Like food, my taste in music has changed drastically during my time inside, or as, this corporeal form known as Cleary. At the age of 6, I got my first physical piece of music for Christmas: the cassette tape of Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca. A few years later I asked for a Blink 182 album and received their latest one, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. In those times it didn't really matter what music you listened to; you just liked what you liked.

Then secondary school hits and suddenly your taste in music becomes inseparably entwined with your identity. Beyond high school you find yourself at clubs, festivals and parties, which are music-focused experiences. So if you don't like the music, what do you do?

Like language, the music needs to be useful in order to learn to love it. There was a father who taught his baby son Klingon in the hope that he could prepare him for the future invasions. It turns out babies aren't as nerdy as their parents. The moment the child went to the nursery and started talking Klingon with the other babies, he realized the language was completely useless. From then on he rejected the language even when talking to his own father, preferring to use English instead of the alien tongue.

So, no matter how much disco, punk, or gabba you shove down your earholes like stinking wax, if you don't have a need to like it then your brain just won't click with it.

In classic behaviourist fashion, start to generate positive associations to the music, though it may seem impossible at first. After some time, the sounds that brought fear and rage into your life will remind you of pleasant times at the beach, at a festival or baking cookies. Over time the bad vibes will be replaced by good ones.

Finally, try to relate elements of the new genre to music you already enjoy. Unless we're comparing Japanese noise-core and contemporary country and western, there should be at least some kind of similarity. Do the lead melodies follow similar patterns? Are the lyrics similar at all? Is there sound? The answer to the last one is probably yes, so there you go, there are similarities.

Agree with these techniques? Let me know below!