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Post by daveythefatboy on Sept 25, 2020 8:47:30 GMT
Years of collecting it... exposing yourself to it. Building part of your identity around it. Developing opinions...
What have you learned? What does it do add up to for you? What’s it all about, Alfie?
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Post by HotRats on Sept 25, 2020 8:58:28 GMT
I could write an essay on this, and maybe I will when I have time, but...my conclusion is...
The vast majority of people I know don't care ANYWHERE NEAR as much as I do about listening to or thinking about music.
It makes me wonder whether I'm a bit obsessive. But it's also the reason I seek these forums, because at least on here there are people who get it.
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Post by tory on Sept 25, 2020 10:53:39 GMT
It's an interesting subject.
What have I learnt? I don't really know. I'm not sure if discussing music really achieves anything in a more holistic sense. What does one get out of it, apart from putting forward claims (The Beatles were the best!) and then substantiating them.
In many respects, we come in to articulate and thus evangelise to a certain extent. "Hey I've got some taste and I want you to listen to what I like!" - well, at least that's how I think. I always sense that most of us have fixed positions about music and that we don't really budge a great deal from that. Sometimes we might find alignment with others and enjoy the jousting, but have we learnt anything from it?
I've grown to like a few choice albums and artists (Todd Rundgren, David Axelrod & Steely Dan come to mind) from this whole experience, but I wouldn't say that my taste has been sculpted in a big way by that time.
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Sept 25, 2020 11:04:28 GMT
Over 20 years my individuality has been gradually eroded by the words of bores and I've become just another 'serious music fan' who gives equal praise to Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Love, The Beach Boys, Miles Davis and all those other canon artists. It's a shame.
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Post by bungo the mungo on Sept 25, 2020 11:11:38 GMT
i've learnt that criticising people's music taste on a forum is worse than insulting them as a person.
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Post by DarknessFish on Sept 25, 2020 11:12:30 GMT
I guess my main reasons are:
1. To try and discover new music 2. To pass the time on and chat about stuff I'm interested in when I've nowt better to do.
I'm not sure I get a lot of new music from this site, or BCB, though the cups certainly help in that regard. But that's normally the thing isn't it? Share your favourites with other people, learn to judge who has similar tastes, and pick up things from them. It's probably the safest mechanism, especially when coupled with a handy youtube link or two. So here, where I do spend a lot of my time, I guess it's a big chunk of 2, which is a bit of bantz with the ladz, and occasional galz. Mostly it's just a reason to pick out a tune or band from the dim and distant past, and hope there's something interesting or funny to say. Even though the recent Beatles vs VU thread has seen an increase in discussion, actually comparing two bands/albums and trying to say one is better than the other on objective grounds is a bit silly. I'm not going to say Unknown Pleasures is better than Pet Sounds (I did say that, btw), but I love one, don't care about the other at all, and I'm happy that they serve different purposes for different people.
Why music is what I'm obsessed with, or what I am drawn to, I have no idea. Film or literature seems more socially acceptable, but fuck film, generally, and while I love literature, the people who discuss that are normally deeply tedious.
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Sept 25, 2020 11:15:35 GMT
i've learnt that criticising people's music taste on a forum is worse than insulting them as a person. YES I still get surprised by that sometimes. You attack someone's TASTE, and they attack YOU. It's serious business
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Sept 25, 2020 11:20:21 GMT
Even though the recent Beatles vs VU thread has seen an increase in discussion, actually comparing two bands/albums and trying to say one is better than the other on objective grounds is a bit silly. I'm not going to say Unknown Pleasures is better than Pet Sounds (I did say that, btw), but I love one, don't care about the other at all, and I'm happy that they serve different purposes for different people. I know quite a few people feel the same way, but for me it's not about the comparison really - it's about writing. The exercise. Putting thoughts into words, seeing how other people manage it too. The poll gives it all a frame, that's all. It could be 'pencil vs pen', as far as I'm concerned. I mean, many of us have been having the same discussions for nearly 20 years and many of our opinions are regurgitated but that honestly doesn't bother me. I'm not looking for an answer - I'm just happy to read ideas, see how people express themselves, and then sometimes responding. It's great brain exercise and it's kind of a kick, actually - both the reading AND the writing.
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rayge
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Post by rayge on Sept 25, 2020 11:20:24 GMT
i've learnt that criticising people's music taste on a forum is worse than insulting them as a person. YES I still get surprised by that sometimes. You attack someone's TASTE, and they attack YOU. It's serious business By definition, individual taste in anything is an expression of self/individuality, no?
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Post by tory on Sept 25, 2020 11:20:46 GMT
Well, an attack on someone's taste is an attack on them isn't it?
Someone's taste and judgement is a sort of manifestation of what they are as a person. Musical taste is a cultivation of one's aesthetics and as such represents them, just as choice of clothes, hairstyle, politics and football team.
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Post by tory on Sept 25, 2020 11:23:53 GMT
One thing that saddens me a bit is that there is an awfully large corpus of music-orientated writing on Mojo/BCB/Preludin that could have been kept alive in a physical format somehow - like a fanzine or similar. Lots of people with great ability across all the boards - but the problem I guess is that the conversational style of bulletin boards doesn't translate as well to actual articles.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2020 11:25:50 GMT
Music is much less of a passion for me now, but I enjoy writing about it and the debates that ensue. The question of why people like some things but dislike others will always be endlessly fascinating to me.
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Sept 25, 2020 11:26:50 GMT
YES I still get surprised by that sometimes. You attack someone's TASTE, and they attack YOU. It's serious business By definition, individual taste in anything is an expression of self/individuality, no? Well, an attack on someone's taste is an attack on them isn't it? Someone's taste and judgement is a sort of manifestation of what they are as a person. Musical taste is a cultivation of one's aesthetics and as such represents them, just as choice of clothes, hairstyle, politics and football team. I'm not interested in intellectualising this thing. A sense of decorum is all that's required, as you both well know. If you enter a discussion on Johnny Cash to say 'I think he's rubbish' and someone calls you a cunt, is that fair? Yet this is the sort of thing that happens regularly on social media and it's harmful.
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Sept 25, 2020 11:28:35 GMT
One thing that saddens me a bit is that there is an awfully large corpus of music-orientated writing on Mojo/BCB/Preludin that could have been kept alive in a physical format somehow - like a fanzine or similar. Lots of people with great ability across all the boards - but the problem I guess is that the conversational style of bulletin boards doesn't translate as well to actual articles. Definitely. I think if you compiled even the very best stuff you'd be running back to yer NMEs within seconds.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2020 11:40:36 GMT
One thing that saddens me a bit is that there is an awfully large corpus of music-orientated writing on Mojo/BCB/Preludin that could have been kept alive in a physical format somehow - like a fanzine or similar. Lots of people with great ability across all the boards - but the problem I guess is that the conversational style of bulletin boards doesn't translate as well to actual articles. We should have done a BCB blog at its height and I regret not doing it. Part of the reason I didn't, beyond the obvious laziness, is that I knew it could cause a lot of argument and a little Ill feeling as I think the only way to do it successfully is approach it like someone editing a magazine: Commission pieces on agreed topics from selected posters, get posters to expand or rewrite BCB pieces etc. This would have meant some arguments on who was included and who was excluded, but there was enough good writers to make it work. As it happens someone ( I think Specbebop) did start a BCB blog and took the completely different approach of just having it as a free for all with any contribution on anything being published. As a result it didn't have any identity, was of variable quality and soon ground to a halt.
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