Bach. Both easy to listen to and a never ending trove of new discoveries. Emotional and yet silly. Spiritual even for an atheist. Simple yet cerebral. Occasionally melancholy yet always life affirming. Rule bound, yet jazzy.

Folk music. I love the sound, obviously, but I also love the way it’s not so much about writing songs as learning them, taking something from the past and carrying it into the future.

Not necessarily a favourite but I have a lot of time for Drone Metal - classic example would be ØØ Void by Sunn O))). You can stick on a pair of headphones and the world ceases to exist.

’80s (new wave, synthpop, post punk) – unadulterated nostalgia

“We don’t search for old songs,
we search for old memories.”

Murder ballads. I don’t know that it’s a genre of music per se, so much that it’s a subject that people have sung about across different genres. It’s just so antithetical to what we normally consider music, normally it’s love songs and such. Epic examples include:

• In the Pines (famously covered by Nirvana)
• Violent Femmes - Country Death Song
• Mack the Knife (Louis Armstrong version is the best)

Whatever genre includes System of a Down, Rage against the Machine, Tool, and Nine Inch Nails

They have either a message or emotional rage or both at the same time. SOAD can go from pizza song to songs about prison industrial complex on the same album. Rage is uncompromisingly left political. Tool is on a journey from anger and unhealthy mental health in their early albums to embracing therapeutic ideas and healing while still feeling human emotions. NIN is just raw industrial sound and emotion.

For me it’s Irish traditional music. Aside from having an interesting history, the style often takes a very high level of musicianship to play well. A single monophonic instrument can play a tune and the fast-moving stream of notes can simultaneously spell out melody, counterpoint/call-and-response, and harmony, as well as providing a strong rhythmic pulse (it is music to dance to, after all).

I don’t know if there’s an official term, so I call it the vocalsynth genre, which includes things like vocaloid, UTAU, deepvocal, enunu, diffsinger, etcetera.

One thing I love about it is that they- especially utau because it’s free and there are a lot of voicebanks, tutorials/guides, and other things designed specifically for it- allow you to be able to create a song that would normally never be made by a famous or up-and-coming singer. At least the vocals, though, because you still need to make the backing track (or outsource that to someone else). It kinda evens the playing field when you have people who are not good at singing making songs/covers that are just as good as songs from the music industry.

Plus, there are so many original songs out there and usually covers of said songs that if you don’t like one version, you can always find another version that might sound better. That definitely holds true for the biggest songs and even various lesser known songs. All the songs are made from people across the globe, so you end up with a lot of different songs of different genres, themes, etcetera.

Progressive metal.

One of my favorite bands has a song where it sounds like everyone is playing a different time signature simultaneously, and it feels out of time and chaotic… And then snaps into focus perfectly, before breaking up again. (I can’t identify the time signatures, no. I can hear at least two, and I’m pretty sure three. I think the drummer is doing polyrhythms?) You can listen to the same song five times in a row, focusing on a difference part each time, and hear something new each time. Or take Opeth’s “River”; the same same song seems to effortless combine elements of country, blues, 70s rock, NWBHM into something that feels both classic and new. (“New” despite being originally released in 2014.) Or, shit, An Abstract Illusion’s “Woe”; it’s nominally split into 7 tracks, but the lack of breaks between songs means that the whole thing flows into a single piece. Or, or or!, “Castaway Angels” by Leprous; Leprous stretches and strains the definitions of what metal is, and is not. While some of what they do is clearly metal, are they still a metal band?

The only thing that’s a real constant in progressive metal is that the bands all have impeccable musicianship.

Trance

Corridos - their accordion players have no fucking business being that good!

Old country (like Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb) - Them dulcet tones and godDAMN that slide gitar.

That strange point on a musical map, where Instrumental Hip-Hop, Chilled Trap, woozy Electronica, and Future Soul meet, exchange ideas, collaborate, and spawn in the soft, bluish glow. Unwind and detangle amidst the soft harmonies, deep bass, smooth chords, ethereal vocals, and dynamic percussion. Coughso,Coughma

Metalcore.

I love the raw emotion you can hear and feel in harsh vocals, usually the lyrics and themes explored in this genre are best expressed with screams, and sometimes its the only appropriate way to rail against injustices and corruption or express the anguish and headache of emotional struggles.

I also love the contrast that clean vocals provide, usually with pop-like hooks soaring into catchy choruses or just to really bring a juxtaposition with the harsh vocals to give even more depth to the things that are sung and the things that need to be screamed. And sometimes the heart wrenching emotion that the cleans can provide [listen to Gone With the Wind by Architects]. (Note: not all metalcore has both clean and harsh vocals, but often a combination of both)

And the music itself is high energy, driving beats rapid double bass drum patterns and catchy guitar riffs with often unpredictable tempo changes and transitions to take you by surprise and keep your brain buzzing with anticipation, and not to gloss over the breakdowns. Oh when that tempo drops, guitars chugg and the drums start crashing china cymbals like a thunderstorm erupting around your head and you just feel the need to bang your head feeling like your heart is beating out of your chest and electricity is coursing through your veins.

Anyways, i think its pretty good music.

Dreampop is just so relaxing to listen to. It makes you feel like you’re floating on a cloud.

Witch house is also relaxing to listen to. It makes you feel like you’re about to be sacrificed by a death cult.

Powerpop. What’s not to like? Jangly guitars, vocal harmonies and killer hooks.