You're a moderator.

And?

And I expect better.

That whole score is gorgeous; a strong contender for my favourite Miles release.

How do you guys balance listening to music you know you will enjoy and trying to broden your musical horizons. There are some releases and some types of music that I think we all sort of fall back on as things that are instantly pleasurable. Those things are easy to like and bring a lot of joy. Then there are things you don't know or certain you will like. You have to listen a few times through and process it and maybe you won't ever get as much out as you wanted to. Which experience is more rewarding? Is it worth the possible disappointment of listening to new things or should one just stick with what is already familiar developing a stronger bond with it?

I definitely tend to pay more of my attention to stuff I like. I'm not a Joe or wantabodylikeme, who seem to be always checking out new stuff. It's hard for me to get a feel for most things right off the bat, so I require a few listens to get well-acquainted with something new. It can be exhausting trying to do that all the time. So I don't think about it too much anymore. I'll go through phases where I have a bunch of stuff in heavy rotation, and then something will spur me to explore new music. The direction I head in is usually inspired by what was in heavy rotation, so it leads to an organic kind of growth.

And then there's external stuff like the tournaments here and the Treefingers list that motivate me to explore.

Gatsby, do you mean mostly listening to old favourites vs. constantly searching for new music? It may be unpopular opinion but I mostly stick to narrow range of favourites and when I am listening o new music I mostly hope it to enter that narrow yet somewhat expanding range of favourites. So I guess I am not very adventerous listener.

Yeah that is mostly what I meant. Not just old favorites though, but in the same genre or time period.

Do you feel that new song from the timeframe and genre you already get used to is less valid "new expirience"? It still a new song you havent heard beforecompared to songs you may heard hundreds of times.

Not necessarily, but it probably isn't challenging the way you think at all.

If your point is about being challenging I agree.

I'm sort of like this and right now I pretty much have stopped listening to new music seriously (i.e. when it isn't ambiant) because I have so much from the past I want to explore.

I'm willing to try new genres and styles, but I try to pace myself and not overdo it to the point that exploring new music becomes something to avoid.

Right now I'm working on metal from 2010. Most of the stuff on my list is from my favorite sub-genres, although some if it sets itself apart from the crowd by being Arabic flavored or part industrial or something. The few albums that aren't from my big sub-genres are ones that I briefly sampled and either liked the sound of or at least wasn't put off by. I'm sick of extreme vocals (which I wasn't a fan of in the first place), so if I start playing something and it's all black metal screams or death metal growls, I don't hesitate to drop it. Sorry, no time for you.

Managed to work out how to play Never Content on my guitar. I'm so happy.

http://nplusonemag.com/54

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