How not to be a music snob?

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Ceylon
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How not to be a music snob?

Post by Ceylon » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:03 am

I didn't want to hijack DeathJag's thread on here, but I read it and started thinking. I'd label myself a music snob too. It's not that I don't listen to a lot of different stuff, but I'm fairly particular with what that is, and while I can tolerate the taste in music many of my friends have, I choose not to discuss music with them knowing full well that it'll come to nothing. I don't really keep up with mainstream music at all, with the exception of last year when I worked as a morning radio DJ and kind of was forced to, and I notice that spiralling to the point where I actually start avoiding mainstream music, or convince myself I dislike it, or look for reasons to dislike it, et cetera...

Not that I don't occasionally find a mainstream song that I actually unironically like. And when it comes right down to it, I'm happy in the end of the day having a taste in music that I can share with maybe 4 people in my life. I don't mind having it to myself even. What I do worry about is ossifying and becoming this sort of contrarian person that actively does not get into things because they're not the kind of thing I'm into. I do think almost all music has some little redeeming factor and the most musical people I know never seem to dismiss anything at face value, but rather to have the ability to look deeper and find something there.

I'm at a point in my life where I've listened to largely the same music with some additions for like 5 years, some of it longer than that, and I'd like to widen my horizons a bit, but I think this snobbery of mine might kinda hold me back there, and might keep me biased so that I don't go looking for anything fundamentally new. Has either of you gone through something similar? Did you remain comfortable in what you knew and liked or did you manage to make the transition into non-snobbery, and if so how? How do you listen to music?
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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by DeathJag » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:34 am

This is exactly what I would love to see in that thread dude!

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by panoramic » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:40 am

5 years? what about when you get to the point where it's been 20 years and you're still like 1997 fuck yeah! best year for music ever, then what? I mean i pick up on new things but i am constantly playing sebadoh, sy, dinosaur, swervedriver, TFC, MBV, slowdive, superchunk, polvo etc Ad Naseum. I buy in on like 2 new bands a year maybe
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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by Jaguar018 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:45 am

Ceylon wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:03 am
I'm at a point in my life where I've listened to largely the same music with some additions for like 5 years, some of it longer than that, and I'd like to widen my horizons a bit, but I think this snobbery of mine might kinda hold me back there, and might keep me biased so that I don't go looking for anything fundamentally new. Has either of you gone through something similar? Did you remain comfortable in what you knew and liked or did you manage to make the transition into non-snobbery, and if so how? How do you listen to music?
I think you need a slightly different outlook. Finding new music doesn't have to about how snobby-- or non-snobby you are. Yes, there are people that insist the music they liked 5 - 50 years ago is the BEST music ever(coincidentally, it's usually around the time the person was in their teens and 20s).

To find new music you just have to look for it. Start with a favorite band or two then follow the path. I generally have 'non-mainstream' tastes and it's pretty easy to find stuff. Just read stuff on the web, go to record stores, poke around on youtube-- do whatever it takes and then I suggest buying things from the actual artists so that some money goes into their pockets.

I liked all that crap that Panoramic listed, but I get ear fatigue. While I liked Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr okay-- there was too much filler and not enough killer. Gotta keep going. There are only a handful of bands that I can listen to over and over again. Look look look.

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by panoramic » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:52 am

Jaguar018 wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:45 am
Ceylon wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:03 am
I'm at a point in my life where I've listened to largely the same music with some additions for like 5 years, some of it longer than that, and I'd like to widen my horizons a bit, but I think this snobbery of mine might kinda hold me back there, and might keep me biased so that I don't go looking for anything fundamentally new. Has either of you gone through something similar? Did you remain comfortable in what you knew and liked or did you manage to make the transition into non-snobbery, and if so how? How do you listen to music?
I think you need a slightly different outlook. Finding new music doesn't have to about how snobby-- or non-snobby you are. Yes, there are people that insist the music they liked 5 - 50 years ago is the BEST music ever(coincidentally, it's usually around the time the person was in their teens and 20s).

To find new music you just have to look for it. Start with a favorite band or two then follow the path. I generally have 'non-mainstream' tastes and it's pretty easy to find stuff. Just read stuff on the web, go to record stores, poke around on youtube-- do whatever it takes and then I suggest buying things from the actual artists so that some money goes into their pockets.

I liked all that crap that Panoramic listed, but I get ear fatigue. While I liked Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr okay-- there was too much filler and not enough killer. Gotta keep going. There are only a handful of bands that I can listen to over and over again. Look look look.
Don't go thinking you're alone, i get ear fatigue too. I pick up on new bands here and there but it's like you said, it takes a lot of effort to find something that really resonates with me. right now i'm really into the forth wanderers record, it's like velicity girl without any shoegaze element, easy to ingest.
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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by s_mcsleazy » Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:34 pm

i always think the easiest way is not to discount genres as a whole. ever heard of sturgeons law?
“Ninety percent of everything is crud”. Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, “Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud.”

this is how i feel about most genres. for every derivative, boring, horrible and offensive bands in a genre, there will always be some decent ones. i never thought i would be too much into hiphop but then i found clipping, death grips, scroobius pip and de la soul. i always discounted pop music but somehow, lorde made the best album of 2017 and princess Chelsea makes some really good pop songs (i dunno why but my autocorrect wanted to change chelsea to dickcheese).

another good way to not be a music snob is to ask people what they like in that music then introduce them into something like it only better. my friend was always into evenesence which was a band i always considered dry and boring. i thought "well if she likes that, maybe she'd like scarling" and fucking hell did she. however she things the who wants to die for art ep is too noisey.
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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by marqueemoon » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:42 pm

I try to find something to appreciate about everything I hear. Notice I said “appreciate”, not necessarily “like”.

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by eskmsaul » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:45 pm

marqueemoon wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:42 pm
I try to find something to appreciate about everything I hear. Notice I said “appreciate”, not necessarily “like”.
Pretty much this. Staying positive goes a long way.

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by eskmsaul » Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:01 pm

I can't remember the exact quote but at the David Bowie Is exhibit there was an interview excerpt in which Bowie talked about how as a teen he would convince himself he was a fan of the more dense jazz records & he would just listen to them over and over until they finally clicked. As a kid in high school I used to do the same with anything from obscure 70s records to contemporary pop, and it often worked too!

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by TeenageShutdown! » Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:36 pm

Whenever I hear Alex Zhang Hungtai of Dirty Beaches say this in a YouTube video I think to myself I need to lighten up:

“There is no superiority in terms of music. Like there is no good music, there is no bad music. Every music is designed, catered to a specific taste. So it’s preferences. There is no good or bad music. People who judge music as good or bad think of it as like fucking sports or something.”

How not to be a music snob? Relax & let things go. Keep opinions to one self, well opinions that aren’t constructive.
Last edited by TeenageShutdown! on Tue Sep 18, 2018 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by soggy mittens » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:53 pm

As a music collector I'd struggle if I wasn't open to new music, I listen to a lot of current music and a lot of old music and I try to not dismiss anything too quickly. Sometimes I'll listen to a band and I will kinda feel like it could be a grower so I let it grow on me and it turns out to be amazing, I think staying open to that is important. Hearing a band and thinking, geezzz the vocals are a bit awkward or the guitar is boring is something it can depend on my mood but at the end of the day I just have to remind myself that it's probably a grower and there will be some worth it in.
Some bands I've tried really hard with and they just don't seem to click or they only half click which is fine. It is what it is. Being open to new music and just listening to A LOT of music is the main goal with this topic.

When I was growing up I would scoff at a lot of pop music and then later in life I'd hear the worth in it, it's growing as a person while letting music grow on you! ^_^

I sway more towards indie shoegaze typically so this month has provided me with these amazing (mostly indie) discoveries...

Muncie Girls - Fixed Ideals (2018)
Basement Revolver - Heavy Eyes (2018)
The Daysleepers - Creation (2018)
Magic Shoppe - In Parallel (2018)
Juanita Stein - Until the Lights Fade (2018)


albums that are still growing this month:-

Film School - Bright to Death (2018)
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
Major Love - Major Love (2018)
Mirah - Understanding (2018)
Our Girl – Stranger Today (2018)
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (2018)


one album that was a HUGE grower for me this year is The Magic Numbers - Outsiders (2018) took so long to click but I kept coming back to it and wow! amazing. I got into this band from their first album when it came out then drifted away with the second album, but I was clearly just not ready for them. Since gone back over their full catalog and it's been immensely rewarding. :)
If OSG has tort me anything...

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 10:44 pm

Jaguar018 wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:45 am
Ceylon wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:03 am
I'm at a point in my life where I've listened to largely the same music with some additions for like 5 years, some of it longer than that, and I'd like to widen my horizons a bit, but I think this snobbery of mine might kinda hold me back there, and might keep me biased so that I don't go looking for anything fundamentally new. Has either of you gone through something similar? Did you remain comfortable in what you knew and liked or did you manage to make the transition into non-snobbery, and if so how? How do you listen to music?
I think you need a slightly different outlook. Finding new music doesn't have to about how snobby-- or non-snobby you are. Yes, there are people that insist the music they liked 5 - 50 years ago is the BEST music ever(coincidentally, it's usually around the time the person was in their teens and 20s).
I've evolved a bit myself. Most of my favorite bands are artists I've been listening to for like 5-10 years, but SO much of the stuff I used to listen to is stuff I can't listen to anymore. I'll definitely add things to my repertoire too, which is fun. I've always been pretty open minded, but I also know what I like.

I also find that being a guitarist/musician helps find things too. As I've been wanting to and slowly getting into playing synth/electronic, I've been actively looking for electronic music. I found a few records from the 60's/early 70's of people playing a Moog synth with no or little other instruments. A few weeks ago, I went to a goth dance thing in Chicago, and discovered a love of dark EDM. Haha ;D

Jaguar018 wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:45 am
To find new music you just have to look for it. Start with a favorite band or two then follow the path. I generally have 'non-mainstream' tastes and it's pretty easy to find stuff. Just read stuff on the web, go to record stores, poke around on youtube-- do whatever it takes and then I suggest buying things from the actual artists so that some money goes into their pockets.
Kinda like dating, I always found the places to find new music to be tough. I'll say though, that the last 20 albums or so that I've discovered, have either been in a movie/tv show, or some recommendation from Amazon when I'm buying an album. They have those lists of "someone who bought that also bought this" and I've found some cool stuff.

eskmsaul wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:01 pm
I can't remember the exact quote but at the David Bowie Is exhibit there was an interview excerpt in which Bowie talked about how as a teen he would convince himself he was a fan of the more dense jazz records & he would just listen to them over and over until they finally clicked. As a kid in high school I used to do the same with anything from obscure 70s records to contemporary pop, and it often worked too!
I think this is a cool idea in theory, but personally, if I have to force myself to listen to something, I'd feel like it wasn't natural/meant-to-be. Sure, there are things I like in concept, or that I have to be in a certain mood to listen to, but if it takes that much effort, it's just not me.
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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by windmill » Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:30 am

Was it Duke Ellington who said

" There is good music and there is bad music
I like both types "

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by wooderson » Mon Sep 24, 2018 5:05 am

The way I'd put it is that Citizen Kane, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Miami Vice are all great movies. You have to judge things against the intent/goals of the makers and the genre itself.

Katy Perry and Taylor Swift aren't going to replace the Dead Kennedys in my pantheon, but I can appreciate the craftsmanship of their hits - the hooks, the melodies.

In my mid-30s, I'm out of touch with where contemporary rap is going a lot of the time with lyrics taking less of a role than what I grew up on - but Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" has a fantastic hypnotic quality to it. She's knowingly using her voice as a kind of instrument where the sound and the cadence matter more than the actual words.

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Re: How not to be a music snob?

Post by mediocreplayer » Tue Sep 25, 2018 4:35 pm

soggy mittens wrote:
Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:53 pm


Muncie Girls - Fixed Ideals (2018)
Basement Revolver - Heavy Eyes (2018)
The Daysleepers - Creation (2018)
Magic Shoppe - In Parallel (2018)
Juanita Stein - Until the Lights Fade (2018)


albums that are still growing this month:-

Film School - Bright to Death (2018)
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
Major Love - Major Love (2018)
Mirah - Understanding (2018)
Our Girl – Stranger Today (2018)
Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (2018)

Thanks for the list! I am glad there is something to take away from threads like this.

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