A Rock Town Hall Proposal: Hear Factor
By Mr. Moderator on Apr 3, 2007
Townspeople,
I have an experiment to propose. You know those wife-swapping, trading places types of reality shows? I'd like to find two Townspeople with widely divergent tasts who would be willing to take part in a Mix Swap.
But this isn't some friendly "Hey, let me turn you onto these boss tunes!" sort of mix swap. Rather, it's a "Deal with living in my shoes!" mix swap. The two participants will have to live with the each other's mix tape, listening to it exclusively over the course of a week. Dig:
Follow up:
Theoretically we've got a Townsperson who hates prog-rock but loves Herman's Hermits and a Townsperson who hates Herman's Hermits and loves prog-rock lined up to take part in this experiment. The greater the variance in opposing tastes the better, and these two are just right for our work!
So prog-rock fan gets to make a mix CD of his or her favorite prog songs for Herman's Hermits fan, who in turn makes a mix CD of his or her favorite songs by the Hermits and similar bands. They swap CDs. For 1 week, they pledge to listen to nothing but the other Townsperson's mix CD. Each day they report back to the Halls of Rock, diary style, on their experiences, impressions, frustations, and perhaps enlightenment. The rest of us will be free to chip in with comments, advice, support, and related counseling.
What do you think? If this is a good idea, let's see if we can't select two Townspeople with opposing tastes in a given area and the necessary degree of candor and intestinal fortitude. Bring it on!
29 comments
Comment from: hrrundivbakshi [Member] 
Interesting idea, Mod, but count me out. The idea of spending a week listening to nothing but, say, Be Bop Deluxe, sounds too psychically painful to endure. Normally, I'm all for these experiments, but this one crosses that RTH/reality line for me. Can you imagine spending a *week* listening to nothing but my "mix tape" of AC/DC, Upper Crust, Supagroup and ZZ Top? I didn't think so.
04/03/07 @ 09:26
Comment from: sammymaudlin [Member]
A "WEEK"? How much does this gig pay? I propose perhaps a promise to listen straight thru 3 times or something.
But based on my inability to listed to the Love You shite past the middle of the second song, you better count me out.
But based on my inability to listed to the Love You shite past the middle of the second song, you better count me out.
04/03/07 @ 09:33
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Can you imagine spending a *week* listening to nothing but my "mix tape" of AC/DC, Upper Crust, Supagroup and ZZ Top? I didn't think so.
Psshhhawww, Hrrundi! I listen to crap for your benefit every few days of the week. I surely have a strong enough fortitude and enough candor for the job - no doubt about it - but I'm looking for a few other good Townspeople.
Who's got what it takes?
04/03/07 @ 09:38
Comment from: meanstom [Member]
I don't but I hope someone else does. Imagine Mr. Mod on a steady diet of freak folk.
04/03/07 @ 10:20
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Who's got what it takes?If you can't go a whole week, can you go for 3 days in another Townsperson's record collection? Jeez, haven't you people ever house sat in the days before carrying around your entire collection on you iPod?
04/03/07 @ 10:39
Comment from: Rick Massimo [Member]
I can't go for a whole week, or even three days, because of professional responsibilities, but if you go down to a good solid three or four listens all the way through I might make a formidable foean interesting partner.
04/03/07 @ 11:06
Comment from: michael k [Member]
I saw the word "swap" and immediately thought of Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich. ;-)
04/03/07 @ 11:21
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Michael K, I was hoping to find a YouTube clip of Kekich and Peterson, but no dice! I was going to put up a still shot of them, but then I thought I'd scare away folks already distressed over this week's Dugout Chatter.
Rick, I appreciate your offer and I'm stunned by the honesty that folks are giving to this challenge. I don't know if I can go lower than 3 days. A few spins in a row is another day's work on RTH. For this swap to meet its expectations, it's important that a Townsman lives in another Townsman's ears. I'll keep you in mind, though. I know you'd be good for this.
Who's got what it takes?
Rick, I appreciate your offer and I'm stunned by the honesty that folks are giving to this challenge. I don't know if I can go lower than 3 days. A few spins in a row is another day's work on RTH. For this swap to meet its expectations, it's important that a Townsman lives in another Townsman's ears. I'll keep you in mind, though. I know you'd be good for this.
Who's got what it takes?
04/03/07 @ 11:29
Comment from: Oats [Member]
I'm willing to give this a shot. So let me see if I've got this straight, I get assigned a fellow Townsperson, and I then have to devise a mix of songs that I think said Townsperson would hate?
04/03/07 @ 11:41
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Does Oats have what it takes?!?!
Oats wrote:
First of all, you are a Townsperson among Townspeople for volunteering for this experiment. Thank you.
Now comes the next stage: Once we find your swap partner, the key is not so much for each of you to make a mix CD that the other one might hate but to identify a style of music or artist you love and match it up with a Townsperson that will initially struggle with that same style of music or artist.
For instance, in your case, Townsman Oats, we know you've got a thing for Pulp. That band's not everyone's cup of tea. I could see you pushing a Pulp mix on someone who would then make you a mix CD of an artist or style of music you typically do not like - but that the maker of that mix CD actually does like. So, for instance, if I were to do this with you, I could not make you a mix of Journey, Styx, Kansas, et al because I abhor that stuff. Imagine, for instance, if The Great 48 and I did this. He might make me live with a mix CD of Prefab Sprout, Style Council, and all that stuff, and I might make him live with a mix CD of something he's never expressed interest in that I like, I don't know, maybe hippie stuff like Traffic and Joe Cocker.
Let us know a style of music or artist you feel uncomfortable with, and we'll see if we can match you up with a suitable swap partner who actually loves that stuff. Then, that swap partner will have to acknowledge something in your wheelhouse that typically gives him or her the willies.
Then, all we'll ask for is a diary-style report over the course of 3 days relating to your experiences with this new set of ears.
Lookin' good, people!
Oats wrote:
I'm willing to give this a shot. So let me see if I've got this straight, I get assigned a fellow Townsperson, and I then have to devise a mix of songs that I think said Townsperson would hate?
First of all, you are a Townsperson among Townspeople for volunteering for this experiment. Thank you.
Now comes the next stage: Once we find your swap partner, the key is not so much for each of you to make a mix CD that the other one might hate but to identify a style of music or artist you love and match it up with a Townsperson that will initially struggle with that same style of music or artist.
For instance, in your case, Townsman Oats, we know you've got a thing for Pulp. That band's not everyone's cup of tea. I could see you pushing a Pulp mix on someone who would then make you a mix CD of an artist or style of music you typically do not like - but that the maker of that mix CD actually does like. So, for instance, if I were to do this with you, I could not make you a mix of Journey, Styx, Kansas, et al because I abhor that stuff. Imagine, for instance, if The Great 48 and I did this. He might make me live with a mix CD of Prefab Sprout, Style Council, and all that stuff, and I might make him live with a mix CD of something he's never expressed interest in that I like, I don't know, maybe hippie stuff like Traffic and Joe Cocker.
Let us know a style of music or artist you feel uncomfortable with, and we'll see if we can match you up with a suitable swap partner who actually loves that stuff. Then, that swap partner will have to acknowledge something in your wheelhouse that typically gives him or her the willies.
Then, all we'll ask for is a diary-style report over the course of 3 days relating to your experiences with this new set of ears.
Lookin' good, people!
04/03/07 @ 11:54
Comment from: sally_cinnamon [Member]
I'm willing to give it a try also... but I don't think I'd be a match for Oats because I actually do like Pulp... maybe not *all* of Pulp, but generally speaking...
04/03/07 @ 15:28
Comment from: markwallace1322 [Visitor]
Sadly, I'm not much for making mixes. At another time of year, say the summer, I'd be willing to give somebody else's musical taste a quality listen. Right now, though, grading many papers and attending many meetings, I turn to music in the evenings in a desperate attempt to clutch some aesthetic pleasure that will make life bearable. Being bludgeoned by the musical interests of some other loser around here is exactly what I don't need. But hey, try me again in July or August, when I'll be working every morning on my own writing, and will be happy to listen to something that pulls me out of that creative daze.
04/03/07 @ 15:46
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Sally C, why don't you and Oats see if there's something the two of you don't agree on while the other one loves. I threw Pulp out there, because I know Oats is into them and that his brave defense of some bizarre songs the night of our First Annual RTH Live Event made a number of people in attendance squirm. I could imagine a few Townspeople for whom 3 days of nonstop Pulp might be...challenging. Once you and Oats have traded notes, we'll see where to go.
If the two of you aren't the right match for a swap, maybe you can swap with Mark later this summer. Mark's goat can easily be gotten, and he's got some goat-getters of his own in his collection!
Thanks for stepping up, folks. Something tells me this will not be the last time we play Hear Factor.
If the two of you aren't the right match for a swap, maybe you can swap with Mark later this summer. Mark's goat can easily be gotten, and he's got some goat-getters of his own in his collection!
Thanks for stepping up, folks. Something tells me this will not be the last time we play Hear Factor.
04/03/07 @ 20:47
Comment from: general slocum [Member]
I'm game, Mr. Mod. Though I worry about the kitchier reality-show aspects of the thing, which would be just as succesful if I was to spend a week listening only to a mix I had made myself. The repitition, the serendipitous appropriate soundtrack-isms, the "Day 4. My right eyelid is twitching," wry pisstakes. But if it's on the level, I'll give it a shot. The trouble is that my main musical maladjustment is [yes, Townspeople, I hear some of you shouting out helpful suggestions here - begone!] is that I have an inability to stay within a genre for a whole mix. But maybe Mr. Mod could suggest an angle here. Or perhaps you could help correct my misapprehension of my public persona by offering, "Why, General, you're well known as the fellow frequently listening to ____." If it were a "mix" of one artist, though, that seems to take some of the Rorshachian fun out of the proceedings. I like the idea generally, though. Hey, as I type, I'm thinking, how about this: interested parties make a mix of what they'd most like to hear this week, and send them to *you*, and you choose who should receive them based on your knowledge of the parties involved. Too much work for you that way, though. But that way the mixes could eliminate that whole "picking things for spite of a stated antipathy" aspect. Though it also doesn't focus the mixes on those same poles that are most useful for sensational entertainment. Hmm. Nevermind that bit. Well, I'm game.
04/03/07 @ 20:56
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
General, I was hoping you'd be game. You're an interesting case because you're married to something broader than any one genre, any one artist. It's possible that a mix of a single artist or well-defined genre might get under your skin. Let's think about this.
If enough people were game, sure, I'd be happy to collect "blind" mixes, distribute them accordingly, and disrupt a number of Townspeople's weekends. You guys tell me what's best.
As for the reality show aspects and the other likely nonsense, at least I can assure you no one will be calling anyone a "beyatch" or dumb stuff like that. It will be on the level. Showboating doesn't go far around here.
With any of these potential ideas though, it's key that the giver of each CD makes their mix with true love and joy for the work at hand. For this to work, mixes must be made with a high degree of earnestness, as if we really wanted to reach out to a good friend with a special mix. I'm not joking about this. A CD mix of "annoying" songs will be smoked out in no time, because we'll have some sense of the mixer.
If enough people were game, sure, I'd be happy to collect "blind" mixes, distribute them accordingly, and disrupt a number of Townspeople's weekends. You guys tell me what's best.
As for the reality show aspects and the other likely nonsense, at least I can assure you no one will be calling anyone a "beyatch" or dumb stuff like that. It will be on the level. Showboating doesn't go far around here.
With any of these potential ideas though, it's key that the giver of each CD makes their mix with true love and joy for the work at hand. For this to work, mixes must be made with a high degree of earnestness, as if we really wanted to reach out to a good friend with a special mix. I'm not joking about this. A CD mix of "annoying" songs will be smoked out in no time, because we'll have some sense of the mixer.
04/03/07 @ 21:08
Comment from: sally_cinnamon [Member]
no one will be calling anyone a "beyatch"damnit. i'm out then. ;)
i think getting them to you, monsieur mod, makes a lot of sense. good suggestion from the general!
04/03/07 @ 21:58
Comment from: the great 48 [Member]
Imagine, for instance, if The Great 48 and I did this. He might make me live with a mix CD of Prefab Sprout, Style Council, and all that stuff, and I might make him live with a mix CD of something he's never expressed interest in that I like, I don't know, maybe hippie stuff like Traffic and Joe Cocker.
Yeah, all right. I'm in.
04/03/07 @ 22:00
Comment from: Oats [Member]
Showboating doesn't go far around here.
WHA?! This is a joke, right? Or is this what differeniates this place from the old RTH incarnation? I kid becuase I love.
I'm up for this, although in all honesty I'm more up for frequent listens to a mix CD over the set number of days rather than nothing but. Mr. Moderator, let me know if I should be crafting a CD with someone in mind, or just a CD of general Oatsness. Either way, there will only be one Pulp song, at most. I'm not going back there, not even with dynamite.
04/03/07 @ 22:00
Comment from: geo [Member]
I think the General's idea is pretty brilliant. In this age of mixes, many of us could just send one in and you could send it off to a lucky recipient that might find it unappetizing. I'll certainly fly one right in if that's a plan. It might be worthwhile for the mixes to be blind, too. Let folks try to figure who dumped this mess on 'em. I think this would go a long way to avoid putting things together arbitrarily so someone specific will hate it.
As far as listen only to this one thing for a week, that's a little over the top, but maybe a commitment to a listen a day for about a week. Listen as much as you did when you were a teenager saving for a new album for a couple of weeks and you finally got it. Really get familiar.
As far as listen only to this one thing for a week, that's a little over the top, but maybe a commitment to a listen a day for about a week. Listen as much as you did when you were a teenager saving for a new album for a couple of weeks and you finally got it. Really get familiar.
04/03/07 @ 22:06
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
All right, Townspeeps. I'm hearing good things. Let's try going BigTime, but recipients will have to LIVE with whatever CD they receive for 3 days. And you will have to report back each day. If you're interested, please do the following over the coming week:
1) Send me a mix CD (multiple- or single-artist mix) of something YOU LOVE and would want someone who shares your tastes to receive. I recommend making your CD with some extremely focused perspective. If you give me a broad swath of all sorts of things people might like, who could be wrong for it? Try to stick with a genre, theme, what-have-you.
You can send your CD with your address to the following PO Box:
2) I'll review your CDs and find the most inappropriate recipient for your efforts. I'll distribute them blindly.
3) Once everyone's received their CD, we'll report in with our experiences while listening to it each day. For clarity, it's important that we not listen to other CDs over the course of those 3 days. Yes, it's tough, but that's part of the point.
If we get as many as 6 participants, we'll be in good shape. You can count me in. Thanks.
1) Send me a mix CD (multiple- or single-artist mix) of something YOU LOVE and would want someone who shares your tastes to receive. I recommend making your CD with some extremely focused perspective. If you give me a broad swath of all sorts of things people might like, who could be wrong for it? Try to stick with a genre, theme, what-have-you.
You can send your CD with your address to the following PO Box:
Mr. Moderator
PO Box 271
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
2) I'll review your CDs and find the most inappropriate recipient for your efforts. I'll distribute them blindly.
3) Once everyone's received their CD, we'll report in with our experiences while listening to it each day. For clarity, it's important that we not listen to other CDs over the course of those 3 days. Yes, it's tough, but that's part of the point.
If we get as many as 6 participants, we'll be in good shape. You can count me in. Thanks.
04/03/07 @ 22:38
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Oats wrote:
I hope I haven't been unclear: I'm not saying that you need to listen to your mix CD during your waking hours - nonstop - over 3 days. No, I'm just saying that it's the only CD you play when you want to listen to music over the course of 3 days. It's like not eating before an medical procedure, right? Remember: I will be monitoring your activities through these 3 days.
A mix of your general Oatsness - if that's what makes you tick - is fine. Again, I'd recommend focusing on an aspect of your Oatsness, to make your mix potentially more omnipresent.
I'm up for this, although in all honesty I'm more up for frequent listens to a mix CD over the set number of days rather than nothing but. Mr. Moderator, let me know if I should be crafting a CD with someone in mind, or just a CD of general Oatsness.
I hope I haven't been unclear: I'm not saying that you need to listen to your mix CD during your waking hours - nonstop - over 3 days. No, I'm just saying that it's the only CD you play when you want to listen to music over the course of 3 days. It's like not eating before an medical procedure, right? Remember: I will be monitoring your activities through these 3 days.
A mix of your general Oatsness - if that's what makes you tick - is fine. Again, I'd recommend focusing on an aspect of your Oatsness, to make your mix potentially more omnipresent.
04/03/07 @ 22:47
Comment from: kpdexter [Member]
this could be good. sign me up! bossman, I'm working on a mix as we speak!
04/04/07 @ 11:18
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Townspeople have answered the call! I look forward to receiving your packages and distributing them to the inappropriate people. Thanks.
04/04/07 @ 12:12
Comment from: kpdexter [Member]
Mix 1
SCRAPPED
this is a lot of pressure. Even I thought that mix sucked. Back to the drawing board.
SCRAPPED
this is a lot of pressure. Even I thought that mix sucked. Back to the drawing board.
04/04/07 @ 13:21
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Stick with it Townsman Kpdexter! I know there's a sincerely lovingly made mix in you just waiting to disrupt another Townsperson's world!
04/04/07 @ 13:50
Comment from: sally_cinnamon [Member]
Ah! I just saw the ear-bleeding image!! Bad story: I had an old friend who woke up in the middle of the night and found that one of his ears was bleeding because he constantly listened to his music too loud with his huge headphones and had ruptured something. Seriously! True story. Mr. Mod, you may be the only one who's safe with your no-headphones stance, just don't stand too close to the speakers I guess;) During the selection process will you be listening to every mix at least once? :)
04/05/07 @ 09:34
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