Music

One thing that gets me really riled up is when you ask someone "What music do you like?" and they respond, "Oh, all kinds of music."

You are lying through your teeth, you scumbag.

While it may be true that you like different kinds of music, just give me a straight answer. Do you prefer metal? Do you have a soft spot for trashy pop? Give me something to work with here! I have known too many people who will answer like this. I know you are just being nice, but when you actually listen to death metal 90% of the time, you clearly have a preference.

Allow me to explain. You can like a wide variety, but when you are casually listening, you often will fall back on certain bands or certain music types. This is very true, and we all know it. Why not just tell me "Oh, I spend a lot of time listening to Britney Spears," or "I listen to the Ramones almost exclusively." I won't judge you, I am asking because I want to know if we have something in common! Maybe we both went to see the same concert. Just be honest with me, don't give me vague bullshit.

Anyway, back to the explanation. If you open up your iTunes library or whatever you use, who has your highest play counts? Or, if you have something like Last.fm or Spotify, what are your top bands? Let's take my page for example, and you will see my weird taste.

So this is my last.fm page. Let's start with my top bands, as that is the easiest place to start.

#1: Britney Spears. Genre: Pop. I can't even begin to describe my love for this woman. I have seen her live and I would kill to see her again. I can listen to her all the time, and her catchy pop beats make me want to dance until the world ends (see what I did there? Don't hurt me!). She ranks the top at almost 4k tracked plays. That's just the tracked ones, mind you. It is actually way higher than that. If someone asks me what bands I like, Britney is one of the firsts to be named.

#2: Emilie Autumn. Genre: Gothic Industrial. Another I've seen in concert (I don't go to concerts much. I have been to three total! It's hard to find people who like the same music as I do). EA is an interesting lady, and I fell in love with her when my friend Heather introduced me to Marry Me. She has an interesting style, and god damn is she AMAZING live. This girl is insane, and I will love her forever.

#3: Lady Gaga. Genre: Pop. Well, I don't have much to say. Gaga and I have had a fall out. I love Fame Monster, but Born This Way isn't doing it for me. Another pop for the list! I really do enjoy catchy pop. I can't help it, if I can dance to it I will probably listen to it.

#4: MSI. Genre: Industrial Jungle Punk. Whatever the fuck that means. Don't listen to them so much anymore, but got into them from a friend of mine. I love the craziness of their songs. So good. Another Industrial here.

#5: Alice In Videoland. Genre: Electronic Synthpop. I won't lie, Pop and Electronic are two of my favorite genres. I just love those beats and sounds. Sort of another pop, but I put them more in the Electronic category!

I won't keep listing, because it will just turn into a "GO LISTEN TO THESE BANDS OMG I LOVE THEM" post rather than me telling all of you to stop responding with "I love all kinds hehe!" But some of the tops include Robots in Disguise, The Receiving End of Sirens, Cute is What We Aim For, The Academy Is..., Emery, Skrillex, Deadmau5, IAMX and Ke$ha.

See, like I said, I have a weird taste in music. And that's okay to say! You can be like "Oh I have an eclectic taste in music," or "Oh god, I have such a weird taste. Don't judge me." Seriously, that is okay to say! I know you aren't lying!

Also, let's be real here. Music is very subjective. There is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" band (this is not true, but I hope you understand what I mean by this!). Everyone likes what they like. Sure, I'll sit here and bash certain bands because I hate everything about them. I know out there someone does like them, but for me they sound like nails on a chalkboard. Essentially, this makes music reviews totally and completely useless.

I was on iTunes the other day looking up bands, and while I was listening to a band I decided to scroll through the comments. One had one star and said something along the lines of "All these reviews are from fanboys, go listen to REAL MUSIC." First off, well no shit Sherlock. Of course the people reviewing this are fanboys. The people on the page LIKE THE BAND. Why are you here, anyway? What made you come here and say "This shit is awful,"? Tell me, I want to know! Also what is this "real music" you speak of? Like who? Have some examples? TELL ME SOMETHING USEFUL HERE.

There was another one where this guy had auto-tuned the song and someone said "This is just awful. I hate how auto-tune is starting to overshadow the real artists. It's just sad." While this is true that auto-tuning turns anyone into a singer, I sometimes like songs with auto-tune. Seriously, sometimes it makes it really entertaining. That's just me! Am I saying they are better than other people? No, I LOVE people who can actually sing. But my problem comes with the end statement. "Starting to overshadow the real artists." Oh really? Like who? Don't name classic rock bands from the 80-90 era. That doesn't count, as that is a different era and they are not uprising bands. They are well footed by now. So tell me, who are these modern era people being overshadowed? Got any examples? Links to bands? Well? I'm waiting.

That isn't just me being an asshole (I clearly am because you are making me angry), I sincerely want you to point me in the direction of other bands. You say they are real music, so I want to see! Enlighten me! Show me the way of these bands! I want to see what you call "real music." I'm tired of people making vague, half-assed answers and then running off into obscurity. Seriously, why even bother?