This is a continuation of the series I started yesterday, airing out the embarrassing laundry that is the music I listen to.

Pop

Let’s start with the most generic, meaningless category of all: Pop! I don’t listen to much in this “genre,” and the way it’s defined by popular culture is often vague enough to be useless for categorization. But let’s try.

I tend to shy away from many of the “popular” artists on the radio these days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally entertain a begrudging appreciation of artists like Katy Perry or Lady Gaga.

As I mentioned yesterday, I went through a phase when I didn’t listen to much else besides Classical music and Disco. Don’t ask me how I ended up with that combination, but there it is. I don’t listen to much Disco any more, but that type of beat does still show up in some of the more electronic music I listen to. During that period I listened to a lot of ABBA.

These days, my somewhat-guilty pleasure has jumped a few decades to 80s Pop for reasons just as unknown. Maybe it’s what I was exposed to as a very young kid? For whatever reason, that synthpop sound really just resonates with me.

Modern Rock

Modern Rock, on the other hand, is defined in my head as “newer music that is Not Pop.” Don’t ask me to define that any more concretely; I did warn you that this was going to be very subjective, didn’t I? One of my primary sources for this type of music is the local radio station Channel 933. Like a lot of people my generation, my tastes skew more towards the Alternative side of things (another useless descriptor. What is it even an alternative to, any more? Pop?). Bands like Yellowcard (reminds me of high school), Linkin Park (the angrier parts of high school) and others often crop up. Mumford & Sons. Florence + the Machine. Barenaked Ladies. Bloodhound Gang. I could go on.

There are a number of bands I was exposed to while studying abroad in France, and I usually associate hearing them with my time there. These include Muse, Interpol, and Starsailor. This is also when I first heard Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt.

Like I’ve said, these are broad categories. If I listed everything I listened to we’d be here forever. If it’s played on Channel 933, I probably don’t hate it.

Except Jack Johnson. That guy annoys me.