RE: Favourite style of music.
September 30, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I really do listen to a lot of different kinds of music.
Classical- Well, let me put it this way, if the composer wasn't from a country that was America's Major Enemy at one point, I don't like it. (i.e. Germany [Austria is included here], Russia, England)
Jazz- My taste goes from Louis Armstrong's Hot Five recordings up to Miles Davis' On The Corner. If you think the Koln Concert counts as Jazz, that would be the main exception.
Blues- I listen to blues, but mainly Country Blues (i.e. Robert Johnson, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, &c)
Rock- This is the major bread of my music listening habits, particularly classic rock, and some alternative rock.
Metal- I have been getting into it recently. I've even started getting into Burzum recently.
Pop- Well, as opposed to rock, I don't listen to it.
Dance/Club, Ambient, Electronic- I like electronica, but mainly stuff like Air, Portishead, Massive Attack, the Chemical Brothers, and the Prodigy. I don't really like music that's just for dancing to, but don't like electronica that seems like just static, like a lot of Aphex Twin. Trip-Hop is the Golden mean for Electronica.
New Age- Crap. Next!
Religious- I will actually listen to it if the performer is actually talented. I simply cannot say no to a major religious work by Bach, and Tallis' Spem in Alium is simply amazing. I mentioned Blind Willie Johnson earlier, and I have to say that a counterpart in Gospel exists in Mahalia Jackson. I simply loved her work for Duke Ellington, and she's not that bad outside of the context of Come Sunday.
For some reason, I've also been listening to quite a bit of Russian Orthodox music. That said, almost all contemporary religious music is crap that tries to use rock n roll to praise God, but ends up doing a disservice to both.
Opera- Considering that I don't like Italian-based operas (things like Don Giovanni aside, being composed by the Austrian Mozart)
Folk- I actually listen to a lot more folk music than most people my age. Favorites include Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.
Jingles- I don't really seek out commercial jingles to listen to.
Experimental- What counts as experimental? It's too hard to say whether I like it or not when I don't even have a clear idea as to what it entails. Does it include a lot of contemporary classical like Gavin Byars, or are you thinking something like Yoko Ono? In the latter case, I reject it whole-heartedly.
Reggae- Don't really listen to it a lot. I liked The Harder They Fall's soundtrack (Legacy Edition), but didn't care for Bob Marley. I suppose being sober had a lot to do with it.
Progressive- Yes, Prog-rock is a guilty pleasure of mine. I will even admit to liking the excesses of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
Breaks- Is this even a genre?
I think that there's one genre that got forgotten: Show Tunes, and I admit that I do like a lot of them; I even own several OCRs (Original Cast Recordings) of my favorite shows.
In conclusion, I'd like to close with a piece by Gavin Byars that manages to fit into several genres, and that's even before throwing genre-busting singer Tom Waits into the mix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnYA0w4cWiE
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