Music Ain't My Thing

I'm sure you all have friends who have specific aptitudes for certain forms of media. Some are awesome with movies and cinema, while others are great with art. A great many, however, love music. All kinds of music.

As a university student, you find yourself among other students who have varying tastes in music. Some like it hard and raw, others enjoy it soft and silky. Preferences for the under-appreciated and unknown abound, while many are content to be carried along by the mass-produced media. Oftentimes, people will fight -usually without knowing it- to be the one who introduced so-and-so's music to their friends, as though knowing obscure and unsigned bands makes them somehow better than the rest. Where does that leave me? Well, I'll be honest and simply say that my taste in music is an amalgamation of anything and everything.

The thing is, I just don't care that much. I've tried to be original in finding new music to listen to instead of simply taking the hits from radio shows, but that never worked. I was always lapsing back into music that was familiar and comfortable to me. Music reviews in magazines and internet articles just don't tell me anything that I need to know. They really should include sound clips so that you can really know what they're talkin' about.

I also happen to have a lot of international friends, so their tastes in music are often based on music produced in their home countries. One friend of mine insists Jay Chou is worth listenin' to, though I highly disagree (Chinese rap just doesn't do anything for me). Another absolutely loves French music. The diversity in international music is so huge that I can't even begin to know where to start. I do, however, have a bit of liking for mando/canto-pop and J-pop.

A couple of years ago, my old roommate got me into electronica and more synthesized music. Bumpin' along to the likes of Juno Reactor and Thievery Corporation, he somehow knew how to slowly integrate this music into my repertoire (but he failed miserably when it came to NIN). I gained an appreciation for new kinds of music through his influence.

During my time at McGill, I had the opportunity to take The Art of Listening, one of the University's bird courses. There, we were introduced to the history of music, and how to listen to music from each period. This class sparked my interest in Vivaldi, and Bach's fugues. I got a chance to appreciate classical music at its core, breaking it down and taking each sound as something akin to the strokes of a paintbrush on canvas.

What's really funny, though, is that I grew up on Country music. Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain, Michelle Wright, and Brooks & Dunn. Those were the artists blarin' out car windows and coming from backyards back home in Calgary. I suppose it ain't that surprising, it being that Calgary is the home of the Calgary Stampede, and is often referred to as Cowtown. My parents were big into Country music, and I had cassette tapes with music from each of those artists and more (yes, I had cassette tapes, I'm that old). One I remember very well is Alan Jackson; I can still see the cover now.

So you can see, my musical taste runs the entire length of the gambit. One day you might catch me listenin' to Shania Twain, and another tappin' my foot to Sneaker Pimps. Hell, I study to Vivaldi's Four Seasons from time to time. On a side note, I need music all the time. It's like an addiction. I can't go anywhere without something to listen to. That's not to say that I can't handle silence, I just prefer some form of entertainment in my head while I walk.

What I'm tryin' to say is this, I don't have that natural knack for finding music that stands out above the rest. I'm much too content drifting along the river that is Popular Music.