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Topic: What do we call ourselves?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
AwayWeGo Offline




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Posts: 49
Joined: Feb. 2015
Posted: Aug. 06 2015, 20:32

Hi all. At the risk of sounding like a complete nutter and losing any respect I may have gained in these forums, I want to ask a question. What do we call ourselves? Not just as Mike Oldfield fans, but those of us who take albums like Hergest Ridge and Incantations to be something special, something that added some memories or even some perspective to our lives? Those who throw on Ommadawn when taking a detour on a road that runs through a forest, or summon the grand piano and glockenspiel at night before we drift to sleep. What do we call ourselves as people who put on the bagpipe guitars as a way of escaping, the listeners who, for reasons we can't explain, always keep our Mike Oldfield records separate from all the others, because nothing could ever be meaningful in quite the same way?

Here comes the nuttery part.

In my own land of the oft mainstream musically-dead United States, we have an underground rap group called the Insane Clown Posse (often associated with criminal/gang culture I might add). They make music that handfuls of people enjoy of course, as is true with any "hardcore" extreme music group, but I have observed a strange phenomenon of hardcore fans who call themselves the "juggalos." They are devoted to the group, but they also say that the Insane Clown Posse albums mean a lot to them. They take them seriously and always share their experiences first hearing them. They meet in groups and have festivals. I actually find it kind of frightening, but in a way thought-provoking.

All of the craziness aside, I bring this up just to make a point. We may not be part of a hardcore rap fandom, but Mike Oldfield's music is uniquely special to us in much the same way, and I think that, especially in America, we are a very little-known group who follows music most people have probably heard of, but don't appreciate all that is out there from this musician. So I got to thinking. Why don't WE have something like that? Why don't we have sayings, or even a name, or groups who meet, or more sharing of stories about when we first heard the albums? Celtic Woman has meeting groups of fans, and I'm sure other artist fans do too, so why don't we? It may sound strange, but I think we can use even groups with music we don't like as a way to think about how we as fans share and appreciate Mike's music.

So, what are we? Surely "fans" is a highly common and misleading word. Tubularists? Ridge runners? I think of myself as a person who can appreciate this lesser-known brilliant music, as I think we all can.

I may not be a typical crazy fanboy when it comes to bands, but I have found meaning in my own music collection, as have probably most of us here. I think that us listeners and concert-goers can develop our comradery.

I will start by saying to you what I have often said to many of my friends.

Peace, love, and Tubular Bells.

Thoughts?
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qcfoetus Offline




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Posted: Aug. 07 2015, 01:41

Great post, thanks! This doesn't really answer your question, but I'd simply call myself incredibly lucky for having discovered Mike's music as a youth in 1973, and having it hold a special place in my life for over 40 years!
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AwayWeGo Offline




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Posted: Aug. 07 2015, 13:28

Quote (qcfoetus @ Aug. 07 2015, 01:41)
Great post, thanks! This doesn't really answer your question, but I'd simply call myself incredibly lucky for having discovered Mike's music as a youth in 1973, and having it hold a special place in my life for over 40 years!

I would too! However, I haven't been a fan for that long. Quoite the contrary, I didn't start listening until I was a college freshmen in 2011, and I didn't buy my first album until May of 2013 (the album being Tubular Bells of course). I'm a baby compared to some long-time fans here. But since I started listening, the music has never stopped being special to me (:
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Dr Bogenbroom Offline




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Posted: Sep. 07 2015, 08:46

I think it's music for people who have a sense of something beyond themselves (cue the backlash), and also, maybe, a sense of the melancholy of the world. Same reason I love Vangelis really - you are transported to a place that confirms we are more than the sum of our parts.

Don't get me wrong, I am not particularly religious (agnostic I suppose), but the human form (a la Byron etc), is too small to contain our imaginations and there is a frustration in that - Mike's music helps alleviate this.

Sorry if I sound stupid, but that's the only way I can describe it. Maybe I should have just said 'escapism'.

Maybe we should call ourselves 'Ambients' or 'Progressives' or 'Oldians'.


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Dancing the Entropy Tango
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AwayWeGo Offline




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Posted: Sep. 08 2015, 14:18

Quote (Dr Bogenbroom @ Sep. 07 2015, 08:46)
I think it's music for people who have a sense of something beyond themselves (cue the backlash), and also, maybe, a sense of the melancholy of the world. Same reason I love Vangelis really - you are transported to a place that confirms we are more than the sum of our parts.

Don't get me wrong, I am not particularly religious (agnostic I suppose), but the human form (a la Byron etc), is too small to contain our imaginations and there is a frustration in that - Mike's music helps alleviate this.

Sorry if I sound stupid, but that's the only way I can describe it. Maybe I should have just said 'escapism'.

Maybe we should call ourselves 'Ambients' or 'Progressives' or 'Oldians'.

I would agree to an extent. I'm also not religious (atheist here), but I agree with the broad concept of it being the expression of the human "spirit." It could be thought of escapism, but I think of it as more of a direct expression of the experiences that we have in our day to day lives, and the human experiences we all have. For example, there's something about when the melancholy oboe part comes in in Hergest Ridge that expresses human despair perfectly without a single uttered word. It's almost like each record has its own...well, not lesson...more like real-life relevance. To me, Tubular Bells is just about life in general in the emotional sense. It's got hapoy bits, sad bits, etc. Hergest Ridge I've always thought of as being about appreciating the beauty of earth. Ommadawn I think of as being about celebrating and remembering the happy moments of life. Incantations, another album about the beauty of nature and of music itself, and so on and so forth.

These are my interpretations, but I think the albums are also beautiful in their capacity for each person to interpret them in his or her own way.

Anyway, good conversation. Thanks (:
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Dr Bogenbroom Offline




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Posted: Sep. 10 2015, 13:02

There is definitely some indefinable element in such music. Something like the following, for instance, gets me right in the heart, but I have no idea why. Especially when the speaking part comes in.

Have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thGUKQmZiMI

Human 'spirit', yes. Good term.


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Justine Fly Offline




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Posted: July 30 2016, 16:36

Well , for me , Mike's music is a kind of book in an other dimension , where music theory would replace words .
Why a book ? Because Mike guides you to his thoughts , and your imagination with music ,  like a writer would remind you memories , bring you his opinions and life experiences and give you some images directly coming from your mind -> through words .

:)


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- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy -
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