Wow. Has it been almost two weeks, really? I have no good excuse; the bad excuse is that I can find a lot to be distracted by when it comes to such demanding things as reading critically and orchestrating my thoughts into words. (That likely doesn't translate well -- it's meant to be wry and lightly self-deprecating. In any case, I am sorry.)
You asked a difficult question! The long answer comes in two parts (the short answer is boring): first, I don't ever listen to music while I'm doing almost anything else. I can't concentrate on both, so I end up losing focus on what I'm doing or feeling guilty for not paying attention to the music -- the only exceptions are driving and occasionally drawing. By consequence, I know rather less about music than most people do. Second, for whatever reason, I find that I'm capable of enjoying almost anything if I put effort into it, and inversely, I don't like most music until I try to. The degree of effort is generally proportionate to my respect for whoever recommended the music, and my tastes within genres are rather patchy as a result.
A timeline would probably be more informative than a list:
Thirteen and under, nothing specific. Fourteen (ninth grade) through fifteen, progressive metal, then progressive rock: Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, The Flower Kings, Yes. Then, indie: The (early) Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, and a small Texan band called El Gato; at 16, then-new Sunset Rubdown, Panda Bear, The Arcade Fire, Man Man. At seventeen, lo-fi: Woods and old Sunset Rubdown (the link is an mp3! That specific version isn't on video anywhere) -- I also tried to get into electronica, but mostly failed, until chiptune (Bit Shifter, i cactus, Saskrotch, and this), Oval, Emotional Joystick, and, most recently, Clark. It's only very, very recently that I've been able to appreciate the chaotic noise aspect of much of those last two -- I'm pretty proud of myself; it's exciting to try and then succeed in finding meaning to sounds that previously had none.
Also more spoilers, for fashion.
So you're bilingual! I'm jealous. There's a lot of that around here; mostly it's Spanish, but all the rest of my family happens to be fluent in Portuguese. In any case, you could be anywhere in Europe or Africa, assuming at least that part of my guess was correct. I'm afraid I'll have to give up.
I just remembered (oh dear, this is definitely the most fragmented reply yet) -- I played jazz trombone back in the day, and I guess also baritone (we were made to march with baritones rather than trombones, so I had to learn the valve fingerings). Also piano, very very badly. Composing music is something I've always wanted to do, but even knowing notation and basic theory, it's something I have no talent for whatsoever. And on that note, there doesn't seem to be room for the arts in any of those three paths: do schools offer them as electives? Are colleges similarly focused, or are they like the ones here that offer dozens of specific majors in various disciplines?
And now you owe me a list of music and a list of.. well, vidya games if you play them, or movies if you don't. I know even less about movies than I do about music, though, so if you choose the latter I'm afraid I won't be able to respond in kind.
You asked a difficult question! The long answer comes in two parts (the short answer is boring): first, I don't ever listen to music while I'm doing almost anything else. I can't concentrate on both, so I end up losing focus on what I'm doing or feeling guilty for not paying attention to the music -- the only exceptions are driving and occasionally drawing. By consequence, I know rather less about music than most people do. Second, for whatever reason, I find that I'm capable of enjoying almost anything if I put effort into it, and inversely, I don't like most music until I try to. The degree of effort is generally proportionate to my respect for whoever recommended the music, and my tastes within genres are rather patchy as a result.
A timeline would probably be more informative than a list:
Thirteen and under, nothing specific. Fourteen (ninth grade) through fifteen, progressive metal, then progressive rock: Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery, The Flower Kings, Yes. Then, indie: The (early) Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, and a small Texan band called El Gato; at 16, then-new Sunset Rubdown, Panda Bear, The Arcade Fire, Man Man. At seventeen, lo-fi: Woods and old Sunset Rubdown (the link is an mp3! That specific version isn't on video anywhere) -- I also tried to get into electronica, but mostly failed, until chiptune (Bit Shifter, i cactus, Saskrotch, and this), Oval, Emotional Joystick, and, most recently, Clark. It's only very, very recently that I've been able to appreciate the chaotic noise aspect of much of those last two -- I'm pretty proud of myself; it's exciting to try and then succeed in finding meaning to sounds that previously had none.
Also more spoilers, for fashion.
Spoiler:
So you're bilingual! I'm jealous. There's a lot of that around here; mostly it's Spanish, but all the rest of my family happens to be fluent in Portuguese. In any case, you could be anywhere in Europe or Africa, assuming at least that part of my guess was correct. I'm afraid I'll have to give up.
I just remembered (oh dear, this is definitely the most fragmented reply yet) -- I played jazz trombone back in the day, and I guess also baritone (we were made to march with baritones rather than trombones, so I had to learn the valve fingerings). Also piano, very very badly. Composing music is something I've always wanted to do, but even knowing notation and basic theory, it's something I have no talent for whatsoever. And on that note, there doesn't seem to be room for the arts in any of those three paths: do schools offer them as electives? Are colleges similarly focused, or are they like the ones here that offer dozens of specific majors in various disciplines?
And now you owe me a list of music and a list of.. well, vidya games if you play them, or movies if you don't. I know even less about movies than I do about music, though, so if you choose the latter I'm afraid I won't be able to respond in kind.