Music I would succumb to under torture


A post on another topic was ...
viridian4,171 posts
I couldn’t listen to Diana Krall, or any of those other jazz lite vocalists that audiophile types listen to, on even the finest hi-fi, YMMV.

I would be useless in a war if captured.
If they played me Diana Krall, Sade or Frank Sinatra I would surrender and give them all the information they wanted! Just if they stopped playing that music and torturing me! I am having screaming habdabs just thinking about it ...
tatyana69
Perhaps you could tell us what good music is, if not Diana Krall, Sade or Frank Sinatra? Jay-Z, Lady Gaga or 2 Chanz?
I was not commenting on different tastes and didn't mention good music. It was a question of what was awful to me ... so awful I would succumb ...
But as you mentioned it, modern music leaves me cold for a number of reasons. The rap stuff ranks high on the irritation stakes
first speakers, now this...what's next on our relentless tour of "The Worst Of"? - sigh

Perhaps I'm too focused on the positives of life...my tragic flaw.
No succumbing needed, just don't listen to it if you don't like it.
Don't dwell on the negatives, utilize the positives.

music that would be sheer torture to listen to. 


almost any music played on a car audio system which puts all of its emphasis on the bass with numerous sub woofers played so loudly it rattles your car, your teeth, and your sanity!


especially when it is Rap, Hip Hop, or what is considered today’s Pop. 


the relentless  boom, boom, oom, would  likely get to me eventually.


probably somewhere around the tenth or eleventh boom. depending on the size of the boom, of course.


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Aggressive Rap and John Hiat.My husband adores Mr. Hiat unfortunately so those evenings mean headphones for one of us.
Oh, not Sinatra! Say it isn’t so. I’m sure Dylan will not be far behind.

Besides all of the jazz lite vocalists, Krall, Cole, Monheit, Barber, et al, Yoko Ono is not to my taste. I think that I would give up all of our most treasured secrets to stop that torture.

And yes, these are simply personal matters of taste and enjoying these noted singers is as valid as disliking them.

BTW, there is a fantastic Pink Floyd bootleg called “The Screaming Abdabs” that is a live try out of the Dark Side of The Moon before all of the concepts therein were fully formed. It is a fantastic artifact, in glorious lo fi. Rick Wright seems to fill in the blanks that later became parts of the continuous whole. Like it, or not, if you have been listening to the album most of your life, this is a most instructive listen.
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I personally cannot stand Rush.  Bad music played well.  But that's me. 
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I wanna play, I wanna play!!! I do get this thread.  Every single day as i shower before I leave for work, I turned on the radio for "background music", to K-earth 101, for those who are in L.A. or otherwise familiar with the station.  I'm in the shower from about 515 or so to about 530ish.  I am GUARANTEED a dose of Queen or Elton John, or both during that time.  It hasn't failed in at least 8 years.  If you don't believe me, try it.  It WILL happen.  It is for that reason only that I cant stand either.  Why they can't flip the switch and play "Radio Gaga" or "That's why they call it the blues" is beyond my comprehension, both being excellent songs.  I'm not saying those artists aren't any good.  But try having anything shoved down your throat for that long and you'll understand.   So, there.
Even without having it shoved down my throat, 5 minutes of Hamilton is enough to make me resort to physical disfigurement.
B
Anything by Barely Maninoff. It’s like shoving toothpicks in my eardrums plus it makes me cry. 
Rap or Hip-Hop. Next would be the God awful car audio booming and distorted bass. They could just give me the gun and I would shoot myself!!!
Scream metal would be the only thing I would call torture.  I like anything with a good beat.  Rap has good beats but I can not relate to the lyrics.  Look up the suicide song on google.  That's a pretty cruel test, It's all off key.  I think it is from the 20's.
The op has a point.  I noticed that a vast majority of present audiophile reviewers (from mostly the 'western' world) love to listen to this 'Diana Krall' to talk about the sound of the component.  She is so often used in reviews that I am getting a bit pissed off at the frequency she pops up.  Its like reviewers have this secret conspirital agreement to use her all the time.  Maybe her stuff is well recorded, a bit like Dire Straits were used often in the 70's to show off new systems.  With that group I can well understand, they will sound good on a poor system!  I am most probably well biased and I am sticking to my guns, please in future lose this Diana Krall and play something different and even dare I say it musically interesting...!
Its funny, but I have never been a fan of country music, but since I upgraded my system some of the young women country artists sound pretty good (Margo Price & Ashley Monroe).  BUT, of course, the exceptionally classic music sounds superb (e.g. Miles, Art Blakey, etc.).  My Audio Consultant has a Diana Krall track that he uses to audition equipment, but beyond that, I'll leave that recording in the jacket.
RAP: people talking when they should be singing
OPERA: people singing when they should be talking
I think I understand the OP’s point, there is such a thing as abiding mediocrity. Many popular artists are popular because they are not great, just good enough to appeal to lots of people. The bell curve has far ranging implications in all human endeavors.

I will leave the room if I hear the Violent Femmes, Radiohead, Cold Play, cruise ship reggae covers of bad pop songs, or any of the many showboating egomaniacs who call themselves RnB singers today. Technology has made music production far too easy, to the point that bands are no longer necessary and anything is possible, including lots of wacky musical ideas that would never have gotten off the ground if these “artists” didn’t have all these sophisticated production tools which obviate the need for bands, and the musical chemistry that goes along with them. As a guy who has led bands for 40 years, it’s actually quite hard to get a group of people to play poorly conceived musical ideas, or music which is highly ego based. Not anymore.

Music is now wall paper and a lifestyle accessory, and it’s not going to get any better if people don’t expect more, or are simply unaware of how great people playing together in a room can be...  
Look up a singer by the name of Teresa Teng. Hailed in Asia as the all-time queen of "contemporary" vocals. High-end audio snobs would spend big dollars on vintage Western Electric, Tannoy, and JBL gear to play her poorly recorded cacaphony. Cheap South Asia cabaret music that makes me reach for ear plugs.  Fans enjoy her material reminiscing the days of going to tacky night clubs with PA boosted with echo and reverb to the max, and these poor sounding masters happen to mate well with electronics producing unusual amounts of 2nd harmonics.

Great thread subject!

In addition to Diana Krall,(I LOVED her in the 90's) and  most "smooth jazz,"
ANY "audiophile" recording and R&R  released around 1980'(my likes are particular from there)

If Hotel California were played, I'm afraid I would be charged with treason.


shtinkydog said:
I wanna play, I wanna play!!! I do get this thread. Every single day as i shower before I leave for work, I turned on the radio for "background music", to K-earth 101, for those who are in L.A. or otherwise familiar with the station. I’m in the shower from about 515 or so to about 530ish. I am GUARANTEED a dose of Queen or Elton John, or both during that time. It hasn’t failed in at least 8 years. If you don’t believe me, try it. It WILL happen. It is for that reason only that I cant stand either. Why they can’t flip the switch and play "Radio Gaga" or "That’s why they call it the blues" is beyond my comprehension, both being excellent songs. I’m not saying those artists aren’t any good. But try having anything shoved down your throat for that long and you’ll understand. So, there." 

.......which is exactly why I can not stomach Boston. What was once good is now intolerable.
Good grief ... after a couple of hours of that played on a loop ....... aaarrgh - surely any sane person would go mad ...
Indeed, what is the point of that recording? What was she trying to achieve?
Pop country makes me sick. Old country I can listen to. alt-country is often pretty good. But take the standard fare at any televised country music award show (I think they have one every second Tuesday) and there you have my list of unlistenables.

Next is standard pop. It is on the radio at my office all day, fortunately at very low volume. Literally the same 10-15 songs played over and over, sometimes 4 times during business hours. All bad. All sounds the same. But I guess, since I have endured it all these years.....it cannot break me under torture.............maybe I'm tougher than I think I am........

When it comes to stuff like rap I'm perfectly willing to say that I've just never given it a chance. And from what little I've heard, I don't like it...but it does not make me cringe the way intentionally mediocre pop and pop country do.

@n80, "Pop" Country drives me out of the room. After being exposed to it even briefly, I need to cleanse my soul by listening to some real Country (referred to as Americana by some, though many so-considered artists are not what I myself consider Country). Thankfully there is quite a bit of it being made these days---real good songs, singing, and musicianship. For the Americana-curious, check out The Americana Awards Show (hosted annually by Jim Lauderdale) on You Tube, and the No Depression website.

I know a lot of younger (than I, anyway ;-) Rock music lovers have a "problem" with Country, but remember, Elvis was called The Hillbilly Cat when he first appeared. Country/Hillbilly is a large element in "real" Rock 'n' Roll; it was removed from the music when Rock 'n' Roll became Rock, Blues remaining as the major element. Country made a reappearance in Rock in the late-60's with the emergence of The Band, Gram Parsons and Chris Hillmans The Flying Burrito Brothers, Dylan of course (who had been recording in Nashville since '65) in his John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline albums, and many others (I won't further bore the uninterested).

@bdp24 : Agreed. And while I don't listen to it a lot, I appreciate older, traditional country, Hank Williams, Patsy Kline, even Dolly.

I like bands like Blue Mountain, Wilco, Son Volt, etc that were heavily influenced by country.

It just the last 10-15 years of the kitschy pop stuff that I don't like.

One of my failings as a parent is that my (adult) daughter, who largely likes what I like....also has an ear for pop country...I don't know where I went wrong....but the kids these days.......

What makes Pop Country popular is that it is really just Pop music---melodies, chord structure, high-gloss production---with just a hint of Country, via the cynically-calculated and contrived lyrics sung with a deliberately-hick "twang".

The Country music industry has chosen to push this brand of Country, as performers/entertainers are easier to control and manipulate than are artists. EmmyLou Harris is going to do what she wants, not what she is told. It's a shame, because the audience that buys Pop Country would like real Country just as much, and in fact does when exposed to it. Jim Lauderdale's songs feature strong chord progressions and melodies, as do the songs of other Americana writers. And with quality lyrics, as well as accompaniment from some of the finest musicians in the world.

For Rocks fans, do ya'll know that Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers is the drummer on The Dixie Chicks Taking The Long Way album? And that Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers plays guitar on the album? Get hip, man! 

Lately, the national anthem made me sick when Trump's picture was on the tube at the same time.   The anthem is all good otherwise (including the Roseanne Barr version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls1YVhcLD2c

Any Diana Krall came as distant second.  

Any racially intense, hatre-provoking music came as third.

@bsimpson :  Political leanings and Trump bashing really aren't necessary, especially in regard to the national anthem or a thread about music preferences.  (And trust me, I'm no Trump fan.)


 @bsimpson  : Any racially intense, hatre-provoking music came as third.

Agreed. Gary Clark Jr who I admire greatly as a musician recently released a new album. He may be the most talented young artist out there right now. One of the first songs released on the album throws out the 'n' word repeatedly. He might be well meaning and it might even be socially appropriate and meaningful.  It seems that the 'n' word is fine for black artists to use to express themselves and make money.....but I don't like it no matter who is saying it.

And sadly, the album just isn't very good.