the psychology of "growers" and "faders"

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I looked around and couldn't see any similar threads. Why do some songs/albums grow on you, and others fade?

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 03:17 (twenty years ago)

fuck you.

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 03:33 (twenty years ago)

(that's how all my threads start, so why not get it out of the way?)

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 03:34 (twenty years ago)

Because the thread title makes me think of penises, but carry on.

― Eppy (Eppy), Friday, 31 March 2006 04:19 (twenty years ago)

Maybe we should try that thread on ILE.

― lf (lfam), Friday, 31 March 2006 04:25 (twenty years ago)

My favorite albums tend to be showers. The best of the best are like golden showers, you know?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 31 March 2006 05:11 (twenty years ago)

http://www.storeshop.com/images/urine-gone.jpg

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 05:19 (twenty years ago)

I know a lot of my favorite albums that I have listened to time and time again, the first time I listened to them, it was like... I don't know if I like this, but I really need to hear it again.

― Treblekicker (treblekicker), Friday, 31 March 2006 10:48 (twenty years ago)

I think it's quite simple - instant attraction doens't often lead to deeper understanding because there's little effort put in to finding out about something, about what's going on underneath or in the details, etcetera. With "growers" you estbalish and build a relationship which deepens over time as you learn more.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 31 March 2006 12:17 (twenty years ago)

I think you're right, but why are some albums instantly gratifying whereas others take time. Is it familiarity with the sounds/melodies/production styles?

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 14:20 (twenty years ago)

Yes.

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 31 March 2006 14:25 (twenty years ago)

Love vs. Lust

― steal compass, drive north, disappear (tissp), Friday, 31 March 2006 14:59 (twenty years ago)

shallow vs. deep, candy vs. vegetables, oppositional binary vs. actually fuckin thinking

― Tracey Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 31 March 2006 15:05 (twenty years ago)

well, that was easy.

― jackl (jackl), Friday, 31 March 2006 16:17 (twenty years ago)

Listening to a song is a bit like if you were being shown a painting for the first time but instead of being allowed to see the whole thing at once, you were shown a little bit of it starting from the left, and then the next bit a little further over, and so on, until you had gradually seen the whole thing. The first time through, you might not be sure what you're looking at: something might at first look like a snake but will turn out to be a dog's tail, and so on. It might take you a few scans across the painting before you could decide whether you liked it or not. The same happens with listening to a new song. At first, since you haven't heard the whole song, you can't see how the first parts of the song will relate to everything that comes after - you're only seeing a small part of the picture. I think it takes our brains a few listens all the way through before we begin to perceive the song as a whole.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 31 March 2006 16:46 (twenty years ago)

Under that interpretation, "growers" are songs that are more interesting when considered as a whole, whereas "faders" are songs with appealing parts, but which don't add up to very much. So all it takes might be a small catchy bit to make you instantly drawn to a "fader" but over time you might tire of that catchy bit. Whereas, a "grower" lacking an immediate grab on your attention, may first seem indistinct, but as the structure becomes clear, you start to like it more.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 31 March 2006 16:47 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://blog.agitprop.nl/gallery/albums/20APR05-1/DSC02697.jpg

― trees (treesessplode), Saturday, 1 April 2006 04:36 (twenty years ago)

Faders seem very strong on first listen have no spaces in them, whereas growers, on first listen, seem very weak on first listen and are seemingly overpowered by the spaces around and within them. Well this, is my sincere attempt to answer the question but I don't know how adamantly I want to stand by that point of view.as the ulti

― ratty, Saturday, 1 April 2006 05:28 (twenty years ago)

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