You Are An American

I wish I had been born close to Chicago or Philly rather than Houston...

Ever been to Schaumburg? Naperville? Midlothian?

Which college? I went to SUNY-Binghamton.

What I also find interesting is that just within the U.S. I imagine one's geographic placement can have a massive influence on one's taste. Part of that is scene-based, obviously, but I also think things like the general cultural tone and the physical geography -- and the way that geography affects what kids spend their time doing -- makes a huge, huge difference.

For example, I went to high school in two different places in the U.S. -- southern Colorado and northern Michigan. In retrospect I can see that both influenced my tastes very strongly, and that both have particular sounds that both permeate them socially and -- I think -- connect to the environment in certain ways. In Colorado it was the sunny, open jangle you get from Southwestern bands; in Michigan it was the icy indoor sound of art-rock and shoegazers.

If it's in New York State and it's not NYC or Long Island, it's "upstate." My college was in a region known as the Southern Tier (just above Pennsylvania's northern border), but everyone called it "upstate" anyway.

New non-American answers.

I think that where you live dictates what you HATE much more than what you LOVE- as Alex noted, there's always a way to access music if you're really interested. But what music you get hit on the head with repeatedly is not your choice, and definitley depends on your geographic location.

Speaking as a German living in Portugal, I think that if I were American I'd be a lot more fond of electronic music in general- I wouldn't have had to suffer through C&C Music Factory, Faithless, Snap!, Eiffel 65, and whoever did that awful "Short Dick man", nor would I have had to deal with the supremley irritating phenomen of hearing Techno blasted from a car passing by ("untz untz untz unTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNTZ UNtz untz untz untz untz...".) The American electronica fans that I've met have all been very nice people with an extrodinary amount of patience towards my wrong-headed prejudices, whereas when I talk to a local Techno fan the discussion will easily degenerate into "it's the music of the FUTURE, MAN!! Fuck all those guitar bands, that's for OLD PEOPLE!"

Also, I'd probably like Kraftwerk if I had been born anything other than a German.

On the other hand, my tolerance of Modern Rock would be a lot less prominent- I mean, The Wallflowers, The Dave Matthews Band, etc. all those bands, when you hear them for the first time they're just nice, catchy little bands- unlikely to change anyone's life, but certainly not offensive in any way. Only when I visited America and got acquainted with US playlists did I begin to find out why American music fans can manage to summon up so much PASSION when dissing Three Doors Down (or whomever.)

I'm not sure how I would stand on Country and Rap- I'd like to think that I could still appreciate and love those genres just as much (or even moreso), as I'm very fond of the theory that one ILMer put forth on the Country thread that saying "I like all music but Country and Rap" translates to "I hate coloured people and the poor". On the other hand, I'm sure that the idiotic frat boys that would make my life a living hell would be noddin' their heads to Jay-Z, and that the terms "redneck" and "white trash" start to seem a whole less hateful when you actually live amongst the people thusly described (or so I've heard from my friends in the Deep South- then again, they're "rednecks" too, hah!), and I'm not sure that I could get over that. Then again, I've sent Country CDRs to various US friends of mine and instantly converted them to a genre they before despised, so maybe I'd just need a prejudice-free European to convince me of the greatness of Rakim and Charlie Rich (heeeey, maybe I need an American to send me an electronica CDR!)

For the record, I know some of those bands also had hits in the USA, but not nearly as much as they did in Europe.

Actually something similar is true for jazz. After what I have heard jazz in the US is music you don't take seriously (often live concerts are just background music during dinner). Many US jazz musicians became stars only as they were successful in Europe and they were then appreciated in the US. Please tell me in case I am totally wrong here.

Yes, good jazz musicians often do have to make a living playing as background music for dinner conversation, at least some of the time, but jazz also has an audience here which takes it quite seriously. At the same time that you have this background music approach to jazz, there are also university programs where you can study jazz academically, and there are small art centers presenting (let's say) Henry Threadgill (whose name I'm not even sure how to spell, perhaps proving your point).

*However, I haven't made a serious effort to follow rock music for about a decade now. With minimal effort it is possible to find out about all sorts of things (even without the internet).

That's so true, Daniel. The only people I know who absolutely loathe the Beach Boys, every last song, are native Southern Californians.

I grew up on the Connecticut/Rhode Island border and for some reason there was a thriving bar band blues scene in that area in the 70s. I hate the blues. Well, most of it.

But beyond that I have no idea, honestly, of how my tastes would differ. A lot of the fervent excitement I had about 'my' music was based on the weekly UK music press, and that would be removed from the equation, so...I think I'd have got into indie later if at all. I think I'd have got heavily into hip-hop earlier. The charts work differently in the UK than in the US but 1984 (when I started listening) was a banner year wherever so I dont think my relationship to pop would be different. Maybe Prince would have played the role Morrissey did in making my tastes. On the other hand without the charts to cue it up I doubt I'd have liked much techno or electronic music. I think I'd keep an eye on British trends and would like a few things without a great engagement with them. I'd probably have more respect for 'classic rock'.

(Seriously I really ought to be sleeping the sleep of the sleepy right now, even though it's only about 8:30.)

re: coldplay thread, i was surprised by the ambivalance (was expecting more outright hate). and judging by what I and the ppl I know think of them, i think an American music enthusiast might be more likely to despise them than give them a pass. if i'm right, we have British more accepting of American chart stuff AND their more mediocre homeland (didn't they form in London? IIRC) stuff.

Can we extend that to say Brits are generally more accepting, or less quick to dismiss or hate any given music? If so, I'd attribute it to an overall better sensibility (as opposed to worse) as evidenced by the higher quality of what charts in Britain. Less force fed crap from crass and greedy media outlets (Clear Channel, TRL etc).

??

i defy anyone to tell me ilm's demographic hasn't changed.

-- jess (dubplatestyle@hotmail.com), September 23rd, 2002.

Nabisco (Chicago 'burbs) and Jess (Philly 'burbs) to thread! IMMEDIATELY!!

And would Princeton be the Philly 'burbs or the NYC 'burbs? (We got both the Philly and NYC channels there).

Nah, because every country has its own TRL equivalent.

Haha alas no Britain is not an island paradise of musical tolerance

The Brits do have a great capacity for loving music that gets neclected in its own homeland, tho (from Otis Redding to House)

(Kate who did 10 years upstate and 5 years in dah City.)

Otis Redding's highest chart position on U.S. Billboard Pop charts prior to his death: "I've Been Loving You Too Long", #21

Otis Redding's highest chart position on U.K. charts prior to his death: "My Girl", #11

Not that big a diference, but a significant one still, especially considering Otis' gigantic stature as a live performer in Europe. There's all sorts of testimonies by Stax stars about how amazed they were that they were so huge in the UK.

Steve "Silk" Hurley's highest chart position on the UK charts: "Jack Your Body", #1

Steve "Silk" Hurley's highest chart position on U.S. Billboard Pop charts: Get real!

Much of this has to do with it being much easier to get a hit in England than the USA, of course, and the "Billboard" charts are quite fallible, but still, food for thought.

kieth

And Kris Branch Rickey OWNS this thread with something he posted on the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" thread, after someone British wrote that there were better, newer things going on in 1991:

"What could those "better moments" in the winter of 1991 have possibly meant to a fifteen year old suburban kid for whom the nearest EIGHTEEN AND OVER club was 30 miles away? Other than in urban areas with lots of twentysomethings (a demographic which in this country hardly even existed before dot-communism), it's hardly a mystery why thump thump knob- twiddle never had much currency to us, other than the arena friendly bits (and I mean sports arenas, not rock arenas). Moshing IS a kind of dancing; Nirvana WAS a new thing insofar as now any kid who wanted to be a punk or a metalhead could be one without picking up a skateboard or lighting a joint, they just had to buy the CD. The sound was tremendously empowering in that way, something hardcore techno (or early post rock, or whatever you're referring to) could NEVER have been to us, even if there was a way for us to hear any of it."

Don't Americans have to call them "Bush X" too?