MetaChat - Music You Should Like But Don't

Billy Joel. Not that I feel I should like his music, but I simply can't understand how he ever became popular. Oh and Norah Jones. Fucking hell, that horrible voice singing deathly dull songs. Fortunately her popularity has waned somewhat but for a while there you couldn't enter any shopping or eating establishment without hearing her. I had to walk around with my fingers in my ears going "LALALALALALA!!!!". Conversation was difficult.

posted by nomis 04 April | 00:41

I like U2 up to The Unforgettable Fire. Can't listen to anything after. Hate Bork with a passion. Can only listen to the Beatles one song at a time. Same with R.E.M.

posted by arse_hat 04 April | 00:43

nomis, Norah Jones = 3rd rate country singer trying to be a 3rd rate jazz singer.
but her dad is still cool!

posted by arse_hat 04 April | 00:54

I feel kind of sorry for famous musicians' children. They always seem to turn out talentless. Except for Steve Miller of course :)

posted by nomis 04 April | 00:59

I'm with you, fenriq. I don't like U2 or Elton John.

(I love Norah Jones's voice, though.)

posted by mudpuppie 04 April | 01:01

Tom Waits.
and re: Norah Jones: I once listened to a CD of hers and came away thinking it was just one godawfully long song.

posted by dhruva 04 April | 01:01

(I also love Tom Waits. Heh.)

posted by mudpuppie 04 April | 01:04

"Except for Steve Miller of course"
Dude had Les and Mary teachen' him chords.

posted by arse_hat 04 April | 01:12

I, too, cannot stand Bjork. CAN.NOT.STAND. Thank god I am not alone. Thank god for MeCha!! (But I must stand up as one of those people who loves Tom Waits with deep and abiding adoration.)

posted by scody 04 April | 01:28

+++scody
---bork bjork bork
+++Tom Waits

oh did I say +++scody ?

posted by arse_hat 04 April | 01:38

Bjork evokes a good period of my life and I dig some of her music (mostly her Sugarcubes stuff).

Tom Waits is good drinking music or maybe he's good sobering up music.

And I too like Norah Jones.

posted by fenriq 04 April | 01:44

Yeah Tom Waits is one of those I would classify as I-Want -To-Like-But-Can't

posted by dhruva 04 April | 01:54

Recent: Neutral Milk Hotel - everyone I know who likes them has such great taste in music, but I just haven't gotten the NMH tip.

Longterm: The Grateful Dead - whatever that magic is, it's entirely lost on me, despite years trying to see the light and with some expert assistance as well.

posted by Frisbee Girl 04 April | 05:19

Frank Sinatra. What a phenomenal talent. What a jerk. When I hear him sing all I can think is: Jerk. It completely poisons the experience. He's not the only great talent who was ever a jerk but he's the only one whose jerkiness, for me, completely obscures his talent. It's like a jerkular eclipse.

posted by timefactor 04 April | 05:31

I just don't get the idea of music I "should" like. Why should?

posted by Wolfdog 04 April | 05:34

I second Frank Sinatra. It's weird but every time I hear his voice I have an image of mobsters beating the shit of someone with iron bars. How romantic.

As has been well recorded around here I struggle a lot with Bob Dylan. The songs are great when they're done by other people, but that voice of his is awful. And then the harmonica that sounds like someone raping a goose - jeesh.

I do think, even though it may sometimes seem shallow, it's just impossible to get over a voice that presses all the wrong buttons. You can listen to Trout Mask Replica a hundred times and eventually it's twisted logic may click, but if you don't dig the voice it'll never work.

I guess that's the beauty of music: you can analyse it as much as you like but in the end it all comes down to gut feelings. And if it disagrees with your gut then no intellectual debate is going to persuade you to eat it.

posted by dodgygeezer 04 April | 06:42

REM (I've started getting into the older stuff, say ending with "One I Love"), Nirvana, The Beatles (though I don't think I should, but anyway), Elvis, the Rolling Stones, most punk (including the Ramones), most anything recorded after 2001...

I could do this for hours, but I won't.

I second Dylan, Sinatra, and Tom Waits.

posted by Eideteker 04 April | 07:07

I'm unable to connect to most anything that's instrumental except the most powerful of songs and feel guilty for it, except in the case of soft jazz. I refuse to feel bad about not connecting with soft jazz. How can one connect to something with no soul at all?

posted by jmhodges 04 April | 07:14

All the "cool" indie bands I never hear on the radio. My tastes are middlebrow, I'm OK with that, I like what I hear on the radio. I don't have the energy to research bands playing at little dive bars.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 04 April | 07:19

I may be driven out of town by an angry mob, but I really don't like the entire genre of music that lolls about under the rubric 'indie rock'. Most of it is catchy and tuneful, and I know a lot of people who track every band and release, but I find it listenable and then just as immediately forgettable.

posted by Miko 04 April | 07:22

I'd suggest that like anything else, there's a 10% cream layer of indie music (which is also subjective to an extent). It's possible you just haven't been exposed to the right music for you.

Is that exactly the answer you expected from me? =D

Have you heard the freely downloadable album from Harvey Danger? It took me a few listens to get into, but I'm digging it now. But then, I've been a fan since Flagpole Sitta. This album's different; mostly piano rather than guitar. Hell, it's free; give it a few spins.

posted by Eideteker 04 April | 07:31

I'm with wolfdog.

posted by mike9322 04 April | 07:37

Tori Amos. A lot of my friends are into her music, but all it makes me want to do is change the station.

posted by sisterhavana 04 April | 07:54

Wolfdog, Mike - I think it has to do with artists that are critically acclaimed or have stood the test of time or that people just won't shut up about, and you just ain't seeing it.

I'll say dancehall and go-go. Both could be so awesome, but with few exceptions they often don't cut it for me. It usually is a good sign that I should just make it myself.

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 08:07

The Arcade Fire. Ugh. One of few intensely popular bands where I completely and utterly fail to see the appeal, rather than just fail to catch it.

The Beatles. Historically and culturally important, yes. At all interesting to me, no. I've never heard a Beatles song I'd care to hear again—not that I find them objectionable, just boring.

I want to consider myself a fan of Ani DiFranco, but while I do enjoy about half her repetoire, I can't stand the other half.

posted by Zozo 04 April | 08:09

Whenever I think about music I'm supposed to like, I think about the person (or people) who suppose that I like it, and I end up hating them for their pushiness, join-join-join conformity, and childish need for their own opinions to be validated. "We" like nothing at all. I, however, like lots of stuff.

And as far as pity for children of great musicians, no goddamn way. They get recorded no matter what, and the machine loves them because they're the spoor of marketing gold. So if they suck, fuck 'em.

posted by Hugh Janus 04 April | 08:36

I'm the only person in the wrold who likes rock and pop but never got into Led Zep.

I should like Neil Young too, and I do... everything but his voice.

posted by shane 04 April | 08:47

I heard a Norah Jones album played at a wedding reception... and we all nearly fell asleep into our dinners. Snooze city.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 04 April | 08:48

OK, Eideteker, I downloaded the Harvey Danger album.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 04 April | 08:54

I just downloaded a few Kinks albums last week, but I quickly purged almost all of it from my rotation.

My despite for BB King has quickly alienated the few friends my age that have tried to connect with me by beginning to get into the blues.

And I always thought that I didn't like the Beatles enough, but it looks like I'm a fanboy compared to some people here.

And, of course, I'll add to the love pile-on for Waits.

posted by mullacc 04 April | 09:02

I second the Led Zepplin and the Rolling Stones, and I'll raise you a Pink Floyd. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I'm telling you, I listen to Pink Floyd and I hear evil.

posted by Miss Bitchy Pants 04 April | 09:23

Shane - you must have a lot of Led built up in your system! How do you get it out?

seconding the BB King thing. ugh. Nowhere near as good as Blueshammer.

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 09:23

I second the Led Zepplin and the Rolling Stones, and I'll raise you a Pink Floyd. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I'm telling you, I listen to Pink Floyd and I hear evil.

posted by Miss Bitchy Pants 04 April | 09:24

Eideteker, I'm liking this Harvey Danger album! Woo woo!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 04 April | 09:31

See, that's what I need- someone who will tell me good albums to listen to. One album at a time. One new album every, oh, month or so. Any more and my brain might blow.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 04 April | 09:34

Yay Harvey Danger! :D

posted by Zozo 04 April | 09:44

TPS: that's how I started enjoying indie music. I listened to a big mess of it, and it was just a bunch of slightly whiny stuff. Then I somehow got into one album. And about 4 months later another album, and another one about 3 months after that.

posted by agropyron 04 April | 09:50

I don't like most reggae, except for Jimmy Cliff. I know it's not really all the same, but it sounds that way to me. Don't like the Grateful Dead. I like to tell Deadheads that my favorite Dead song is "Touch of Grey." Hate Jimmy Buffet and Steve Miller. Never got into Stevie Ray Vaughn.

posted by goatdog 04 April | 09:53

The band you think sucks is my favorite band.

posted by sarah connor 04 April | 10:06

Almost all Jazz except Mingus and some big band stuff. Unless it's live, then it's almost all good, unless it's got a woman singing in a torchy goofy way, then I hate it again. Avant Rock, cannot hang at all. Mars Volta and that, furgggghh!

posted by Divine_Wino 04 April | 10:15

sarah - your favorite band is the Spin Doctors?

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 10:15

Well first off the obvious: The Cure and the Smiths. They both give me hives and since many people of otherwise impeccable tastes have raved about them, I've tried to find the appeal and just can't. Same goes for Arcade Fire. I just don't get it.

posted by jonmc 04 April | 10:22

Eideteker, I'm liking this Harvey Danger album! Woo woo!

See, that's what I need- someone who will tell me good albums to listen to. One album at a time. One new album every, oh, month or so. Any more and my brain might blow.

Stick with me, kid. I'll cram your brain full of awesome.

My tastes are different from a large portion of the population (MeCha and otherwise), and I'm a bit of an iconoclast (first it was popular bands suck, then indie became popular). However, if I get to know a person and their tastes, I'm usually pretty good at suggesting music they might like. My dream radio MeCha set is one where I get to play a song you've never heard for each of you, with about a 75% success rate.

posted by Eideteker 04 April | 10:28

jon: It took me forever to get into the Cure. I'm still iffy on the Smiths. The Cure song that did it for me was Close to Me (can't resist the handclapping beat). That, and seeing them live (almost completely by accident). Seeing bands live often makes me a fan, if the energy's there between the fans and the band. Also helps if there's a cute girl at the concert (particularly if she's the one dragging you there).

posted by Eideteker 04 April | 10:33

I probably should like Magnetic Fields/Stephen Merritt, but I can't. His voice is to monotonal to me -- which is probably why I don't like Morrissey, either.

posted by me3dia 04 April | 10:39

goatdog - check out The Congos maybe.

eide - the production on Close to Me is so badass. Why can't all pop be this good?

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 10:45

Jazz. No plot, and I just can't get interested. I went to see Herbie Hancock a couple years ago with a good friend and it was torture. Afterwards my friend was all happy and glowing, saying "Wasn't it great to hear some music without a guitar or vocals for once?" and the whole time I'd just been thinking, "God, if only there was a singer and a guitar player, this stuff might be bearable."

posted by mygothlaundry 04 April | 10:54

Bruce Springsteen--a hugely overrated hack, a fakey performer who embodies rock critic's fantasies of the common man. Bryan Adams pretending to channel Woody Guthrie.

Now I have to leave before Jonmc hunts me down and kills me.

posted by LarryC 04 April | 11:10

Jazz. No plot, and I just can't get interested.

Well, some jazz meets that description, but this album might cure you of that impression.

posted by jonmc 04 April | 11:10

yeah, but that "uh love supreme" chant is so annoying.

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 11:26

Free jazz (starting in about the 70s?) is a lot different from earlier jazz. We listened to Miles' Quintet doing variations on "Bye Bye, Blackbird" in class yesterday and it was so fun! I never got into jazz (my dad was the only black guy in Washington Heights listening to prog) but I can definitely see why people like it. It's a lot freer than classical but every bit as smart.

I never listened to jazz records when I was a kid, but I'm finding out I've always done jazz variations on songs in my head. And no, it's not for everyone, but understanding more of the theory helps me understand why it's so awesome. Then again, there are times when you just want a beat to move your butt. Jazz is for swinging, rock is for head-bobbin'. Use as directed. Consult your local doctor of musicology if a rash develops.

posted by Eideteker 04 April | 11:26

The Grateful Dead. Really cannot get into that stuff.

posted by JanetLand 04 April | 11:34

I hate salsa music, but that may have more to do with the people I know who like salsa more than the music itself.

It's almost the same with big band/swing, but I got into that music long before there were a bunch of hipsters around to fuck it up for me.

Ani DiFranco? Tori Amos? Can't stan' 'em.

posted by black8 04 April | 11:43

(my dad was the only black guy in Washington Heights listening to prog)

Heh. It always seemed that way, but most serious music heads I know branch out in all directions, and black guys are no different. My buddy Kevin said that his crew on Chicago's South Side were into Sly, Funkadelic, the O'Jays...and Black Sabbath and Grand Funk and I've known countless guys like him over the years.

I hate salsa music, but that may have more to do with the people I know who like salsa more than the music itself.

Dude, you need to listen to some of the later SalSoul type stuff like Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria where there's more of an R&B and Rock influence. That shit cooks.

And some of the jazz-haters shout check out some of the mid-70's fusion. Fusion did become ridiculous after awhile, but the best of it-Billy Cobham, Miles, Larry Coryell, John McLaughlin- is excellent and appeals to rock fans.

posted by jonmc 04 April | 11:47

Well, my abiding hatred for the Beach Boys has been well documented here. It's likely because of my aversion to high voices. Tori Amos has the high voice PLUS the super-earnestness that I also can't stand, so I'm with those hating on her. And jam bands...lordy how I hate the jam bands.

posted by jrossi4r 04 April | 12:16

Yeah, I hate Tori Amos too - she's like a poor man's Kate Bush. I also can't stand Fiona Appel or Ani DiFranco, and I've tried hard, but failed, to like kd lang.

posted by mygothlaundry 04 April | 12:18

Well first off the obvious: The Cure and the Smiths. They both give me hives and since many people of otherwise impeccable tastes have raved about them, I've tried to find the appeal and just can't.

I hate the Cure so deeply that I actually have a sort of visceral little fit when they come on the radio or on a jukebox in a bar -- I start waving my hands around and go "ah! ah! ah!" like I'm being burned and someone has to change the station or I have to stick my fingers in my ears till it's over. jesus GOD I hate them SO FUCKING MUCH.

The Smiths I just shrug off, though over the years I've developed a tolerance for "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." And there's one Morrissey song that someone put on a mix CD for me once that I liked, but I can't remember what it is. Speaking of which, remind me the next time I see you to tell you the story of how I inadvertantly insulted Morrissey at a bar once (the Cat & Fiddle, to be precise) to the point that he left in a huff.

posted by scody 04 April | 12:23

I inadvertantly insulted Morrissey at a bar once

Not only gorgeous, but heroic, too.

*swoons*

Also, add Dashboard Confessional and any and all 'emo' to the list of music I just don't get. Oh it's 'emo,' because it's 'emotional?' Oh, wow, just like every other fucking genre!

posted by jonmc 04 April | 12:27

Van Morrison.

posted by go dog go 04 April | 12:27

It's possible you just haven't been exposed to the right music for you.

I don't know, I mean, I help run a little community radio station and so I end up hearing a ton of this stuff, including music that fans put in the 10%.

There are a few bands I like listening to, but none whose music I have been motivated to pay for. I just don't go for most of it.

posted by Miko 04 April | 12:28

I'm with Wolfdog and mike9322. I either like music or I don't. I have no doubt (heh) that my music taste is boring to most of you, but that's your problem.
:^)

posted by deborah 04 April | 12:50

Dave Matthews Band. I'd rather chew off my own lips than listen to them.

Then again, I don't think I should like them, but it's always amazing to me the number of people that do.

posted by gaspode 04 April | 12:55

(oh, and a belated +++arse_hat for being on the same TOM WAITS YES, BJORK NO page.)

posted by scody 04 April | 13:06

Oh yeah, you can add me to the long line of people that hate the Cure and the Smiths and Morrissey. Whiny pathetic, poof-pop crap.

posted by fenriq 04 April | 13:18

Dave Matthews Band is music for people who don't really like music.

See, now that everybody (at least in the US) has a stereo and lots of folks have an internet connection, it's just not okay not to like music. So you run into people who own nothing but a DMB cd, along with that REM album with the religion song on it and maybe some recent U2 or Madonna's greatest hits. These people don't like music, but know that they'd be ostracized if they ever said so. So they play along.

It's to bad that it's these people to whom the RIAA caters (or that it's these people the RIAA manipulates the most).

If you like these bands/albums (and no others) I've probably just insulted you. That's okay. I'm a big asshole. And you probably wouldn't like Magma or Big Bill Broonzy or Otomo Yoshihide anyway.

I'm on a roll today.

posted by Hugh Janus 04 April | 13:52

"Poof-pop". Heh. I love The Smiths.

But I cannot stand the Ramones, mostly because of just how worshipped they were/are. I don't like stupid, but I loathe, to an extreme, faux-stupid. And this is why jonmc and I will always have to raise a glass to each other and agree to disagree. (Of course, faux-smart is even more annoying, but I digress.)

And whoever said that Dylan's harmonica playing sounds like the rape of a goose? Well played sir, well played.

Hugh! Magma! RAWK!

It makes me cringe when Tori Amos does that writhing around on the piano bench thing, and I can't stand how mannered her singing is sometimes... but I want to like her, I really do. I just cannot.

Bjork, on the other hand... mmmmm, Bjorky goodness.

Of course, all this is being said by somebody who's preparing to drop a couple of grand to go and see Radiohead play eight shows in four small venues, so take with the appropriate grain of salt.

posted by jokeefe 04 April | 14:29

I don't like stupid, but I loathe, to an extreme, faux-stupid.

I know plenty of people who've met the bro's and they all tell me that the lowbrowness is completely unaffected. They really are that way. And rock and roll always needs big dumb fun.

posted by jonmc 04 April | 14:34

Radiohead

There you go. "Karma Police" is ok, but really Ok Computer is just a third-rate Pink Floyd ripoff and how it ever got to be proclaimed a work of genius is beyond me.

I could also do without all grunge ever, Nirvana inlcuded. It was my generation and trust me Kurt Cobain was not the voice of dick. Hard to be the voice of young people when you, when you lower yourself to be coherent at all, regurgitate bland old hippie-isms that were said better 30 years earlier (oh and smashing your instruments? oh so fresh and daring)

I dont feel I am supposed to like this stuff, because I only like stuff I like. But this is stuff a lot of people like that I dont get.

posted by drjimmy11 04 April | 15:00

and in general, anyone who tries to pass off their inability to write a melody or hook or a coherent lyric as "artistic" (c.f. grunge)

Being bad at music doesnt make you good at music. Being good at music makes you good at music.

posted by drjimmy11 04 April | 15:03

And rock and roll always needs big dumb fun.

And I wish you to always have buckets and buckets of it, jon. Sincerely.

For me, the words "dumb" and "fun" just don't go together. And it's not that I'm such a refined intellectual that I just can't lower myself to that level [/sarcasm attempted]; it just doesn't tickle my funnybone. What can I say?

posted by jokeefe 04 April | 15:28

I dunno. It just surprises me that a person such as yourself, who obviously can appreciate the delights of the vulgar and lowbrow, can't dig the pure goofy fun (NTm, the much need return of rock and roll to the subject matter of meeting girls at the 7-11, and slapping infants) that the Ramones (and Dictators) epitomize.

For me, the words "dumb" and "fun" just don't go together

What about stuff like Louie Louie, Wooly Bully, Rama Lama Ding Dong...etc, etc. All dumb as hell, but oh so fun to listen to...

posted by jonmc 04 April | 15:44

Whoa, whoa, whoa, right there, sir! "Wooly Bully" is not dumb.

posted by Hugh Janus 04 April | 15:59

Another cheer here for Magma! I heard their Live album for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it bwew my wittle bwain.

but i also love the ramones and rappy mcrapperson (okay, "love" might be too strong a word here). Where would "smart" music be without "dumb" music, and vice versa? It's all so completely necessary to me.

posted by Hellbient 04 April | 16:09

Ah, I'll never forget hearing Magma Live for the first time, back in 1977. My mind was also blown, in the best way.

A waterbed and hash were involved, but I should say no more.

posted by jokeefe 04 April | 17:50

All the "cool" indie bands I never hear on the radio. My tastes are middlebrow, I'm OK with that, I like what I hear on the radio. I don't have the energy to research bands playing at little dive bars.
I'm with you there, except that I like nothing I have heard on the radio in the past 10 years (well, almost nothing). I have tried to get into the Indie thing, but I think I need to hear things a few times before I can like them and most Indie stuff I hear doesn't make me want to listen again.

Also, Frank Zappa. I know he is right in the middle of all that stuff that I do like, but I just can't bring myself to, despite repeated listenings. I am even listening to "Directly from my hear to you" right now, having reached F in my bid to subject my podmates here at work to all 2082 tracks on my iPod, in alphabetical order by artist. For some reason, I feel like I have failed by not liking him.

posted by dg 04 April | 22:12

Shit, I'm from tha 410 and I can't take Zappa. No failure at all. His songs don't please my ears, and if it's all about the lyrics, I'd just as soon read poetry.

posted by Hugh Janus 05 April | 07:47

Huh. There you go, dg and Hugh; you guys finally made me think of one to add to this. Ditto on the Zappa. Also, my husband nearly drove me batshit insane one week playing The Illinois Enema Bandit (or whatever state it was - Illinois seems euphonic). So, triple ditto. Urrrgh. throws up a little... then a lot.

posted by taz 05 April | 07:56

yeah, Zappa was exactly who I was trying to think of when this question came up. Total respect, but nope, can't do it.

posted by Hellbient 05 April | 08:33

I suddenly remembered:

Ani DiFranco. I can't stand Ani DiFranco! And it's plagued me for life, because when people meet me they instantly assume, perhoas because I have been known to play the guitar and throw a bit of a girl-power vibe sometimes, that I must be in awe of Ani's startling originality, bravery, talent, looks, whatever. I have absolutely no interest in the woman or her music. I fault her nothing...I just find her stuff so, so irritatingly juvenile, and cranky.

posted by Miko 05 April | 14:36

I respect Zappa but can't listen to him for more than one or two songs.

I can't stand Tori Amos or Ani DiFranco, but I don't think I "should" like them, so that's OK.

And don't even get me started on Norah Jones or the whole pap-filled genre of music they sell to yuppies at Starbucks.

posted by matildaben 05 April | 14:39

the whole pap-filled genre of music they sell to yuppies at Starbucks

Oh, that's got me breathing heavy. Oh yeah!

posted by Hugh Janus 05 April | 14:58

04 April 2006