Intelligent Music Discussion.Follow

What are you listening to right now?






But in all seriousness, instead of waiting for music to be added to the forum name I thougt I'd make a music discussion thread that (hopefully) goes well beyond the average and fairly uninteresting youtube link spam.
What I'd like to know is what kinds of music you listen to and why? What do you look for in music?

Personally I listen mostly to metal, (classic) rock and prog with some pop and classical added in left and right.
I also tend to gravitate towards older music, looking through my collection over half of the albums I own are older than I am.
The most important thing I look for though is a certain raw quality of the music, either through vocals (not necessarily grunts, Layne Staley, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, JJ Cale etc are also amazing) or a good guitar/bass/drums. I think that a large part of why I generally prefer older music is that it's not overproduced, with just about everything I hear from radio or such there seem to be so much producing being done that there's just no life left in the music.
I would say that I also prefer relatively simple music but with Camel, Yes, Genesis, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and more prog in my collection I don't think that still goes.

Oh yeah and I pretty much hate electronic beeps, same issue as the overproduced commercial crap, there's just no life in the music anymore.

I can't help but remember that South Park anime episode, where the theme song was "Let's Fighting Love."



Semi-on topic:

I'm in a real music slump lately. I know everyone always says this, but moreso than ever I feel as if there's nothing new out there that appeals to me. There's a real 80's revival thing (see: The Killers, Arcade Fire, etc.) going on lately that's been completely drowning out all other styles. Even stations that traditionally play hard rock/heavy metal have been devoting a ton of airtime to such bands. It's just not my thing. At all.

I find myself just patiently waiting for HURT to release something new.

Edited, Feb 14th 2011 12:50pm by Eske

I will listen to pretty much anything, really. I'm currently listening to a bit of downtempo and acid jazz, but most types of music have something to offer for me.

If I had to pick one album to have with me on a deserted island, it'd be Kind of Blue.

The Decemberists are awesome, though I'm not sure I agree with Belk on favorite Album. Picaresque is probably my favorite, though The Crane Wife is a close second.

I'd say vocals matter the most to me, but I also like looking for interesting/awesome bass lines.

I've drifted away from metal/rock into a more pop-rock and alternative genre.

I used to listen to Avenged Sevenfold, System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, Lacuna Coil, etc.
Now I listen to stuff like Stereopony, One Ok Rock, YUI, Rise Against, Nirvana, Paramore and Silversun Pickups.

No Surprise, I tend to listen to Japanese pop-rock because:
1) I don't understand most of what's said, so I can listen to the song as if the vocals were just an instrument.
2) They seem to emphasize little/non-existent vocal editing, so tend to sound a lot better live (not that I've ever been to a concert).
I dunno, just feels like I can appreciate the music more when the vocalist has a naturally good voice.

I still like me some lyrics I can understand, so I also like most Rock that I hear. I just can't stand Country music.
I don't go out of my way to listen to Hip-hop/Rap, but I think some of it is cool.
Jazz isn't really my thing, I tend not to be in the mood for it.

If people link me songs, I listen to it. More often than not, I like them, so I have a pretty broad taste in music.
I just tend to be specific when I'm looking for music myself.

Edited, Feb 14th 2011 2:40pm by Kirby

Personally, I listen to just about any kind of music. I have personal preferences, though, which are usually varying kinds of rock/metal. Much like Kirby, I listen to and like just about anything my friends link me, but I won't generally bother to look it up for myself.

The deciding factor of liking a specific artist/band is the ability to give a good live performance. I too, dislike overproduced music. It's not interesting whatsoever and does, as stated, indeed take the life out of music. Lyrics alone don't make a song. With that, nothing impresses me more than a good live performance. Especially in the current age of the internets, it's pretty easy to use Youtube and see just how well an act performs.

There's that, and I like to go out and see live concerts myself when the wallet allows. I've had the pleasure of watching Metallica, Live, Pendulum, Slipknot, Korn, R.E.M., Caro Emerald, The Cranberries, and also the Moody Blues more recently. While this may not appeal to all, I consider it to be great experiences. (I just need to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers live and I can say I truly lived!)

Edit: China wanted their wall back.

Edited, Feb 14th 2011 7:08pm by BlackyLakshmi

for music that is on my iPod I have:
Link Park's newest album, their Reanimation Album, their Piano version of Minutes to Midnight.
Radio Head's discography.
Muse's discography.
Some Cold Play.
Glitch Mobs's album.
And then a ton of Dubstep.

I like rock music, it was blasted (not really) into my head at a young age via my parents. In today's world it is called Classic/Soft Rock.
I also like today's "rock".
Then this other part of me likes techno/electronic music.

And when their powers combine!!..



Edited, Feb 15th 2011 6:59am by Sandinmygum

I suppose the key element that links song sI like is the ability I have to imagine a story for that song--and how interesting that story is.

The Hazards of Love is one long story. Listen to it. Love it.

It does. The story I create isn't necessarily related to that of the anime I found the song in though. When I hear The Girl in Byakkoya (or the instrumental Meditational Field) I don't picture anything from the movie Paprika. Instead I've created a a story about a young girl from small farming village suffering from famine during the winter. One day while exploring the forest around her village she finds and befriends the spirit of Spring. Riding on his back, they run and leap through the fields and forest. Wherever he (the spirit) steps, plants grow profusely around him. Upon arriving back at her village, the other villagers see his power to invigorate plants and so they hack him to pieces and use him to fertilize their fields (to the girl's dismay). Their crops grow and the village prospers once again. Later on while wandering through the forest again, she stumbles upon a sapling that bears a trace resemblance to the Spirit of Spring she met before, implying that some aspect of him survived and he will be reborn again.

I'll give it a listen, but how much I enjoy a song is related to my ability to connect a story to it. A song may very well tell a story, but if it isn't one I can see or like, then I could care less about the song.

Edited, Feb 18th 2011 5:27pm by Allegory

Korpiklaani > Alestorm.
But I prefer Vikings over Pirates anyway.


And Allegory, have you ever listened to Alice Cooper? Just about any song he's written is a story in and of itself and most of them pretty damn cool too.

His latest (I think) album 'Along Comes A Spider' continues the Steven storyline and it's a pretty cool concept album.

Oh and I haven't even mentioned The Who's Tommy here which is pretty much the best story in album form ever.

I do indeed like prog and I'm not all that familiar with the Alan parsons project so I'll have to go check that out.
My music is mostly either hardrock/metal or prog, or a combination of those. Just not Dream Theater, that band just bores me for some reason even though it's both metal and prog.


Then again, Opeth and Emperor are awesome and those are both prog metal too. (or were in the case of Emperor)