Curing My Music Snobbery with "AM Country Radio Immersion Therapy"

[Oldrottenhead]

check out john prine, tho he writes predominantly "country" he writes great songs.

[Burtog]

nice slice of Americana.........


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC57z-oDPLs

[IanR]

I love country music as much as any other type of music.  Its like any other genre. 5% is great.  The rest is crap.

I like Country music too - there's good and bad in every genre.

I disagree. I don't think that any music is bad. It's all good. It's just that we all have different tastes, so what one person likes, another person will hate. I can't stand most of the new country music. But I don't think it's "bad" music. Millions of people love it so it must be good. It's just not for me. I do like a lot of the older country music though (Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Glen Campbell, Roy Clark, Skeeter Davis, Johnny Horton, etc.). When I was growing up in the sixties, the local pop and rock radio stations would include a fair bit of country as well as other genres in their playlists, and I liked a lot of the country music that they played. Not to the point that I'd buy any of their records perhaps, but I enjoyed listening when it came on the radio.

It's the same with any kind of art. Are there "bad" paintings? No, because no matter how awful a painting looks to me or you, there's always going to be a large number of people who think it's wonderful. There are countless paintings hanging in museums and galleries, worth ridiculous amounts of money, that I wouldn't pay two cents for. They just don't appeal to me. But that doesn't make them bad paintings. I've also seen some amateur paintings that I really liked a lot. It's the same with sculpture, films, literature, theatre, and any other form of art. It's all good, whether I happen to like it or not.


I think I'll add Classic Country to the list of festival suggestions for future consideration.

64 Guitars,

I don't want to sound like a lawyer but do you agree or disagree?  If its both, can I have some of what you were smoking at the time?   

[64Guitars]

64 Guitars,

I don't want to sound like a lawyer but do you agree or disagree?

I don't understand.   I thought I was pretty clear that I disagree with the description of any piece of music as "bad" or "crap". It's all good. There's a lot of music that I don't like, but that doesn't make it bad. All music is good, whether I like it or not.

Saying that I don't like a song, artist, or genre of music is quite different than saying it's crap. The latter implies that it's not fit for anyone to listen to. But the truth is that many people get a great deal of enjoyment from listening to music that I dislike. I think it's wrong to insult those people by saying that they're listening to crap just because my tastes are different than theirs. To each his own.

[Ted]

Saying that I don't like a song, artist, or genre of music is quite different than saying it's crap. The latter implies that it's not fit for anyone to listen to. But the truth is that many people get a great deal of enjoyment from listening to music that I dislike. I think it's wrong to insult those people by saying that they're listening to crap just because my tastes are different than theirs. To each his own.

Intellectually and philosophically, I agree with you, 64Guitars. But deep down in my snobbish heart, I believe there is music that's not fit for anyone to listen to. And sometimes it's so obvious that it's hard to remember that it is subjective.

My left and right brains are at war.

Music does not serve a single purpose, and there are multiple ways in which music can be bad: bad execution, bad in conception, and bad in intention, to name a few.

Those of us who are music creators are, ironically, detached from music in a particular way. We are more immune to the intentions and the manipulations of music. We can stand detached and think, I know what you're trying to do there, you sonofabitch. We may even think, I agree with what you are trying to do there, brother.

Listening to this AM country radio station makes this particularly clear. Many of the songs are mere formulaic regurgitations designed (in my estimation) to make people feel good about being anti-intellectual. That is a bad intention, in my opinion, and the music is also bad.

My (snobbish) preference is for music that challenges and elevates my human mind -- not music that tells me to stay in my place, and rewards me for doing so.

I can't pretend to be objective just because some people like certain music when I don't, anymore than I can be objective about people who are poisoning themselves with toxic food and drugs that deliver a short-term serotonin hit. Enriching The Poison Serotonin Industrial Complex.

Now that I think of it, the emotion I feel when I hear bad music is very similar to what I feel when I see the huge isle in my American supermarket dedicated to two-liter plastic soda bottles. The emotion is sadness and helplessness.

Good god, people actually consume this shit. I am so grateful that I know better.

FYI: It only takes two beers to get me to go on like that.

[Gnasty]

We agree to disagree and disagree to agree. I can get into some old Hee Haw episodes with Chet Atkins playing anytime.
This new country and pop music makes me want to slit my wrists though. What`s the difference between Katy Perry and Justin Bieber? Ask people that and they turtle.  It`s auto-tuning lip synch crap. It`s tween music.

Anyways, this video sums up the new country. Notice every guy sings the same redneck voice?? And those great lyrics too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WySgNm8qH-I

[Burtog]

We agree to disagree and disagree to agree. I can get into some old Hee Haw episodes with Chet Atkins playing anytime.
This new country and pop music makes me want to slit my wrists though. What`s the difference between Katy Perry and Justin Bieber? Ask people that and they turtle.  It`s auto-tuning lip synch crap. It`s tween music.

Anyways, this video sums up the new country. Notice every guy sings the same redneck voice?? And those great lyrics

Same redneck voices and there using vocoders in country music, The same has happened to country music as has happened to pop music in the UK, I blame Simon Cowell!

You'll have country boy bands next......................its happened already hasn't it?

[henwrench]

One of those well respected old blues guys (can't remember who) once said there are only two types of music...good music and bad music. Now this I can't agree with. Yes, there are only two kinds of music. Music you like and music you don't...

                                                     henwrench

[Geir]

Well both 64G and the resident Hen make some good points and as Ted so eloquently put it "Intellectually and philosophically, I agree with you". And I can't really find any arguments that hold up supporting anything else than that there's only music that I like and music I don't like. But that's maybe too simple too. Most 6 year old's that play a violin do not make "good" music, but when I heard my daughters play at that age it still evoked some positive feelings

I think, because music is magic, other rules apply than in the rest of the universe.

[IanR]

Of course there can be no objective measure of good music and bad music.  By definition, it can only be based upon your own personal preferences. I like some music and don't like other music.  In general, I like music, I'm interested in music and support others who are as well. I think most of us are saying the same thing.  So, I don't think that it makes you a snob to have music preferences  - as long as you are open minded.

Cheers,

Ian