Music Taste Turn-Offs

anyhow, last? probably prince or the beach boys. with the former, i have no interest in defending the man's weirdness and don't want said weirdness to reflect upon me. and the beach boys: i'm not going to assume that this individual is aware of anything beyond "kokomo" and therefore i'd rather they didn't think i like such treacle. but, on the other hand, what do i care what this person thinks? if this is someone who'd judge me solely on my music tastes, why do i want to be with them *anyway*? my odor is far more offensive than any of that anhyhow.

first? maybe the magnetic fields. the individual probably wouldn't know who they were and i could explain them and make myself seem real cool because i like this semi-obscure indie band. then she'd love me, oh yes.

last: the beta band.

first: the fall. maybe sonic youth or beat happening or the pet shop boys.

and i've never had any luck with a music fan. but of course it's better that way, no need to mix two great things right? it's like wine: the best red + the best white != the super wine. right?

What do I reveal last? The Beatles, for reasons not dissimilar to Fred's re. the Beach Boys. If there's one thing I *don't* want people I fancy to think, it's that I'm a classicist / consensual rockist (the opposite of what I am, it's just that I *do* like a lot of Beatles music) and that giveaway line could give so many wholly misleading impressions ...

Anyway, no to the Magnetic Fields if you're straight. Obscurity is not attractive, has been my experience. I'd lead with pop, because I'd have to get it out the way sometime - probably mention girl groups and glam rock and 80s Madonna rather than Britney. I'd leave out gangsta rap and Belle And Sebastian, though if I was going to mention one I'd make sure I mentioned both.

First comes whatever I've been last listening to, which would be the Feelies right now. Then some sort of complete opposite -- De La Soul, or maybe Roscoe Mitchell. But last? Either Magnetic Fields, or Built To Spill (or any other of those northwest type bands, Modest Mouse for ex.) -- because they're too well known and universally liked among the northern california crowd and are likely to send out the "wrong vibes".

And then I came back at her with Magnetic Fields. Oh dear. I now realize that I was being totally unoriginal and perhaps falsely tripping her gaydar. We had a good conversation and she wants to borrow some of my CDs, but then she didn't go home with me either, did she?

last: all the 80s junk i listen to when i'm home alone(look at me trying to deny the fact that i love them!), like the style council, early depeche mode etc.

I definitely wouldn't even mention the impressive collection of german hip hop, and generic australian indie i acquired during my early teens :-D

oops! hehe

Scenario One:

[Cue "Ooops, I Did It Again" in background]

Babe/Stud: Oh, I love this song!

You: Yeah, Max Martin's a genius.

B/S: Who's Max Martin?

You: Oh, he's the guy who produces all this sort of stuff.

B/S: (surprised) Gee, you sure know a lot about pop music!

You: Well I just reckon it all sounds really great. A lot of the pop in the top 40 is more interesting than rock music these days. Especially r&b.

B/S: (slowly) Oh, you mean like Destiny's Child?

You: (pause) What do you think of them?

B/S: I reckon they're excellent. I love "Say My Name".

You: (quietly sighing with relief) Too right. Have you heard of this guy called Timbaland?

B/S: No, who's that?

You: He makes most of the really great r&b songs, like the stuff for Aaliyah and Missy Elliot.

B/S: Haven't heard of her.

You: I'll make you a tape, and chuck on some other stuff too like Craig David and Kelis. They're great too.

B/S: Cool! Hey, I have a sudden and urgent desire to have children with you. What say we meet in my car in fifteen minutes...?

You: Sure! [you turn and hold out your Mentos to the camera, smiling cheekily. Cue Britney singing Mentos themesong over a slamming Max Martin backing track]

Last: My view that Wet Wet Wet's debut album, Popped In Souled Out, is a work of genius, has never until now ventured outside my house. The stigma created by the rest of their output would be too great a hurdle to overcome, even if they were to believe that I'm serious, and even if they did fondly remember Sweet Little Mystery, as all right-thinking peop

PS The last time I was asked by a female what my favourite album ever was, my reply - Don't Stand Me Down, Dexys Midnight Runners - was greeted with a look that fairly screamed: "you will never see me naked". Next time I think I'll give Lexicon Of Love a

Ones to avoid: any vague mention of vast genres ("er, lotsa jazz really - electronic stuff too"), which leaves you open to either complete switch-off (I think I'd do it if someone said 'opera'; if someone was a bit more specific, I might be intrigued), or exposure as a know-nothing dilettante ("oh, what about that Japanese Cannonball Adderley live set from '66? No? I thought you said you liked jazz?"; "So, when was the first time you did E?").

Absolutely, under no circumstances, would I mention Kate Bush.

Would I be a vapid person if I said that I'd mention a different band depending on what the girl likes?

From a male point of view, the question itself would appear to be a pure fantasy chat-up line. *No-one* picks their sexual partners by their record collections; or if they do, I wouldn't want to sleep with them.

NB. And as for answering 'the Magnetic Fields'!! Why?? You'll sound (a) like a wilful obscurantist and (b) like a miserable tosser. Which may be true, but you *really* don't want to be advertising it...

Fortunately, this was when Bizarre Inc's "I'm Gonna Get You Baby" was being played to death on the radio. Common ground was reached and the relationship worked. (Although in retrospect, I would not have told her about Insane Clown Posse the instant I found out about them).

1st: Radiohead, Sea and Cake

last: Public Enemy

I am by no means embarassed by liking PE, it's just that by mentioning PE, I automatically get termed as another suburban white boy who only likes PE and Snoop Dogg (which is far from the truth since I dig other rap acts (The Goats, Tribe, Black Eye Peas, Digable Planets, Pharcyde), detest Snoop Dogg and anything Dre relatd, and grew up on the streets) and claims to relate to the plight of the angry black man (I don't). Regardless, Chuck D is still my idol.

other possibly illustrative anecdotes:

the other night at a bar in my hometown i put 'black' by pearl jam, 'hot for teacher,' 'them bones' by alice in chains, and some other track on the jukebox. the singing along that ensued (my best friend was tending bar and we did duets), as well as my mini freakout over seeing soundgarden's 'jesus christ pose' on the vh1-playing tv above the bar, resulted in a nice chat with one of the bar's other patrons.

also i remember another (fairly recent) night at a(nother long island) bar which was completely saved by my discussion of 'surfin' m.o.d.' with some guy.

talking about the magnetic fields with someone you're hoping for potential involvement with could be seen as sort of dooming, in my opinion. 'hey! check out the pathos! and i know it we-- i mean, uh.'

(i am so totally marveling at the gender breakdown of responses in this thread, la la la.)

i usually start with "do you know sonic youth?" and work from there.

i usually leave the smiths for a while because they lead to a whole set of misleading associations. and anyway a surprising number of canadians haven't heard of them or, worse, have only heard "how soon is now?" on 80s night. and all of this applies to when i meet *anyone* and talk about music not just if i'm out to mack.

then, i made a great friend this summer and started with "it's sort of more 'out there' stuff, like, trancey and droney."

Kris.

The conversation goes something like this: "So what music do you like?" "Me. Oh. Ha, its funny you should ask that. There's been a message board conversation run by Tom about what you say in that situation." "So what do you say?" "Er. I haven't answered it yet. Don't know." "Do you like jazz?" "I like Jazz mags. Er - last albums I bought were Looper Up A Tree and the South Pacific soundtrack." "Oh."

Neither won nor lost - but I did manage to stall her so she revealed her hand first. And there I think you get the secret of this particular game.

Robin (favourite TSC song at the moment, "Party Chambers")

First: Probably something pretty generally known, so that you don't end up with the dreaded "Huh?" response -- the Pixies, Outkast, Madonna, Spiritualized, etc.

Last: Definitely the triumvirate of the Smiths, B&S, and Magnetic Fields. You might as well say "I'm a miserable bastard with no friends, unless you count the 137 cats in my apartment."

Oh, and by the way please don't think musical name dropping is a good way to impress someone. A guy I met at school last week made a total ass of himself talking about how he knows Kim Deal & Robert Pollard. So fucking what? It doesn't exactly change the fact he's a pretentious bore -- now he's just a pretentious name-dropping bore.

You don't even have to bring up this topic in a club because you can see what people dance to (and sing along to). It can be pretty damning evidence.

I like a rather eclectic mix, and a lot of peeps 'hate' some of the stuff I like. So, waht ???

Check out http://i-squad.com

You'll see Tweet, Kid Rock, Green Day, Reveille , Britney and well... just a ton of different artists. The diversity in music reflects the different tastes in music. BUT ~ it's all music !

Last - hrmmmm. There's very little I'm ashamed of, so it's more like I wouldn't talk about things that were so obvious that I wouldn't have to mention them. (Such as the whole girly pop thing, I mean, what is the point in telling people how much I love the Shangri-Las. Like they couldn't figure that out from the music that I make?)

when people ask me what i DJ i say "the B-52s, stuff like that", i actually don't have anything else that sounds very much like the B-52s but i think it gives them the right idea

Oh and don't tell indie girls at Trash that you're into rnb and garage thinking you're all alternative, they just laugh.

Least likely to mention: my love for Kelly Osbourne or T.A.T.u., but I still manage to work them into conversation.

hahaha! brilliant! but yeah these ppl are really obscure in their own country.

I don't discuss much regarding music to work colleagues but whenever it has come up I have come clean and have told 'em abt free jazz, improv stuff and so on and have explained some of the 'basics' to some ppl. some composition etc.

but i also can talk abt bands etc.

Her turnoffs as told to me, then: Eminem, Tool, Limp Bizkit and something else I forgot that I'm pretty sure I agree with.

I alienated my sister-in-law a little bit when I told her I didn't like Styx, and then she brought it up in the middle of a drunken party and it made me look like I hated fun! She cool though

of course, she likes styx, dude

I'd have a hard time forgiving a potential partner for liking overly earnest modern adult folk music. A degree of cynicism is a must for me.

Every time a try to answer the question "what music do you like?" I feel pretty turned off by myself

I try to answer, that is

Actually, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Gossip are the big ones, even though I quite like the first YYYs album.

Also CSS, Interpol, Arctic Monkeys

I could never love anyone who likes Crystal Castles (any blog house, really)

creedence, the velvet underground

common enough that most people know who they are + anyone who hates creedence is probably a jerkface

"i listen to mostly rap but some old stuff like soul or jazz"

thats what i say 90% of the time

if i'm drunk & wanna get with a white girl i'll say im into devo or something

i don't think i even talk to people about music anymore. i try to avoid conversation whenever i can. mostly i end up talking about the weather with people. i nod my head a lot and when they say that it's supposed to rain i say: "really, you think? huh. doesn't feel like it. but you never know around here..."

"if i'm drunk & wanna get with a white girl i'll say im into devo or something"

you are deranged. i'm sure that works like a charm! nothing makes a white girl drop her panties faster than the thought of devo!

THE PANTIES HAVE DROPPED

Bands to pretend to like if you want to fuck a white girl really should be a spin-off thread

white girls don't like apples in stereo ethan?

tell all white girls that you are way into street drum corps. white girls love anything that reminds them of Stomp or the Blue Man Group. it's true!

http://www.wakeupscreamingmovie.com/images/fs_streetdrumcorp.JPG

okay, i made that up.

wilter OTM

white girls do, however, LOVE milan kundera. so, always have a paperback copy of The Book Of Laughter And Forgetting in your back pocket.

wait, this might only be true if it's the 1980's. and you are in college. in the 80's.

or in college in the 00s

no doubt

ha ha: Milan Kundera is the Dave Matthews of Slavic letters

wouldn't most female devo fans be in cougar range these days?

'I like this song. Wanna dance?'

Saying "white girls" like this or that music assumes that all white girls like that, which is utterly ridiculous. Same goes for saying "white boys like this or that music". Those kinds of generalizations are insulting and meaningless and I shouldn't have to point this out.

Love that pic of the street drum corps, though, Scott.

wouldn't most female devo fans be in cougar range these days?

so the fuck what

apparently not

http://1.2.3.12/bmi/i53.photobucket.com/albums/g60/geeaquino/ogyrmr.jpg

just skanky

i didn't say it was a bad thing : /

http://bp3.blogger.com/_YCQIHt975AI/RkDopAn5bMI/AAAAAAAAALg/_be87ZUewtM/s1600-h/paris.jpg

See, the Magnetic Fields have always worked for me. Most past girlfriends actually associate Stephin Merritt's music in general with some aspect of dating me...I think.

I tend to keep a lot of the heavier, metal related stuff to myself. "Ulver" just does not sound romantic in the least.

THE PANTIES HAVE DROPPED

I've heard some guys admit to Jeff Buckley getting name-dropped for the sole purpose of having the above situation occur later.

^truth bomb

i have dated a couple of people who apparently lost their virginity to 'grace'

i never need to hear that record again

ugh, I hate when people ask me what kind of music I like, because I have no idea what to say and then I start stammering and they go "oh, please don't say you like everything" and I just look like an idiot

that may have only happened once

Gotta stop saying "Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel and Cock & Ball Torture" first up.

"i asked you about music not hobbies"

Tough question. Whatever I've said in the past has almost never caused a good impression. And when it has, its with someone I'm totally not into. So I always try to be as cautious and vague about it as possible. I'll say something like "electronic pop". And if they ask for examples I'll go for the safe answer, maybe Ladytron or New Order (if she's older). Like someone mentioned upthread, too obscure usually = unattractive, especially if you're a guy b/c it'll make you look nerdy or (worse) pretentious, unless the person you're talking happens to be into exactly the same thing.

I've heard some guys admit to Jeff Buckley getting name-dropped for the sole purpose of having the above situation occur later.

I did this at university, when I was so haplessly inexperienced with women as to be a misogynist.

Em was told by the friend that introduced us, within seconds of us meeting, that I was "really really into Embrace" and had just made a documentary with them (the friend that introduced us knew my brother). Em hated Embrace. Still does hate most of the music. We've been together 7 years.

i have zero music in common with my gf. i like it that way, for once.

The last thing I would mention is the stuff I actually listen to: Kylie, Girls Aloud, Annie...

The main turn-off for me is more of a *way* of liking music than a certain kind of taste- an overly earnest adoration of something for being "sweet" or "honest" or an interest that suggests liking the trappings of music more than really loving music.

Em and I probably have 60-80% crossover in music taste.

I tend to keep a lot of the heavier, metal related stuff to myself. "Ulver" just does not sound romantic in the least.

OTM!

i just say "hip hop and dance music"

steely dan (sorry all of ilx)

The last thing I would mention is the stuff I actually listen to: Kylie, Girls Aloud, Annie...

zing! poor annie, branding the gays who like her as being "indie fux" and branding the straights who like her as "maybe not straight"

I have a pretty big music taste crossover with my wife, but that's how we met so not surprising. Although she hates metal, apart from South Of Heaven. And Darkthrone, as we've just discovered. And she's not much into hardcore punk either. OK that's quite a lot of my music taste that she doesn't like. But anyway before her I went out with a girl who liked Coldplay and trance. So I guess I'm not too bothered about music taste although it helps.

i just say "hip hop and dance music"

-- deej, Friday, July 11, 2008 8:39 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

"no homo"

mrs poo otm?

I love devo, and if I run into white girls who also do, we can be

http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/kashicereal/kashigoodfriends.gif

Heh I married a white girl who loves Devo. I'm white btw.

i usually say something like "lots of shit [which isn't really true in the grand scheme of things but most ppl my aren't really checking for lindstrom or whoever] i guess. i like what's on the radio"

I'm sure there's a lot on the radio I would like if I listened to it. I guess I should do more of that. A lot of people -- even oldsters my age -- would kick my butt in a competition for who knows the most about current radio pop and hip hop.

I just say that I love Rush so that I can get that out in the open. Then again, the girls I've dated who like Rush and Steely Dan are usually not the keepers you'd think they'd be...