Things you often Wonder

[Seat68]

 

 

I only like bands which hand craft their own vinyl records.

Pfft, I'm still on shellac.

 

Sack that off, and start listening to Big Black instead. Steve Albini sold out when he started Shellac.

 

All about Rapeman.

[Ginko]

Worst superhero ever.

[Rob182]

He's not as bad as Murder-then-Rapeman.

[Seat68]

Worst superhero ever.

 

I could be wrong but I think albini did actually take the name from a comic called that, it could even be a superhero, unsure if I should mooney it at work or not.

[Ginko]

Ha, whaddya know, you're right. It's taken from a Japanese comic book called The Rapeman and apparently rape comics are a genre in Japan. You learn something new everyday.

[MakemineVanilla]

 

..by definition, anyone who claims to be a connoisseur of anything, must establish their credentials by eschewing the popular and declaring a preference for what most people can't stand.

 

It's the law.

 

Pop music - The Fall

I'm not a connoisseur of anything, but I know what I like, and I like the Fall a very great deal (well 90% of their stuff, the other 10% is awful). Most other people I know who like the Fall's music are the same as me - they like it because they like it, not because it's some sign of any discernement.

I sometimes wonder why it is that I like it so much. It's like a drug. Sometimes it's only the Fall that hits the spot.

 

 

I certainly get that but the question is whether the qualities of music are intrinsic, extrinsic or a combination of both.

 

When I enjoy a new piece of music, is the enjoyment entirely dependent on the musical structure and quality, or does it also depend on understanding the collection of sensibilities which accompany it?

 

So if you heard The Fall, say, forty years ago, without the benefit of all the subsequent musical history, which created the context with which you enjoy it now, do you think you would have enjoyed it?

 

Would The Beatles have made any sense to listeners at the height of the big band and crooning craze of the 1930s, I doubt it.

 

What is thrilling about The Fall's meta-pop is that they totally reject the sickening tropes which are the bane of pop music - it possibly takes thirty years of listening to those tired old tropes to really appreciate someone who totally rejects them. 

[Rob182]

It's taken from a Japanese comic book called The Rapeman and apparently rape comics are a genre in Japan.

That's why there are no Japanese comedians.

[Wainy316]

He's not as bad as Murder-then-Rapeman.

 

 

At least he kills you first.  Quite a considerate guy.

[blandy]

 

...When I enjoy a new piece of music, is the enjoyment entirely dependent on the musical structure and quality, or does it also depend on understanding the collection of sensibilities which accompany it?

 

So if you heard The Fall, say, forty years ago, without the benefit of all the subsequent musical history, which created the context with which you enjoy it now, do you think you would have enjoyed it?

 

Would The Beatles have made any sense to listeners at the height of the big band and crooning craze of the 1930s, I doubt it.

 

What is thrilling about The Fall's meta-pop is that they totally reject the sickening tropes which are the bane of pop music - it possibly takes thirty years of listening to those tired old tropes to really appreciate someone who totally rejects them.

Assuming I'd been say a teenager or older, then yes I would have, definitely liked them if I'd heard the Fall 40 years ago.

I think also the beatles might not have made any sense in the 1930s, but people would have still liked their music, or some of it. Probably not as many as do now, and you're right that's probably because a major paprt of why a lot of people like it isn't for the music itself, which is mostly "a bit ordinary" (and that's being kind), but because of the time and place aspect.

AS well as liking the Fall, I also like quite a lot of pop music, so for me it's not about pop tropes or whatever (tbh I don't know what those are, but I expect I'd not like one if I found one - they sound beastly).

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

I've heard some interesting reports about comics that people casually read while on public transport in Japan.

 

Peculiar country.

[AVFCforever1991]

Tentacles?

[Xann]

Music's quite simple.

 

You listen to it. If enough serotonin is produced to make the process pleasurable, then it's good.

 

Duh.

[TrinityRoadSteps]

[MakemineVanilla]

Music's quite simple.

 

You listen to it. If enough serotonin is produced to make the process pleasurable, then it's good.

 

Duh.

 

If that is fact, it is curious to find that both sad and happy music have the same affect on serotonin levels but produce different emotional responses.

 

Any anecdotal evidence from people who have taken SSRIs (Prozac etc) on whether music was more enjoyable or less?

[Xann]

Go out clubbing much?

[mjmooney]

I plead guilty on the late Beethoven quartets. Was playing the A minor last night, in fact. Sublime.

Can't stand The Fall, though, bloody awful racket.

[MakemineVanilla]

Go out clubbing much?

 

I'm aware that dancing can produce euphoria.

 

But you defined good music, as music which increases serotonin levels.

 

I just wanted to know if listening to Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, say, which is not what you would call a jolly experience, also increases serotonin levels, and if it does not, does it fall outside your definition. 

 

I am just testing your hypothesis. 

[AVFCforever1991]

MDMA can also produce euphoria, so I've heard.....

[Xann]

I plead guilty on the late Beethoven quartets.

 

Whose you got?

 

Mine's the Berg iirc.

[Xann]

 

But you defined good music, as music which increases serotonin levels.

 

I just wanted to know if listening to Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, say, which is not what you would call a jolly experience, also increases serotonin levels, and if it does not, does it fall outside your definition. 

 

I am just testing your hypothesis. 

 

 

That's a great piece, and it is very enjoyable in a melancholic way - both through its minor key tonal palette and additionally by association, if you're aware of why it came to be.