Welcome to my music page! As I am typing this, I don't have much content here, so like, I'm typing, you know, to put something here. Yeah.
I am one of those people that is like. Music is my life. The music I love is so important to me. When I find an album I connect with, it feels as if I have discovered a part of myself, rather than something external. I am very dramatic about this stuff, as you can see. So if you want self-indulgent ramblings about music you probably don't know AND don't care about, this is the place for you!
But also, now that I've got my chart available on here, it is my hope that one of you at least tries out a song or track that I have included. Am ALWAYS excited to share what I like, and by extension my passion, although the latter is a tendency that is usually favorable to withhold for the sake of the receiver's enjoyability, and my own humility. But fuck it this is my own website BITCH!!!
1. Goth
I lean toward gothic rock, darkwave, ethereal wave, and coldwave. I mostly enjoy deathrock more on a conceptual and appreciative level rather than actively, as I tend to prefer gloomier, mopier sounds over angry, noisy ones. I practically never listened to goth music before May 20th, 2022, but when I really started to look into it, I fell in love. As of late 2023, I would say this has become my primary music genre, as I'm more likely to find something to appreciate out of any given release of this genre umbrella than any other.
To sum up what I like about goth, it would be that it revels in the beauty of the darkness, which is a feeling that I find profound meaning in. I feel at one with the dark, and that is what goth is all about. The themes of darkness, death, blood, the cold, the supernatural, the magical, the mysterious, the BLACK... the dreary, melancholy, grim, sullen, and the gloomy.... the winter, the night, and the moon. These themes are represented in the lyrics that my personality consists of, and in the music, with haunting synths, brooding voices, deep bass, and of course, the guitars from straight out of the void, all reverberated as if being played in a spacious Gothic castle at dusk, fading moonlight shining through the shattered windows, painting everything in a bleak grey... yeah.
2. Abstract music
I'm inventing a term here to describe many different genres that I enjoy in a similar way. Under this umbrella, there exists ambient, dark ambient, electroacoustic, musique concrète, industrial, post-industrial, tribal ambient, ritual ambient, drone, tape music, and noise. I am not knowledgeable enough about these terms, nor have I listened to enough examples of them, to differentiate between them all. The barriers are blurred to me, and while some may be easier to categorize as one thing, I don't know enough about their history to tell which ones are mutually exclusive, or sub-types, or whatever. These are simply labels that others have applied to some music that I enjoy.
What I like about this type of music is its abandonment of structure, allowing itself to explore any environment it pleases. I like releases that emphasize dissonance, and sound dark, lonely, eerie, and otherworldly. Free from the constraints of musical tradition and familiarity, it holds the power to completely envelop me in specific atmospheres, and create feelings and moods inside of me that can't be accessed any other way.
3. Atmospheric forms of rock/pop
Hmmm this isn't a genre name either!! Well, this kind of thing all loosely fits into the same category in my head as well, so that's how it is. Between traditional, mainstream forms of music, and more experimental, dreamy forms, you get this broad concept of stuff that has evolved into being accessible enough in some way for the average listener but weird enough for the alternative listener (me!). For me, goth is a part of this, but it's a separate category for me because I particularly enjoy and seek out that specific form.
Examples of what I'm talking about here are things like ambient pop, dream pop, post-rock, synthpop, shoegaze, noise rock/pop, and hypnagogic pop. I fucking love reverb. I'm into a bunch of stuff that definitely has structure and melody, and definitely has evolved from mainstream styles, but has been twisted into something morose, melancholic, strange, or surreal. I like electronic effects that produce a dreamy, ethereal feel, and I like experimentation of instruments, structure, and whatever other equipment or concepts music artists use to make their work.
4. Metal
This is really more of a goal than a music genre I'm actually currently into. I have been interested in metal for years, but I find it difficult to access, part of the reason for which is likely because of my aforementioned inclination toward depression rather than aggression. I am not ashamed to admit that in high school, I got super into Korn, which falls under the nu metal label and thus isn't considered true metal by a lot of metalheads (I still think some Korn stuff is pretty good though). My taste has evolved enormously since then, though, and now what I am vaguely interested in is gothic, black (especially atmospheric), doom, and death metal. I know that's a lot, but I firmly exclude power, folk, groove, prog, and early heavy metal from my list of subgenres I want to actively explore, which slims it down a bit at least.
A lot of metal is superficially appealing to me because of its dark, sad, or morbid themes, but the experience of listening to the music itself is different. I tend to enjoy the vibe of it rather than individual notes, beats, or lyrics. That being said, there are a select few metal albums that I have been able to fully access—one gothic, a couple melodeath, one atmospheric black— so I can say that when I do get into a metal album, I get into it HARD. Therefore, it seems to me that I just need to look harder and I will find ones that click. It's as if I've inched my foot forward not by one step, merely dragging some dirt beneath it, before the endless chasm in front of me, calling me to explore its deep, diseased, abyssal depths. Will certainly creep my way in there eventually.
So, I like to think that my music taste can be described as dark, depressive, melancholic, eerie, creepy, and alternative. Which... is pretty much how I like to think of myself as an individual as well.
Things that interest me to some extent that are apart from my current four main obelisks.
Ambient techno/ambient house/minimal techno. I gained this interest almost solely from the album Pink by Four Tet. Similar to fusing ambient with rock or pop, fusing it with electronic beats morphs something that in a mainstream context would usually be upbeat and dance-oriented into something unearthly and uncanny. I enjoy when it sounds disorienting, scary, or creepy. This has overlap with IDM.
Vaporwave. Especially mallsoft. I've heard of this term for a long time, but only recently went searching for what it actually means. It's not something I thought I would be into, but I enjoy the surreal, dreamlike aspects of this. It's a unique vibe I haven't gotten before. It's about a concept of the future, but which was in the past. I was born after the 20th century had ended, but nostalgia isn't necessary to find enjoyment from this music.
Dungeon synth. Similar to dark ambient, but my impression of this is that it tends to be a bit more cheesy and overt on its themes. Idk, it's one of the terms floating around my mind.
Psybient. Cause of Converting Vegetarians II by Infected Mushroom. Psychadelic weirdness mixed with atmospheric ambience, yes? Sounds like something I might enjoy.
-----
Now onto what I dislike/don't like!!!
As for my music journey, I started off with pop music, because it was the most accessible, and it gradually evolved from there into the more "artsy" territory like Radiohead and Kate Bush that was still super popular but made me feel like I was smart. I have no categorical aversion to all pop music, as there is obviously value in singing along to a catchy melody or moving to a dancey rhythm. It's just that this is not what I look for in music. I'm also annoyed at the overplaying of so many songs that I probably would be fine with normally, but from overexposure have transformed into being grating. I hate the expectation that I should like this because everyone else does, and the commercialization of art, in which it is turned into a marketing tactic.
If you happen to be a fan of country music, then you just might be tired of hearing people say they hate it. Too bad for you. I hate country music. I pretty much hate everything about it. I am probably overgeneralizing it, but every time I hear it, I immediately want to forcefully turn it off.
If there is any genre of music I despise more than country, it is Christmas music. Which isn't even technically a genre because it describes a theme rather than a type of music. Every year, Western culture attempts to ruin the darkest time of year by making it about brightness and happiness and all that shit. It's all so fucking fake and in no way is this exemplified more than in the abomination of humankind that is Christmas music. I wish I could eradicate all of it from existence, as well as the ability to create any more of it.
Trap music. Please.... no more hi-hats. I have nothing against rap itself, or hip-hop, although the most I've ever been interested in it was during that time in high school I found a group called "Gravediggaz". AhHAhaaHAhahAHHAahAh. I was even played some Public Enemy by my father growing up. But this shit is so insufferable. It's the beat. I don't even know if they're different, they all sound the same to me, but when it's this type of beat, it annoys the fuck out of me. Related to this, when vocals in music like this are mumbled and/or autotuned, or the lyrics devolve into "ay"/"yuh", I feel my brain melting.
Any type of religious music. I am an antitheist. Huge no on that.
Most dance music turns me off. Like I said, being danceable is not what I look for in music, so if it's centered around that, I won't like it. This is not to say that I refuse to dance to music. I love moving to music, and have done so vigorously an uncountable number of times. And I've even liked music that focuses around electronic beats. But I need some sort of substance besides danceability.
I don't really care for any music that was made before, like, 1960, and that's being generous. I don't have an interest in classical music. I also don't care for blues, soul, gospel, R&B, opera, folk, reggae, rock and roll, easy listening (whatever that means), disco, funk, and anything that might possibly be termed a "classic" or "oldie".
I take music seriously and do make fun of myself for being sort of snobby, but eh, I just know what I like. And what I dislike. At the end of the night it's just my opinions and that's why it's here on my website and not anyone else's, because why would they care?
Last updated March 3, 2024