Faux Prog Fans

Pangaea wrote: Don't tell me you're one of the goat people . . . .

Devonsidhe wrote: I've used the term "poser" over the years for the same reason.  People who pose as something they are not.  Most posers or faux will move on when something else becomes popular or they lose interest.  A few, however, will learn what they don't know and become real.

Textbook wrote: I think the "I know what I like" attitude is quite silly though. How do you know till you hear it?

Textbook wrote: I think the "I know what I like" attitude is quite silly though. How do you know till you hear it?

Devonsidhe wrote: I must be reading a different thread.  The one I started reading was about keeping an open mind to genres you haven't heard.  Not to judge something simply because you don't want to tlisten to it.  ......

  (emphasis added)

 

You mean like people’s opinions? :

 

Textbook wrote:     ….. "faux" progressive fans who seek the intellectual cache of prog but actually run a mile from anything unfamiliar.  …   …..I accuse those who would not listen to or try music that is receiving acclaim because they "don't like that sort of thing" to be a lilly-livered rascal.

 

Sounds like a judgment to me; right from the opening bell of this thread.

 

Why would you keep an open mind to genres of music, but be close-minded to other people's opinions? People have perfectly valid reasons for not having a pressing need to seek out every little artist under the sun just so they can fly their True Prog Banner from on high on a little bulletin board.

I must be reading a different thread.  The one I started reading was about keeping an open mind to genres you haven't heard.  Not to judge something simply because you don't want to tlisten to it.  Not forcing people to listen to everything in their lifetime so they can accurately analyze their full taste in the entire catalog of music.  Life isn't going to let you have a chance to listen to every possibility, but when life gives you the opportunity, give it a few seconds to see what you think.

I think the "I know what I like" attitude is quite silly though. How do you know till you hear it?

Labels Pickle Jars

Retrorocker nails it.

Life is far too short for me to waste my precious time listening to crap I don't like (my opinion, of course).  So, no, I don't like country and won't bother trying something that is considered country.  I've certainly heard quite a few country songs in my lifetime, and it's safe to say that unless something changes quite drastically with that genre, I won't be investigating it anytime soon.  I also think Johnny Cash has some great stuff.  So, despite my complete lack of inclination to listen to any country music, I heard JC anyway, and liked it.  That is how these things generally work.  Suggesting that I'm not open minded or that I'm somehow a "faux" prog fan because I don't waste my time trying music I have no interest in is the height of arrogance and self importance.  Who are you, exactly, to suggest such things?  A musical authority of some sort?  I'm going to guess NOT.

Now, when friends or folks on this forum suggest that I might like a certain song or album or band, depending on how well they know me and how much respect I have for them, I MAY try it out if I have some spare time and find their recommendation intriguing.  I may also hear something in a restaurant or bar or wherever that piques my interest and might be led to something new this way.

This is how it works for most people I imagine.  I DO try new stuff, but I also know what I like.  When I was 20 I had more time to spend checking out new stuff, but instead spent all my time listening to 70's prog and "classic" rock (though I did get into some jazz back then as well).  I'd say I'm far more open now to new stuff.

But I'll just finish with something a friend told me once, "keep an open mind........but not so open that your brains fall out."  Perhaps some folks should take that advice to heart, especially when dealing with a completely subjective subject like musical taste.





Edited by infandous - August 17 2010 at 09:50

I could be wrong but I think what you're trying to say is that you can't know what you like until you have a label to stick on it, ie "Johnny Cash" or "Country Music", because of the inherent problems in describing what your musical preferences are in terms of multiple genres. However you are trying to promote open-minded listening habits, so this confuses me how that is relevent. (Yes, I know, I'm not the sharpest tool in the box...)

I think what I'm trying to say is that my opinion is that you can be as elitist or as blase about listening to music as you like, but thinking you can tell other people how to listen to music, or how to form their musical tastes, that's pretty silly. All you can do is put something in front of them and ask "What do you think?"