Wow, this is incredibly off topic now. Stevenaleech: Where do you live? I live in Chicago and I encouter some of the same things, but I'll be damned if I'm going to move to the suburbs. I understand all your gripes, believe me, but I think it would be better to just let those people live their lives and and ignore them. For being so offended by those things, you certainly seem engrossed in them as well. I'm not telling you how to live, that is just what I do and it works out better than letting myself get upset by all the stupid things..

-Jason

my apologies, i didn't mean to imply that everyone's opinions were meaningless to me.

i don't mind when things move off topic so long as it's entertaining and funny. a lecture on 'why hip hop isn't really music' is neither.

Modified is modified. The modified V8 (that breaks 11 seconds) is so far gone from the original that it's silly. It's the same things with the honda's. The standard 11 sec "musclar" car is probably just as "non street legal" as the honda that is referenced.

It's tit for tat, it's the same hobby. Where as it used to be ford vs dodge or what ever its US vs Import now. Old story, new song.

And FYI, back then when people played "Rock "N" Roll", others hated it then and said it wasn't music. So, as a matter of reference.. keep that in mind.

When I can hear my windows rattling and feel the base in my skull I can no longer ignore it. That's one reason that we are moving to a much quiter neighborhood next summer.

The replies to the music comments are hillarious :-)

at least no one wrote back that they love cars that blare their horns while passing [That's what I ride for... I would be devistated if I didn't get the $#!+ scared out of me during a ride!]

or loud exhaust systems [I love the amplified lawn mower sound of a honda with a big stove pipe exhaust! It is so relaxing... just puts me in a state of zen.. especially when they don't shift tell like 6,000rpm pulling away from the stop light!]

Also, I'm confused... when did "hip hop" enter the discussion.... I've seen it brought up in several of the last messages. Unless I am mistaken, "hip hop" (though not something that I enjoy at all) is a form of music (whether good or bad is not the point)... ie there is a melody line... you can hum or whistle to it (Whether you would want to or not... again beside the point). How does this relate to the rap which was what I had originally referred to?

Rap=rythmic profanity set to rythmic noises.
"Hip Hop"=Form of music with rap like rythm pattern.

If you tried to hum or whistle along to rap, you would sould like you were transmitting morse code.

Further more, this all goes back to the question of why can't they turn their stereos down? At the point that a car 50+ feet from my house is rattling my windows and making my living room floor vibrate, how loud is it in the vehicle? Do they have to wear ear plugs? Are they just deaf now?

Sometimes the sound is actually loud enough to be painful when sitting in the next lane on a bike or even in another car with the windows rolled up!

And regardless of whether rap is considered music or not, why can't there SOMETIMES be some variety? Why is it ALWAY rap blaring from these cars?

Hmmm.. maybe because people who would rather listen to Niel Young, The Beatles, or the Presidents Of The United States Of America [just to pick three bands at random], aren't rude enough to force other people to hear and feel their selection of music.

you are ridiculous.

in both rap or hip hop, there are compositional elements that make both just as musical as the beatles, or neil young. just because the lyrics don't have melodic structure, doesn't mean the rest of the song does. and i don't really see many folks humming along to rap tunes...somehow i doubt it's because the lyrics lack melody. you may not realize it, but it takes talent to A) write the lyrics to a rap, B) set them to music, and C) arrange those samples so they sound good.

and it's "bass," not base.

and yes, percussion instruments do have pitch. varying pitches (very present in drum beats and samples) + (polyphony) + rhythmic structure = music.

What this thread needs is serious ASS KICKING. Any takers? Meet me by the bikeracks.
I will be the person who denies the fact that I am there to kick your ASS.

I've personally found myself not enjoying much of any new music lately. I think quite a lot of it lacks anything resembling art. It seems to me that most of the stuff on the radio these days is really just mass marketed images and trash designed merely to get a dollar from your pocket into the record company's. I am also of the opinion that in much of the hip-hop the real talent is the producers, not the artist. Music and talent are only one piece of the puzzle that the companies are trying to sell and I question whether it is the most important. Frequently it would seem that an image and an attitude are more important. I prefer local or indie in an intimate coffee shop or bar atmosphere. That is where the art is. Most new mass marketed music is trash. I don't care if anyone doesn't like what I said here.