Leave me alone! I like my Hootie cd!

Acquired taste is distinguished from ordinary taste in that it stems from a decision to like something instead of the direct discovery of personal satisfaction. (wikipedia)

Coffee, aged cheeses, fine wine, dark chocolate, tobacco. I don’t think that the majority of people enjoy their first taste of beer. Or their first cigarette (choke, cough). Or first cup of black coffee. Truly enjoy, say the way a person may instinctively take a liking to a type of candy or a certain fruit. There is something simple about these things. They’re sweet. They have distinct and simple flavors.

Dark chocolate on the other hand requires some work. As the wikipedia definition lays out for us, it is an acquired taste that comes from a decision to enjoy. It’s not instantaneous. I must choose to appreciate the complexity of dark chocolate, fine espresso, an imported cigar, or a Belgian ale.

All that being said, I’ve recently been coming to the realization that music can be as much of an acquired taste as any of the aforementioned consumables. This most likely isn’t much of a surprise to my friends who I consider music connoisseurs, but I thought I might still share my coming of age tale regarding my own evolving musical tastes.

Jason is my music guru. He married into my family 8 years or so ago. It must have been 6 years ago at a family Christmas that he and I began to talk about music. I have no idea who I said I was into (at worst, probably the Goo Goo Dolls; at best, Bob Dylan), but was blown away when he whipped out his cd collection and starting flying through artists I “had to listen to.” He left me that day with a band called Bright Eyes. This guy sounded like he recorded in his car, or in a basement. His voice wavered and broke so much it often sounded like he could have been crying. Or had some kind of bronchial virus. That was my first helping from the table of acquired tastes in music, but thankfully far from my last.

It wasn’t until a few years later in college that Jason and I began talking music on a regular basis. His conviction that I still wasn’t listening to enough “good music” lead him to send me numerous cd’s in the mail. He sent me such favorites as Slint’s Spiderland and Sunny Day Real Estate’s How It Feels to Be Something On. Mind you, at time my most rotated CD was Dave and Tim, Live at Luther College. I wasn’t ready for the complexities of creative and truly original (indie) rock. When Jason called to hear how much Sunny Day has changed me life, there was a rough silence when I told him I didn’t really like them very much. I had in fact, quickly skipped through a few tracks, and not hearing much that caught my attention, went back to Trippin Billies.
Jason seemed to take offense to this. He told me bluntly that if I didn’t like that band, that perhaps he could dig up his old Hootie and the Blowfish album or something else that might be more up my alley. The conversation ended shortly after that.

He wasn’t mad. Probably just frustrated that I didn’t see what was in front of me; an incredibly complex album, one that deserved at minimum two or three full listens through before appreciating all that was there. Today, this is one of my favorite albums. It simply needed for me to choose to want to enjoy it. I had to make an effort to uncover what made the music “good.” There were no catchy radio ready rhythms. No anthem-esque choruses. But what was there was rich. It was intricate and easily glossed over if not taken slowly. Fortunately, his Hootie comment forced me to give the CD a full first, then second listen.

Ask any barista how they feel about gas station coffee. Or a wine geek about a pinot from a box. They know there is no comparison. They’ve made the cross over and couldn’t go back to their earlier preferences if they wanted to. It just couldn’t happen.

I don’t think my music is better than anyone else’s. To each his own, honestly. But I do know that growing to embrace an album only after three full listens, or hearing a band make music that sounds literally like nothing else on the face of the earth, these are the things that make music worth listening to. Music like this will never get played on the radio. But it will do something else that radio music will never do; Evolve into the next song no one has ever heard of, but will change your life.
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All that being said, I think I’m going to use this post as small launching pad to discuss a few of my favorite influential albums you may or may not be familiar with. Some recent, some not so recent. I hope I’m not coming across as elitist, that’s the last thing I want. I just felt like sharing some lesser known bands that I think you all would truly enjoy if you gave then an honest listen through. Comments please?