what's music?

everything except country and rap.

"I like different types of music"

Katie and I were at Coney Island the other night, and I stopped at Nathan's to get some clam strips, and saw that on the "Family" section of the seafood menu they have something called a "Shrimp Boat." I thought of you and swore.

I always just kind of dodge this one because I know people don't really want to hear me drone on about it. If I feel like listening, I might turn it back towards them like Fu said.

wow, a lot of you guys have some pretty snappy answers to this. and by snappy i mean snotty.

At me?
Goddamn Todd...
Awww, that's sweet.

"mostly stuff you don't hear on the radio" aka "mostly stuff you wouldn't know"

When I name off a bunch of stuff I listen to that someone hasn't heard of, a pretty common response I get is, "How do you find out about all that stuff?" I tell them that I just spend a lot of time looking stuff up on the internet and reading about music, as if they don't. It's probably true, but it might sound a little snotty.

Mostly I just want to avoid creeping people out with nerdiness or trapping them in an hour-long monologue on music.

i tailer my response to the person asking.
sometimes just saying Wilco is a good litmus test. If they have no idea who that is i'll follow it with super generic description, "like rock and rap and stuff". If they get excited then i'll be a little more specific.

Inquisitor: "What type of music do you listen to?"
Stu: "I like Spacemen 3."
Inquisitor: "Umm...ok?"

I've been asked the question maybe 3 times and my response has always led to the asker's confusion.

In new york you're more likely to get someone who is way above what you listen to than someone who doesn't know what you're talking about. Just say you like the Old 97s. I dare you.

i usually say "i like good music" and then i watch people run away from my pomposity.

"Above" how? Like more classical or art-oriented? Or just more up on what's out there?

"Above" is so subjective.

I just say classical, that shuts the tossers up.

Above like "that sounds too much like music for me to like it, or even respect that you like it." Or just your garden-variety "it's too popular if it's been on pitchfork" type. Not that I run into these people all of the time, but more than I run into people who are clueless about independent music.

OK, I guess that's what I figured.

Ambient noisecore is the next break-out scene from the Coast. Tetralineal Succession's dual-theremin/wood-block/gong line-up is going to reach the stratosphere (at worst).

edit: almost forgot -- also, sound manipulation/sampler and vocoder

some girl messaged me through napster in, like, 1999 to ask about my shared files because she claimed to have never heard of any. so i said it was the music i like. and then she asked, "but how do you know about it?" and then we had this long discussion about searching out and actually discovering music instead of being spoon-fed. she seemed to have never considered the possibility that there was music she might enjoy apart from what was played on music tv channels and the radio.

There are two kinds of music : the blues & zippity-do-dah - TVZ

I tell people i like "independent music or alt rock."

I mean i like rap and other genres but i let them fall into that "indie" category.

When asked this question you should all be saying "The Shambolic Trumpets".

Lately, I've been flipping the script on people and going "well, lots of stuff (pause...) What's your favorite record from the past year/month/etc?" Chances are pretty good I'll know the music they profess devotion for, whereas me going off on (see .sig) just ends up with us both feeling awkward, particularly if it's some indie rock kid who does what they're told and hates on whatever 'Fork doesn't rate highly. People like to talk about things they like and know about, so I usually just try to bring it back to their interests...

better answer...

if asked by a male: "you have a small dick."

if asked by a female: "you're very fat."

when people ask me what i've been listening to lately, i forget everything i've listen to in the last 10 days. kind of like going to a record store and forgeting why you went.