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42 years old and still enjoying it very much!
Mellow jazz and small-combo instrumental music is frequently the material of choice in audio stores and at hi-fi shows. But audiophiles enjoy a wide variety of music. Reader Richard Horan wonders: what's your favorite?
I would like to see more reviews on ambient music (Brian Eno, Harold Budd, John Cage, Vidna Obmana). This is what I mostly listen to in addition to jazz and classical. It seems a bit elitist to exclude these performers, who have certainly had a significant impact on the music scene. It also sounds great on tubed equipment; very textural and existential.
It varies. When it comes to critical listening, from month to month I might listen to mostly jazz, classical, or "pop." The music that gets played the most would have to be "radio rock," because that's almost always on in the background.
Variety is the spice of life. I grew up in the '60s, college in the '70s, and am a long-time fan of the Who, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. However, I grew up in the '50s and '60s listening to classical. Beethoven, Grieg, & Co. get their fair share. Meanwhile, the likes of Richard Thompson, Lyle Lovett, and many other wonderfully recorded, more acoustic pieces are always a treat. Some are palate-cleansers, some main courses.
I tend to listen in phases---rock phases, classical phases, jazz phases. Usually these phases last for less than a year while I really try to dig around and learn something new within each genre. But, predictably, as I grow older, the rock phases grow shorter and the other two phases grow longer. Alas, old-fogeydom approacheth.
Right now it's female vocalists... all styles from jazz (anything ella), through country (patsy k & mary ford), slowly past femdom (kd lang?) to out & out weird (ricky lee jones "ghostyhead") ... it just has to be female. Next month? who knows, stay tuned & just keep listening, because it really doesn't matter....
Well---in the "Other' category there's Bluegrass, Chant, Easy Listening, Gospel, Field Recordings, Minimalism, Gothic, Psychedelic, Christmas, Avant-Garde, Hillbilly, Swing, Cool, Music Hall, Funk, Experimental, Acid, New Wave, Thrash, Electronic, Bop, Hard Bop, Spoken Word, New Age, Punk, Ska, Dixieland, Trance, Industrial, Soul, Noise, R&B, Capt. Beefheart, Bubblegum, Zydeco, Easy Listening, Sound Effects, Heavy Metal, Surf, Grunge, Rap, Lo-Fi, Ambient, Disco, Hip-Hop, Lounge, Comedy, and so-called "audiophile music"!
I listen to a lot of "alternative" music, primarily stuff that has remained underground or slighly out of the mainstream---like Belle and Sebastian, Cowboy Junkies, and some "electronica"---which happens to image like you have never heard before. Check out the Future Sound of London's "My Kingdom" EP and forget about surround-sound!
Although my collection is 40% rock and 30% classical, lately most rock seems puerile. I've gotten tired of hearing Rock-a-Day Johnny singing "Tell your Ma, tell your Pa, our love's a-gonna grow, ooo-wah, ooo-wah." Except for Matthew Sweet, there is very little new rock I like. So I started listening to jazz, especially Stan Getz and stuff from the late '50s and '60s: Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, early Miles Davis, late Lester Young, Dave Brubeck. For those wanting an entree into jazz, you will think you've gone to heaven when you hear Getz/Gilberto (20-bit release) on a single-ended triode system!