What music are you into?

[adi_gallia]

So today I was on MSN and I had the feature that shows what you're listening to switched on. I was listening to a bit of Mariah Carey, which led to Jessi being surprised that I would be listening to such an artist. This got me thinking, I don't really know what sort of music NCers are into so I thought it would be interesting to start a topic asking what sort of music people on here are into and what artists they like.

I'll start with my, rather embarrassing, taste. I'm a fan of female artists generally. I actually have a Last.FM account that compiles a list of my top artists/songs and makes a record of everything I "scrobble". My profile is here: http://www.last.fm/user/adi_gallia

As you can see, my favourite singer by quite a lot is Beverley Knight, a UK soul singer. I have all her albums and a lot of her B-Sides, she's the only musical artist I have shown this much interest in. Completing the top 5 are Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis and Christina Aguilera.

But that's enough about me, I want to see what music everyone else enjoys - be it 60s, classical or j-pop. If you have a Last.FM account you are willing to post then that's good too.

[AngharadTy]

My first favorite is always Nine Inch Nails. I also love Tool. I've seen them both in concert. Shpongle probably ranks next; hopefully I'll get to see them in October. Anything Simon Posford is involved with, though, is A++ to me. I also love Infected Mushroom. So my tastes are... uhh... industrial rock? And goa/psytrance.

I'm very, very picky when it comes to music. I also think it's an important part of relationships. I can't even imagine dating someone who listened to music I hated.

[Miguel]

You might be interested to see the NC group on Last.fm, here: http://www.last.fm/group/Neocolours+FM

I'm pretty easy-going with music, only a few things that I won't listen to Have a look at my list through the group if you want a better idea.

[Monkeyguy]

I think I have a semi-varied taste in music. My favorites are all mostly pop-rock like Motion City Soundtrack and The Starting Line. I also love Coheed & Cambria, Say Anything, Anberlin, Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, Ronnie Day, The Hush Sound, Panic At The Disco, and a bunch of others.

I've been listening to Nickel Creek a lot lately and they are sort of folk with blue grass roots. I like Reggae as well. And classical.

[adi_gallia]

You might be interested to see the NC group on Last.fm, here: http://www.last.fm/group/Neocolours+FM

I'm pretty easy-going with music, only a few things that I won't listen to Have a look at my list through the group if you want a better idea.

I didn't know we had a group on Last.FM, I didn't think to search for one. I see that everyone in the group seems to have a much more respectable music taste than me.

[Jessi]

I'm very, very picky when it comes to music. I also think it's an important part of relationships. I can't even imagine dating someone who listened to music I hated.

I agree completely. Music is a huge part of my life - I always have it on, I love to sing (badly), it's a huge inspiration for my writing, it makes me cry xD; If Lindsey couldn't share my music with me, I don't think we'd get along as well.

That being said, i actually listen to country (...some country. Not a lot of country), and Lindsey can't stand most of it, but she lets me listen to it in the car anyway, which I think shows how much she loves me xD

Really, though, I mostly listen to J-Pop/J-Rock and Indie rock. I have a last-fm account, but I can't remember where it is, so... I'll just say, some of my favorite Japanese artists include Orange Range, Kokia, and my absolute favorite singer, Otsuka Ai. I love Death Cab for Cutie, Maroon 5 and Fallout Boy, which makes me feel like a sell out, but I try not to worry about that kind of thing ;D

Oh, and I listen to a lot of video game music, too xD Right now all I have loaded in Winamp is the entire soundtrack for Ragnarok Online... I'm weird.

[Monkeyguy]

I love Death Cab for Cutie, Maroon 5 and Fallout Boy, which makes me feel like a sell out, but I try not to worry about that kind of thing ;D

I catch a lot of flack for liking Fall Out Boy and Panic At The Disco from my friends, but I don't worry about it either. If I like the music I'm going to listen to it.

[Joey]

Most of my music is either highly embarrassing or nerdy. Video game music has been my big kick for awhile, my ipod has been loaded with nothing but Final Fantasy, Phoenix Wright, and Legend of Zelda music for the longest time since I'm too lazy to sort the other stuff. Then there's the anime music I've collected over the years, which I've been listening to recently as kind of a backlash from all the video game tunes. And then there's the English stuff, which is mostly Nsync. (Shut up, I told you it was embarrassing!) And some Linkin Park, Flogging Molly, and this one band from my old high school that I loved that broke up awhile ago.

[Kidnemo]

I don't really have a specific genre of music I like but I tend to like a lot of pretty mainstream stuff, favourites including Daft Punk, Gorillaz and Britney, haha. I love nu-rave at the moment, and pretty much anything which could be played on Skins.

The theme tune of Big Brother UK is the finest piece of music ever created. Oh and Adi, you have impeccable music taste!

[Kantark]

If I had to pick a genre it'd be electronic music/electronica, though I also enjoy lots of stuff from the 80's, 90's, and beyond.

My LastFM is here: http://www.last.fm/user/Kantark (It's a bit biased toward the more downtempo stuff because I tend to leave it playing at night.)

Most recent CDs bought (they arrived yesterday);

Neon Neon - Stainless Style. a concept album by Gruff Rhys (from the Super Furry Animals) and Boom Bip about John DeLorean. Lots of 80's synth, good stuff!

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular. Something a bit different for me. 'Time To Pretend' is immense.

Pendulum - In Silico. Change of style for their second album. Hold Your Colour was more impressive.

[Helmcargh]

I agree with music being an important part of how I pick a partner. I would find it hard to date someone who had completely different tastes to me, there has to be some overlap.

I like Indie music, as well as some electro/dancey stuff: Death Cab for Cutie, Block Party, Artic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, The Wombats, MGMT, Cut Copy, The Grates, Modernaire, Band of Horses, Sigur Ros, Lily Allen, Ben Kweller...and I could go on and on really.

I'm leaving this afternoon for Splendour in the Grass, which is the biggest music festival in my area of Australia and one of the bigger ones in the country. It's I'm seeing quite a few of the above bands so I'm very excited.

[Veo]

Video game and Anime Osts, here. :3

Examples on Video Games - Final Fantasy Tactics, 6 and 7, old school Sonic, Super Mario Galaxy and RPG, Shadow of the Colossus, Halo, Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, Chrono Trigger and Cross, ZOMG MEGAMAN AND SILENT HILL 2 HOLY CRAP, Katamari Damacy, anything good off OCRemix, etc.

Examples on the Anime - Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Paranoia Agent, Princess Mononoke, Ghost in the Shell, etc.

Anything else - techno, Gorillaz, Working for a Nuclear Free City, ZOMG BECK, Pink Floyd, Ulrich Schnauss, The Year of Accleration . .

Yeah . . . . I'm pretty nerdy. Some J-Pop, but I'm REALLY picky. X3

[Slugawoo]

I listen to a lot of J-rock/pop. Mostly anime opening/ending themes. Bleach and D.Gray-Man, at the moment. And I listen to the music from my video games. I really like Final Fantasy and Chrono Cross's OSTs. I like Shadow Hearts' and Okami's music, too.

But I love Kimeru's music. And the music from Rock Musical Bleach and TeniMyu.

As for english music... I ripped the music from Dr. Horrible about a week ago? And I guess I listen to Linkin Park every now and then. I listen to Creature Feature when I need a laugh. Oh... and I listen to my old Pokemon CDs when they work.

[WisteriaLynx]

A lot of what I listen to comes from musical soundtracks. Disney soundtracks in English, Disney soundtracks in French, crappy Disney DTV sequel soundtracks, BtVS OMWF soundtrack, various Broadway shows, adaptations of various Broadway shows, and so on.

And then there are the Japanese soundtracks. Mostly Digimon, really, especially Tamers (I loooove~ Across the tears!), but also some Azumanga Daioh and background instrumental soundtracks. Things like Miyazaki movies. For my instrumentals, if I wouldn't listen to it if it weren't a soundtrack to something I love, I won't consider buying the CD.

And beyond that, it's random. I love Superbus, I love Indigo Girls, I love Pink. I like Goo Goo Dolls, David Bowie, and Tiktak. And then there are the many artists where I like one or two songs by them, but I don't really like the band. And of course, any song I found that works as "background music" for a character or story I'm writing. I soundtrack my writing, brainstorming, and daydreaming processes. I wouldn't say it inspires me, but it helps me keep from forgetting some aspects of my characters' personalities, if that makes any sense. xD

[Fjorab_Teke]

Music is immensely important to me, for relaxation, fun, and emotional invocations. My tastes are wide and varied, but I'm also kinda picky in some ways, and I'm totally ridiculous in others.

Progressive rock, electronica, techno, 80s pop, classic rock, and new age are my staples, and there's even a little bit of melodic rap/crossover in my collection. I LOVE rhythm and percussion, interesting tunes and subtle musical treats. Unless the lyrics really do something for me, I tend to prefer instrumental stuff.

Favorite bands/artists:
Alan Parsons (Project), Moby, Utah Saints, ABBA (yes, really), Mannheim Steamroller, U2, µ-Ziq, Orbital, Underworld, Yes/Jon Anderson, Rush, Blondie, Mr. Mister (if any singing voice turns me on, it's Richard Page's), Big Country, Weird Al Yankovic, Enya, They Might Be Giants, Deep Forest, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis/Phil Collins, Paul Simon, Gorillaz ...and on and on. I'm currently hooked on some Boom Boom Satellites.

For game music, I tend to like some of that too. I have Jon Holland's album-mixed tunes from the Sega game Vectorman, and I am forever hooked on the music from Dr. Mario, Tetris, and the CD-i version of Lemmings.

I sorely miss hearing my college's band percussion section play, and I yearn to hear (and record!) their drumline cadence if it's still the same as it was.

EDIT: I don't listen to last.fm, but I do have a Yahoo! LAUNCHcast station that I listen to on fair occasion. *mmm, good idea, goes to listen* I might upgrade it sometime, I like it so much.