Why do you like...

[uncool2pillow]

I've been pondering this question a lot recently. Especially as it relates to rock, etc. For example, I like a lot of Built to Spill music, but Doug Martsch's voice grates on me a bit, so I don't listen to them a lot. I'm going to try to quantify the components that go into making a rock song in the order of importance to me. Feel free to dissect, correct, ignore.

 

1. Songwriting

 

Considering both music and lyrics here. There has to be an interesting lyric and good melody to back it up. I think Rush, for example, is a band of great musicians, but not great songwriters. They have some good songs, but I don't care for most of their catalog.

 

2. Voice

 

I'm surprised how much this matters to me. But, like I said above, I really like Built to Spill's music, but cannot get past the tone of Martsch's voice. As I think of the music I listen to the most, there's always a distinctive singer. Tweedy, Bob Mould, Paul Westerberg, Rhett Miller, Lou Reed, even Iggy Pop. If they're not good singers, there's a quality to their voice that can really move me.

 

3. Musicianship

 

This is not necessarily about being the best, technically, but playing with a certain amount of passion. Joe Satriani is (I'm told) a great guitar player, but is he as passionate as Neil Young? A few standouts can combine passion with incredible technical skill. I think of Richard Thompson and the late Michael Hedges as examples.

 

4. Production / Instrumentation

 

I'm drawn mostly to guitar-based music. I don't listen to a lot of techno or anything electronic. Eno and other producers can bring an element of that to artists I like (Talking Heads, David Bowie, U2) and make in fit. Some artists purposely strive for raw production and it works. Others I like even when it's too slick from some tastes. For example, I like the stuff the Replacements did for Sire more than most of their fans. "Can't Hardly Wait" is one of my favorite songs of theirs and that one song probably required more studio work than their entire Twin Tone catalog.

[bobbob1313]

Because it makes my heart sing.

[mfwahl]

My parents kept breaking the bad music I listened to until I had to listen to Neil Young & Pink Floyd.

 

Same way I became right-handed

[PigSooie]

I just like the way stuff sounds.

[John Smith]

It's as simple as this I like what I like because I like it. SOme I like for songwriting, some for overall sound/emotion some for muscianship. I may love a band today tolerate them tomorrrow and love them again by monday based on my moods. But over time generally stuff sticks with me.

[uncool2pillow]

Because it makes my heart sing.

I just like the way stuff sounds.

I agree with these sentiments. For some reason, I've been trying to figure out how or why it happens. Maybe it's because every once in a while, I find myself singing a Wiggles song my kids like. I think, in that regard, it comes down to some fun pop hooks and good harmonies.

[embiggen]

because it's good.

[Guest Jules]

because it's good.

you have a way with words

[mfwahl]

Seriously, I have no clue. Some things hit me right away. Other things take time.

 

Bands I can think of that I liked right away: Wilco, Pink Floyd, Phish, Marvin Gaye, Fleet Foxes

 

I really like Dr. Dog, My Morning Jacket, Bon Iver, the National but not right away.

[Basil II]

it comes down to some fun pop hooks and good harmonies.

 

 

 

read as "Jay Bennett"

 

 

 

 

-Robert

[yermom]

Lyrically, I like it when I recognize myself in others. Musically, I'm game for so many different things...hand-claps are always a bonus.

 

Edit: Ooooh, according to last.fm, I lean towards dudes.

"Why" is a hard question.

[uncool2pillow]

Lyrically, I like it when I recognize myself in others. Musically, I'm game for so many different things...hand-claps are always a bonus.

 

Edit: Ooooh, according to last.fm, I lean towards dudes.

"Why" is a hard question.

2 things I like about your post. "Recognize myself in others". I think that's what drove me the most to Bob Mould in the late 80s early 90s. Alslo, I've been listening to "Here Comes the Sun" about every other day because I put it on a mix for my kids. The handclaps in that are great.

[Spawn's dad]

I like the Jayhawks because Orkie wore me out.

[Party @ the Moontower]

I dig different stuff depending on the season, my moods, and how much booze is in me. Some songs go way back in time with me, so they carry me to good times..like before I had bills and wrinkles. Others, I jam on because they represent new and improved times, like Wilco. I saw 6 shows in the last year, the 1st year I started listening to them.

 

I seems as I age I keep going to back to my old stuff. There will never be another Johnny Cash, Fugazi, Dylan, CCR,Bono, all the cool guys from the seventies...or Britney Spears.

[froggie]

one thing i prefer is that you need to be able to play it solo and stripped down. if you can play it alone on an acoustic guitar (hello, Mr Tweedy), the song is perfect. other than that, i like the way it sounds!

[markosis]

I like music.

[DAngerer09]

I'm drawn to music with:

 

-good melodies

-lots of layers

-use of piano

-use of strings in a non-gratuitous manner

[aricandover]

I like the way it makes me feel

[stooka]

I tend to enjoy a more raw sound. Garage music is my favorite. Early Kinks & The Who, White Denim, White Stripes, etc.

The Joe Satriani thing, I understand. Don't get me wrong, I respect the playing of techical guys like Steve Vai, but I prefer his mentor FZ.

Also, i lean toward unusual singing. (Blood on the Wall, Deerhoof, Dylan, Neil) Lyrics aren't as important as melody, imo so sometimes months and even years later, I'm like "ok that's what that song is about?" - all to everyone's amusement. Oddly enough, i also enjoy jazz and will purr in resonse to the sound of a buttery saxaphone solo.

Hard to put a finger on exactly what it is that makes me like a song. I watched a doc on Blue Note and the musicians were talking about these two awkward producers that had no natural rhythm and couldn't keep a beat if their life depended on it. If they could make those cats bop around the control room, they knew they had a good song. Just because it had "swing".

 

..so, I prefer music with swing.

[uncool2pillow]

Oddly enough, i also enjoy jazz and will purr in resonse to the sound of a buttery saxaphone solo.

 

I hope you've discovered Ben Webster if you like that kind of sound. He used to play w/ Ellington. I have 2 of his own albums featuring Oscar Peterson on piano: Soulville, and Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson. Both are great.

[kathyp]

I stumbled upon this old post the other day. Oddly enough, I had been writing about the very same thing. For me, it's much easier to describe what I don't like than what I do. Oversimplified, it comes down to songwriting and voice. (I am not a musician, so a "wicked guitar solo," or whatever, is mostly lost on me. I do like to sing.) Empathy and passion is more important than technical proficiency.

 

What I don't like? Thin, whiny, adenoidal vocals. (my long-standing aversion to Neil Young as proof), "deedle-deedle-dee" (there's that non-musician thing) guitars, or anything too dissonant or atonal. (Though I do love me some Captain Beefheart. Go figure.) I believe that different ears process sounds differently, and a lot of it has to do with familiarity. Most of my favorite singers have gruff, raspy voices.

[Littlebear]

I have two answers to this question.

 

First, there's a matter of personal approach that makes you like the music you like. It's the way your sensibility connect to some music. You feel things others don't. The other question that springs on this point is: "is what you feel really from the music you listen to, or more suggested/evocated"?

 

Secondly, there's obviously feelings some musics give to you that you couldn't figure out before. Then these feelings come clearly from the music.