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From:
Kent williams
To:
i'd do mary
Date:
Thu, 1 Nov 2001 08:51:26 -0600 (CST)
Subject:
[idm] critical listening
Msg-Id:
<Pine.HPP.3.96.1011101083527.1800B-100000@arthur.avalon.net>
Mbox:
idm.0111.gz
You know, I listen to a lot of different music. Comes with being an old fart -- the first record I bought was "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles -- in 1966, in MONO. So I've been passionate about all sorts of different music for 35 years. Scary, innit? Musical tastes are subjective, up to a point. What has always mattered to me in music is that I'm able to make an emotional connection to it -- it somehow reflects an artistic intent to provoke a reaction in the listener. The great thing about music is that above all it's pleasurable to listen to, while at the same time encompasses every human emotion -- fear, anger, pain, joy, despair, humor. You can make music about feeling bad that makes people feel good. But it's always important to try and meet an artist half way. What anything worthwile does is teach you a new way to hear music. If you're not open to the lesson, you're going to miss out. Whenever someone says on IDM that something SUX0R, I wonder if they've really given it a chance. The point being, people can caterwaul all they want on IDM about this and that, but that's really not what music is about. It's about shutting up and listening. I for one would not be unhappy if I never read another negative review on IDM, so long as people really tried to write articulately in reaction to what they're hearing. There really is no such thing as IDM -- it's a mailing list, and doesn't make any sound unless you hook it up to a speech synthesizer... what the mailing list can be (and is sometimes) is what Germans call an InteresseGemeinschaft -- a gathering of common interests. That seems to really get lost in the flame wars and "I TINK IT SUX0R' reviews. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org