Getting into Music
Sometimes, artists, albums, or even genres take a little while to grow on us. The expressions “getting into” or “acquiring a taste for” something can easily apply to this type of thing. As music listeners, we are attracted to the artists or albums that are immediately pleasing to ears, which is easy to understand. I, for one, have certain styles and artists that I prefer over others. I can also be a little closed minded at times towards something new or that did not immediately grab me. I have found, though, that the music that takes a while to grow on me, often seems to stick with me the longest.
I was recently watching a documentary called Before the Music Dies which brought up the point of getting into music. Most of the artists featured throughout the film were unique, and were attempting something different with their music. Surprisingly, –or not surprisingly, depending on how you look at it– many of the artists were not immediately received by an audience or given much of a chance by their record label. The radio is a huge force in determining which artists are popular and which are not, and it is no surprise that they favor artists who are immediately received and easy to latch on to. Unfortunately, “easy to latch on to” and “immediately received” often translates into bland and generic. One speaker on Before the Music Dies argued that if something doesn’t immediately grab our attention on the radio, we are apt turn the channel to something else. Although this idea may work for a business model, it turns music into a formula rather than artistic expression. Room to let music grow on us is nonexistent in this type of system. Not surprisingly, then, many unique and creative artists will never get heard on mainstream radio.
Unfortunately, there is not much room for finding different, “acquired taste” type music on the radio, but nonetheless, you will always come across it. A couple years ago I borrowed a Phish DVD from a friend. I had been getting into jam bands, but had not heard them yet. After putting in the DVD and watching some, I was kind of turned off by the band. They just weren’t my style, I guess. A little while later, while in the car with the same friend, we listened to a Phish cd, but this time I was absolutely blown away. Nothing had changed with me, but for whatever reason I was really into what I heard. We listened to each track in its entirety, and maybe the music just kind of sunk in that time. (The cd was also one of their earlier ones, and their style was a bit different then, but that is a totally different story…) Maybe it was my friends excitement about the cd that got me hooked, or simply the fact that I just gave it a chance. Whatever it was, I was in.
In another case, I was introduced to the band Gomez. If you have ever heard Gomez, you may understand what I mean when I say that some of their music simply has to grow on you. Well, Split the Difference was disk that required some “growth time.” In fact, it was not until I heard some of their later, more accessible songs played on the radio that I really began to like the band. After hearing those songs and the buying the cd from which they came (How we Operate), I wanted to revisit Split the Difference. How we Operate had some of the experimental elements of Split, but their was a larger balance between the experimentalism and accessibility. Hearing bits and pieces of the band’s earlier sound scattered throughout this later disk got me ready to go back to the more experimentally inclined earlier stuff. Like with the Phish cd, I still had to give the music a chance, and like that experience, I have a new appreciation for the band and style of music.
Finally, I come to U2. Its easy to look at U2 and see an immediately accessible, arena-ready band. However, there is another side to them. This side, in the form of War, took me a little while to adjust to. I have always been into The Joshua Tree because of its open, ambient sound and loose, drawn out melodies. The sense of atmosphere throughout the album just really drew me in. And with the resurgence of the band with their most recent two albums, I was quite familiar with their sound as of late. I was pretty into what I heard. As most people do, I sought out some more of their music to see what else I liked by the band. I came to War. Obviously, I knew the songs “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Years Day” but I had never heard anything else. I bought the cd ready to be enthralled. After a quick browse through the cd, however, enthralled I was not. (To be continued…)
