[Pestcontrol]

I have a self invented genre called "Dumb music" that is defined by artists like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson and various boy bands internationally, and a bunch more locally. The crazy frog belongs in there too, as does most of the stuff labelled "party music". Most of it is easy to recognise as it's all very highly commercial, lacks authenticity (imo..), and the people who like it are usually people i dislike. And if i don't dislike them i start disliking them the moment i learn of their taste in music.

Ironically i have someone on the family who makes just that, and he's quite popular with it in his local area. The gigs are full of the dutch equivalent of neds, chavs and the likes of them (up to a whole stadium). It's fun to witness, but not more than once every few years....

It's still possible for someone to rise above the genre though, Robbie Williams would be a good example, as he started off in a horrible boy band. Still don't listen to his music though.

 

[DocBot]

I think a bit like pest - music that's only made for the money is seldom very interesting to listen to.

Then there's the other reason, the one I'm not as proud of - I don't want to listen to music that everyone else listens to. It does make for more varied music in my life, but it also makes it trickier to find a decent place to go out to

plus you get annoyed with the radio.

 

[Pestcontrol]

Hmm, the music everyone else listens to, or at least, "top 40" music i usually dislike (because it's mostly highly commercial music), but when there's something in there that i do like, i don't have a problem with that either. It's just less likely to happen.

Listening to non-top40 just to be different makes you just as unoriginal as those who do listen to it, imho, because you'd still lack taste. Then again having prejudice against top40 music is entirely understandable.

Going out - if it's a good night, and you got some drinks, the music is much less likely to grab my attention in a negative way. I think the sort of people going out to some place is much more important than the music played, even if the two are related.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Drum n Base

You must have been listening to the wrong D&B then, mate.

D&B is a pretty wide genre and contains a number of key subtypes. It has some elements in common with Trance in some of its sub-genres, making the listening of the music a trippy experience, something to inundate your senses with rhythm and noise. Marshal Mathers raps in one of his songs, "They say music can alter moods and talk to you." D&B and Trance, at their best, are really trying to push that envelope so that you're not just listening to the music, you're feeling the music in your head, you're following along with it not just intellectually but chemically.

And that brings me to music I don't like...

Music without a soul. I find the top-40 tends to contain a high proportion of tracks that just have no soul. I don't mean soul in the R&B/Soul sense, just from the basis that someone loved this song and wanted to bring it to life, not just painted-by-numbers. Top-40 songs feel to be produced rapidly, following over-used techniques and patterns, and have no energy infused into them.

I want songs that are complex, washing over all my senses, challenging me with lyrics or harsh sounds (Combichrist, Eminem). I want music that is so painfully sparse and bleak that I can only follow the melody (Philip Glass). I want songs that leave me thinking about heroic last stands and bombed out worlds (older VNV Nation). I want music that inspires me to dance, gives me energy in every step (Icon of Coil, Covenant). I want music that is worth living for, even if that was the only thing I had left. Fine, I don't get all of that in one package, usually, but it's a good goal.

It's been a long time since I last listened to the top-40 because my memories of it were that it had none of these things in it. The songs were not challenging, the music was paint-by-numbers simple and dreary to boot, the messages were meaningless drivel and the only thing that seemed to carry the group was that people wanted to have sex with the lead singer(s).

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

Top-40 songs feel to be produced rapidly, following over-used techniques and patterns, and have no energy infused into them.

Theres a reason for that. The reason all the songs sound cheap, nasty and thrown-out-the-door as fast as possible is because it is the same ONE man that writes every single pop song you hear. Be it Mariah Carey, Rhiannon or James Blunt, ONE man writes the lyrics for each of those artists (actually, that would be 'artists'). ONE man makes the backing tune, ONE man handles sound production. Its true. One of the guys in my work is a member of a band called Logan. Since he's making his way, slowly, into the music business, he has a vast knowledge of the interiors and anteriors of music production. He told me one day he had a conversation with THE ONE MAN who writes every single pop lyric you hear. He says to Mick (the Logan member) "All I do all day is sit around and think up lyrics for these pop songs. All I do is write down whatever nonsense pops into my head, and then somebody backs it up with a tune and away you go. InstaSong tm." Whats more, the dude gets paid hundreds of thousands for his work, that any one of us could easily do.

Dont listen to Pop. Dont fuel the system. And would somebody please obliterate that 'Punk Rocker (with flowers in my hair)' into oblivion?

 

[Ronin Storm]

because it is the same ONE man that writes every single pop song you hear

Now that makes a lot of sense. Maybe we could buy him off doing it at all...?

 

[Pestcontrol]

While true, i feel i have to nuance this a bit, it's not one single man, but a group of people, called songwriters, as opposed to the people performing on stage, who are aptly named performers. A band in this sense is songwriter and performer rolled into one, which makes you an artist. Not counting the influence of the producer which is very significant and i'm only beginning to understand.. producers are frequently artists or vice-versa as well. Regardless i wouldn't say it's a job anyone can do, why else would these people make the money that they do? They sure as hell wouldn't if it was a common skill.

The reason i suppose this system exists is:

• People with just performing, or just songwriting talents are easier to find than people or groups posessing both.
• Record labels bring them together, they are dependant on eachother and hence useless when separated, this allows the record label to force better (for them..) contracts.
• As third and binding entity or as employer (rather than agency) a record label is more in control and thus has better means of ensuring maximum hit potential, as opposed to a group who write their own tracks, where all you can do is send in a producer but you still can only pray to have a hit in there.

Anyway, a good song from a good songwriter with a good performer doesn't have to be a bad song. If you start looking on the backs of albums you like, see if the names in the small print are actually band memers. You may be in for a surprise.

But yeah, most top40 music i'd say is an example of bland, soulless (equals commercial) music, which is in part the result of the way it is made, but also, and perhaps more importantly it is the taste of the majority of record-buying people.

Yup people are sad, then again, what else is new?

 

[decky101]

Rave, as the "beats" give me a headache, and pop, as it's britney spears trying to get you to slap here again so she can get her petty restraining order on to you