The Telepathic Kid wrote:I have the general feeling that I'm considered a grumpy old man because I complain about music and the sort a lot. (paranoia, yay!)
I wanna explain myself after I got a pm (admittedly a while ago now, but still) about my apparently close minded opinions on music.
I'll do it in points;
1. I don't set out to hate music - Whenever I hear a thingy, whether it's an album, an EP, a song, a snippet. I want to like it. I always listen out for qualities I like to it. The only reason I complain is that there are absences in qualities which I enjoy, which leads me on to the next point;
2. Just because I complain doesn't mean I don't like it - So what I say something negative, no skin off your back. Some might think I judge something by how much it doesn't suck, like some weird Scaruffi type opinion, but as I said in the previous point, no!
I often say what I don't like about a piece of music on message boards or in reply to people's Soundclouds because (hell, get this) I like talking and discussing music.
Two contradictory opinions =/= an argument. Nowadays the internet is full of special people who can't be told their opinion is just an opinion. It's crud like that which has killed the art of conversation. A truly great conversation can only come from contradictory opinions.
3. I still love electronic music - I might be seen now as the dude who's all hip and Pitchfork-y (which I barely follow - Fuck Future and Young Thug) with my enjoyment of indie rock and folk and rock and yada yada but hey - I've always enjoyed that.
I'll expand on this in my next point which is...
4. I've discovered how to quantify my enjoyment of music - OK maybe not exactly, but I can talk why I do and why I don't like music, which seems to irk people. I've honed these ... skills? no - Abilities. I've honed the ability to talk about music over the past few years as I've began to understand the nuances within pop song writing. my motto is at the end of the day, a good song is a good song.
I often hold electronic music up to the same standards as other sorts of music (which in some people's minds might be unfair), and I understand that certain music can be entertaining in other ways, but there are qualities which are universal amongst all types of music (texture, melody, songwriting, rhythm, if it's engaging, originality etc)
5. If you can explain your opinions, you will often seem to be pretentious/annoying - I've not fully tested this hypothesis, but I've found that if a person can explain their opinion well, people will rag on them as know-it-all or pretentious. Now I've only found this on the internet, youtube comments, message boards, etc. etc. but still.
Particularly in music, because I don't think people like someone coming in and having an opinion which is well thought out, more so than their own, about something they enjoy (Especially one that's contradictory).
It makes them seem like they're dumber, and if they can't think of a reason why to disagree, then they have to change their opinion!
No. You just have to think - why do I disagree with this person?
I'm as thick as a Kardashian and twice as useless. If I can do it, other people can.
I was told within this PM to "try to take music for what it is-- not always what it could be"
So does this mean I should accept mediocrity? That's not how to progress art forward. If I don't think something is doing all that it could be then I will say something.
I don't think that's mean, ignorant, hot headed or unsympathetic (I'm a musician too, don't forget that) - I just like good music, and I want that music to truly satisfy me.
I don't know if that will happen if I just sit around and say "oh well, it's good I guess."
Meant to come back to this. Do your thing man. It's one of the reasons I still share music on here; few others give similar genuine feedback. It never feels good to hear criticisms, but it's the only way we'll learn what anyone really thinks when they hear something we've done. Praise doesn't teach anything (even though it's nice to hear )