obscure music?

People who like obscure music are dumb and that's why I only listen to Steely Dan and The Eagles.

"Liking" music is so passé anyways. It's all about the indifference now.

People who like obscure music are dumb and that's why I only listen to Steely Dan and The Eagles.

-- ian, Friday, April 11, 2008 4:44 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Well I only listen to ABBA!

Nothing but Beatles for me.

Of course, I never have fewer than 4 albums playing simultaneously in the same room. I'm just THAT into them.

I find that while some people who like obscure stuff or have absurd amounts of knowledge often hold it over people, sometimes they are just stating their interests plainly with no subtext and it's the insecurities of the person who doesn't know as much that caused said person to perceive some sort of arrogance. Not always, but sometimes.

-- dan selzer, Friday, 11 April 2008 20:35 (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

OTM

yes that can definitely be true

Someone accused me of being a snob for saying that I liked a band's first album best.

?? that's just random. what album?

Obscureness is no longer a property inherent to the music itself, dudes. No, it's about how you listen to it. Anything can be obscure if you listen with an appropriately obscure attitude.

My favorite Obscure record was the first, Gavin Bryar's The Sinking of the Titanic.

Obscureness is no longer a property inherent to the music itself, dudes. No, it's about how you listen to it. Anything can be obscure if you listen with an appropriately obscure attitude.

-- libcrypt, Friday, April 11, 2008 4:58 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

QFT; http://advancedtheory.blogspot.com/

My favorite Obscure record was the first, Gavin Bryar's The Sinking of the Titanic.

-- dan selzer, Friday, April 11, 2008 9:01 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

^^^ totally the best LP on Obscure by a long-shot. The other one I like is the Bryars and John White LP "Machine Music."

I have this

http://www.discogs.com/release/27671

I only have Obscure numbers 1,2,3 and 10, and I have 6, Michael Nyman's Decay Music on CD. Had high hopes for that one as I really like Nyman, especially his punkier early stuff, but that one was a bit too "obscure" for me.

I think I've only met one person who fits this cooler-than-thou stereotype. He was roommates with an ex-girlfriend of mine, and he worked at the Univ. of Chicago radio station. She once happened to mention that she liked minimalism, and he said, "Like what?" -- when she said Glass and Reich, he rolled his eyes. Really couldn't deal with that dude. (Weirdly, he later showed up in illustrated form in a Jessica Abel comic book.)

Oh wait, there was also the party I was at with Hstencil and a Pearl Jam song came on and I was like, "Isn't there something so great about hearing these early '90s songs, something kind of nostalgic?" -- and he glared at me and said "No." Haha!

hahahahahaha.

so annoying!

hstencil otm

miss that dude

Pearl Jam is terrible

It's no temple of the dog ;)

"Oh wait, there was also the party I was at with Hstencil and a Pearl Jam song came on and I was like, "Isn't there something so great about hearing these early '90s songs, something kind of nostalgic?" -- and he glared at me and said "No." Haha!"

I can totally imagine saying this.

suzymc

Yeah, I don't even like Pearl Jam, but dude was just so humorless and condescending about it!

That's because not listening to Pearl Jam is SERIOUS business.

what was like a big hit by Pearl Jam? i wasn't zoned into that at the time...

suzymc

Wow, did Hstencil just win the Turner Prize or something?

I should also note that it was like the second time I'd ever met him, so it seemed a little more douchey than it would've been if we were actually friends.

Tuo-mounter

"She once happened to mention that she liked minimalism, and he said, "Like what?" -- when she said Glass and Reich, he rolled his eyes."

This on the other hand is really pretty lame.

I would just like to say that hstencil was very nice the one time I met him which was something like 10 years ago

why is everyone talking like something very tragic happened to him??

He died of condescension.

I worked with hstencil for a while. We was tight; haven't talked to him in months though.

I heard gygax! killed him

it was a murder/suicide thing IIRC.

and as irritatingly snobbish as hstencil could be about music, he was still right 95% of the time.

He's a LOCAL BLOGGER now

Either way not liking Pearl Jam /= fetishing obscure music. It just means you don't like Pearl Jam.

i like the weird pearl jam songs, like BUGS.

does this make me an obscurantist?

maybe, maybe not

He could have disagreeing with the sentimental statement and not reflecting on Pearl Jam.

Well, what it meant was that he was the kind of guy who was comfortable making absolute statements of taste with people he barely knew, which I guess rubbed me the wrong way. (I mean, what if I was a big Pearl Jam fan?) But that's probably for another thread.

yeah there's no right or wrong, sure, nabisco, whatever you say. everything's "all good in the hood," yo.

-- hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, August 11, 2005 2:58 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

It sounds like this issue is mainly a problem at parties. The solution, therefor, would either be to not go to them or get so trashed that you're already more obnoxious than the obscurist. And, you know, everyone else...

Good tip.

the people who the most attitude are the ones who think that if it isn't well known or they haven't heard it before, there must be a reason for that and that reason must be is the music is lame.

-- omar little, Friday, April 11, 2008 8:34 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i really don't know about this

-- Surmounter, Friday, April 11, 2008 1:41 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

this type exists

This thread makes me smile.

I know a fair amount of people who think this is how I approach music, valuing the obscurity, but the real problem isn't that I like things that are obscure, it's that I'm cheap. When you hear me talking about that awesome Horslips album that I picked up (apparently not obscure in Ireland, but whatever), it's because it's two bucks. The reason that I look blankly when you're describing the latest Wilco album? The damn thing's at least $12 new. I only pay that much when I've seen a live band.

Also, something I like when talking about music is talking about it with people who are already familiar with it. I feel like obscurity often works against that, aside from specialized forums, since I feel like there's only so much you can say to someone who hasn't heard something before their eyes glaze over.

im pretty sure i can get u that new wilco for free if yr interested

Also, something I like when talking about music is talking about it with people who are already familiar with it. I feel like obscurity often works against that, aside from specialized forums, since I feel like there's only so much you can say to someone who hasn't heard something before their eyes glaze over.

This was a nice by-product of starting to listen to the radio again, five years ago, after ignoring it for so long: I could have conversations with co-workers or friends about Jay-Z or whatever.