Coulson's Musical Taste

[Sampaguita]

So I finally got around to listening Ms. Dynamite... and I was pleasantly surprised.

In the interview he'd said that his taste in music spanned "all sorts." Usually, when someone says that they listen to everything, I become skeptical and take it to mean that they like everything pop ignoring WHOLE GENRES of music that don't quite get the coverage that they deserve. I was especially dissappointed when he mentioned Coldplay (can you say alternapop?).

I wanted to shout, "How can you be living in London, claim to listen to all sorts of music (everything) and not mention Talvin Singh, the ADF, Waterson Carthy... etc etc?" The Music & Culture major portion of my being was a little dissappointed, to say the least. I hadn't heard of Ms. Dynamite... but after looking up some of her reviews (written by people who don't really know how to write about MUSIC, BTW) I was really beginning to get dissappointed. Because, they only really mentioned her lyrics and framed her musically using such artists as Lauren Hill and Toni Braxton (I can live with Hill, but cannot abide by Braxton). The lyrics were described as superficial... and lacking in the authenticity of the music they came out of (whoever wrote that also didn't know what they were talking about because they didn't know the musical traditions that were being quoted). After reading that about the lyrics, the English Lit major in me started to get dissappointed as well. So, I wrote Mr. Coulson off as having mundane musical taste. (Coldplay lyrics are okay, but sometimes they just can't get their songs to gel.)

Then, today I had the opportunity to sample some of Ms. Dynamite's sounds. Her reviewers short-changed her. I found it enjoyable because she was quoting several musical traditions just within her one song "Dy-na-my-tee." She tapped into a self-naming tradition within her lyrics that has been around since the middle ages. This tradition is most prominently present within the genres of the Mexican Corridos (Border Ballads) and hip-hop. I like to call it the "yo soy" tradition... "I am..." Musically, she takes from the Asian Beat movement... truly tapping into some of the rhythms of the raggas. I was actually reminded of Ozomatli's song "Vocal Artillery" because the use of quarter tones or blue notes was very prominent.

But yeah, I suppose I have to eat my previous opinion of Christian Coulson's musical taste. Perhaps he is a pleasantly ecclectic listener who knows what sounds good. It makes me a little more curious in regard to what's on his playlist.

[MsPoet]

Frankly, I don't care what his musical tastes are. I mean, regardless of his tastes....
He's special.

Donna

[Sampaguita]

MsPoet said:

Frankly, I don't care what his musical tastes are. I mean, regardless of his tastes....
He's special.

Donna

Yes, he is special, regardless. But this is how I "see" the world. I see in sound. I think in sound. So, I guess I'm now looking at music as a motivator. I think the type of music a person listens to says a lot about who they are. Which is why I think it was brilliant that he used music to get into character.

By profession, I care what people listen to. I care about how music reflects society and the historical moments spanning the past and present. I care about how music affects the individual person.

It's even more than a profession for me... It's part of my identity-- so much so that I think I'd lose the will to live if my hearing went away.

You care about his performance-- and some of that comes from what you do professionally. Sure, I care about his performance and talent... but it's in me to care about what he (or anybody else) listens to as well.

Forgive me if that comes across as sounding defensive or apologetic... but I see the world foremost through the realm of music. It's what I look for first.

[Angelamyte]

so u basically judge one's character based on their musical tastes?

i don't think that has any base, becuz i know so many brilliant ppl who listen to the most one dimensional music, and yet it really doesn't convey how they are in person..

[Sampaguita]

Not solely on musical taste... no. I'm not a sound-elitist. I do, however, think that music can say a lot about how a person is feeling at a particular moment. And the type of music you listen to, whether you like it or not, is part of your identity. Part of it lies within the marketing, part of it lies within the music of a particular sub-culture, part of it lies within the sound.

If I were to judge or view someone SOLELY by what kind of music they listened to, I wouldn't be able to judge or make any sort of conclusions about myself... well maybe I could. But nothing definitively... What I meant to say, is that I care because I care about how music shapes a social consciousness... and how it (music as not only sound, but as identity, packaging, social construction) shapes society and individual people.

I know it sounds like a contradiction after a decisively strong statement as "I see the world through sound," but that's the best way I can explain it.

What your question hints towards is what some academics usually frame as "So, you're an ethnomusicologist?" No, I'm not. I don't believe in "othering" people or "othering" music. I don't see it as an inherent strand by which to "label" people. I don't believe in "labeling" people. Henry Rollins once said that once you title yourself, you lend yourself up to all kinds of pretension. I believe that once you title/lable people, you lend them up to all kinds of preconcieved stereotypes...

[hermione]

Hmm. I had the opposite reaction to his list of music preferences. I like Coldplay, but the few Ms. Dynamite songs I heard online were a little too eclectic (is that a word to describe music??) for my taste. But I must admit that anyone who could listen to both kinds of music definitely does like 'all sorts.'
What I really wanted to say was that it's really hard to know what kind of music people really like and how much of an indication that is of their personality until you actually sit down and talk to them about it one on one. Most of the time, when they have to answer questions like that in an interview, celebs just blurt out the first things that come to mind and the bands that are better known. For all we know, he might have been pondering the benefits of using Sibelius' violin concerto to better illustrate Hamlet's inner struggle in a future play. But that's not really the kind of answer you give when you're answering 1 question per minute. It's really hard to judge someone's depth or lack thereof when it comes to *anything* based on a few quick questions. I know that's basically what you said, but I was just reiterating that =).

[jencoulson]

I'd never heard of Ms Dynamite before that interview. I was very pleased that he likes Coldplay, though. His taste in music shows that he values what's being said as well as a cool sound. Kudos, Mr. Coulson!

[Mandragora]

Well.... I have to admit I have this habit of having one of my initial judgements on people based on the music they listen to (at least not how they look). It has been a habit, especially when getting to know prospects or new people, music is like one of the common things to talk about. It's more comfortable to ask, "So what are you listening to?" than "What are you in the middle of reading of?" I believe, one's preference in music is a major factor in telling the typre of person one is.

However, regarding Christian's taste, maybe that's not what he wholly listens to since that people, I, for instance, go through 'phases', like after my raving Norah Jones, I have been playing techno cuts for a couple of days now (Chemical Bros, the 'Running' tracks of "Run Lola Run"). If asked, though, the musicians that I dig, I would have to say Tori Amos, Dave Matthews Band, Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead, not including my other preferences that are under another genre.

Oh well, sometimes it's not the lyrics, as how Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon, may he RIP) used to put it, 'it's the whole vibe of the thing'.

So when he mentioned he liked Coldplay, Ms Dynamite and David Gray, hmmm... either he likes pop that leans to the 'alternative' or 'alternative' that borders to pop

Coldplay and David Gray is okay... I am not really into hiphop, but I kinda like Outkast and in my earlier years, Blackstreet.

I wonder if he's into New Wave because that my brain automatically registers YUPPIEALERT when one mentions OMD and the like. The Cure, though a big thing in the 80s, I refuse to call New Wave.

Aw heck, I don't see the point labelling music, as long it's good.

[lizifer]

ms dynamite used to annoy me coz of the chorus of her 1st single, but once i actually listened to her other stuff and learned to ignore the chorus of that one song i realised she was good.

as for david gray, one word sums up my opinion of him: boring! i can't even listen to the lyrics to see if they're good coz the music itself is just too boring!

i'm not a fan of coldplay either.

but as donna said, his musical tastes don't make any difference to me.

i have quite a wide range of musical taste, i don't really see how u can judge a persons character on their musical taste.

[Sampaguita]

Okay, we're all arguing different things here... Perhaps we should play with the symantics and maybe we can reach a common ground.

"Judging" people by musical preference-- that's not what I'm doing... and perhaps this is what can be labeled as BAD.

Now, looking at a person's musical taste to "guage" a person's personality much like a litmus test-- I believe that has some validity to it... There are no hard and fast rules though. I suppose that you can also use music to guage a person's mood-- which is probably an idea more pallatable to people here.

As for myself, my musical tastes are more ecclectic and hard to pin down. HOWEVER, what I listen to and my musical preference does say a lot about who I am and what I've been exposed to.

ME:

In the realm of coffee shop fodder (including jazz and blues): Norah Jones, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Audra McDonald, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, and Chantal Kreviazuk -- just to name a few.

In the realm of hip-hop: Saul Williams, Ozomatli, Mountain Brothers, Tupac, Denizen Kane, Blackalicious, the commercial artists (among whom Eminem, Snoop, Jay-z etc)-- among many others

In the realm of R&B: Gabrielle, Lauren Hill, the girls of Destiny's Child, J-Lo (who actually can fall into the realm of hip-hop), Boyz 2 Men, KC and JoJo, the list continues

Pop (encompassing many genres w/in top 40): Blink, Britney (yes, I know ), Avril Levigne (who I think is such a big poser), Michelle Branch... the rest of the usual suspects.

Punk/ post punk/ new wave: not much and most of the punk I do listen to also falls into the realm of rock-en-espanol... but to name a few Tijauna No, The Little Girls, and X.

Rock-en-espanol: Julieta Venegas, Kinky, Juanes etc.

Asian Underground/ Overground/ Dub/ Bhangra: TALVIN SINGH, ADF, The Sahotas

Alternapop/rock: most of it, but I dislike U2, Dave Mathews annoys me, David Gray-yuck, that one horrid Coldplay song... you get the general idea.

Classical: everything that's assigned, but I'm particularly fond of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, and Shubert... oh and Puccini... and there's too many more.

More genres: Traditional Filipino Rondalla, Filipino Pop (right now it's a Pops Fernandez phase), J-Pop, Techno (Nortec kicks *ss), Minimalism (which has seeped into Rave music) and more....

But I'm sure that in spite of this ecclectic playlist, people can draw some conclusions about me. Not the least of which I hope would be "She MUST be some kind of music major."

[clare]

Hm my music taste have changed sooo much recently I loved pop groups and all that years ago, but I like The Hives, The Beatles, Coldplay and stuff like that now...I don't think it reflects on people's personalities all the time. Sometimes it can. I like Coldplay and David Gray, not really Ms. Dynamite though...some of her stuffs ok.

[Hitomi]

what ever happend to Robbie Williams?i never hear of him anymore!!!!(not that i want to...sort of)

[clare]

lol hes still around, just released a new single.

[Mandragora]

I guess the 'judging' part has to do with one's attention span when it comes to music... sometimes there are the good everyday ones that you don't really pay attention to and then there are the ones that one should go another level in terms of listening... I mean, that's where the difference of 'hearing' and 'listening' comes in.

So MY basis, since that I am basically a child of the 90s grunge-alternative era, is whether one can actually unravel behind the screeching guitars and the grating vocals. Yeah, it was the age of The Angst (oh, how I hate that word now, but it brings back fond mamories), but there also has to have talent and skill linked to it. That means a good mixture of the classical scheming and fusion of othe genres. I am also into oldies music, ranging from The Mamas and the Papas to Led Zeppelin, but basically, those music gave me this particular kind of grrove

Well, based on my experience, the guys who listen to the alternative-new-grunge-*whatever* rock are the usual loners, and the poetic ones. Sometimes music can bond other people because a certain group who listens to a particular genre have the same ears therefore a kind of understanding is formed. That IS, if the advocacy is not shallow.

Something like, I knew this guy who told me that he would sometimes cry while listening to REM. I haven't listened to too much REM but knowing their songs like "Everybody Hurts" and "Strange Currencies" made me understand what he meant. I once shared to another guy that while listening to Smashing Pumpkins' "Adore" album one lonely night, it almost gave me a nervous breakdown, and he was like 'huh'? Now THAT gave me an idea how his system works when it comes to music, like music didn't make that much difference on him.

I am quite curious to Christian's preference to music when it comes to, uh, bringing him to the character he's getting into. When he was playing that Ralph guy in The Hours, did he listen to 20s jazz? Yeah, I know, for that short a role.

I like Coldplay by the way, and "Shiver" rocks. It's one of those 'frustration' songs

[Sampaguita]

Mandragora said:

I guess the 'judging' part has to do with one's attention span when it comes to music... sometimes there are the good everyday ones that you don't really pay attention to and then there are the ones that one should go another level in terms of listening... I mean, that's where the difference of 'hearing' and 'listening' comes in.

I am quite curious to Christian's preference to music when it comes to, uh, bringing him to the character he's getting into. When he was playing that Ralph guy in The Hours, did he listen to 20s jazz? Yeah, I know, for that short a role.

I like Coldplay by the way, and "Shiver" rocks. It's one of those 'frustration' songs

Never said that I hated Coldplay... I just hate that one song of theirs the one with the hook "am I part of the cure or am I part of the disease." It's too much like U2 (and I abhor most of U2's songs). I also hated that POD song "Youth of a Nation."

I get the difference between "hearing" and "listening" concept. But I usually pay attention to everything... it's a consequence of being both an English and a Music major... gotta pay attention to the lyrics and the music. I also think that musical preference-- by your definition, the songs that one tends to "go to another level" with-- is determined by one's surrounding environment and also says a lot about the environment and the unspoken code of conduct that a group of individuals or environment requires. It generally works for an individual too... It kinda answers the question as to what the individual or the group thinks is permissible.

YES, there are problematic aspects to using music to guage a personality, but then, there are also problematic aspects in using body language to guage a someone's personality too-- And I don't see anybody jumping down anybody else's throat for reading Mr. Coulson's (or anyone else's) body language. Body language certainly isn't universal and is vastly varied depending on the individual, the society, or the culture.

One example: We'll take two different environments within Los Angeles... In Beverly Hills (an affluent predominantly white environment), if you pucker your lips in that environment, it can be taken as a pout or a come on (generally). If you drive a few miles south into Carson (a predominantly Filipino-American environment), puckering your lips could also mean that you're pointing at something.

My point, is reading body language is problematic, but there are general guidelines that we hold to be true in guaging meaning. I say the same goes for music.

For the Hours music question: If Mr. Coulson used music to submerse himself into the character, I doubt that he was listening to 20s jazz. His character was based in Ireland, I believe. I don't think that he was trying to get into the "roaring 20s" mindset... at the time, that was uniquely American. I think that IF he was listening to anything in preparing for that role, it would be something bleak sounding and minimalistic... perhaps 20th century classical of the minimalist movement. Probably Philip Glass... if not that, perhaps Sarah McLachlan's album "Surfacing."

Now, I have a question for you because you probably get more exposure to it than I do... Is it me, or is Regine Velasquez losing all redeemability in her singing voice? Oh! And Gary V gets on my nerves.

As for REM, it is understandable how that guy might have been all choked up... But I don't get affected that way. "Everybody Hurts" was too plaintive and simple and gratuitously morose. I'm more likely to be affected by Live's "Lightning Crashes." I haven't heard "Adore" yet... either that or I don't recognize it. It is funny how music can affect the mood... There's actually a lot written about it. I'm in a seminar on the history of dissonance this quarter... so it'll be interesting to see how the conventions of how the music/mood dialectic has been set up over the course of history.

Oh, and Robbie Williams is still around? That's a shame...