I have recently found myself with time to just... think. It's been nice. One of the things I've been pondering about is music, why I like what I like and what not. I've lived long enough now that through my memories I can watch the journey I've had thus far of my musical taste. From the seeds planted by my parents own musical tastes, to now where a set of sounds can transport me in time as effectively as smell can. Not only transport but change a room, like some sort of shared psychosis. After all, it's not the room that has changed, but the people in it.

I know. This post is off the cuff here I... I wasn't planning this or anything, it's just I yet again find myself with simple curiosity and an outlet to ask of it. I mean, at worst, Funkmon will present us with an essay why the Polka is ultimate form of music or something. :P

So I'm just going to throw down some questions here, and see where this leads.
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• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

This is kind of a loaded question. I mean, Music can entertain me, like Neil Cicierega's "Wndrwll", or it can simply make me feel stuff, like any of Chopin's music, with something as simple as "Prelude, (Op.28, No.4) in E Minor" being among my favorite music... I don't look for anything particular in music, it just comes down to hearing something, and enjoying it for whatever reason. There's a lot of music that I dislike at first, but something about it clicks for me, and I listen to it again and again, until I love the song(s) and/or artist (Warpaint, one of my now-favorite bands, was like this for me).

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

I think a lot of what has affected my taste in music has more to do with a band's evolution over the years more than anything. Growing up, I loved artists like Korn and Eminem. But pretty much everything that both made after the mid-2000s has been fairly terrible, so I just flat-out stopped following them.
On the other hand, an artist like Chris Corner changed from the trip-hop band Sneaker Pimps, the goth-y IAMX, and I loved the change. So while I love both styles (and really miss getting new SP stuff), it's opened up a bit of a genre that I would never listen to otherwise (and I've tried since).
And then as you grow up, you realize how terrible a lot of music was (Smash Mouth, Limp Bzkit), and you can appreciate that with a sense of humor. My brother and I make tons of Linkin Park jokes through lyrics to torture Sammy (who loved them growing up), and it helps that we have much of their discography memorized. But we do also play a lot of that music unironically, for nostalgia's sake and all that.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

I played Trombone for four years in school, does that count? :P
I was alright, but this one time, at band camp...

Hmm. Music to me is not what it is to other people. Mostly in the sense that I like what I like and I’m not super eager to seek out anything new. I have roughly 2,500 songs, but I tend to like some Country and some rock, as seen here:

But, for the last few years I have collected Anime openings and songs and listen them... for just about everything... all the time. Having songs in a language I can’t understand makes it easy to concentrate on work, for instance.

That being said, I have 70,000 songs in my music library. Why? I don't know. I only listen to a couple albums at a time.

I also play guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and bad piano. I'm bad at them and only use them to play my fave songs.

I have about $1000 in records. Why? Not sure. The albums I love I try to get on vinyl, so, on the rare occasion I listen to them, it's fun.

My musical tastes are nearly unchanged from when I was a kid. I liked ska, I liked pop/punk, I liked power pop, I liked hair metal, I liked non prog rock from the 60s and 70s, I liked lighter metal (no heavier than Pantera).

I still like all these things. I continue to listen to pop/punk most, and when I venture out of that genre, it's usually out of loyalty to the artist. See for example We Are The In Crowd, a poppy pop punk band, and now SAINTE, a spin off that's synthpop/rock, which I normally hate. https://youtu.be/970Fq3d855E --> https://youtu.be/aImYc9AFbOE

I'll have to continue this in a few hours.

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• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?
  
• How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?
  
• Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

I like almost all genres, which is a very different statement than saying I like almost all music. I am the person musicians love to hate in that I have little use for albums since I will probably only like 1-2 songs from it. (And rarely the one that gets airplay, or top singles sales). This means it's easier — though obviously less informative — to say what I don't like. There are a couple generous that I have yet to find anything I want to hear: Thrash/speed metal; trap music; VERY rarely have I heard a reggae song I like.

Except for odd times on weekends when they get too deep into a genere, the current.org is uncannily able to queue up music that I like. You could essentially use their playlists as a window into my taste, or you could follow me on Apple Music, should you have that.

There are two major saltation points in my musical taste. First, as I child we only had Christian music. Whatever that genre might mean now, I mean it as what they might sell at a christian book store in the mid 80's. At some point — right about the time I got a gift of a CD player, so lets say 1987 or 88 — I started owning more mainstream music. I started listening to non-christian Radio, but usually the Oldies Station, and then the Classic Rock station.

The next was when I discovered Soundtracks. This here, was a much more viable value proposition than buying an album and liking 1-2 songs, but it also came with the benefit of having a point of view that would cut across multiple artists, and even multiple genres.

Next, I matriculated at the same time as the rise of limewire/napster/iTunes local network music sharing. This was the first broadband Connection to the internet I had ever had, and the first time I could digitally collect songs, re-arange them into my own mix, and burn my own CDs. Tons of music that I "Knew" but never knew by name or artist was something I learned because I started trying to build a library. This, again, was important to me because I could get just the small percentage of stuff I wanted, but not the stuff I didn't. That translated easily into legal purchases when they opened the iTunes Music Store, since it was not that fact that it was free, necicarially, it was because I could select individual songs — not worry about how rare they were — and preview them before I bought them. Again the value proposition changed enough that I could really start cultivating.

Finally, when self-publishing became democratized and smaller more indie radio stations started streaming online that modernized the personal programming stuff I was getting from soundtracks, but will lead of a need to be commercially viable.

I can play a Rock Band controller. Poorly.

I have recently found myself with time to just... think. It's been nice. One of the things I've been pondering about is music, why I like what I like and what not. I've lived long enough now that through my memories I can watch the journey I've had thus far of my musical taste. From the seeds planted by my parents own musical tastes, to now where a set of sounds can transport me in time as effectively as smell can. Not only transport but change a room, like some sort of shared psychosis. After all, it's not the room that has changed, but the people in it.

I know. This post is off the cuff here I... I wasn't planning this or anything, it's just I yet again find myself with simple curiosity and an outlet to ask of it. I mean, at worst, Funkmon will present us with an essay why the Polka is ultimate form of music or something. :P

So I'm just going to throw down some questions here, and see where this leads.
------------------------------------------------------

• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Music is mostly something I use to unwind and relax with. I found early on that Heavy Metal was the genre for me, but that also naturally spreads out to classic rock, grunge, industrial etc. Beyond that, I don't really deviate. You won't find hip-hop, country or pop music in my library. Some people in my preferred choice can be metal snobs, but I like a spectrum of metal.

I love my music, I love it played live and it just really soothes my soul. Sometimes it's the lyrics, other times the riff or groove, or a combination of all of it.

The subject matter could be serious, political, or satire\parody or just fun.

My absolute favorites are anything with a great harmony of guitars, and\or vocals and anything where I can just get lost in the reverberations, when it's heavy, crunchy. You know when that dude in his car pulls up next to yours with his bass cranked up and it sounds like ass? I don't like that. It drowns out the rest of the mix. I want to feel it all.

Doesn't have to be English either, could be German or nordic. A couple Megadeth songs I like are in French and Spanish too. I love how music itself is it's own language.

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

For the most part, it's stayed pretty contained to the genre, but with a few mutations. One thing I found years ago I liked is Metal mixed with classical instruments. A good, mainstream example of this would be Metallica playing with the San Francisco Orchestra. Otherwise, this niche is hard to find...

But I also really like Grunge, especially Alice and Chains, which started out metal, then evolved over time.

When I met Paddy (a fellow HBO\DBOer) a few years back, he got me more into classic Metal, bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Ronnie James Dio and now they are regularly in my line up. On that same token, I introduced him to Thrash metal (my fav) with bands like Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies.

So in my case, not much has really changed, so much as I've started to trace the roots of bands that influenced bands I like, and kept me firmly in that family-tree, so to speak.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

Nope, unless you want to count the recorder in 4th grade, or guitar hero. I have sang before with my friends shitty garage\cover band. Unfortunately, the songs I'm actually GOOD at you aren't likely to find in a Karaoke line up :P

I really like this youtube channelwhere a couple of guys who aren't heavy metal listeners, react to various songs for the first time.

I have recently found myself with time to just... think. It's been nice. One of the things I've been pondering about is music, why I like what I like and what not. I've lived long enough now that through my memories I can watch the journey I've had thus far of my musical taste. From the seeds planted by my parents own musical tastes, to now where a set of sounds can transport me in time as effectively as smell can. Not only transport but change a room, like some sort of shared psychosis. After all, it's not the room that has changed, but the people in it.

I know. This post is off the cuff here I... I wasn't planning this or anything, it's just I yet again find myself with simple curiosity and an outlet to ask of it. I mean, at worst, Funkmon will present us with an essay why the Polka is ultimate form of music or something. :P

So I'm just going to throw down some questions here, and see where this leads.
------------------------------------------------------

• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Depends on what I'm doing. Since I spend most of my time coding, I want something that works into the back of my head as I focus on the work at hand. I don't want it to be necessarily super atmospheric, just not something that punches into the front of my thoughts. A lot of soundtracks...

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

As a teenager I listened to a lot of straight edge hardcore, mostly the DC/Boston variety. Though at the same time I enjoyed a wide variety of jams from Paul Simon's graceland to El-P's Fantastic Damage. By college I was listening to almost exclusively post-rock, mainly Explosions in the Sky. I'm now in my 30s and I'm listening to more post-rock, ambient, whatever spotify's algorithm spews out. I occasionally sit down and give a random Tool album a proper listen to. Oh and I have a Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come album in DVD-Audio 5.1 that is essential listening.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

I played Clarinet, Contra-Alto E-Flat Clarinet in Orchestra, and Cymbals in the drumline. I was ok, I took some music theory on top of my comp sci degree but have made nothing of it and would likely take a lot of time to pick any instrument up at this point. If I have kids and then end up playing something, I'll probably pick up a complimentary instrument for the jollies.

What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Anything and everything. Music is extremely important to me. I'd give up any other form of entertainment before I gave up music. Books, movies, games, television . . . it all pales in comparison to music for me. I spend a bunch of my free time in the evenings just listening to music. If I'm not doing something like playing a game or watching a movie, something that requires my full attention, I have music playing.

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

My tastes have changed drastically. As an angsty teen, I listened to a bunch of emo and post-hardcore stuff. Lots of screamo. I rejected pop music on its face, and if it was played on the radio, I probably hated it. Now, I'm much more open and listen to a wide variety of genres, and some of my favorite stuff (Have I mentioned how great Taylor Swift is?) is stuff I wold have outright rejected in the past.

Music discovery is something I devote a lot of time to. Spotify has been incredible for that, and beats the hell out of the old days of trolling MySpace (and then, later, YouTube). I listen to my Discovery Weekly playlist on Spotify (a playlist the algorithms create every Monday to feed you 30 new songs). I'm not really sure how the algorithm works, what it's parameters are, etc, but I like more songs it feeds me than I dislike, so it works well for me.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

No. Always wanted to learn the guitar or piano, but I'm just not willing to dedicate the time.

Now, I'll provide a sample of my current favorite stuff, because I love sharing and talking about music, and also I'm just self-indulgent.

Brand New has been one of my favorite bands since middle school. Every album they put out is completely different from the last, and they're all good. They put out a new one last year (probably their last) and it's incredible, called Science Fiction. It's an interesting album, in that it's different from all their others, but it still feels like a culmination of everything they've done before--there are echoes of every previous album in there.

I legitimately spent 30 minutes previewing songs to decide which one to post. This one isn't my favorite, but it is the opening of the album, and it sets the tone well.

Closely related to Brand New is Manchester Orchestra, which, if pushed, I would have to say is my favorite band. Like Brand New, every one of their albums sounds completely different from the last. They also put out a new record last year (A Black Mile to the Surface), and it's the best thing they've ever done. This record feels like a real turning point for the band, to me.

Here's my favorite song from that album:

And here's the song that got me into them, and a music video I love for reasons that should be obvious.

Julien Baker is rising on my personal list of favorites.

Pianos Become the Teeth is also great.

The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die is leading the charge of emo revival (or maybe post-emo, I dunno), and their record Harmlessness is one of my favorite albums ever.

JYOCHO is my current obsession. This is what I put on when I just want to sort of zone out and relax.

I got really into post-rock and all its sub-genres and sort of related genres within the past five or six years or so.

It started with Fang Island.

And progressed to And So I Watched You From Afar, who put on what might be the best live show I've ever seen (in some tiny dive bar in the Castro district in San Francisco). That then moved into the typical Explosions in the Sky, Caspian, mogwai, Russian Circles, 65daysofstatic, etc.

I could do this forever, but you're all bored to death by now, I'm sure.

I'd be remiss if I didn't post the pop star that is competing with Taylor Swift for me, though.

If anyone made it this far and is interested, here's a link to a few of my Spotify playlists. They are the results of my Discover Weekly songs. If I like a song from Discover Weekly, I add it to a Discovered [Current Year] playlist. At the end of the year, I add that playlist to a huge Discovered Past playlist and start a new one for the new year. Attempts to further organize those songs into smaller playlists are incomplete.

Discovered 2018

Discovered Past Years

So, I've always been one of the music is life people. And while I take pride in it, my taste is usually best described as "stupid eclectic." With that:

What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

I look for something emotive first and foremost. Regardless of what that feeling is. This make it really easy to separate music I won't like, because usually the evocation is disgust or something in that realm. The purpose is about as varied as my tastes. Often I use it to reinforce a way I'm feeling, or to nullify the same. I listen to a lot of things at work or with the purpose of accenting activities. I also have no shame, not that most of the listed following would probably offend anyone here, but I work in a secure room sometimes, no RF in or out. No recording devices, etc. So I have a briefcase record player and vinyl in there, the selection? As follows, alphabetically:

Chvrches - Every Open Eye
Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# (Infinity)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.
Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol 1, 2 (Deluxe)
Gustav Holst - The Planets (Full Suite)
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Purity Ring - another eternity
Purity Ring - Shrines
Sisters Of Mercy - Floodland
Taylor Swift - 1989
twenty one pilots - Blurryface

Along with various albums of classic standards, ballets, etc. And this list continues to grow. I need to pick up additional copies of John Carpenter's stuff to take in. My home collection is mostly limited edition and vintage stuff. I don't own a record player for my home. That is part of a joke. Still, only touching surface layers, though. I know every word to Michelle Branch's The Spirit Room. I have stopped a conversation to educate someone when I was listening to Orgy and they mused, "Ahh, Marilyn Manson," simply because they were doing me a boggle.

How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

It just grows. Formative years in music taste tend to leave some latent appreciation from childhood exposure in people, but someones personal taste is often codified by what they liked at around 16. This is usually when people find things that are not introduced by their parents/older siblings/etc. and so the formation is more internalized.

So yeah, my tastes have changed in many regards, but I haven't lost my appreciations for things. The things I grew up on via parents, et al. (Queen, Tom Petty, Journey [Really any Hair Metal - Dokken made up my lullabies as an infant], Pearl Jam [Most of Grunge, my parents grew up adjacent to Cobain], Bob Marley, etc. and the list never ends) or tastes that I gained on my own or had introductions through siblings (Foo Fighters, Liz Phair, White/Rob Zombie, Ministry, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Tegan and Sara, AFI) have all held steadfast in my listening repertoire. But even more recent selections have made pretty substantial impacts on my modern listening (Mick Gordon, Meg Myers, Ghost, Magic Sword) and are just as likely to show up on my speakers.

There is pretty much no genre I dislike as a whole. I almost always have an example of something worthwhile. And usually have ample listening suggestions for folks.

Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

I have. I do not. I was (mostly) not. I used The Chocobo Song to try to get a solo part in middle school. I would like to pick up ukulele and harmonica, for reasons.

Thanks for your replies all!
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• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

There is a lot of music out there. So I have to filter out what it is I listen to regularly to prove it's worth. My current method for music starts by not listening to it. Sort of odd right? But this isn't the Funkmon method towards music (;P), as my meaning is of mental participation. It has to pluck at my head to be recognized. I'll turn on some continually playing playlist of things and just read, and if it resonates with my head, I'll feel it and I'll note of the name if I can. After that, the music has to prove that I'll still like it a month or so after I have heard it.

I love music, in part because there are so many uses for it. It's can assist with focusing on a task at work, use it to lounge and add to the little things, or occasionally I'll just dance.

Music is the a seasoning of a moment. What's not to like?

• How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

Starting out, there was alot of Classical as that was all I really knew. I wasn't yet curious nor aware about music yet. If it was on, I probably enjoyed it. Whatever. Around me there was a verity of music being played. Love songs as a certain family relative loved this announcers (DJ?) voice and would help with sleep. There was also alot of Billy Joel and Kenny Loggins. Smooth Jazz too. I recall really liking the song "We didn't Start the Fire". I didn't understand a word being said, so I just thought it was catchy. Boy - the difference a fairly vast knowledge of history makes.

Any who the first time I really started to note what I enjoyed or preferred happened by accident. It was late October of whenever. It was an ad for some CD. The music on it was... different. Unlike anything I had ever heard before.

I don't recall exactly what the name of the CD was or really what the songs were on it except for one; Tubular bells. It was a complication of songs... and I think it was this.

I never did get that CD. I remember being in a Halloween shop, and I saw the CD, but I had use my allowance to get it. It was $99.99. I wanted to, and I could have, but I didn't. Dad was proud.

The damage was done though, those sounds stayed with me as I grew to understand music and what it was.

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^- Then - History Skip - Now -V
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Thus I present but a taste some of my addiction which you should totally not click on;

Uplifting Trance

Progressive House

Fairly New! Synthwave

The Midnight (Jazzy Synth Wave! HOLY EARGAZAM BATMAN!)

NEW!Chill Hip-Hop(?)

Ambient? I mean... whatever Tycho is... this.

Vocal Focus

(Soundtracks too!)

Halo / Ezio Assassins Creed / Mirrors Edge / Mass Effect / Skyrim ... so on.

• Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

Yep. Double Bass. I wanted to play Jazz and make my mother happy. (Awwwww <3) I no longer play, but I miss it. I could play, but I could have been much better. I didn't have my heart in the task. Someday perhaps I'll go guitar of some-sort or piano, time will tell. Wind instruments are GROSS. Spit valves ya'll. Ugh.

(Edit:Two of the songs I linked was not what I thought it was. Updated Vocals with extra links. Added end... prose?)

What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

I, uh, don't. Right now, I pretty much only listen to music when driving or when trying to crunch some programming. Even then, with the former I just leave it at a radio station and forego any further choice of music and with the latter I often forget to do it when programming.

By the time Guardians of the Galaxy 1 released, I had a small bout of actually buying music and enjoying it, but it is gone now. I think the last thing I bought was GotG2's soundtrack, which has a much lower play count then the albums I first bought, even when normalizing by time.

Basically, music helps me tune out stray thoughts and focus on what I'm doing. Not that it is always successful, though...

How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

My father is a very serious fan of progressive rock, so I grew up enjoying some British and Italian prog rock music from the 70s (maybe earlier, who knows?). Pink Floyd, Genesis and PFM will always have a sweet spot in my heart.

During my buying bout, I got into Arctic Monkeys (I was kind of surprised by how consistently I liked their music, across their career, despite noticeable change in style), Adele, uh, *checks library to cheat* Daft Punk and some other loose pieces.

EDIT: Still checking, I came across our very own CruelLEGACEY's music and boy, how the crap could I forget. Dude's pretty damn good. Kind of like deadmau5, but cooler. Check him out (@Music_Emoticon)

Right now, I'm pretty into synth/vaporwave when programming. No clue why, guess I just like music that sounds from the 80s and earlier.

Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

Not really, just matchboxes (it's a thing down here, blame samba). Not anything of note (kind of like my soccer ability, I guess it's just something all Brazilians have at least a slight affinity to do). Due to my father's enormous (for his skill) collection of electric guitars, I've always considered playing them, but meh. I sometimes daydream about playing drums or bass, my two favorite lines in most music (give or take synths).

I love music. My parents had music playing in the house constantly while I was growing up, and I’m the same way now. I’m an 80s kid, so there was a lot of Peter Gabriel, Don Henley, the Police, Dire Straits, and Roxy Music in the house when I was a kid, all of which I have a soft spot for. But my parents were 60s kids themselves, so there was a lot of CSNY, Hendrix, Emmy Lou Harris, etc. The first concert I ever saw was Dwight Yoakam (he was awesome, lol).

Growing up in Toronto in the 80s, you pretty much had to love either Bryan Adams or Celine Dion, so I chose Adams. I still sing along like an idiot any time I hear Run to You.

I got into U2 in my early teens, right when I started learning how to play guitar. They were, and still are, a huge influence on me musically speaking. I went through a brief love afare with Radiohead, but I only like bits and pieces from them anymore. I love The Clash, Joy Division and New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, David Bowie, Coldplay, IAMX, Tears for Fears, Faunts, the 1975, Tycho. Anything with a synth-pop new-wave 80s vibe is a safe bet.

I can enjoy listening to most genres in small doses. I also played the flute for 8 years, so I’m fond of classical music (tchaikovsky FTW).

I started playing in a band and writing music in high school, and that had a big impact on how I listen to music. Learning to write music went hand-in-hand with learning how to record music (I’d always be recording demos to show the rest of the band what I’d come up with). This opened up a whole new dimension of appreciation for me. Now, any time I listen to music, I’ll enjoy the music itself while also studying how it has been mixed and arranged. There’s a real art & science to recording music... it’s a kind of sonic architecture (<-possibly the most pretentious sounding thing I’ve ever said, lol). That’s a big part of why Achtung Baby (by U2) is my favourite album of all time. Not only are the songs amazing, but from a production point of view it’s a masterpiece. Every single time I listen to it, I hear things I hadn’t heard before. There are songs where I can’t tell if I’m hearing 2 guitars or 12. The boundaries between all the instruments are blurred and swirled around until you can’t even picture something as real as a “band” playing them. It’s just sound. And yet it never sounds sloppy, or muddy, or complicated. It sounds simple and pure. It’s the Mona Lisa of music, as far as I’m concerned.

Side note: I never really got all the hype about the Mona Lisa until I saw it in person. I spent about half an hour in the same room as her... that thing is ALIVE. Every time I glanced back at it over my shoulder, it had changed. She’d moved a little, or her expression had shifted. The more time went by, the more every other painting in the room felt like pieces of wallpaper, while she felt more and more like a person standing in the room.

Anyway, I played in bands for years, but stopped doing that about 6 years ago. I do a lot of writing and recording music at home though. I’ll go weeks at a time without listening to anything other than what I’m working on, then I’ll come up for air and listen to a bunch of stuff; half for enjoyment, and half to try and figure out how they achieved certain sounds or solved a specific problem. What still surprises me to this day is that the side of my brain that is obsessing over the technical aspects of how music is recorded hasn’t interferes with my pure emotional enjoyment of listening to music. It just got bolted on as an additive.

As far as the bonus question goes, I already mentioned guitar and flute. I play a tiny bit of piano, which I’m finally able to dedicate some time to now that I actually own a piano for the first time. I can bang out a few chords on a mandolin, and if you put an upright Bass in my hands I can play “Love Cats” :)

I have recently found myself with time to just... think. It's been nice. One of the things I've been pondering about is music, why I like what I like and what not. I've lived long enough now that through my memories I can watch the journey I've had thus far of my musical taste. From the seeds planted by my parents own musical tastes, to now where a set of sounds can transport me in time as effectively as smell can. Not only transport but change a room, like some sort of shared psychosis. After all, it's not the room that has changed, but the people in it.

I know. This post is off the cuff here I... I wasn't planning this or anything, it's just I yet again find myself with simple curiosity and an outlet to ask of it. I mean, at worst, Funkmon will present us with an essay why the Polka is ultimate form of music or something. :P

So I'm just going to throw down some questions here, and see where this leads.
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• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Music with a hook (vocal or instrumental), so I’m not an anti-pop snob, but stupid lyrics tend to turn me off, and I do appreciate a zag where I was expecting a zig. Depends on the genre, too. I generally dislike most popular country, but I love traditional country and Americana.

Music is the language of emotion, and outside of the pharmaceuticals no other stimuli affects mood more. I don’t mean to characterize it as only that. Great music is art and does what art does: it expresses something fundamental in us. Also, more so than when I was younger, music has becomes a means of time travel.

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

Grew up in a household were music was greatly valued. Several people on my mom’s side of the family were professional musicians for some or part of their lives. Worked in a record store through all of the 1980s, and as a result I have about 1,000 LPs (this doesn’t count digital or CDs). During that time I liked at least some things in every genre of music (and could convince newcomers to any genre that I was an enthusiast). I liked all pop as a kid in the 70s (bad and good), but the Beatles were my touchstone, and following the roots of their music back got me into 50s rock n roll, girl groups, Motown, country (Hank, Sr!), tin pan alley, what have you. Following their innovations forward got me into more experimental stuff like Roxy Music and Bowie. I deejayed for several years in college (mainly new wave, punk, college rock [lots of stuff Cruel likes]), I saw hundreds of shows between 1980 and 2000, including many big names before they were that big (To name a few: saw U2 at their first U.S. show of their War tour [amazing], Ryan Adams played at my house during a party once—I’ve met quite a few people, too.) In my 20s and 30s I went to club shows frequently. Around 2000 I slowed down some, but instead of going to PAX as a fan pilgrimage, I went to SXSW, and at the time was familiar with most acts I saw there. Some of you already know I’m a big Springsteen fan. I’ve seen him close to 30 times.

I listen to much more classical than I used to, but I don’t know if my tastes have changed (and for better or for worse, gaming has supplanted music as my primary hobby). I simply find less new music that interests me now. (This depresses me a little. I never wanted to be one of those old people who was clueless about what the kids liked.) Even when I hear something I like, it tends to remind me of somebody else that already did something very similar 25 years ago. There’s a sameness to Top 40--I can’t tell a lot of it apart. Whereas I used to buy one or two albums per week, now I’m back to how I listened to music as a kid. For one thing, my young-adult concern for street cred is dead, Zed (think of the John Cusack/Jack Black characters in High Infidelity). I listen to streaming services, and whereas I used to buy 45s every week, now I buy a song or two and become obsessed with two or three albums per year (Last two albums bought: Dan Aeurbach—Waiting for a Song, Phil Spector—Back to Mono box set [That's been on my wish list for 30 years]. Two favorites from the last five years: Daft Punk—Random Access Memories, Jason Isbell--Southeastern). Last live show: The Blasters? Last live show I’m sorry I missed: Dengue Fever. Next live show I’ll see: Paul Simon (his last tour supposedly). They’ll probably need to schedule some bathroom breaks for that one.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

No, I’ve dabbled on clarinet (in school) and piano and guitar (at home). The highlight of my musical career was playing “Moonlight Sonata” from memory for my uncle (he played in an orchestra and was the true musician of the family). I did it perfectly only once, for him. I have my mom’s piano now. I’d like to take lessons, but I think it will be challenging due to a hand injury. :(

What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Music used to define the timing of my life; I could tell you when an album came out by what I was doing when it was released. Sometimes to the day. (That's changed; I still listen to a lot of music, and it's an important mood stabilizer... but I no longer keep track of life events that way.)

I look for music that says something to me. It can be something as simple as "hey, tap your foot to me!" or as complicated as "this is a concept that you should think about every time you make a major decision." In recent years, that comes down to predominately 'singer-songwriters' - a category that is often folk or indie. (Or indie folk.)

How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

This is a pretty tough question to answer - partly because the world has changed, and the way I consume music changed with it... and it's hard to untie the method of consumption with the product itself. When I was a kid, the primary way of finding new music was the radio - I listened to a lot of popular music in high school, because that was the easiest thing to hear. I got to college, and discovering new bands became an obsession; I fell in love with the alternative/indie sound that you could find in small clubs. The message became more important (for a while) than the sound - clever lyrics trumped polished instrumentation. (I mean, eventually, I found bands that had both... but when you're listening to 3 new bands a night, you hear a lot of shit, and you quickly find something that hooks you and keeps you coming back, or you stop going to clubs. For me, the hook was a good lyric.)

All that said... there's no 'one band' (or 'ten bands') that define my musical taste; I listen to (and have always listened to) lots and lots of different things. There aren't too many things off-limits... I'm not a huge fan of metal, or hip-hop, or (true) country, but almost anything else goes. (And even in those genres, there are exceptions.)

When I was in the 'write your favorite band on your notebook' phase, I was a big fan of the Eagles... but I'm not sure if that's because I loved their music, or if I just loved their logo. (I definitely like their music; I just don't know if that's what drove me to brand my notebooks with their name.)

Also listened to a lot of the Moody Blues, but without the hallucinogenics.

In college, I listened to a lot of REM, Talking Heads, The Housemartins, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Tears for Fears, The Specials, Fine Young Cannibals, English Beat, The Jam... and tons and tons of bands that nobody outside of Somerville MA had ever heard of (and then only if you were alive and listening to music in the early 80s). Also, mostly due to a roommate, I listened to (and liked) a bunch of early rap - Grand Master Flash, Run DMC, Beasty Boys. Lost interest when the subject matter changed to money, drugs, and sex.

When I joined the Peace Corps, I started listening to more political/socially aware artists - Bruce Cockburn, Michelle Shocked, Indigo Girls, Beautiful South (though I'm told that in the UK, they're not really considered political, they're considered 'Poppy' - I listened to them because Beautiful South is what Paul Heaton did when the Housemartins broke up; I fell in love with the weirdness of "Woman in the Wall", and I really liked their cynical look at the world). I stuck with all of them after I got back to the US.

Hothouse Flowers' 'People' was my favorite album of 1988, in a way that no album has ever been before or since. (I don't really even listen to it any more, but MAN was I obsessed then!)

The 90s and 00s saw infatuations with Garland Jeffries, The Frames, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Johnson, John Gorka, Jonathan Coulton, the Proclaimers, Suzanne Vega, Uncle Bonsai (and the Electric Bonsai Band), many more.

Through it all, some bands have always been there, their music interwoven with the threads of my life: The Beatles, Barenaked Ladies, Billy Joel, BoDeans, David Bowie, Dire Straits (and Mark Knopfler solo after they broke up), Elvis Costello, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, the Police, the Pretenders, Queen, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones, Simon and Garfunkel, Steely Dan, Supertramp, the Who, Warren Zevon.

I love bands whose lyrics and music tell totally different stories: for example, Nelly McKay writes biting, sarcastic, often dark lyrics to super-bouncy (or elegantly-smooth) music. Sometimes I find bands who irritate the hell out of me, until they don't - I first heard Jonatha Brooke on a compilation album, and HATED her voice. But I loved the album, and so I heard that song a lot... and eventually I went and found other stuff she'd done. I love her band The Story. I love her solo stuff. She still has a super-distinctive singing style, and when I hear other people do that voice-cracking thing, it's like fingernails on a chalkboard... but I still love it when she does it.

I like novelty stuff. I listened to Doctor Demento when I was growing up, and I've enjoyed Weird Al since... geez, probably 1980. I already mentioned Jonathan Coulton. Paul and Storm make me laugh. Mojo Nixon has a place in my collection. (A few places, even.)

David Wilcox is a folk singer-songwriter that I first heard in early 1991... I discovered that his songs are chock-full of ideas that sort of guide the way I live. (I'm not saying I live that way because he told me to; I'm saying I have some underlying guiding principles, and his music does an amazing job of outlining them, which means he has the same underlying guiding principles.)

Most recent discovery was Nico Vega (I heard a song of theirs in a Verizon ad, loved it, looked up who did it, discovered that I like MOST of their stuff).

That probably covers 10% of the music that's shaped me. ;) (Okay, more than 10%... but there are literally hundreds of unmentioned artists that should be on a list of music that has affected my life.)

Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

Played a clarinet for a year in grade school, until I had a pretty bad accident and knocked out all of my front teeth; a reed instrument suddenly became quite difficult, and I quit. Tried learning guitar in the Peace Corps, mostly failed. (I mean, I learned a few chords, but it wasn't even good enough to keep people around a campfire entertained.)

• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Music used to be a big part of my life but not so much these days. I don't know if it's because I'm older, or the way we consume music has changed. Growing up as a kid the music in my life was whatever my parents listened to. So lots of Golden Oldies from my Mom and Rock from my Dad. I remember when my dad showed me his record collection for the first time. I guess he figured I was old enough to respect vinyl without destroying it. Beatles, Elvis, Pink Floyd, James Gang, The Who, you name it. But I was drawn to one album for some reason. Led Zeppelin II. He showed me how to work the turn table. After a heavy pop and a couple of scratches, the opening riffs for Whole Lotta Love started playing. It was awesome! Until then, the music I was exposed to were generally Christian groups like DC Talk and Newsboys. When I got into middle school I subscribed to BMG music service and could get 15 cd's for 1 cent! Some of the first cd's I ordered consisted of Green Day, 311, White Zombie, Pantera, Nirvana, Soundgarden. The first cd I put was Pantera: Great Southern Trendkill. I still remember the feeling of anxiety creep over as I heard Phil Anselmo screaming into the mic as ravenous drums and guitar shredded my speakers. It was a feeling of fear and excitement. This is when I said to myself "I want to learn to play guitar."

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

I think the only way my taste has changed is just with my ability to stay up-to-date. Last week I had to ask my wife "Who the heck is Cardy B and what does he sing?" While I like anything with a guitar (except neo glam country) I've always been a metalhead. Groups like Pantera, Necrophagist, Between the Buried and Me, Job for a Cowboy, and whatever ridiculous grunting pig squeal that might make my ears bleed. Lately, I've been trying to keep it a lot lighter. Having a kid and recent social/political events...metal isn't the best go to. I'm diving back into classic r&b and pop. Sometimes some Sia and 21 Pilots and Daft Punk.

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

As a kid I was forced to take piano lessons and I was actually really good. I hated it, but I was good. My parents always said "you'll thank us when you're older." Well, they were right...I wish I had kept playing because now I don't remember how and I wish I still could. Eventually got a guitar, then a bass guitar, learned to play both pretty well but not great. Was good friends with my neighbor who was an amazing musician and did a couple of projects with him. Played in a cover band for a while rotating between guitar, bass and drums. Was probably best at drums. I rarely play anymore, my guitars all hang on my wall. My 4 year old son has a childs drum kit and he likes to play it and is actually pretty good. I'll probably plug my old Ibanez into my amp soon enough and play along with his crazy beats.

[*]What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?

Well, as I alluded to here, part of it is that I don't like to think what I'm listening to is artificial or insincere in any way. It's a little hard to define, but I generally prefer music that was actually created by the person or group whose name is on it, you know? Doesn't have to be exclusive, plenty of people I listen to use co-writers and the like. I'm just not a big fan of the scenario where someone gets famous recording vocals on tracks that are really someone else's creative work. Beyond that, I dunno if there is anything very specific that I look for. I don't think I've ever had a genre. I probably tend to gravitate most towards the sort of emo/pop-punk/post-hardcore scene that was big in the mid-2000's, but that's hardly exclusive. I guess I just want good grooves, and music that's actually ABOUT something. Feelings, politics, whatever. Just not about partying in the club, you know?

[*]How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?

This is the most interesting question here, for me. I didn't really have ANY taste for music through most of my childhood. I can remember, in elementary or middle school, other kids wearing shirts to school that said "311" or "Tool." I had basically no awareness of what any of it meant. Music wasn't a big thing in my house, and TBH I didn't have very many friends - and none of them were really into music either.

Somewhere towards the very end of high school, I did finally become aware of SOME music. It was mostly the sort of rock music that would get played on the radio. Metallica and the like. I went to an Incubus concert in high school (Hoobastank opened for them - oh yeah), and like everyone at the time (I graduated in '03, for reference) I was into Linkin Park's first two albums. And of course everyone was listening to Limp Bizkit back then although I could not explain why to you now. Oh, and I guess I did listen to some Eminem. The Eminem Show came out during my junior year, and that was all that was coming out of anyone's cars for a good 6 months. Or more. Around this same time, my best friend (who has almost no interest or definable taste in music otherwise) got me into Meat Loaf. Yeah, I know - but the Bat Out of Hell albums do still kind of work for me, for some reason.

Note: This is the singer I referred to here.

Back then, I hadn't developed my snobbish opinions on music yet. Later, I reconciled those opinions with my Meat Loaf fandom by telling myself that because the Bat Out of Hell albums were rock operas performed as a sort of show, that Meat Loaf was actually just an actor playing a character. And TBH, I think it's true. Fun fact: I own physical copies of NEARLY every Meat Loaf album ever made. There was one compilation album I didn't buy because it was made up entirely of tracks from things I already owned. But otherwise, I have them all - at least, as of around 2004 when I set out to do it.

High school is also when one of my worst characteristics (IMO) started. Which is that I do a TERRIBLE job of discovering new music. Both new artists, and even additional stuff from artists I know. The reason (at least initially) was that the radio antenna in my car was broken. Note that I said the antenna, not the radio. It was known that the radio didn't work in the car I bought from my Dad my junior year - it couldn't receive anything at all. However, after I replaced the head unit in that car, the radio still didn't work (yes, I plugged the antenna cable in). Somewhere in that car between the head unit and the antenna, there was a break. The result of that was that the only music I had through all of high school and college was what I could load on to CDs (I did at least have MP3 CDs as a resource). The result of THAT was that I would tend to just let what I already had stay on repeat for a LONG time, and I absolutely never listened to the radio. This, combined with a very small number of actual close friends (one of whom, as mentioned, is not that into music), meant that I never had any idea what was current, new, or popular. Even during college when MySpace was a thing, I only had like 1 or 2 people I actually talked to frequently on there. I must have been the only person my age at that time who didn't discover music through MySpace.

During college, and the next 2-3 years after that, I started getting into the stuff I mentioned above. Emo, pop-punk, post-hardcore type stuff. While my own capacity to discover music was almost non-existent, I did make friends with a couple of guys who got me into things like Taking Back Sunday, Say Anything, and MCR. One of them also got me into Ben Folds - he played guitar and I heard him do a few Ben Folds Five songs. He also loaned me a few compilation albums. Warped Tour compilations, and a Drive-Thru Records/Fueled by Ramen sampler where I first heard my favorite band, Paramore. Side note: Paramore has probably been my favorite band since around 2007 when I got their second album, but I didn't actually realize that until more recently, like around 2014. It just finally hit me one day that I had never heard a song of theirs that I didn't love. For the most part, I kind of stuck to that same type of music, other than a brief fling with country music around 2005 or 2006. 4 or 5 years ago, I had a sudden epiphany that maybe pop music wasn't all terrible, but that realization really started around 2007:

I was working in an office at the time, and they had satellite radio rotating between a bunch of stations that the staff had chosen. Most of it didn't really interest me - I probably should have been excited to finally know what was playing on popular radio, but I was pretty thoroughly into my "I don't listen to popular music" stubbornness by then. But I do remember hearing my first Taylor Swift song (it was "Should've Said No," if you're wondering). Something about it struck me as different from the other stuff on that country station, though I didn't really know why. For the next several years, I always paid attention to her as she very quickly exploded, but I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone at the time. I actually remember a special about her coming on a TV news show when I was at my parents' place for Thanksgiving, and I very discretely made sure the TV stayed on that channel without really telling anyone why. A bit later, I think after her second album was out, a good friend of mine who is a MUCH more severe music snob than I have ever been, told he was learning one of Taylor's songs to play to his girlfriend (now wife), and he just happened to mention in passing "she writes her own songs, you know." This, in my mind, essentially gave me permission to become a shameless Stan. ANYWAY, the point of all this is that I remained one, and when 1989 came out I finally was convinced to listen to something outside of my guitar/bass/drums comfort zone, and admit that something that includes electronics could actually be creatively valid.

This has opened a floodgate that I'm still not sure how to cope with - there's so much out there now, and combined with my music habits (as a holdover from when I had a limited selection, I still tend to listen to the same album for weeks at a time), I constantly feel like I'm falling behind. My list of to-buy albums on Amazon is pages long. Oh, I just realized I forgot to mention the other problem with me and music - I have never gotten on board with the streaming music movement. I have never subscribed to a paid service, and I HATE ads with a burning passion. So everything I listen to is stuff I actually possess (I would like to say "own," but I admit that I went through a BitTorrent phase many years ago in an attempt to catch up with all the great stuff I had missed - I'm not proud of it), barring an occasional YouTube session (I just finished listening to "The Shape of Punk to Come," - thanks, kidtsunami!).

[*]Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?
[/list]

Nope. I've never had any creative impulse at all, as far as I can remember.

I would love to go into more of what I ACTUALLY listen to, as it's not really represented here for the most part. I tried to just focus on points in my life where there were identifiable changes. But this post is already a wall of text. :)

I'm loving this thread

This post is about Music. Marty recently gave a great talk at Kent State University regarding Music in Video Games (most specifically the Halo series).
This talk may not be for everyone, especially if you are a person that doesn't want to hear about the gritty specifics behind creating something great and would rather just continue enjoying the amazing final product unaware (ignorance can be bliss; since you might learn things in the process that could change the way you look at or feel about something, after the fact) Generally, learning more about something does not bother me and doesn't change my opinions or emotion about the product, but this might not be the case for anyone and everyone.

The talk is a compilation of many of the ideas, stories, and quips that have been heard before in various ways but wrapped up into one talk with some new bits added in

[1]

More people need to view this and I feel this thread has some folks in it that would truly enjoy seeing it

People say "This song is good!" or "This song isn't so great!" and I'm just like, whatever, they all kinda sound the same to me. It been like that since I was in early grade school when my friends were getting way into artists like Fred Durst.

These days 99.9% of the stuff I listen to is video game soundtracks;

Here's a link to my album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2EgNgF6ugGzxQO03xkPx1F?si=TD8N2zGZSbucKBaiVllv-w

I can never really describe what I like about music. When I try to I generally get offered examples I dislike, so rather than try and describe it I'll just say what are probably my two favorite musicians:

James Mercer (of The Shins and Broken Bells)

(Not that any one song is remotely representative of James Mercer, his style changes A LOT even on the same album)

KT Tunstall

There are a lot of great Music minds here. If we put all of our heads together could we possibly identify the first selection of music from the D2 Arecibo Adventure/Mission 'music box'?

(I meant to post to Raga's topic, but life happens, and now the topic is locked - I also didn't really want to 'Vagueness' it back up 3 weeks late and have the post get buried)
I compared my notes with Ragashingo's and everything lined up. I agree, that I have never seen anyone identify the first piece of music from the Arecibo mission.
Could it be an original piece put together by the Audio team, to sound ancient and Asian/Japanese influenced? Is that why it is so difficult to research and find?

__________________________________________________

By the way, did anyone ever read into the handcannon, Guseva-C, you are awarded at the end of the Adventure/Mission Arecibo?

Flavor Text:
"You know your purpose"

I looked this up after my first playthrough all those months back in September and have never brought it up to anyone. I also have never really seen anyone else bring it up either, I don't think...
It really is a fascinating tidbit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khioniya_Guseva
(My paraphrase):
C/K/J Guseva/Guseyva was a syphilis riddled (rumor), likely manipulated, probably crazed, peasant woman, with no nose, who attemted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the abdomen, and then reportedly ran through the streets screaming "I have killed the AntiChrist!"

This weapon follows the Häkke naming convention of weapons named after famous warriors, particularly those that try to disembowel others.

Another interesting note from the Arecibo mission, and this one has been discovered and pointed out by others before, is at the beginning of the mission Ghost requests Asher check out frequency transmissions on channel 'J-1869'. Rasputin was born on January 21, 1869.
http://www.ishtar-collective.net/transcripts/adventure-arecibo

__________________________________________________

Furthermore, If we put all of our 'Music heads' together could we work together and try to figure out what appears to be a remaining Music mystery or two in D1? (which might be tied to The Oracles in the Vault of Glass? - Rampant Speculation)
https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?&id=145820
https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=147370
https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=148176

In a matter of a few weeks that mystery will likely be blown wide open by a group of selfish minds that have been not-so-quietly working behind closed and locked doors.

Sometimes a song (or lyrics) come in to your life at just the right time.

Many of you will recognize this line:
"Hope shines brightest in the dark, if we believe"

Who knew that a line from a song written for a video game about shooting 'aliens' would become the most powerful song in my life.

This lyric resonates with me so much right now that I got it custom printed in to a wall decal and it is above my bed where I can see it every day.

I will make another post later about my music habits / moods / likes :)

Good thread idea, I've enjoyed reading other's posts and checking out some of the musical artists they shared

• What do you look for in music? What is musics purpose for you?
  
• How has your taste for music changed, if they have, through the years and what do you think caused this/these change(s)?
  
• Bonus Question: Have you ever played an instrument? If so do you still play? Are or were you any good? Is there anything you've thought about playing?

Music has always been the most important thing in my life. To a fault. I literally go into mood swings and/or depression when my headphones break. It's not too much of a big deal now, since iPhones come with speakers, but whenever music was gone from reasonable access for a good amount of time, I'd be ready to commit suicide! I'm so glad to be able to listen to such amazing works by so many different groups and artists and genres. Music really is the biggest part of me.

What I look for in music is something exciting! Something that draws me to create, form and mold into a work I'm proud of. Every time I hear a song, I can't help but synchronize visuals to it, and seeing if it would work! Every song that passes though my ears makes me wonder if it would be a good 'fit' for a montage. I guess that's always been within me. My tastes for music has changed throughout adolescence and adulthood, when I hear something new that I enjoy, I tend to find out who made the song and see if there are others like it! I'm always open to at least try something new in music. If I don't like it, so be it. If I do, I expand. For the last question, I did play the piano and the violin. Sucked at the piano, although I would like to re-learn that--but I was good at the violin. But when middle school ended, so did Orchestra. But anyway...I'd also love to get some guitar lesson in, too.