Do your tastes change, depending on where you listen?

[nobody]

Does your taste in live music match up with your taste in recorded music?

I ask because I notice that these days I increasingly tend to favor different types of music for listening at home as opposed to seeing live. For live music, I’m usually interested in something rock oriented, some punk stuff, just something energetic that gets the blood flowing and the excitement level going up. Occasionally I will see some classical music or something laid back, but my regular live music diet leans heavily on more aggressive music…usually in some bar somewhere….like the upcoming Joan Jet show in a couple weeks.

When I listen at home, I tend to much more likely go for something mellow like maybe some jazz or electronic music or reggae…maybe some Dylan or something. I guess I just don’t really care to generally listen to something at home to get all excited about and then just sit in a chair. I occasionally listen to more aggressive music on recordings, but it’s often when getting ready to go out somewhere with a couple drinks, or in the car heading somewhere. Seldom do I grab that Black Flag LP to just spin when puttering about the house.

So…am I alone or do others of you listen to different types of music in your home than when out and about?

[Stone]

Yeah, for some reason Limp Bizkit can actually sound half way decent in a strip club.

Okay, maybe that's a stretch....

[Dusty Chalk]

No, you're not alone. I listen to (typically compressed) pop and rock in the car; instrumental music at work (classical, jazz, ambient electronica, that sort of thing); and everything at home -- but mostly the "difficult to listen to" stuff (Laurie Anderson, Neubauten, Brightblack Morning Light, etc.) -- music that doesn't satisfy either of the other two criteria.

[nobody]

Yeah, for some reason Limp Bizkit can actually sound half way decent in a strip club.

Okay, maybe that's a stretch....

That's pretty much where I developed my appreciation for Nelly. Country Grammar was blasted at every strip joint on the east side for like 2 years when it came out.

[PeruvianSkies]

I think it might be more of a matter of the environment of which you are in and a 'situational' deal. A great example of this might be in a movie...you know when they rehash a great song from yesteryear inside the film and all of a sudden people are all pumped up listening to something like "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake. However, I am sure that they don't go popping that song into their CD player every chance that they get.

For some reason another strange phenomenon happens when movies are on TV. I know friends and even my wife will be flipping through the channels and suddenly stop at a particular film, probably one that we already own on DVD. Now, what doesn't make sense to me is that they will watch it on TV despite the fact that if they were in a rental store they probably wouldn't rent it or if they own it probably wouldn't turn it on. I think the same thing happens with songs. Certain people will love to listen to certain songs or enjoy listening to them 'in the moment' such as on the radio, in a film, at a club, etc etc, but wouldn't really listen to on their own terms. Does that make sense? Not really.

For some of us, we tend to enjoy listening to certain things during different parts of the day or in different places. I have a hard time concentrating on work if I am listening to things that are really involved and prefer to listen to more instrumental type things like movie scores. However, when I am washing the car or doing something where I can have a portable CD player...I am hardly going to be blasting the American Beauty score. Instead I might be listening to Led Zeppelin III.

So what does this all mean? Well, probably nothing different than wearing different clothing for different places, moods, seasons, reasons, etc etc. When music is a large part of our existence it's an extention of us, we surround ourselves and enjoy it under circumstances just like all the finer things in life.

[bobsticks]

No, you're not alone. I listen to (typically compressed) pop and rock in the car; instrumental music at work (classical, jazz, ambient electronica, that sort of thing); and everything at home -- but mostly the "difficult to listen to" stuff (Laurie Anderson, Neubauten, Brightblack Morning Light, etc.) -- music that doesn't satisfy either of the other two criteria.

I'm pretty well down with Dusty's take on it. Certainly, some music is more appropriate at certain times than others. No doubt this plays into P-Sky's view of a situational based preference. After a while, music becomes a kind of "soundtrack" to life. Certain things are irrevocably influenced by the media, as well. Who can hear Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight and not picture a Ferrari speeding down the freeway. That has become "driving" music, as it were.

When it comes to critical listening, however, for this guy it's basically jazz and classical.

[bobsticks]

Yeah, for some reason Limp Bizkit can actually sound half way decent in a strip club.

Okay, maybe that's a stretch....

Hey Stone,

I swear to god, the first time I heard that Buck Cherry song Crazy ***** I thought to myself, "This is gonna be huge in the shake shacks". It wasn't three days later the djs on the local schmuck/'alternative'/emo-crybaby rock station were talking about how that tune brought the house down at one of their live promos at such an establishment.