Music that gets you

[Occhidiangela]

I believe my roomates share that same line of thought!  :lol:
So true, as long as we respect each other's tastes.
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Taste is a personal thing, and is informed by what we are exposed to. I still find Chinese music hard to listen to, even though exposed to it as a lad while living in Taiwan. Disco grated on me when it came out, and I still find it annoying. Soul was fantastic, but I don't seem to find much good modern soul these days. *sigh* Bring back the Isley Brothers.

What I find fascinating is how various musical forms influence and grow from others. Older gaelic forms of folks music had an impact on bluegrass, blues had an influence on rock and country, which also kept strains of bluegrass, and jazz influenced Western Swing. There was lots of experimentation with Eastern/Indian music in a rock format in the 60's and 70's, which produced some interesting synergy. (See the sitar music in the Stone's "Paint it Black.") Classical had an impact on rock (see for example Yes and Queen) and the spinoffs that the organ-synthesizer path paved for the techno style. Of course, the orchestral thread led (IMO unfortunately) to a certain formula "wall of sound" becoming mainstream in the late 70's early 80's, with the (thank you) backlash of Punk and New Wave in counterpoint. (Sort of a back to basics strand away from overproduced forms.) One of my favorite fusions was how Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull mixed rock and roll with medeival musical structures to create a signature sound, which led me to investigate such bands as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span.

Musicians are a remarkably inventive bunch, or they can be, which thought takes me to the limit stretching avenues that some of the talented Metal artists explore. I stopped enjoying avant garde metal virtuosity a while back, but plenty of folks, including yourself, find it appealing.

Something for everyone.

For my money, whatever sonofabiscut first thought that sampling someone else's music for their own was a good idea needs to be fed into a woodchipper. Sure, it is the same idea as the classical composer's habit of concocting "variations on a theme" by "so and so" but the modern shape of that strikes me as having hit the point of diminishing returns right out of the gate.

My distaste for that habit started when MC Hammer abused Rick James' "Super Freak" (a great party tune) and was not helped by such messes as made with rapping/sampling "Walk This Way." (With Steve Tyler's full endorsement and participation.) Bah, it sells, sure, but BAH, it smells!

Occhi