iPods - Genres and Playlists?

[Krilons Resa]

ironically its usually the same ones that are online all day

i admit ive been online way too much lately but its only because i havent been to work in 5 weeks because of my disc problem in my back. But being on my comp so much has fucked up my right arm hardcore....it doesnt end.

 

[JayKeeley]

remember NAD's poll (or was it Erik?) and the question was, "do you prefer the indoors or outdoors" and every 24 hour internet person voted for outdoors

yeah right

outdoors, like the fucken screensaver of Hawaii on my 21" flatscreen monitor

 

[lurch70]

just like all of them like earth/woods themed metal

 

[J.]

it's nice not having the internet at work, so im signed on only about 4 hours a day, 1 or 2 of which im not in front of the puter, but watching tv or eating dinner...

 

[General Zod]

i work with a bunch of dipshit 18-22 year olds and the second they are on break/lunch/not doing work, they open that damn phone.

i.e. they interact with their friends. I'm not clear how that's a bad thing. I suppose it would be better if they retreated to a dark corner and continued writing their Luddite manifesto?


Zod

 

[General Zod]

Seriously, why do people categorize by genre?

I spend a lot of time in front of my home PC, as I work from home three days a week. Rather than constantly trying to figure out which of the 600+ CDs I have in my music library I want to listen to, I find it easier to queue up a genre on shuffle. As JK said, I'm more often in the mood for a style than a particular band.

Additionally, since I have a lot of music on my iPod I'm not familiar with, I like having an artist queue up without knowing who that artist is. It allows me to assess the music with absolutely no preconceived notions.

Zod

 

[Demilich]

i've been using my dad's 2gig ipod nano lately. i put music on just about half of it.

on there right now i've got Mayhem, Bathory, Wolves in the Throne Room, Witchcraft, Katatonia, and Slough Feg

 

[swizzlenuts]

I spend a lot of time in front of my home PC, as I work from home three days a week. Rather than constantly trying to figure out which of the 600+ CDs I have in my music library I want to listen to, I find it easier to queue up a genre on shuffle. As JK said, I'm more often in the mood for a style than a particular band.

Additionally, since I have a lot of music on my iPod I'm not familiar with, I like having an artist queue up without knowing who that artist is. It allows me to assess the music with absolutely no preconceived notions.

Zod

Makes sense, but I absolutely hate shuffle. I have to listen to an album all the way through. I think I've listened to music on shuffle once or twice in the past two years, and once was because I was sitting with TheGreatDeceiver and we couldn't come to a consensus on what we wanted to listen to.

I understand what you are saying with the preconceived notion of the band, but far to many bands can turn you off because you hear the song by itself and it sucks because its way out of context. I always seem to address the 'wrong' things about a song that way.

 

[General Zod]

I understand what you are saying with the preconceived notion of the band, but far to many bands can turn you off because you hear the song by itself and it sucks because its way out of context. I always seem to address the 'wrong' things about a song that way.

But should a song ever suck, out of context?

I think context is more of a Black Metal thing. A great Power Metal or Death Metal song is just that. It matters little what song comes before or after it.

Zod

 

[General Zod]

Aside from Gojira, they are all absolutely Death Metal.

So how would you categorize Gojira?

Zod

 

[swizzlenuts]

But should a song ever suck, out of context?

I think context is more of a Black Metal thing. A great Power Metal or Death Metal song is just that. It matters little what song comes before or after it.

Zod

Suck no, but many times you can think it's just okay, and not explore further.

 

[JayKeeley]

So how would you categorize Gojira?

Zod

I have it under "avante garde", along with:

Amesouers
Explosions in the Sky
The Gathering
Isis
Magyar Posse
Neurosis
Novembre
The Ocean
Pelican
Red Sparrowes
Scald (IRE)

 

[General Zod]

I have it under "avante garde", along with:

Amesouers
Explosions in the Sky
The Gathering
Isis
Magyar Posse
Neurosis
Novembre
The Ocean
Pelican
Red Sparrowes
Scald (IRE)

Just for chuckles and grins, here's how I categorized those same releases:

Amesouers - Ambient Black Metal
Explosions in the Sky - Post-Rock
The Gathering - Prog
Isis - Post-Rock
Magyar Posse - who?
Neurosis - Heavy Metal
Novembre - none of their stuff on my iPod
The Ocean - Post-Rock
Pelican - Post-Rock
Red Sparrowes - none of their stuff on my iPod
Scald (IRE) - Ambient Black Metal

Zod

 

[JayKeeley]

yeah that's the great thing about genre categories on your iPOD, they only need to make sense to YOU!

 

[skyrefuge]

As I said in a previous thread, I can see some value to using genres, like if your brain is so puny and undeveloped that you can only think of what you want to hear in clouded generalities. But if You're Smarter Than A 5th Grader, they're probably more likely to cause you pain, as Zod is now discovering. Grouping things alphabetically could solve the too-much-scrolling problem with a lot less mental anguish.

Listening to individual songs on random is for flaming poseurs, except when you're drunkenly playing "Who Can Name The Song The Fastest" with your friends.

Using "shuffle by album" to get suggestions for the next album to listen to is an approved usage, however.

Neil

 

[Hell Mike]

As I said in a previous thread, I can see some value to using genres, like if your brain is so puny and undeveloped that you can only think of what you want to hear in clouded generalities. But if You're Smarter Than A 5th Grader, they're probably more likely to cause you pain, as Zod is now discovering. Grouping things alphabetically could solve the too-much-scrolling problem with a lot less mental anguish.

Listening to individual songs on random is for flaming poseurs, except when you're drunkenly playing "Who Can Name The Song The Fastest" with your friends.

Using "shuffle by album" to get suggestions for the next album to listen to is an approved usage, however.

Neil

Genres are great for the "I like this, what else would I like?"-way of discovering new acts as well as roughly describing something. Just don't go nazi about it and there's no problem.

Shuffle has its place as well, simply when you don't feel like an album and have the skip-button handy for when you get something that's not fitting atm.

 

[dill_the_devil]

I got my 30Gb MP3 player last week, and have spent all this week with it on for around nine and a half hours a day (on the way to work, while working, and on the way back from work). The MP3 player can search by Artist, Album, Track or Genre, but I usually tend to leave the fucker on shuffle. I've lately been re-discovering stuff in my collection thanks to the player randomly throwing on a track from a CD I haven't listened to since 2001 or something.

 

[General Zod]

As I said in a previous thread, I can see some value to using genres, like if your brain is so puny and undeveloped that you can only think of what you want to hear in clouded generalities.

I suspect you may only be looking at this from the perspective of when you're actually "listening" to music. As I said, by and large, I use iTunes (and genres) while I'm working or working out. So admittedly, the large percent of my (massive) brainpower isn't focused on the music. Hell, I may be so wrapped up in something, that I completely tune out 3 or 4 songs.

Additionally, I often find that I have anywhere between 10 and 20 CDs on my iPod, which I've never listened to before. Sometimes I'll queue up an iTues Smart Playlist and just let it play those CDs. This does two things. First, it allows me to listen to the music without knowing who the artist is, and judge the music on it's own, without the praise it may have received on RC coloring my perspective. Second, eventually a song will queue up that just kicks my ass. At that point, I'll queue up that whole CD.

Zod

 

[Demonspell]

I agree that random play can be useful in isolating details in individual songs and reacquainting yourself with a rarely played song, but I do find that music does assume more of a background role when I'm not attentively listening to an album in sequence. And it does occasionally put things in the wrong context. I'd also advise against classifying by genre.