don't get me wrong, if i am not actively
listening, music i don't like will get on my nerves.

but if i take the attention to listen,
I will usually find something to like about anything.

sometimes all I find is that I like what an
artist was trying to do.

but I can't remember the last time I heard a
song and liked nothing about it.

makes it much easier to listen to music.

rather than limiting my taste to 'real' music, I've opened up to all sorts of shit.

>sometimes all I find is that I like what an
>artist was trying to do.

but I might end up spreading to others.

can't say i always have it, though, and there's certainly some music I have no desire to hear again ever.

It's both a philosophical aspiration and a very natural attitude for me... I think it came from being surrounded by so many different streams of music growing up, and many different models of music appreciation, that I just sort of naturally lean toward finding those aspects of a piece of music that I like or find interesting in some way, rather than those that I don't.

I think it's a generally positive approach with one small caveat: over time it has become harder for me to determine whether I like a piece of music in totality, aesthetically --- or whether I like a piece of music because I've honed in on some minor aspect that I find interesting for whatever reason. The Zen master in me says that's probably healthy in the long run; the (reluctant) American individualist in me says, "Who am I if not my likes and dislikes?"

But the conundrum is sort of a false one, bc I'm too far settled in my listening habits to change (intnetionally, anyway). I've reconciled myself with the fact that I have zones of strong preference that roughly correlate to certain musical traits (not so much genres, but certainly some), but that I can listen to and honestly enjoy even a lot of the most mundane/inane stuff out there.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Of what I hear:

- Actively dislike: 50%
- Indifferent: 45%
- Like: 5%

I used to be a lot more forgiving.

I certainly hear songs that have nothing likeable to me. But now I'm able to listen to stuff that would be considered way out of my wheelhouse and apprciate or like it.

that's pretty much the only "genre" i don't habitually touch. but yeah, like you, i'd probably find something i like if i paid attention to it.

i have like 4 shelby lynn albums, an alison moorer album (shelby's sister), and maybe some willie nelson LPs stashed somewhere. that's it.