OK time to fess up

[michael]

Um, I love a lot of out and out pop, but I'm not embarrassed to admit it, so of course I'm not mentioning it in this thread!

I think the supposed anti-pop thing on Dissensus is overstated. People happily discuss Mariah Carey and J-Lo and whoever else without any snarky responses cropping up. Compare with people saying they like Bloc Party or Franz Ferdinand...

 

[henry s]

80s nazi Oi!

I was waiting for this to pop up...truly a guilty musical pleasure, by any definition...

 

[Rambler]

here fucking here... same as with the Carpenters.

Fair 'nuff; it's a guilty pleasure in my house at least.

 

[henry s]

Fair 'nuff; it's a guilty pleasure in my house at least.

small sentence, big point: in what context does one define "guilty pleasure"?...if you're fortunate enough to have a multitude of friends, you probably run in some completely different social circles, of which aesthetic conversation is more or less defined by prevailing tastes (you might not be quick to justify your love of Josh Rouse to your electronic music friends, nor the Carpenters to the smart/cynical set)...on Dissensus, most posters don't know each other, so the tact seems to be: what do I like, that would draw the most ire if I started a thread with it (or worse, would be completely ignored?)

 

[Rambler]

That's exactly it. 'Guilty' doesn't mean much without some sort ideological/aesthetic standard for it to grip against. On a forum as a well-informed and as catholic (small c!) as Dissensus, it's pretty much impossible to find a record that really offends the tastes of the board in toto. (Although I'd love to hear some suggestions...) The 'guilty pleasures' thing, outside of aesthetically narrow-minded circles, only really works as guilty to yourself, something that cuts across what you believe to be your own standards of taste and musical ideology.

Therefore, I give you the Magic Flute, which for a lifelong hater of opera and Mozart is a truly guilty pleasure.

 

[IdleRich]

"

(off topic a bit but someones mentioned it "send me a postcard" by shocking blue is well worth a listen)

"

Send Me a Postcard is one of my all time favourite tunes, it's ace.
I agree with what everyone's saying about guilty pleasures being different for everyone. I wasn't trying to be "cooler than thou" when I said Chris Isaac, I just meant my mates took the piss when I bought it.

 

[zhao]

it's pretty much impossible to find a record that really offends the tastes of the board in toto.

are you joking???

I think it safe to say that (at the very least) 60% to 80% of the things mentioned in the Hate Thread offends EVERYONE on this board.

and that's a long mu'fukin' thread.

 

[jenks]

i agree with rambler - i know i really shouldn't like most of the stuff i mentioned - i mean if i won't give houseroom to the AM why Genesis - it makes no sense but it's better that way than only listening to that which has been approved by the arbiters of taste, whomsever they may be

 

[Troy]

Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy

 

[Rambler]

Not joking, although perhaps exaggerating slightly for effect, but I think the point still stands: I mean we (damn right too) have serious threads about the merits of Phil Collins over post-Beatles McCartney.

(I picked a random page on the Hater's thread to refresh my memory - can't have been a very representative one - we don't all hate big beat, jazz and metal do we?)

How you listen - as one or two posts on this thread already illustrate - is very important to the whole 'guilty pleasures' thing. Troy's post (welcome!) is a good and timely example - buying into the whole Europop cheese thing is perhaps beyond the pale for most Dissensus peeps, but as Simon SDC observed on another thread ages ago it's possible to listen to 'Let me be' as a tragic farewell to the glory days of house (I'm paraphrasing from memory). So that one track has the potential to be something guilt-inducing, or a legitimate pleasure within a more intellectually-aware Dissensus-type situation. I reckon that there can't be much music out there that at least someone on these boards wouldn't give a fair shot at, and find something in it that could legitimise it for Dissensian discussion.

(And in case anyone gets me wrong, I reckon this is a good thing, and one of the strengths of the board)

 

[zhao]

Rambler, I challenge you to find ONE person on this board who likes the following:

Wynton Marsalis
Kenny G
Phish
Dave Mathew's Band
Blink 182
Elliot Smith

would list much much more but have to get back to work...

 

[BrokenFist]

Dave Mathew's Band

Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!

 

[Grievous Angel]

Baby D - Let Me Be Your Fantasy[/SIZE]

is an ardkore pop classic and you know it (and if you don't, you should)

I like loads of the music on this thread and I don't have much in the way of guilty pleasures cos I'm not guilty about them and tend to post about them fairly regularly here .

Though I don't think I like any of Wynton Marsalis, Kenny G, Phish, Dave Mathew's Band, Blink 182 or Elliot Smith (who he?).

Who was it said they liked trance? Confucious? What sort of trance? The good old fashioned 95-era trance or the new, usually terrible trance?

I must insist that the Monkees truly were a brilliant, brilliant band and there's no irony in liking them whatsoever. And the Carpenters have been canonised since Sonic Youth went on about them, which was years and years ago. (I like them now but when I was a kid and my dad played them in the car on long journeys, they literally made me throw up.)

Jenks, I'm sorry mate, but the Alarm really is beyond the pale. Here's a revolver, you know what to do. (Did you know that the bass player from the Alarm used to follow the Mission on tour after he was rich and famous? Wild and ker-azy!)

Michael: I think the supposed anti-pop thing on Dissensus is overstated. Too right. I think everyone here is grown up enough to discuss their enjoyment, if not idolisation / idealisation, of pop. It's not that Dissensians don't like pop, it's that they love it too much. (K-Punk being the obvious example.)

Having said all that, my wife cannot bear the fact that I enjoy listening to Steve Wright on Radio 2. Including the sunday morning love songs show.

 

[turtles]

trance! yeah I'll own up to liking some trance, and not just the more smooth/spacey '95 era stuff, but some serious big-room epic trance. armin van buuren's "communication" is a great track! i love a good extended epic synth buildup. of course i think this is greatly aided by the fact that i managed to mostly avoid all the shitty cultural associations of trance that everyone seems to hate on.

also, I seriously love REM's "automatic for the people"

interestingly, I think these could both be classified under the "love for nostalgic reasons" category. both of these were from early formative periods of music appreciation (just-getting-into-rock and just-getting-into-dance). i really don't feel guilty about liking them, though I think the point is that I'm supposed to feel guilty about liking them, according to the gold-standard "proper" hipster-music-taste idol at which we all worship.


as for universally dissensus-reviled, maybe I'm harking on about him a bit too much, but is there anyone willing to defend Jack Johnson???

 

[soi]

dj quiksilver!

i was a sucker for that euro cheese stuff

also the vengaboys

the vengaboys must be guilty because i went TO A DIFFERENT TOWN to buy the album. as if it were donkey pron or something

 

[henry s]

awright, to make up for my Monkee mea culpa, I will own up to having purchased a Kenny G record, some years back...no disclaimers, no back-pedaling, no context...

have at me...

 

[Freakaholic]

poppy 3rd wave ska-punk.. less than jake, mu330, potshot, assorted jelly beans asian man records stuff

the self titled mu330 album in particular is a great example for me.. really love this album, but got their most recent and didnt dig it at all, so one has to wonder if it's simply because the songs are ingrained in my psychie or if theyre actually good. whatever!

I just had to reply to this one. Ska is my favorite genre of music. I am completley unashamed of my liking of all ska, even trendy bandwagon-jumpers of the late 90s, in the same way that I am unashamed of liking all Hair Metal, even trendy..... 90s (think Saigon Kick, Extreme).

I dont think I need to mention a lot of the stuff that people put on the hating list. I like lots of music, and am only ashamed of some.

Indigo Girls (early stuff) -(i cant even believe i admit this)
puddle of mudd - she fuckin hates me
bangles - eternal flame
earth wind and fire - september

 

[dreadglocks]

that new Hilary Duff single has me singing in the shower.

 

[Grievous Angel]

armin van buuren's "communication" is a great track!

Is that the "somebody answer the phone" trrack? That's a WICKED tune. I bought it! It's a bit like Misjah & Tim's Access -- stomping big room techno more than trance.

as for universally dissensus-reviled, maybe I'm harking on about him a bit too much, but is there anyone willing to defend Jack Johnson???

I saw him on the Brits last night, never heard him before. Fan-fucking-tastic music, loved it to bits, going to investigate more.

Prefab Sprout and Santana need no defence, surely?

 

[Grievous Angel]

bangles - eternal flame

Tune!

earth wind and fire - september

One of the greatest records ever made, by one of the best groups ever. Seriously. I remember reading Gavin Martin (IIRC) doing a big piece on how fantastic EW&F are back in the early 80s. Fabulous band, the Best Of gets regular rotation in my house. Boogie Wonderland is one of the ten best pieces of music ever made in any genre ever. Operatic.

Uh, Kenny G? Work with me on this one... I really don't see the appeal!

I note that many of the Dissensus hipsters are absent from this thread. Lightweights.