The diary entries of a little girl who is now 30! ~ Part 2 - Page 4

Gosh, a new thread, music_4321 is back, and coq de combat is posting again. It's just like old times :3

I don't mind music_4321's post blanking. It actually adds an interesting flavour of transience to the thread, which is truly rare in online communication. (Even Twitter is trying to figure out a way for users to access their old posts.) Also, I'm glad to see him back - Music_4321 is unabashedly opinionated, but with those opinions come some insightful contributions.

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True to his namesake, music_4321 has always pushed us to talk more about music, and in that spirit I wanted to ask a random question:

Do any of you ever make any judgements about people based on their musical preferences? Not necessarily just simple positive or negative judgements - do you draw any broader inferences about their personalities or values from scrolling through someone's playlist?

It seems silly to me when I think about it, but often one of the first questions I will ask when I meet people is what music they listen to, and then I make inferences based on genres and artists. I feel like if they listen to similar music to me, they might be more likely to have had similar experiences and similar outlooks, or have similar friends or pursue similar kinds of media. They might come off as more or less adventurous, more or less sentimental, more or less troubled, etc.

This kind of thinking doesn't really seem to hold up when I think that different people have different reasons for liking the same thing, and also that I try to give every genre a chance and I believe that having a broad musical taste is a virtue. Even then I can't stop myself from using music as a litmus test.

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Mupps, I've been listening to Xiu Xiu's Fabulous Muscles and it is quite gorgeous.

I've also been listening to David Byrne and St. Vincent's collab, Love This Giant. I'm actually relieved and surprised that I'm enjoying it so much, because the pre-release sample tracks didn't quite grab me. I've been a huge fan of David Byrne ever since I quite literally started listening to music for enjoyment. (I have Windows XP to thank for that). "I Should Watch TV" is my favourite track, and tellingly its the most reminiscent of Byrne's Talking Heads work in theme.

If I had to share one track though, I thought I would share this Patrick Wolf one; as unapologetically saccherine as it is. It's the kind of music that makes me just want to jump around the room with someone. I'm not big on dancing, but this is one of the few tracks that inspires me to let loose.

I actually told Patrick when I saw him at the opera house that I was so glad that this album was so positive, especially after his moody and histrionic previous album. (Which I enjoyed anyway.) It's obviously more obvious now that he has a new partner (there was an entire track in the last album about how he was going to die very much a confirmed and militant bachelor). If I can be self indulgent for a moment, this track gives me a little hope in that regard too. :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

 

Do any of you ever make any judgements about people based on their musical preferences?

 

Actually, yes. I remember my sophomore year in undergrad, I was chatting up this really pretty girl in the cafeteria. I randomly picked up her phone and went through her music, and found that we like the same stuff. She actually introduced me to some of my current favorite artists.

We've been dating ever since.

 More hilariousness

Quote:

Originally Posted by billybob_jcv 

Looking at my playlist, I would conclude that I should be wearing torn hip-huggers & puka shells, and have a bong & black light stashed somewhere close by.

In other words, you would be Raz:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

Have some funny headlines:

These are amazing. Sauce?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

I so want a razzlette.

 

For some reason my favorite part of that whole skit was always the refrain: "Underwater camera! Disposable camera!"

I am so heartened by the fact that you watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! It makes me think that trying to go for this PhD will be okay after all.

My favourite line was always: "Certain locations, prices may vary." and also "Virgin Coladas: No Rum."

Quote:

Originally Posted by a_recording 

Do any of you ever make any judgements about people based on their musical preferences? Not necessarily just simple positive or negative judgements - do you draw any broader inferences about their personalities or values from scrolling through someone's playlist?

 

It seems silly to me when I think about it, but often one of the first questions I will ask when I meet people is what music they listen to, and then I make inferences based on genres and artists. I feel like if they listen to similar music to me, they might be more likely to have had similar experiences and similar outlooks, or have similar friends or pursue similar kinds of media. They might come off as more or less adventurous, more or less sentimental, more or less troubled, etc.

 

This kind of thinking doesn't really seem to hold up when I think that different people have different reasons for liking the same thing, and also that I try to give every genre a chance and I believe that having a broad musical taste is a virtue. Even then I can't stop myself from using music as a litmus test.

Yep. It used to surprise me to meet people who were totally straight-laced and uptight and fond of the Grateful Dead or death metal. Until I realized that, well, that's their off-hours music. Then again, I used to confuse people by the seeming randomness of my own musical selections. I managed to never fit into one of the musical culture tribes; I couldn't stand the requirement to trust the genre and love anything that suited it. So I started to feel a little hypocritical when making assumptions of others.

So to turn the question on its head -- do you find you can make assumptions about what music people will like based on your judgement of their personalities and opinions on things other than music?

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

I've seen most of these before, but this one has always been my favorite. It looks so lonely out there. Maybe it was caught selling meth?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardgedee 

 

Yep. It used to surprise me to meet people who were totally straight-laced and uptight and fond of the Grateful Dead or death metal. Until I realized that, well, that's their off-hours music. Then again, I used to confuse people by the seeming randomness of my own musical selections. I managed to never fit into one of the musical culture tribes; I couldn't stand the requirement to trust the genre and love anything that suited it. So I started to feel a little hypocritical when making assumptions of others.

 

So to turn the question on its head -- do you find you can make assumptions about what music people will like based on your judgement of their personalities and opinions on things other than music?

Hmm. Well, its kind of hard to answer that, because once I know someone well enough and we've talked about music, I either keep talking to them about it (if they like similar things) or I don't (if they don't). Coupled with the tendency for people to say "that's interesting" or "I like it" when I play things that they don't actually like, and its hard for me to anticipate whether or not someone will like something.

I'd say that in general; no - I can't do the inverse and guess what music someone might like based on their personality or other opinions, because I've been surprised more often than not. Most often I get people guessing I listen to mostly classical music, which just goes to show. :P

Actually, I never get the instinct that makes people say "I like this music" when they don't. I know they are doing it to be polite, but actually it frustrates me since I want to find some point of mutual agreement. I always say, "you don't have to say you like it" whenever I introduce music, and I'm never upset when someone asserts their opinion and says they *don't* like something I play in the car. Sometimes I almost feel like its a process of triangulation to identify someone's musical tastes over time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magick Man 

I posted these in the cat-fi thread, but gonna put them here too. Meet Shiva, my wife's new baby. Well, I say "new" but we've had him for a little while now.


Talk about a speckled fireball, this guy plays and runs until he collapses from exhaustion and falls asleep, and then he gets up and does it all over again. We had to have her old big orange cat Chester (22lbs) put to sleep last year and she was devastated, but now she's ready for a new one. So far Jackson, my black shorthair, doesn't know quite what to think of him. Shiva's tried to play with him, but he doesn't want any part of that and just ignores the little guy. heh

Adorable! =^__^=