People who "like all kinds of music." Love/hate em?

I think if someone said "I like all kinds of food" they wouldn't be treated with suspicion - it's interesting that music is so different.

this is my standard reply to the question "what kind of music do you like?", accompanied by an embarrassed facial expression.

(Obviously, for anyone who has read my posts, I have pretty eclectic taste in music myself and I haven't found any really consistent thread that runs through everything I like.)

Also: Karen Finley to the thread (re: yams).

if said to someone whose life doesn't revolve around music - the only reasonable answer (if you really DO like all kinds of music, that is)(what would constitute "all kinds" is open to debate, but chances are such person wouldn't be much interested in such debate anyway)

maybe it's just being emotionally open.

i like yams

i really do like all kinds of music, although obviously i'm partial to certain things. but depending on the context it's easier to say "all kinds" than "19th century lieder" or "songs about shoes."

True dat.

So I find it impossible to judge someone at all when they say they like all kinds of music. They could just as easily be telling the truth as lying.

it's just that this phrase signifies different things to different people

that's why i like using it, it doesn't mean much at all and if people are really curious we can get into it

No way. I'll eat anything. But if I have to listen to anymore fucking Tori Amos, I think I'm going to put my head through the wall.

You're right, of course. They may be misrepresenting themselves, though, afraid of looking foolish. But I wonder, who goes around asking people what they listen to? I don't.

i think someone even saying this phrase, whether or not you think their tastes meet some acceptable definition of "eclectic," signifies a certain kind of openness

whatever happened to thinking the best of people?

But apparently this makes me a bad person!

Mama didn't raise no fool.

You mean virtually everybody.

that sounds intriguing, but i've no idea what you mean.

oh, now i get it.

Well, whether you have common musical interests. It goes a long way.

j/k

Asking "what's your fav band?" instead is indeed a wise move, as is naming three disparate groups when confronted w/ the question yourself (tho then you run the risk of seeming a bit smug, oh well.)

I hate when people ask me that question, I usually just name several lame 'genres' in a very embarrassed manner and hope they accept my answer. Or I'll just say "I like Radiohead" or some popular band I listen to. I hate the confused look when they have no idea what you're talking about and think you're trying to sound superior by naming obscure things.

Oh, even worse is when they find you play music and ask what kind of music you play.

Or when they actually hear the music you listen to, and reacting by screaming in horror and ridiculing you, or informing you that you like "depressing music" that is "too slow" and makes them want to "slit my wrists."

Would Geir approve?

since then, i've adopted the far more revealing: "what were the last [x] records you bought/downloaded?"

I still don't understand why so many agree that it's bad to ask about musical taste to begin with, though I'll admit that when the topic comes up, I can become very very passionate while utterly boring the person I am talking with.

I don't like being asked for my favorite this or that, in general, because often I don't have a favorite.

That said the qn only really comes up in really artificial environments like work colleagues trying to make conversation - more often something specific does happen, like a pop star being in the news or someone seeing something on TV, and you can talk about them and expand as neccessary.

Who knows, though. It's possible.

I love yams.

i like the generic response really, "i like all kinds," if the person who asked the question is genuinely curious they'll proceed further, if not then you've avoided wasting too much energy answering someone who wasn't really going to listen anyhow.

Read AA Gill: Sunday Times, Style section, Table Talk.

This is what trainers and bad hair are for.

On the other hand, one would rather come off as a crashing bore if the 'what music do you like?' question was met with a reeling-off of genres, most of which were invented by a mag or scene the questioner has not wot of (most of the guys at my college have not heard of indie, note). And there was the guy who said "no wave", which left me at a loss because in my closeted nothing-but-NME-reading world of the time such a genre was a name without bands attached. So I was stuck thinking "new wave? punky? maybe sort of post-punk-related, possibly?" and never quite worked out what the hell he was talking about.

That's what I'm all about. :-) Though in all seriousness, I generally just stand there, looking awkward for a few moments before I start rattling off genres and bands at random. Or I'll list specific things I'm into at the moment.

no that's a great ans. so I'd answer it: ''so isn't 'no new york' a bit lame...all the bands post- no new york are much better no?''

good starting point.

I used to find this quite a difficult question to answer.

but now I'd answer it by saying what I like: free jazz (and then if asked abt it i'll explin what the 'free' means), name a few classical composers and some electronic music and if asked in future I'll prob say what I've been buying lately. all done with a straight face too.

"I like a lot of rock/pop from 60s to present day, chart stuff, some rap and electronica, a lot of jazz, especially modern, all phases of Miles Davis, some free stuff, for a big chunk of my life I listened almost exclusively to classical music, I liked most periods except religiose late romantic stuff, but now find that apart from opera I rarely listen to it, I don't like much folk music but do like quite a lot of country, I'm a big fan of Frank Sinatra, Motown, The Beatles, Hendrix, Steely Dan, I was big into blues at one point but not now, liked punk at the time but think hardly any of it stands the test of time, never been too keen on any indy-rock artists but do like lots of the individual records, what I'm saying obviously contains a lot of ludicrously broad generalisations and probably suggests I like a lot of music I don't and conversely that I might not like a lot of music I do, give me another couple of hours I can paint a more accurate picture, then we can have a question and answer session for further clarification........"

Easier just to say "I like all (or most) kinds of music", not strictly accurate I grant you but roughly in the ball park and much preferable to that kind of up-your-own-arseness. Especially since in the real world no sane person's opinion of you will be altered by more than about .002% because of the music you happen to like and they are almost certainly just asking to be polite.

my advice to people who ask about yr preferences is to pick something that is fairly unrepresentative of yr tastes, but used to be yr fave when you were 15. cos thats what you really like. like jamiroquia or radiohead.

but who cares really? so what if someone passively enjoys all kinds of music? that's better than some snob who won't listen to anything but "no wave" in my opinion.

no wave should be the ans to everything.

(double xpost)

lots of angular/punk-ish rock, screaming vocals, most tracks are quite short. The whole thing lasted for abt 3-4 (i think) years in the late 70s. Also all the bands had a least one woman among the line up.

The 'no new york' compilation, produced by brina eno, is the 'primer' for this and it feautures four bands: mars, DNA, teenage jesus and the jerks and james chance and the contortions.
But ut and y pants were great too.

as for the original question, JBR pretty much stole the world from my flapping mouth.

also: rhys chatham, a 3CD set of his stuff has come out this year (called 'an angel moves too fast to see').

I don't have that red transistor single grr! ;)

''Sometimes an "oh, all kinds" will do fine, even if it's not the cool answer.''

sure but ppl that ask this do listen to music (but more popular, current forms) so its inevitabloe that the follow up will be something like 'what kinds?'.

x-post: or, what were the last five records you bought?

Me: So what kind of music do you like?
Kelly: Oh all sorts really.
Me: Well, whats on your CD rack?
Kelly: Everything from All Saints to Back Street Boys.

The conversation stopped here.

yes, damn those who compel him to use that "brian" monicker!

TRANSLATION: I LIKE OUTKAST + THE STARTING LINE. HAUGAUGAH COCKS

Anyone who's seen my lists on ILM should understand why I have to use a similar line to the one in the thread title when asked about my music tastes. Although, last night at an unofficial family get-together, my aunt and uncle had my entertainment stand with the TV, DVD/VCR and all my CDs on it wheeled out so they could watch Nigerian movies. I came back to the house in the middle and joined in and was so gratified no one asked shit about my CDs.

no one ever asks me what i listen to unless its prefaced by me somehow telling them how important music is in my life (i study audio production, make it and obsess over it). so if they end up asking its usually a bit forced and i say: *groan*, i listen to all sorts of music. usually a good way of ending the conversation. if i'm talking about music with someone else who actually cares we will have gotten onto specifics without the "what sort of music" question to lead us there.

i used to be adamantly against certain genres (dub, nz music, pop, "rock") but have managed to get over these by listening to them and finding examples which were really quite good. the only thing i really hate these days is drum and bass... and only because its so in my face.

Where are you living that d'n'b is "so in your face"? That scene is on its last legs here (Toronto) - it almost makes me nostalgic for when it was a lot more prevalent.

My stock answer, when people ask me what music I like, is "Anything that's good".

My answer to the OP's question: "I like the kind with notes, but sometimes I like the kind without." Does Masonna even have notes?

fell in love with someone who made a comp consisting of "all kinds music."

one good friend of mine, M@r1@, you don't know her, just gets nervous and giggles when music comes up around me in conversation, which it inevitably does even if I don't bring up, I'm a known M-geek. "Ah hahaha I sort of don't get it!" She and her husband are 2 of the smartest people I know, vastly well-read and great to talk with about their field of endeavor -- govt & politics -- as well as parenting, food, travel, the weather, whatever. But they've got about 10 CDs total in their apartment, along w/1000s of books. From what they say, I don't think they were any more interested in music when they were teenagers either.

is it strange that I would be friends with somebody like this? anybody else here know such severely music-challenged people?

i've seen such people only a few times online, and only once did i hear something like this in person. and that was when i was a teenager.

Read one myspace.

I came across exactly this most recently from an aspiring opera singer. But he did add that he actually liked OutKast. "At least they actually make music instead of just pushing play on a beat machine," he said.

also read one myspace, as Ned suggested

Version B is the version that usually has implied or explicit "excepts" on it, and it appears primarily in response to online profiles prompting a user to type in their favorite types of music. Needless to say, this one almost invariably labels the person in question as having absolutely godawful taste and we all know it.

RATHER THAN music or lit lit is cool but see some folk they let us down

http://www.current.org/music/music0203se.jpg

never have never will

jazzy pianos and sloppy punk are not all kinds of music. get one new record clerk!

And it is because the movie expert has spent his time differently than I that he can say: "I love all music, just everything, man. From U2 to Justin to Outkast, I'm into it all!" and he can indulge my ignorance and lead me around like a lost dog in the movie store when I told him I merely like "funny comedies" or something similarly stupid I might say at the desk. That's his turn to smirk and help me out when I'm being goofy.

In fairness to the record store clerk he was probably just happy it wasn't another crappy Soup Dragons ep.

If someone asks ME, I'll get into the genre game but I'll stick to labels that most people don't get... "I'm mostly into IDM, prog, freak folk and experimental, with a smattering of dark ambient, baggy, and bosstown for flavour."

http://www.bull.net.au/adam/peckas%20pics/US2.jpg

"I'm able to find something enjoyable about all the different kinds of music I am exposed to. I get my music from a variety of sources, including different radio stations, CDs I pick up at the store, something on iTunes that catches my eye, DJs at clubs, music magazines, Pandora/last.fm, live shows I attend and recommendations from my friends, so consequently my taste in music is broad and diverse. I feel no need to thin out the ranks of my musical tastes to make them more digestible, because I enjoy music because _I_ enjoy music, and not because I enjoy other people enjoying me enjoying music. So by "all kinds of music" I might mean that I like music spanning _only_ 10 genres of music, as I've spent my life trying to become a well-rounded person at the expense of knowing the 976 primary sub-genres of jazz. Naturally I prefer some types/artists to others, but rather than break down my musical tastes into specifics, which would be overkill for such a generic inquiry, I'll merely make a generic but honest statement that you can choose to follow up if you're genuinely interested. If so, I'll gladly fill you in on my love for ________ or my current obsession with ________. But if you asked the question just to make small talk, then you can just move on and discuss the weather, the status of the local professional sports team, or good movies you've seen recently, as would be the probable course of the conversation."

PS: might I suggest some remedial social skills classes for many, many people in this thread? Generic questions yield generic answers, so don't read too much into it. What's likely is that the person who responds with "I like all kinds of music" is thinking about how terribly uninspired your question is.

Amateurist and Doctor Casino OTM.

otm

sorry, but: vomit.

dedicating my life to fighting straw men

What utter crap, the example of people on this thread and on ILM in general should put paid to that notion.

I'm still wondering what that means.

fuck music no joke
― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Sunday, 10 September 2006 01:02 (ten years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

music is sacred. people opining about it on the other hand

bottom-tier cliche: "I like all kinds of music except rap and country"

mid-tier cliche: "I like all kinds of music except rap and country" people are narrow-minded and un-self-aware and probably really really classist and racist"

top-tier cliche: stop expecting all music fans to be good eclectic consumers and let them like what they like! perhaps these people are put off by the classism and racism (and misogyny and homophobia...) within rap and country 🤔"

cop-out:"I hate all kinds of music"

music is sacred. people opining about it on the other hand

I only listen to sacred music. and dirty south bass.

http://www.theonion.com/blogpost/i-like-all-types-of-music-10945

I definitely remember saying "I like all kinds of music" to someone recently, though I don't remember who I said it to. I feel terrible about it, but sometimes you just don't want to start that conversation.

xp--Onion article, oh my, brings back memories. Sitting in boss's office 30 years ago with boss, me, and a co-worker looking for stereo (he actually said "hi-fi") recommendations. We're both chiming in with our recommendations on CD & tape decks..."Woah, woah, woah! I have TOO many LPs to switch music formats now (1987)" Oddly prescient, if true. But boss & I both easily counted several thousand LPs between us and had no problem with CDs despite audiophile quibbles (none of the three of us audiophiles). WE press him on just how many is TOO many. After squirming, hemming AND hawing, admits to maybe as many as 30, 35 lps. Running the gamut from Springsteen to Joel, Billy. Thirty years later, I can still say: what a putz.

imo it's the "what kind of music do you like?" that is weird. "what have you been listening to lately?" is a much better question

And while I DO like an awful lot of music (and a lot of awful music) I recognize that question as one that is just an idle conversation marker and not a real serious question. So I just usually say "Arthur Doyle" on the off chance they'll remember, check him out later and go "WTF?" and probably cross the street if they see me coming.

Don't most music fans like all kinds of music? I can't really think of a genre that doesn't include some good artists. (Nu-metal is a subgenre and doesn't count.)

I like a broad range of stuff, was trying to think what I really didn't like. Think it may be metal whereas I do really enjoy the pre-stuff.
Don't like Country & Irish much, saccharine country or whatever its watered down form is called.
Not got veruy into classical stuff but don't dislike it.
Not got iunto techno, drum & bass etc but do like the influences so could again be something i could have some appreciation of but could easily get too much of.

Would hope people would have some broadness of taste and not get stuck in too narrow a cul de sac or whatever.
BUt music without feeling is negative innit. So overly manufactured soulless dross can be pretty worthless.

I happen to love all kinds of music - that’s really not hard to believe because if you walk past my house one day you’ll hear Bob Marley and the next you’d hear David Guetta or Calvin Harris or Shirley Bassey or The Beatles.

Don't most music fans like all kinds of music? I can't really think of a genre that doesn't include some good artists. (Nu-metal is a subgenre and doesn't count.)

plenty of good Nume'

Roots, Life is Peachy both all-time 10/10 albums

Don't most music fans like all kinds of music? I can't really think of a genre that doesn't include some good artists.

C'mon, dude, keep this wide-eyed naïve bullshit in the politics threads where it belongs.

Does Toxicity count as nu-metal?

Fuck you unperson

I much prefer "what kind of music do you like?" to "what have you been listening to lately?", by the way. I always struggle to remember what I've been listening to most recently and I don't really know what they'd do with "the last four things I listened to were Gabriel-era Genesis, Mandolin Prakash, Qasim Naqvi, and the new deJohnette/Scofield/Medeski/Grenadier" (last four things iTunes tells me I played).

Fuck you unperson

That's more like it. Welcome to ILM!

xpost

ok, let's simulate this! How would you answer this:

Sund4r...what kind of music do you like?

Oh, all kinds. Classical, jazz, some old rock, ambient electronic music. I went to a lot of events at the jazz festival last week. How about you?

I have recently answered the question, "What do you like?" (in regards to music) with, "Oh, lots of stuff!" and didn't feel a bit bad about it. Because, I mean, it's reflective of my listening habits. For instance, the last batch of albums I played were by Erykah Badu, Genesis, Fugazi, and Lightning in a Twilight Hour. If I ever expound on my initial answer to the initial question, I usually rattle off some all-time favorites (which is usually along the lines of Bill Evans, the Cure, and David Axelrod).

Maybe music fans are worried about being dilettantes if they like all kinds of music...

personally I agree with Treeship, but I tend to feel more comfortable specializing in specific areas or sounds

i like the good music

correct answer to "what kind of music do you like?" is "oh, lots of stuff... what sort of music do you like?"

this is one of those questions that's obviously not a sincere question most of the time, but a rephrasing of "can i tell you about the sort of music i like?" so let them.

rushomancy OTM

It's good to hear what others are into first anyway, cuz it will give you a gauge of their musical language and then you can respond in kind

yeah. and also you can find out about some good shit by just listening to other people talk about music they love.