Music You Struggle With

[The Other Foot]

As the title suggests, what bands/singers/genres do you struggle with… 

 

BUT…

 

…you can still acknowledge their/it’s quality?

 

The reason i have started this thread is that an Eels tune just came on my Spotify and I was thinking how - for years - I’ve always wanted to like them but never been able to.

 

Similar story for:

 

- Radiohead

- Mars Volta

 And…controversial one… The Doors

[pozbaird]

Rap and jazz. Cannot stand either. I love, absolutely love, the track ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, but anything else even remotely in that genre, to my ears, sounds exactly the same as each other. I cannot distinguish one song from another, one artist from another. Jazz, the type with Buddy Rich on drums and a face like he’s bursting for a shite, again, just to my ears, sounds like extreme wanky self indulgent pish. Endless bollocks improvisation and noodling that sounds like a bad soundcheck.

Everything else, within reason, I like at least some of. Rock, pop, classical, blues, R&B, whatever. Rap and jazz can fcuk off. IMHO, naturally.

[The Other Foot]

3 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Rap and jazz. Cannot stand either. I love, absolutely love, the track ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, but anything else even remotely in that genre, to my ears, sounds exactly the same as each other. I cannot distinguish one song from another, one artist from another. Jazz, the type with Buddy Rich on drums and a face like he’s bursting for a shite, again, just to my ears, sounds like extreme wanky self indulgent pish. Endless bollocks improvisation and noodling that sounds like a bad soundcheck.

Everything else, within reason, I like at least some of. Rock, pop, classical, blues, R&B, whatever. Rap and jazz can fcuk off. IMHO, naturally.

Jazz for me too, though think I have a bit less animosity towards it

 

In fact every time I hear jazz, it feels like there’s quality hidden behind a door but I’ve got no idea how the f**k to open it.

 

Jazz is essentially the Hibs of the music world 

[Richey Edwards]

4 minutes ago, The Other Foot said:

Jazz for me too, though think I have a bit less animosity towards it

 

In fact every time I hear jazz, it feels like there’s quality hidden behind a door but I’ve got no idea how the f**k to open it.

 

Jazz is essentially the Hibs of the music world 

A few years ago, I bought a couple of Miles Davis albums because they seemed to be held in high regard. I think I have listened to them once.

I did not dislike the albums. There was nothing about them that was "bad" or offensive to my ears. Sitting and listening to them while I did some work was actually quite pleasant. However, I have never felt the need to play them again.

I might have a listen later to see if I still think the same.

[pozbaird]

14 minutes ago, The Other Foot said:

Jazz for me too, though think I have a bit less animosity towards it

 

In fact every time I hear jazz, it feels like there’s quality hidden behind a door but I’ve got no idea how the f**k to open it.

 

Jazz is essentially the Hibs of the music world 

Buddy Rich. Touching cloth. (Which may well have been the title of one of his albums)

 

[btb]

16 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Rap and jazz. Cannot stand either. I love, absolutely love, the track ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, but anything else even remotely in that genre, to my ears, sounds exactly the same as each other. I cannot distinguish one song from another, one artist from another. Jazz, the type with Buddy Rich on drums and a face like he’s bursting for a shite, again, just to my ears, sounds like extreme wanky self indulgent pish. Endless bollocks improvisation and noodling that sounds like a bad soundcheck.

Everything else, within reason, I like at least some of. Rock, pop, classical, blues, R&B, whatever. Rap and jazz can fcuk off. IMHO, naturally.

Jazz started off as dance music and I can still see the attraction of the Benny Goodman/Glenn Miller era stuff then somehow it mutated into wanky self indulgent "head" music John Coltrane/Charlie Parker, even worse though is jazz rock - musicians who have decided that they're too good to play something tuneful.

[GNU_Linux]

Classical is something I find confusing as a good chunk of it seems like re-interpreting other people's work eg taking a Mozart or Chopin piece & changing the scale or something.

Jazz is daunting given many names associated with the genre have extensive catalogues either as bandleader or as a sideman/contributor. That & I don't quite grasp what makes a jazz piece good or bad.

I like some music that uses elements of noise but straight up noise music is a blur of impenetrable hiss, feedback & distortion.

Edited September 23, 2022 by GNU_Linux

[The Other Foot]

38 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Rap and jazz. Cannot stand either. 

You’d hate Guru, by the way. 

[paranoid android]

16 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Buddy Rich. Touching cloth. (Which may well have been the title of one of his albums)

Buddy Rich is a good shout - you have to recognise the fact that he is largely acknowledged as the greatest drummer, etc, but who the f**k wants to listen to it?

I prefer Bonham anyway.

[paranoid android]

I really struggle with modern R n B, or what passes for R n B these days.

I'd like to think I would applaud any of it that's good, but I haven't really liked much of it.

I really struggle with folk sampling old records when there are talented writers out there desperate for a break. 

[pozbaird]

In the broad areas of music genres I very much like - rock, pop, alternative, whatever you term them, a band I have really struggled to like are Muse. Just never got into them. Something about them seems too cold, too clinical, too shiny. Can’t really put my finger on it.

[paranoid android]

1 hour ago, btb said:

even worse though is jazz rock - musicians who have decided that they're too good to play something tuneful.

There are a couple of approaches to jazz rock fusion, imo:

Rock players like Jeff Beck and Phil Collins (in Brand X) who have aspirations towards jazz;

and

Actual jazz players playing with a rock feel - Mahavishnu are the best at this, imo. 

[SweeperDee]

Most modern rap/r&b is just shite to me.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Beck

For a man whose most esteemed work was made adjacent to grunge, britpop and landfill indie, he sounds timeless in comparison. Sadly he's still shite.

[capt_oats]

Led Zeppelin

Do I acknowledge their place in the Rock canon? Yes

Do I own some of their albums? Also yes

Do I find myself actually wanting to listen to them? Absolutely not

See also; Pink Floyd, The Who

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by capt_oats

[Dan Steele]

On 23/09/2022 at 20:29, btb said:

even worse though is jazz rock

I can't agree with this. Weather Report and Return to Forever were class acts. The influence that Zawinul had on music is quite something and a great story. Mind you, if you're trying to get into jazz I'd give Ornette Coleman a wide berth . Starting with Miles Kind of Blue makes sense and West Coast jazz is good/"easier" to get into.

[TheScarf]

There's this weird sub-genre of hip hop called and Drill and it's fucking horrendous.  19 year old American lads with face tattoos auto-tuned rapping over some utter shite electronic music.  I've also discovered most of them don't seem to live past 21 due to drugs or bullets.

[Boo Khaki]

If you just asked 'what do I think is unadulterated garbage?' then I'd say Rap, Hip-Hop, and modern 'R&B', but since you asked about things you dislike but still appreciate the artistry of, I'd say the Beatles, and Elvis Presley.

Never been able to listen to the Beatles without feeling compelled to just turn it off and enjoy silence instead. Even across the different styles they put out, there's just nothing in their music that sparks any sort of feeling in me other than 'turn that off', and I do think their early stuff is genuinely nothing more than a half-arsed, popped up plagiarism of 50's American RnR. I couldn't care less about their 'Mersey' sound. If you take any group of musicians, give them different equipment, and have them rip off some pre-existing music, it will inevitably sound different to the original, but that doesn't mean they are in any way original themselves. There's a similar thing going on right now with modern Rockabilly. They love all the same things I do, listen to all the same influences, but the musical style itself is overwhelmingly saturated with up-tempo Tennessee country stuff and it sounds so dramatically different to 50's Rockabilly that I can't get into it at all. Brian Setzer was the same. His music is like nails down a board to me.

If you pushed me I'd probably say Charlie Feathers, Carl Perkins, and Eddie Cochran are my three favourite artists of all time, yet I can't be arsed at all with Elvis Presley. Similar to the Beatles thing, I just find his music dull and uninteresting. I accept he had a great voice, and I'm sure his live performances must have been some spectacle, but as far as the recorded music goes it evokes no feeling inside me whatsoever except 'turn that off and put something worth listening to on'. Again, there's absolutely nothing original about early Elvis Presley as he was just doing pretty much what guys like Perkins and Feathers were with arguably far less talent, except he was more marketable and obviously better promoted. I think the thing that makes it difficult for me to listen to Elvis is his music is very much on the 'Rock and Roll' side of things, whereas I much prefer the more country, cowboy, and 'hick' style Rockabilly that was common in musicians from the Appalachians and Texas, rather than the Gospel of the Bible Belt South.

[BFTD]

Another old man here complaining that most of the modern rap he's heard hasn't sat well in his ears. It's still so popular with youngsters that it's time to admit that I'm just plain wrong here and I've just reached the inevitable age where people's taste sensors seize up. An awful lot of the stuff that gets popular just seems designed to annoy, so maybe that's part of the appeal? Certainly was with other movements like punk.

I've never been a big Country fan, but any 21st century Country I've heard has been incredibly generic, and a lot of the proponents seem to do a lot of moaning about the young people and their ways, so they can GTF. Also, the bizarre desperation of some to sook the arse of hip-hop artists is pathetic, and there's never been a decent country/hip-hop crossover song. FACT.

[Paul Kersey]

I struggle with kosmiche/krautrock stuff.

The likes of Can, Tangerine Dream and Neu! Do have some decent tunes, but most of it is a struggle to listen to.