'what type of music do you like?'

droid

Well-known member
'A little bit of everything is' is a perfectly valid, though horribly abused answer.

The always correct, but awesomely smug answer is 'good music'.

A better question is 'What are you listening to?'
 

Webstarr

Well-known member
When people say "a little bit of everything" I usually like to play devils advocate by talking about music i'm pretty sure they'll hate.
 

paolo

Mechanical phantoms
It is a bit of a minefield being a musical snob, when you're asked this question. I tend to be very unforthcoming about what I'm into, instead prompting the other person to tell me what they like - at which point if I like what they like I'll enthusiastically respond, and if I DON'T like what they like I'll pretend I quite like it. Same thing goes when somebody in my office tells me how great The Big Bang Theory is.

Mind you, this applies with other music snobs as well - i.e. if I start talking to somebody and they reveal themselves to be into 'real' hip-hop - Mos Def/Kendrick Lamar/Gang Starr etc. or horror or horrors UK HIP HOP then I also have to bite my tongue and make loads of qualifications if I happen to reveal that I much prefer Gucci Mane to Jay Electronica.

I like Gang Starr and some UKHH. I also think The Big Bang Theory is OK
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
"stuff you've never heard of"

or I just say the Pixies or something, depending on the situation

a couple years ago I worked at a lab w/some younger kids who were REALLY into Tiesto and I played Acid Tracks for them
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
also a couple weeks I ago I somehow got to talking to old dude about 70s heavy rock and I wound up making him a list of records to save him from aerosmith and deep purple. that was fun. but mostly I go to lengths to avoid talking about music w/people who aren't heads of one variety or another
 

john eden

male pale and stale
"Allsorts but mainly Reggae and weird electronic stuff, how about you?"

That way you've given them a bunch of directions for the conversation to go in.

I don't mind small talk and you can generally get people to talk about mad gigs they have been to, which is more fun than talking about your latest eBay win.

It doesn't come across well if music is obviously a huge part of your life and you won't discuss it with someone.
 

Ory

warp drive
i say i like club bangerz

then try and build some common ground via modern dancehall, r'n'b, trap, etc or more easily digestable house

usually i just change the topic though
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
It doesn't come across well if music is obviously a huge part of your life and you won't discuss it with someone

look this ain't london where dance music + reggae + all kindsa weird shit is a noticeable part of the culture. if I said I was into jungle people would think I literally meant like sounds from a jungle (or maybe tribal drumming or something). reggae here=bob m. "weird electronic"=skrillex or if you're lucky daft punk or aphex. it is a neverending sea of norah jones and foo fighters and brad paisley, let alone the abyss of brostep and edm. this country is mostly a musical wasteland, even the big cities. I'm not demanding people be up on the most obscure coolest thing and I hate record snobs as much as ever but I'm also just not into explaining who the velvet underground or something is for the 500th time. as ory says, best to just change the topic. and seriously tho fuck some made up obligation to make musical small talk w/people just because.

(and not that it matters but i've never bought a record off ebay in my life)
 

wise

bare BARE BONES
I generally ask people what the last great piece of music they heard was. That's a lot easier to talk about than all the music you've liked ever
 

craner

Beast of Burden
More than likely, it was "A-ha

That wouldn't be a bad answer, actually. "Cry Wolf...ah aaaah! Time to worry now!" 'Hunting High and Low'. 'Take on Me'. 'Scoundrel Days'. CLASSICS.

I wonder what Zhao would say? Do you think it would take a long time?
 

john eden

male pale and stale
look this ain't london where dance music + reggae + all kindsa weird shit is a noticeable part of the culture. if I said I was into jungle people would think I literally meant like sounds from a jungle (or maybe tribal drumming or something). reggae here=bob m. "weird electronic"=skrillex or if you're lucky daft punk or aphex. it is a neverending sea of norah jones and foo fighters and brad paisley, let alone the abyss of brostep and edm. this country is mostly a musical wasteland, even the big cities. I'm not demanding people be up on the most obscure coolest thing and I hate record snobs as much as ever but I'm also just not into explaining who the velvet underground or something is for the 500th time. as ory says, best to just change the topic. and seriously tho fuck some made up obligation to make musical small talk w/people just because.

(and not that it matters but i've never bought a record off ebay in my life)

Explaining what VU is 500 times sounds quite tiring.

I just assume that people who ask me about music are trying to find out more about ME, not actually find out about the specifics of the music I like.

It's an opportunity to develop a social bond.

Most people in the UK think Bob Marley = reggae and don't know what jungle or VU is either fwiw.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
I have to say, though, I don't think I've been asked this question for about 10 years, except by actual musicians (who usually have the worst taste in the world, anyway).
 

paolo

Mechanical phantoms
So do us nerds necessarily enjoy music more than folk who buy the sort of albums you see advertised on TV and for sale in petrol stations? I know some people who only really listen to chart music but they seem to like it as much as I like my weirdo stuff
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
i went to one of those speed listening events in london a year or so ago - was fun hearing people's music off their ipods, but it did remind me that for all the 'everyone is eclectic' chat now, everyone is not THAT eclectic. (eg i played electronic music to guys into their nice indie rock and they did NOT like it one bit)
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Was asked this question a few times over the weekend cos I was at a family wedding. Luckily I was so drunk I could barely speak so I didn't have to go into too much detail but it did give me pause for thought about what a difficult question it is. Especially when I'm talking to my great aunt who is eighty-four and has never lived off Anglesey.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
a couple years ago I worked at a lab w/some younger kids who were REALLY into Tiesto and I played Acid Tracks for them

Did they like it?

I mainly get asked this question by teenagers I work with, and I normally say "hip hop" so we have something to talk about. I often also say 60s/70s rock/psych but this conversational line is normally followed by tumbleweeds.
 
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