Other Ears

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else get that thing where they play a record they like to someone, actually physically with someone there in the room, and there's a silence while it plays, maybe a look of mild scepticism on the other person's face, and during the silence you find yourself listening with their ears and suddenly everything that MIGHT be lame or weak or crappy about the music is REALLY OBVIOUS to you?

Comments

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I find that horrible silence to be the worst thing evah, and I almost can't help but want to break it by justifying that, wait, if you listen to it properly, it's really amazing and not shit at all, really now.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Yes. All the time. But there is no silence as usually I am either singing over the top or going "this bit! just listen! SHE JUST SAID 'HUNGRY DOGS WILL CHASE YOU!'"

I have listened to the Bextor album on repeat for the whole of today. First thoughts: peaks and troughs.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

league of pop = NUMBER ONE WORLDWIDE CAUSE OF THIS EFFECT, not so much "in the room with actual live real person" but "in dubdobdee's head with imagined idea of actual live real person"

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Oh god yes. Which is why I do the 'listen to this, it's ace' thing much less than I used to.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think this effect is an elephant in the "what does liking mean"/"visceral response" room that koganbot has been building (tho not on Poptimists, but I think the posts on his LJ are public). It's quite a small and well-behaved elephant, because the other-ears effect doesn't generally mean you STOP liking the track you're playing, but I think it illuminates something about the status of "liking" and the social aspects of it and the way you can feel through a visceral anti-response to music you've had a visceral response about.

Maybe an answer to the question "who are opinion leaders?" is "people who feel the bad-ears effect less".

[fathands.livejournal.com]

Variant on the above is playing music to ones parents.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

YES this always happened to me in the car tape player. I particularly remember with burning agony Carter USM's "After The Watershed" coming on and my Mum taking umbrage at the "silly cow" chorus - "I'm disappointed you listen to such sexist music" etc. SQUIRM ARGH.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

WITH the car tape player.

[cis.livejournal.com]

ALWAYS.

it is generally not helped by my habit of hyping in really peculiar ways, viz.
"it totally sounds like a bavarian weatherhouse!"
"a what?"
"you shall see!"
::plays record::
"..."

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

Although is much worse if is someone you are in the room with cus with LoP just felt a bit like had let whoever was receiving songz that week down but when they are there with you you can feel them reevaluating yourself in a similar manner to that in which you are reevaluating the song.

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

luckily no one from LOP is ALLOWED IN MY ROOM *looks fiercely at screen*

[fathands.livejournal.com]

I would get really tantrummy/ sulky if I didn't get to play my choice of tape on the tape player, even though doing so meant the other ears (parent version) effect. I would sit there in silent defiance, feeling incredibly uncomfortable but utterly committed to listening to my choice for as long as possible. I was very manipulative in terms of getting my own way wrt music. I am still a bit like this actually, only I sulk inside when I don't get my way, rather than stomping about.

the two stages of carter-related mentalism

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i. 1xnon-low opinnion in 1st place
ii. believin for 0.0000000000000000000000000001xmicrosecond that yr PARENTS will share it

Re: the two stages of carter-related mentalism

[fathands.livejournal.com]

Teenagers are evangelical about music though. I genuinely believed that the world needed to be converted to wonders of the Spin Doctors.

I was wrong.

Re: the two stages of carter-related mentalism

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I don't think the parent trap other-ears is about "wow I hope you will like this awesome music!" (so stage ii is not quite as mental as that). It's more that when you the sulky adolescent get your way and put your tape on your parent suddenly changes from "person driving the car who I can totally ignore" to "person WITH EARS oh no!! who is driving the car so I cannot escape from"

Re: the two stages of carter-related mentalism

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

OK yes I admit that this was not always true - I did honestly think they might like The Smiths. :(

[dickmalone.livejournal.com]

Yes, and it's even worse when it's music you've made. I generally try and be drinking or playing video games at that point.

[friedslice.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely yes. This is why these things are best done in 'back to mine' type situations after many drinks.

[dickmalone.livejournal.com]

That second sentence wasn't grammatical at all, wow.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

How could you say that, even think that, HOW?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I got VERY irate once when Dad switched off Dawn Penn in favour of 'travel news' about the A40.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Didn't Dawn Penn release an entire album based around travel news about the A40?

[fathands.livejournal.com]

My mother would claim she needed to 'concentrate' on the 'traffic'.

[koganbot]

Opinion leaders may feel the bad-ears effect more and feel compelled to justify their opinions in print, to proselytize and thereby compensate for those bad pair of ears they'd endured.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

YES I also do the "no hang on SHHH don't SPEAK there's a really good bit coming up" thing - the ensuing pause is even more awkward.

This is one good thing about FILE SHARING: if you want someone to hear a song now you can just SEND IT TO THEM.