I’ve long held the view, and told my kids, that an intrinsically enjoyable song wil get your foot tapping, even more so with a good hi-fi system that gets that rhythmical hook into your mind.
So listening to the new Dua Lipa album I’m slightly baffled by the fact I’m bouncing around to many of the tracks not just tapping my feet - arms/shoulders/fingers moving as I type at the keyboard:
And I do not subscribe to that at all. What gets my foot tapping is not an intrinsically enjoyable song (or tune), nor a good audio presentation - including live gigs/concerts (though sometimes they do).
If something emphasises the rhythmic element of a song/tune it might trigger a response - but that is the emphasis not the quality of the tune or song. (Interestingly there have been suggestions of toe tapping faked by dealers using it as a selling point…)
What does get my foot tapping is recognition of a tune I like in an unexpected place - perhaps in the background of a TV programme.
And what gets more of my body moving is rock music at live rock music levels, not all the time, but when in the mood, at home or at a gig.
(PS I suspect it is the image that is making your body twitch with that record…)
Interesting take IB, put in another way, if the foot tapping/body moving vibe exists with music surely it makes it enjoyable? Some music = fun/joy, can’t be wrong surely?
It doesn’t have to be intellectually, acadmeically, mathematically perfect or ‘peer reviewed’ for enjoyability?
Just enjoying a modern pop album, that’s all…
…and also only posting this because I’ve rarely in 40+ years of loving all kinds of music noticed myself doing this ‘bopping’ subconsciously.
Put that way, yes: Yes the tapping indicates some enjoyable link, but to me it is not a measure of how enjoyable the music is, nor how well reproduced, nor how engaged I am with the music.
At one level I mentioned, it is the pleasure of recognition and maybe a means following of a musical thread outside the main concentration of following a drama or whatever. At another it is the energy of rock music akin to headbanging, even if not that extreme, and yes, a pleasure I suppose from shaking it all.
And some music with a prominent rhythmic beat can have the effect of creating an echo as it were - though I am not sure if that echo is enjoyment as opposed to something more mechanical, almost like a resonance. Maybe different if one convinces oneself or is conditioned to think of the movement as something desirable, whether in itself or an indicator of something…
But I think this is all getting too philosophical!
It could be that at the moment you are more receptive to this type of effect from music because your body is craving a bit more exercise.
I think you probably need to spend the weekend listening to a selection of music, possibly with a glass or two and report back whether this effect is album, artiste specific or not.
I’ve also wondered if it may be simply be that I want to listen to jolly music to lift the spirits a little as i think many of us are getting a bit stir crazy at home, and working from home isn’t necessarily as straightforward as might be expected when the rest of the household are around too.
I don’t regard the album as anything outstanding, just fun and perhaps the novelty of something relatively new helps.
My tastes are very broad, but I shall try your recommendation!
Very pretty lady, not to my taste to be honest (more likely out of my league!), but irrelevant as within the genre her music more than ‘cuts the mustard’.
Have always found that when all is well with my system there are few pieces of music where hand or foot does not move. For me that ability to get to the internal rhythm of a thing is the very heart of Naim.
If it is OK to post females in odd poses then it must be OK to post males. Not sure what either have to do with the subject, though (unless they are poses of foot tapping or body moving)…!
Mike, I have a real treat for you: it’s a workout video that features some really hot men. I hope it’s right up your alley. I have been working out to it everyday and I have lost half a stone. The male dancers are a real inspiration and they have really good bodies. My favourite movement is the Rump Shaker and I’ve had to rewind and watch this scene several times because it is a particularly challenging manoeuvre. I hope to have a beach body comparable to theirs by the peak of summer. Please click on the link below to launch YouTube.
Well it wasn’t my intent to start a Dua Lipa thread specifically to be honest, it was just the example that kickstarted my question.
Perhaps the ‘eye candy’ phrase is what people disapprove of, though I suspect there are plenty more covers people might object to on the large ‘What are you listening to…’ thread.
TBH like I said, listening to her expanded my tastes some. I hadn’t heard of her before this thread and her music while not really something I’d listen to daily, it was enjoyable none the less.
