Am I REALLY that far out there?

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I've kinda noticed that my whole outlook on music and sound in general is a lot different from most NT's, especially in just how literally they interpret the tone of music as the mood. Not only are many of them extremely closed-minded based on the extreme surface value of the sound but it's like your only supposed to emotionally feel it at it's surface value.

Here's one good example of what I at least find unique about myself in this respect that most of em don't understand. Today I was leaving work, had a 40 minute road-trip to a doctor's office on the other side of town, and I'll be honest - today was beautiful (it's still like 62 F out). It was clear skies, that warm vibrant feeling of spring was in the air, and you know what I had to pick up my mood? Dark jungle; I mean the stuff that sounds a lot like some sort of electronic Pantera but without the words, without the teen-angst, smoother, more intelligent, and a lot more futuristic urban slippyness all over double speed hip-hop beats (170-180 bpm) and distorted raggae clamour.

As I was cruising along listening to this stuff I was realizing at the same time that if I had any friends with me, if I had a girl with me, etc., they'd be protesting constantly "Iwww..this is dark. I don't wanna hear it right now. It's too nice out". The really wierd thing about me, that kind of sound (especially when it's hard hitter and energetic rather than slow-dark) synergises that sort of euphoric feeling other people get when they're in a good mood or when spring weather is kicking in. The best way I can equate it, listening to dark jungle today was for my ears what drinking a coke would be for my taste-buds. Something about real dark, muddy, and industrial type basslines, synths, or (in the case of the metal I used to listen to) guitar riffs just sound very full, very refreshing; it's just like that for me. For me it can enhance a real wholesome and upbeat mood even better than it can enhance a dark or cynical mood. Especially when the emotionality of the moment feels like it's gonna float me off to candyland or something (ick), it's like this stuff puts the right kind of spin on things where I still feel that positive but it's on more crisp grounding.

I'm used to being able to listen to something off Barcode or Tech-Itch and even catch kind of a cuter emotional dynamic riding over it at times (I may even be thinking of a cute girl I know and certain parts of her emotional trajectory it reminds me of). That and if I'm riding on the highway with the windows down, it's like the music is taking a lot of highway-type, aeronautic, and industrial sounds and adding to what I'm seeing (especially when all the road-construction and black-top type smells are in the air) and put em in a REALLY slick aesthetic context.

Is this really that abnormal to be able to draw happy and mood-lifting imagry to darker sounds? It just annoys the heck out of me that not only can most people I know not respect it but they almost act as though it would be wrong to have the sort of emotional orientation to the stuff that I do. All that gets even more aggitating when I can't help but feel like they're REALLY missing out (because really, in states like that I wish I could just take a snapshot of my mood, what I'm listening to, my surroundings, and make a post card out of it - it's that synergistic and positive).

me too. I like to listen to stuff thats dark and intense a lot - it picks me up or relaxes me because I can tune into it.

Hey, I know exactly what you're saying. I had a very similar experience on a beautiful day, cruising along in my convertible, top down, blasting the album "No Talking, Just Head". I mean, a lot of this stuff is nasty and dark, but just something about the entire experience put me on this surreal high all day.

Even when I got the speeding ticket, I wasn't that annoyed!

Some people are very interesting. You are no exception, Tech.

What gets me up is dark Victorian music. Stuff like Edvard Grieg at the beginning of his Concerto in A Minor.

I also derive "happy" emotions from dark music. My favorite artists would be classified as "dark" by most people (for example: Opeth, my favorite band).

do you mean the actual sound or just music that is considered daRk?
i dont really understand what you mean by different sounds, but for me its kind of like daRk music fits me because i feel like its at my level or even below my level. and bright and shiny or happy music is just too stressful and "for all the happy ppl". i listen to music with great lyrics that makes me feel like im not alone, and as if though the guy/person who wrote it felt the exact same way i am feeling in that exact moment. just words and sounds i can relate too, such as screaming and such in songs, makes me feel bettter...
was that your point? and what is daRkjungle anyway?

Depends who you were replying to. In my case I meant music. As for saying darker sounds, I guess I was implying even though I may listen to dark d&b in specifically, other more somber darker-edged styles of music would work out about the same way.

Sorry if I wasn't real clear on that.

Dark Light that's what i call that type of sublime sound so raw and alive it gets in deep and hooks into your mind yeh it adds to my feeling of joy. Some part of the brain responds to music on a very deep level and what type of sounds do that depend on the person so no i do not think that's abnormal.

Right, but I'm thinking it must require a certain type of personality for somebody not to have that tone-literalism built into their psychology. As I mentioned in my post, so many people I know (even people who listen to the same genres I do) just don't get it.

I know exactly what you're talking about with music, techstepgener8ion... i don't know the artists you're talking about but from your description of it that dark jungle sounds awesome... i love raving to jungle, but don't often listen to it at home (too fast, too repetitive) but the stuff i know is older (early to mid 90s?), Congo Natty, Shy FX and stuff like that... the very strongly reggae influenced raw urban UK stuff...

My biggest musical obsession is late 70s roots/dub reggae, and most of the tunes i really feel on a deep level are the really hard, heavy "steppers" type rhythms (King Tubby's and Jammy's, late Black Ark, Yabby You) and lyrics that are all fire and brimstone and apocalypse... some people (especially NT girls ) call that kind of stuff "dark" and "depressing", but for me there's a transcendent joy to it... the "darkness" feels like a connection to a musical force that goes deeper and deeper and fills my whole mind with apocalyptic consciousness of the music... this is why i use the name Shiva Nataraja... some jungle and some bass-heavy hip hop gives me a similar, if differently "coloured" (as my synaesthesia interprets it) feeling...

also i love loads of less dance-oriented stuff that could be regarded as "depressing" lyrically... Dylan's "Masters of War", Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", all of Tracy Chapman's first album... but it gives me that intensity and power and strangely a sort of emotional connection with the suffering it testifies to... maybe this is part of the Aspie form of empathy? i know what i mean when i talk about something being "hardcore"...

sorry that was more of a random stream of consciousness than i meant... but i hope you get it...

incidentally if i was ever to get the opportunity to make music, it would be a fusion of roots/dub, jungle and some of the goth/industrial stuff that a couple of my friends like (such as KMFDM)... i see strong similarities between that stuff and much of my dub stuff - both are very bass heavy, for dancing as well as chilling and listening to, use a lot of trippy/intelligent studio trickery and tend to feature apocalyptic lyrics...

Yeah, that deeper force and spiritual connection with reality is what I'm talking about. Though with me, it's less synthenetic and more visual. If I listen to a lot of dark rollers, especially the real grimy koncrete stuff, I feel a lot of texture in the music in ways that give me chills. Maybe one synthenetic end is that I can almost see the manifestation of a sound in how if bows and flexes at times (ie a lot of the filter-bending and stuff can give me a very slick visual sense of things - especially when it's driven by very real-life sounding effects).

As for dark jungle, here's a real good set I just got off of midwest drum&bass recently (lol, I mentioned this to someone else as well). This isn't all-encompassing - it's cleanly produced, the basslines aren't real grimey like oldskool dillinja or anything, but here's a link:

http://joannaborovska.brinkster.net/SYZE2_7_05.mp3

Lol, this is actually the mix I was listening to in my car when I was thinking about starting this thread. Just pop in in for a road trip on a sunny spring day, you'll totally get my drift - and be sure to have the bass up. It starts off with more cold and sci-fi'sh dark but goes into some pretty solid emotional movers (especially the second half).

["I've kinda noticed that my whole outlook on music and sound in general is a lot different from most NT's, especially in just how literally they interpret the tone of music as the mood. Not only are many of them extremely closed-minded based on the extreme surface value of the sound but it's like your only supposed to emotionally feel it at it's surface value."]

Granted, this is coming from a diehard, hardcore old-skool goff/industrial chick, but I hope that you'll eventually stop thinking and caring about what "NTs" (male or female) think or might think about your favorite music. IMHO, their opinions mean jack.

P.S: One of my favorite songs has the ability to make me ecstatic *and* morose at the same time: This Mortal Coil's cover of "Song To The Siren". The sound of a heart breaking...

Imperial march did that for me when I was younger

Lol, speaking of which; back arround 2000 or so when The first Starwars prequel came out and a lot of my friends had turntables, my friend has this real good trance remix of the Imperial March (my freinds have good taste - they like the deeper stuff, not the cheesy crap trance you may hear on the dance channel or whatever). I wish I knew who pressed that one, I'd tell you if I knew...

I think where it bugs me is I have that need to be able to share that feeling and at best have other people arround me experiencing it right along with me. Over time that need has mellowed out but then again that's mostly a function of just how much it's been starved.