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I'm no great expert on music, but it is one of the things that make life worth living, IMHO.
So what kind of music do I prefer? Difficult to say really. Eclectic is the word which comes to mind. Back in May 2002, I catalogued virtually all of my music and manufactured the following statistics: 822 'albums' consisting of 363 CDs, 176 LPs, 97 singles, 50 cassettes, 49 mp3s, 25 double CDs and 87'overige' ( I think the software was originally in Dutch or summat like that: it includes at least 25 double or bigger CDs:). By genre, they are 421 pop, 227 classical, 72 romantic classical (an underestimate, as I used to regard this as a bit of an insult and classify romantic pieces that I like as 'classical'), 12 jazz (too few) and 12 baroque. With 68 of those overiges again (I think they include early music, 'easy listening' and latin american). The numer of mp3s is an underestimate as it doesn't include mp3s which I have copied from my CD collection. Since May the numbers have gone up, but I think the proportions by genre are roughly the same.
Talking of mp3s, my new iTunes4 on my iMac takes careful note of the mp3s which I listen to most. This reinforces the message of eclecticism. In my own personal "Top 20' there are pop records like 911's 'A Little Bit More', various tracks by Abba, quite a few opera and operetta tracks sung mainly by Maria Callas or Barbara Hendricks, with Puccini, Mozart and Wagner featuring strongly. Slightly embarrassingly, it records the politically inconvenient fact that I've listened to the 'Horst Wessel Lied'. I should perhaps admit to liking the (originally Bohemian) tune, whilst disapproving of most of the words. Except for the reference to being shot at by "the Red Front and Reactionaries". I know what that's like.
In
general, I seem to be buying music faster than I can listen to it. In the past
this was due to caffeine-induced overspending at Con Brio in Sheffield's Division Street, but now I've moved to London I'm not sure what
my excuse is.
Once upon a time, when I was young(er) I tended to major on (strictly) classical music, which is probably still my favourite (Mozart in particular), although as I got older I became more attuned to romantic music, although Bruckner is a taste I have yet to acquire. I had a mission successfully to attend one of this season's Proms. The nearest I got was turning up at the Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday only to find that George II's Coronation music was absolutely sold out. I failed in 2002. Better luck in 2003.
Of all the forms of classical music, that which I enjoy most is opera. After all, if one gets bored with the music one can at least admire the scenery. I'm looking forward to going to Glyndebourne this Summer (2004). If anyone who know me (or would like to know me) is interested, I can offer two tickets at 25 quid each for the performance of The Miserly Knight and Gianni Schicchi on Thursday 19 August. Tickets open to anyone who couldn't normally afford Glyndebourne prices (like me), is prepared to be polite to fellow opera goers, and is prepared to dress reasonably formally (full evening dress not required).
I was briefly on the Board of the ill-fated National Centre for Popular Music, but despite that still like both the place and the genre.
I managed to miss the popular music of my growing up years of the 60s and the 70s, except of course, the Beatles. I started catching up from the 80s, so my music collection is roughly half classical and half from 1980 onwards, and not too much in between. So I'm gradually trying to build up my jazz and other stuff, and the stuff which I missed when I was young
What's interesting is how I seem to straddle an age divide for live music. When I got to a pop concert I seem to be the oldest person in the audience, and in a classical concert, the youngest. And after years of despising them, I'm even beginning to appreciate musicals, albeit cool ones like Closer to Heaven : by the Pet Shop Boys.
Now, I am the most promiscuous person I know in terms of musical taste. My 90s favourites were Blur (see my special Blur page) and Suede. But these are now coming to the end of their useful life (indeed there are rumours that Blur as splitting up <sob!>, and I need to find more contemporary heroes. Any suggestions? Apart from Radiohead which I like a lot, and Gorillaz, which is just taking the piss but I like it. An excellent cure for a Sunday morning hangover.
I came back from Ibiza armed with copious musical souvenirs on CD. But perhaps I am finally getting just a little bit too old for this type of thing. Instead, I fear that I am rather enjoying the middle-brow music of my parents' generation. Could this really be Barry Manilow to which I am now listening on Radio 2 as I type.
The Future: MP3s and beyond
Defying Pluto, the god who guards the music industry,I took the plunge, risked blacklisting, and decided to explore the world of MP3. The iTunes collection of MP3s on my iMac is gradually growing, but better not say how. Happy to let internet friends have access to my mp3 collection. Just send me an e-mail saying what type of music you're interested in . Or you can access my files through my file sharing page. Again, let me know if you'd like me to add to them.
And I've finally got a CD-writer for my iMac, so can (should I so choosed) record CDs from my local library. Doesn't seem to have much effect on the number o CDs I actually buy though.
Looking forward to Apple launching their wonderful new music downloading service in the UK.
And seriously thinking of buying a digital radio, although perhaps not too much point as I can get BBC3 on the Internet already. Still it would be nice to have a good radio sound all over the house.
Here are some popular music links:
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December, 2001