Music is my
August 29, 2008
Whenever anyone asks me about what kind of music I like, I kind of panic. That simple question somehow magically erases the “Music J.P. Likes” part of my brain for a few seconds, so I literally can’t think of anything. Once I recover, I never know what to say. See, I’m not the kind of person who listens to music all the damn time. I don’t have an MP3 player, I don’t have a huge collection of my music on my computer, I have various music players, but I never really use them… about the only sound system I use regularly is the CD player in my car. Most of the time when I drive, though, I’m just listening to the noise in my head. When I do listen to CDs, about 80% of what I listen to falls under the following categories:
-Audio books
-Stand-up comedy
-Cartoon Music
-Really cheesy shit I’m embarrassed to admit I like to just anyone
-Shit you probably haven’t heard of
The first two categories aren’t music, obviously, so they’re out. Saying something like, “Ever see Animaniacs? Yeah, they had three different soundtrack albums and they’re really funny!” makes me sound like I have some weird Peter Pan complex. I can’t freely admit that I love disco to someone I’ve just met because… come on. If I mention, say, Sean Altman or Rappy McRapperson, I just get a blank stare.
You’d think it would be possible for me to say some moderately popular band that most people have heard of, but that’s a whole other kind of angst. Most of the time, I’m only familiar with a handful of songs or (gasp!) a greatest hits compilation, so if someone starts talking about random facts about Moderately Popular Band, I have nothing to add and feel like Knownothing McGooberton.
All this angst over superficial small talk. Sheesh.
IMO, it’s better to have a taste for obscure music than to say “oooh, I listen to EVERYTHING, heehee”. You can have a bunch of fun with it and say “I listen to XY. He/She/It is not well known here, but the music is a real SMASH in Europe. Their time will come!” Instant kewlness! ;-)
If all else fails, just say you like the new Madonna track and then add that it’s a guilty pleasure, because she is sooooo overrated. :o)