Soundscape #16: "What Really Matters Is What You Like, Not What You ARE Like"

What does it really mean to get to know a person? When you meet someone new, do you immediately ask loads of questions to figure out what kind of person s/he is? Or would you try and go with the flow and see where the conversation leads you? There is this scene in High Fidelity where Rob, Barry and Dick decide that when meeting someone new, "what really matters is what he/she likes, not what he/she is like." They even talked about making questionnaires for potential partners to answer just so that they won't be embarrassed by her extensive collection of say, Barry Manilow cds (I forgot what the actual reference is in the movie) later on.

As socially unacceptable as that may seem (hey, it sounds fine to me), it does ring true to a certain extent. What you want to do when you meet someone for the first time is to talk about things you have in common, right? I know it may be a little stereotypical but you can probably tell what kind of person I am if I like High Fidelity and the music I put up every week sorta fits into that profile, doesn't it? Of course, much of this is serendipitous. I remember that I got into reading Ayn Rand because I came across an interview about some band that I was listening to at that time who said that they got their name from The Fountainhead*. Or reading Coupland's Gen X just cos I was in the library in between classes, bored out of my mind and came across its bright hot pink cover. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I never come across that interview or if I decide to skip classes that day. So I was thinking that since I've been doing this for 16 weeks, I should tell you a little more about myself. So here goes: mogwai, yo la tengo, teenage fanclub, the decemberists, explosions in the sky, bedhead/the new year, the wrens, sufjan stevens, bloc party, neutral milk hotel, wilco. Also, don't forget kafka, dostoevsky, salinger, derrida, samuel beckett, camus, nick hornby, douglas coupland.

nice to meet you.
what do you like?



Playlist:
1. (0:00) Mojave 3 - Breaking The Ice (Buy Puzzles Like You)
2. (4:05) The Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me (Buy The Best Party Ever)
3. (7:54) Voxtrot - The Start Of Something (Buy Raised By Wolves EP)
4. (12:26) Teenage Fanclub - The Concept (Buy Bandwagonesque)
5. (18:01) Air Traffic - Never Even Told Me Her Name (Buy Never Even Told Me Her Name)
6. (20:46) The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy (Buy Nice And Nicely Done)
7. (24:21) Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Me And Mia (Buy Shake The Sheets)
8. (27:56) Dinosaur Jr - I Know Yer Insane (Buy Hand It Over)
9. (31:03) The White Stripes - Why Can't You Be Nicer To Me? (Buy De Stijl)
10. (34:23) The Hold Steady - You Can Make Him Like You (Buy Boys And Girls In America)
11. (37:14) Beulah - My Horoscope Said It Would Be A Bad Year
12. (39:58) Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (Buy Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)

* guess the name of the band correctly and I will burn you a copy of this week's soundscapes and send it to you. Email please.