Best Ever Albums

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

LedZep — Fri, 6 Nov 2020 08:54:59 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/06/2020 13:54

craola wrote:

My first deep connection with music came when I was three years old. We lived in a double cup-de-sac. Not too many cars would come through, and there were kids in all of the houses on our side of the dead end, so we were always outside playing. One afternoon, I heard some music coming from a house in the other cul-de-sac, so I ventured that way and camped out on the porch. An older woman was in her living room playing a grand piano quite beautifully. I sat down, apparently out-of-sight from the neighbors, closed my eyes, and lost myself in the music. After some time, I heard voices - lots of voices - calling my name. Evidently, no one knew where I was, and there was a panic about me being kidnapped or something.

It wasn’t another two or three years before I heard a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1 for the first time and convinced my parents to sign me up for violin lessons. Those sweeping strings... I couldn’t get enough of them. There’s actually more to this part of the story that involves sibling humiliation or taunting of some sort or another, but that’s another story for another time. Long story short, my parents found a teacher for me and got that ball rolling.

For most of my childhood, it was all classical music. I grew up without a grandfather on either side, so Mr. Piazza, my violin teacher, filled that role for me. He was a lovely man, and I was quite fond of him. He had terrible Parkinson’s, but all traces of it used to vanish the moment the violin was under his chin. Music, it seems, had medicinal properties for him. He rented a studio in downtown Portland, and the studio next to his was rented out by his childhood friend Mary-Anne. She taught harp, but she called me into her office after every one of my lessons to offer me an Andes mint. Mr. Piazza died on my twelfth birthday. I abandoned birthday parties and classical music for a long time after that.

That's a great story, and I'm really sorry about Mr. Piazza.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

craola — Fri, 6 Nov 2020 02:39:02 GMT

Author: craola

Posted: 11/06/2020 07:39

My first deep connection with music came when I was three years old. We lived in a double cup-de-sac. Not too many cars would come through, and there were kids in all of the houses on our side of the dead end, so we were always outside playing. One afternoon, I heard some music coming from a house in the other cul-de-sac, so I ventured that way and camped out on the porch. An older woman was in her living room playing a grand piano quite beautifully. I sat down, apparently out-of-sight from the neighbors, closed my eyes, and lost myself in the music. After some time, I heard voices - lots of voices - calling my name. Evidently, no one knew where I was, and there was a panic about me being kidnapped or something.

It wasn’t another two or three years before I heard a recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1 for the first time and convinced my parents to sign me up for violin lessons. Those sweeping strings... I couldn’t get enough of them. There’s actually more to this part of the story that involves sibling humiliation or taunting of some sort or another, but that’s another story for another time. Long story short, my parents found a teacher for me and got that ball rolling.

For most of my childhood, it was all classical music. I grew up without a grandfather on either side, so Mr. Piazza, my violin teacher, filled that role for me. He was a lovely man, and I was quite fond of him. He had terrible Parkinson’s, but all traces of it used to vanish the moment the violin was under his chin. Music, it seems, had medicinal properties for him. He rented a studio in downtown Portland, and the studio next to his was rented out by his childhood friend Mary-Anne. She taught harp, but she called me into her office after every one of my lessons to offer me an Andes mint. Mr. Piazza died on my twelfth birthday. I abandoned birthday parties and classical music for a long time after that.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

BozoTyrannus — Thu, 5 Nov 2020 19:32:37 GMT

Author: BozoTyrannus

Posted: 11/06/2020 00:32

The only other way my music taste could have gone is less varied. I still like all the stuff I ever liked. My taste never "matured". I learned to play guitar by listening to Green Day and All American Rejects, and I still listen to them, albeit now mixed in with Ali Farke Toure, Frederic Chopin, Lianne La Havas, and etc.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

Spyglass — Thu, 5 Nov 2020 13:38:53 GMT

Author: Spyglass

Posted: 11/05/2020 18:38

Skinny wrote:

A person's taste in popular media is inherently and irrevocably intertwined with and dependent upon their unique life experiences. Without getting too "butterfly effect" here, any change in a person's life, particularly during their formative years, would likely have a significant effect on the music that they enjoy. What a person's parents or friends did or didn't listen to will have an impact - be that positive or negative - on what said person listens to. All of us here would have a different taste in music if events in our respective lives had panned out differently.

My dad loved punk and post-punk, reggae, soul and R'n'B, post-bop, and certain strands of the classic rock canon, but he also hated house and techno, hip-hop and grime, and metal. I take my love of Sade and Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan and Gregory Isaacs from the experiences I had listening to those artists growing up, but my dad also liked Oasis and The Jam and Joan Baez and Thin Lizzy, artists I have varying levels of respect or admiration for, but not artists I particularly care to listen to. My mom's taste in music was more limited, but I remember that car journeys with her involved Meat Loaf, Air Supply, and Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks, all things I can't stand, frankly. It doesn't mean that I don't look back on those car journeys fondly, but I'd have picked a very different soundtrack. The friends I made in school were into all sorts of things, but primarily contemporaneous indie rock, hip-hop and grime, and a little later dubstep and UK garage. At university, my housemate was super into doom and stoner rock. My fiancée enjoys country pop and turn-of-the-millennium R'n'B. One of best friends listens almost solely to New Order, Dave Berman, and Pavement. Another listens exclusively to reggae. My mate who I was out with last night is the only person I know who cares for Boosie or UGK or Kodak Black, despite both our misgivings, and so we often show one another our new rap discoveries. All of these people have affected my tastes, and (without sounding too arrogant) I would like to think my tastes have influenced theirs, for better or worse. But if my parents had never moved house when I was 11, or had picked one of the houses we looked at in a different neighbourhood, I likely would never have met these friends, and my tastes would have been impacted accordingly. I may not even be as passionate about music at all. If I hadn't taken that first pill at that UK garage rave when I was 15 or 16, I may never have developed the appreciation I have for electronic music. If I'd have missed the bus the day I sat next to another future friend and listened to Bad Brains on his CD Walkman, I wouldn't have gone home and researched American punk rock, which took me in all sorts of cool directions at a time in life when what I found was able to have a profound effect. If I hadn't visited Valhalla Records (now defunct) in Kilmarnock, on a whim because I was bored of my gran dragging me around charity shops, and subsequently picked up Wowee Zowee and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back at an age where they were both electrifying to me, and then listened to them both on repeat whilst I sat and logged hours and hours on Need for Speed: Underground 2, who knows when I would've found them and if they'd have even mattered to me by then. If any of these events - some major and some minor - had turned out different, then of course my taste in music could and likely would be unrecognisable from what it is now. Nothing exists in a vacuum.

Excellent post. You had a cool dad. Too bad he didn't enjoy hip hop and metal.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

LedZep — Thu, 5 Nov 2020 09:47:39 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 11/05/2020 14:47

Skinny wrote:

100% agree. It's interesting how most people here think differently. I'm certain that if my best buddy hadn't introduced me to Madvillainy and Illmatic, I wouldn't be a hip hop fan now. Or at least my hip hop journey would've been very different. If I hadn't heard Blackwater Park while being deep into prog rock, it's possible that extreme metal would never become appealing to me. Numerous other examples too. Not to even mention that my dad had a huge impact on me when I was younger, there's no way I would've been as big of a music fan without him. He introduced me to all of the music that I started with, from classic and hard rock to folk to alternative to singer/songwriter to punk to a whole load of different 90s stuff.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

Skinny — Thu, 5 Nov 2020 06:10:42 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 11/05/2020 11:10

A person's taste in popular media is inherently and irrevocably intertwined with and dependent upon their unique life experiences. Without getting too "butterfly effect" here, any change in a person's life, particularly during their formative years, would likely have a significant effect on the music that they enjoy. What a person's parents or friends did or didn't listen to will have an impact - be that positive or negative - on what said person listens to. All of us here would have a different taste in music if events in our respective lives had panned out differently.

My dad loved punk and post-punk, reggae, soul and R'n'B, post-bop, and certain strands of the classic rock canon, but he also hated house and techno, hip-hop and grime, and metal. I take my love of Sade and Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan and Gregory Isaacs from the experiences I had listening to those artists growing up, but my dad also liked Oasis and The Jam and Joan Baez and Thin Lizzy, artists I have varying levels of respect or admiration for, but not artists I particularly care to listen to. My mom's taste in music was more limited, but I remember that car journeys with her involved Meat Loaf, Air Supply, and Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks, all things I can't stand, frankly. It doesn't mean that I don't look back on those car journeys fondly, but I'd have picked a very different soundtrack. The friends I made in school were into all sorts of things, but primarily contemporaneous indie rock, hip-hop and grime, and a little later dubstep and UK garage. At university, my housemate was super into doom and stoner rock. My fiancée enjoys country pop and turn-of-the-millennium R'n'B. One of best friends listens almost solely to New Order, Dave Berman, and Pavement. Another listens exclusively to reggae. My mate who I was out with last night is the only person I know who cares for Boosie or UGK or Kodak Black, despite both our misgivings, and so we often show one another our new rap discoveries. All of these people have affected my tastes, and (without sounding too arrogant) I would like to think my tastes have influenced theirs, for better or worse. But if my parents had never moved house when I was 11, or had picked one of the houses we looked at in a different neighbourhood, I likely would never have met these friends, and my tastes would have been impacted accordingly. I may not even be as passionate about music at all. If I hadn't taken that first pill at that UK garage rave when I was 15 or 16, I may never have developed the appreciation I have for electronic music. If I'd have missed the bus the day I sat next to another future friend and listened to Bad Brains on his CD Walkman, I wouldn't have gone home and researched American punk rock, which took me in all sorts of cool directions at a time in life when what I found was able to have a profound effect. If I hadn't visited Valhalla Records (now defunct) in Kilmarnock, on a whim because I was bored of my gran dragging me around charity shops, and subsequently picked up Wowee Zowee and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back at an age where they were both electrifying to me, and then listened to them both on repeat whilst I sat and logged hours and hours on Need for Speed: Underground 2, who knows when I would've found them and if they'd have even mattered to me by then. If any of these events - some major and some minor - had turned out different, then of course my taste in music could and likely would be unrecognisable from what it is now. Nothing exists in a vacuum.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

EyeKanFly — Wed, 4 Nov 2020 12:34:40 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 11/04/2020 17:34

People need to keep in mind that the country/region someone grew up in and the language someone grew up speaking DEFINITELY impacted their taste in music. I was born in the US and only speak English. If I was born 200ish miles south I probably would've been listening to mostly Spanish-language music.

But I think more people here are thinking along the lines of "how did your parents' taste in music affect yours" and I gotta say that my Mom loved Rod Stewart and I can't stand him lol. Maybe I would like him if it wasn't all I heard on car rides growing up

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

guzguzgarbit — Wed, 4 Nov 2020 12:28:38 GMT

Author: guzguzgarbit

Posted: 11/04/2020 17:28

CA Dreamin wrote:

Applerill wrote:

“You eventually end up becoming yourself.”

Pretty much. I don't think one's music taste would have been "different", but there are several roads that could be taken that arrive at the same place. The difference is timing.

If you are immortal maybe. There is an overwhelming amount of music you'll never hear during your lifetime.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

Anonymous — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 11:07:59 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/03/2020 16:07

Yeahhhh kinda with most others here. I grew up fairly isolated (middle of the mountains - 45 minutes from your nearest grocery store type beat) and school was online. My parents didn't really have much love for music though my mom did get me into trip hop. So me getting into music was more of a self guided thing at least until I got to college.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

CA Dreamin — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 11:03:24 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 11/03/2020 16:03

Applerill wrote:

“You eventually end up becoming yourself.”

Pretty much. I don't think one's music taste would have been "different", but there are several roads that could be taken that arrive at the same place. The difference is timing.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

BARDAMU — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 09:25:33 GMT

Author: BARDAMU

Posted: 11/03/2020 14:25

indieshins wrote:

Applerill wrote:

“You eventually end up becoming yourself.”
-Problematic writer dude I wish I didn’t love :(

Had to google. Is this DFW? I also wish I didn't like his work, or that he'd been a better person.

I mean, the guy was very ill.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

indieshins — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 01:29:29 GMT

Author: indieshins

Posted: 11/03/2020 06:29

Applerill wrote:

“You eventually end up becoming yourself.”
-Problematic writer dude I wish I didn’t love :(

Had to google. Is this DFW? I also wish I didn't like his work, or that he'd been a better person. But hey, humanity amirite?

I don't think my music taste would have been different, though, as I grew up with parents who were musicians. I suppose I could have ignored their music in a fit of rebellion. But I've come to know more about certain types of music than either of them, so there you go. I did my own exploring. More interesting to me is realising that my friends actually have pretty good music taste, although perhaps not always very eclectic or experimental. I used to think of everyone in my generation as just liking mainstream pop, but then I found people my age who were into experimental stuff. Now I hear all sorts of great stuff from friends.

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

Applerill — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 22:51:10 GMT

Author: Applerill

Posted: 11/03/2020 03:51

“You eventually end up becoming yourself.”
-Problematic writer dude I wish I didn’t love 🙁

Re: Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

mickilennial — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 21:57:47 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 11/03/2020 02:57

not really

Ever think of how different your music taste could've been?

Spyglass — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 21:57:15 GMT

Author: Spyglass

Posted: 11/03/2020 02:57

As a child, I ended up with tons of 60's-80's radio as a kid and how that ended up shaping my opinions of modern music. I was annoyed with a lot of 90's and early 2000's music before I tried out some albums from the 2003 Rolling Stone Top 500. But I sometimes think that I likely would have never have gone to that list if I listened to my friends in school who didn't like "old people" music. If I had listened to the music my friends liked, how long would it have taken me to check out the Rolling Stone list? How long would it have taken me to get away from the "I only like modern music" mentality, and would I have ended up here? I can only say I'm glad I had 60's pop growing up.

I may not be alone thinking these things. A person's history with music is full of precious memories, and for things to have gone a different way could have meant that we may never have had memories like that.