The TV Tropes Album Exchange Club

Sorry! I'm freakishly busy at the moment. I have school all day, and then musical rehearsals afterwards. So I probably won't be able to get around to this current album until Sunday, which is my next day off

Re: Mosaic: Initial impression favorable. Further investigation required.

AKA I'm going to listen to it again sometime when I'm not half asleep.

I'm still here, and I prefer the "wait for at least X member to react on a given album" approach. So it's fine by me if we wait a few days for the other guys before the next album.

I just hope it will not mean that this thing will slowly die on us, 'cos I would not like that.

I've had my computer taken away, so I'll listen to all of these albums when I can, but I'll not necessarily comment on them. I simply lack the time, sorry.

I listened to Mosaic a while ago, but didn't comment on it. It wasn't too bad, although it did drag in places, like Meta Four said it would.

Mosaic is interesting... I have a sneaking suspicion it'll be one of those things I get urges to listen to out of nowhere.

I don't want to see it die either. I know it's way early, but I've already decided what I'm going to choose for both my third and fourth rotation albums. The fourth may surprise some of you, unless you were expecting me to go in that direction.

I think I'll wait for the core members to comment. If you can't do so within a reasonable time (say a few days or a week after the last member commented) it's your responsibility to tell everyone to go on without you so the thread doesn't get bogged down. Deal?

We're waiting on you, Sae.

edited 14th Nov '10 10:05:42 PM by arks

Arks: Part of the reason I was hesitant to join this thing was because I was afraid it would turn into a competition about who has the most varied tastes in music, or who can appreciate more music.

I don't think anyone's trying to compete over who can appreciate the most.

As for your other concern, just post what you like, or what you find interesting. That's the entire point of this club really. That, and opening dialogue, but if you know a lot of people within a small field, I still want your contributions.

And one of my future album suggestions is going to address another possible concern.

Also, related, I wish Lord Necron were still posting here. I'd like an openminded metalhead on the thread because I just recently started getting into metal and don't know much about it.

edited 14th Nov '10 10:03:31 PM by arks

I know, I'd just rather the e-peen go unmentioned.

Okay, then. It's probably going to go that way for me, though. I've already got a long list of albums I want to put forth. Just need to decide on the order. They're all albums I picked out through a sweep of my playlist independant of what other albums I've chosen.

Maybe we need a mission statement. The way I view the club it's something like this:

(In order of importance)

1. To encourage open discussion about music and musical tastes.
2. To foster exploration and discovery of music for the members
3. To help members gain a better awareness of their own musical tastes.

Through the albums we listen to and the discussion that results, we allow members to examine their tastes, biases, and understanding. Members should be encouraged to not only know whether they like a certain song/album/artist/genre/style but why they like or dislike a song/album/artist/genre/style. Through exploration and discussion, we may be able to isolate the elements that make good music, and be able to better explain what we like and predict elements that will be appealing to us. This will help in finding new music, recommending music to friends, and talking about music with your peers.

Other topics that may come up:

• Personal philosophies relating to music
• Listening habits
• Part vs. Whole
• Reactions to unfamiliar elements/genres/styles.

That last one is a question I'm interested in. Often the reaction to unfamiliar styles is discomfort. Can that be turned into acceptance. Is the best way to acclimate yourself to a new musical experience to dive right in and immerse yourself or do you start at the fringe and move your way toward the center like a sperm? Oddly enough, with my experience, immersing myself worked better. Bands that converted me to new genres were often so different from what I was used to it took many, many listens to fully appreciate what they were doing. By the time I understood I was already hooked. I do know, however, that complete immersion can often be scary.

Tl;dr (I love how the site automatically changes that) I think about music a lot, and I may be a bit too passionate about this thread.

edited 14th Nov '10 11:02:35 PM by arks

Sounds good. If you weren't overly enthusiastic, I suppose you wouldn't have taken over. So that's a good thing.

Too passionate is good, I too can get too passionate about my fave topics

Anyways, I'm here on weekdays, but not on weekends. Whenever a new album gets chosen on weekend, you guys have to wait 'til Monday. But that shouldn't mean more than 1-2 days obviously, so I still consider myself an active member.

Also, related, I wish Lord Necron were still posting here. I'd like an openminded metalhead on the thread because I just recently started getting into metal and don't know much about it.

I was having some problems with my computer a while back (to do with downloading), and in the process I threw off my "album-listening algorithm". I decided that I would wait until the second rotation to take part again; I'll simply listen to the other albums from the first rotation at a later point.

I still haven't decided on an album to recommend for the second rotation, but it'll most likely be a metal one, since I'm only uploading albums that I have a physical copy of, and most of the albums I physically own are metal. If you give me an idea of what metal you've already heard and like, I could choose something from my collection accordingly.

@arks: I wanted to react to one of your points: How do I get to like new genres?

For me the key element is to listen to something I consider good in that genre. It sounds simple, and it is. For example, here is how I came in contact with my fave genre, alternative/electronic: In 2003 I watched MTV 2 and heard the song Special Cases by Massive Attack. It immediately grabbed me, then I listened to all the albums by MA, then I found many more artists who are also in this genre. In this case, my hook was that I heard my first alternative/electronic track that grabbed me.

So in short: if you want me to like a genre, just give me something that grabs me from it. That's why I don't really consider myself a genre person. If a piece of music is good, it can be in any genre.

Yep I know that the concept of "good music" is not really an usable term for you guys, so I'll keep on thinking how to put it better...

Okay, I was introduced to metal through mathcore (which led to metalcore) and progressive, so most of the bands I listen to are from those styles. However, I am looking to expand my understanding through other styles to see what sticks.

Artists I like: Machine Head, Killswitch Engage, Messhugah, Dillinger Escape Plan (especially Miss Machine), Fall of Troy, Most Mike Patton stuff (so I guess the metal groups would be Faith no More and Fantomas), Curl up and Die, Dream Theater.

(Most likely doesn't count): Nine Inch Nails, Evanescence, Mars Volta.

I've also got some of The Locust, Opeth, and Rush which I do listen to, and Nonpoint, and Shinedown (Shinedown I guess counts as my first metal album, but it didn't get me to try to find more from the genre). I also have lots more metalcore and mathcore (artists I haven't mentioned: All Shall Perish, As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red, Carbomb, I Killed the Prom Queen, Fear Before, Throwdown, Ion Dissonance, Poison the Well)

After reading the Metal thread in Music (and resisting the near constant urge to tell xexyzl to shut the fuck up already) I added a few artists to my search. (meaning I don't know what I think of them yet, but a visit to youtube seems promising)

• Protest the Hero
• At the Gates
• Enslaved
• Blind Guardian
• Electric Wizard
• Acid King
• Horde
• Sybreed

It might also be telling to see what artists I skipped over, though I didn't check out every artist name I came across.

Any sarcastic comments about my tastes will be met with indifference. (I still think belittling another person for their musical taste is rather low).

@ Sati: yeah, the idea of good music is pretty useless by itself. I have found certain qualities that contribute to whether a musical piece is seen as good.

• The hook (what you remember, or are able to hum after listening to it)
• Form/Structure (The order that melodic ideas are put in and how well they transition from one to the other)
• Uniqueness (and familiarity. The question is how new vs familiar a piece should be (even if a piece of music is like a hundred other pieces of music, if this is the first you heard which is like that it will still sound unique))
• The line (this covers flow and shape. A line can be put together well and still not be a hook)
• Interplay of elements (while the line and form cover the more horizontal aspect, this covers the vertical)

From what you said, it sounds like the most important part of a musical piece for you is the hook. For me, the initial interest comes from the line and interplay of elements, and a certain piece of music enters my favorites through structure and form.

How about other people? Are there more categories to add? Where do you think your tastes lie?

Oh, conventional music evaluation...

I'm synesthete, and the music that I generally like supplies me with exotic and/or nonexistant colors

There's a lot more detail to it than that, and there is some structure, but I think it would be hard to put it into words.

edited 15th Nov '10 11:11:43 AM by Solstace

^^I think my appreciation of music stems equally from all those factors. It just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Sometimes I want something with a really catchy hook, never mind whether there's any depth to it, and sometimes I want something that does have a lot of interplay but is maybe more subtle, and sometimes I want to listen to something that's put together in a really unusual or experiment way, and so on and so forth.

I'm still not really sure why I like the things I do and don't like certain other things. Especially when it seems like I should like a certain band because they have a lot in common with other bands I like, but for some reason I end up not caring for it.

^I didn't know you were a synesthete. That's cool. And makes sense considering the things you like listening to. Damn, being able to see it must be something else, man. I'm kind of jealous.

edited 15th Nov '10 11:15:05 AM by Zudak

You're jealous of me, and I'm jealous of people like Duke Ellington who see texture and shape in addition to color

edited 15th Nov '10 11:18:25 AM by Solstace

There really are a lot of different kinds.

I'm aware of that. It's really interesting stuff.

I think someone on IRC mentioned a kid in their college tasting things when he heard words, and people started trolling him with the word "tree" to force him to taste watermelon

For me, conventional music evaluation is theory. If you want I can talk music theory. I've been kind of avoiding it because I'm one of the few that finds it interesting (even among people that make their life music). What I'm doing here is more musical psychology and philosophy. I'm looking at how music is perceived and what contributes to like.

edited 15th Nov '10 11:25:25 AM by arks

Music theory can only go so far when describing the appeal or lack thereof in music. So I agree that it should generally be avoided.

edited 15th Nov '10 11:26:34 AM by Solstace