When I was a kid, I listened to a lot of rock. Nirvana was really recent and pop-punk was on MTV and fortunately for me I had a lot of friends with cool older brothers who introduced me to Black Flag, Fugazi, Bad Brains, and Dead Kennedys and other punk staples. They also got me into Fishbone, Radiohead and generally pointed me in the direction of a really great record store where they had friends and I went wild. Fortunately, my dad is an audiophile and supported my interest in music. Also, we were one of the first families in the neighborhood to get a CD player, so he felt better about rebuilding his own collection if he could use me as an excuse to go to the record store.

Anyway, I'm still mainly into rock. I don't listen to as much jazz as I used to. Maybe it's because I don't play music anymore, but learning music theory and using it to figure out what the fuck was going on was pretty interesting for me and my school buddies.

Currently I find myself drawn to things that are more melodic, not necessarily softer but I have noticed that I'm drawn to harmonies more and more. Not too long ago I got an album by The Staves, called Dead & Born & Grown. They're three sisters who sing kind of folky-indie music. To be honest, if my 10 year old self had caught 28 year old me listening to this record, he would have slugged me in the mouth and called me a fag. The first song on the album is called Wisely & Slow that I find absolutely gorgeous. The harmonies man, the harmonies.

When it comes down to it though, I'm still predominantly a rock guy. As I sped out of the parking lot at work, today like every day I was playing The Black Keys as loud as the shitty speakers in my 21 year old car would allow without reaching the tearing threshold. Yes, I have blown enough speakers to feel comfortable identifying that. Unfortunately, I have trouble these days finding new rock that I really like, so if anyone has any ideas, that would be great.

Also, maybe it's because there are so many more quality female vocalists in bands these days, or at least it seems they're more in the spotlight, a lot of the albums I've gotten and liked recently have featured female vocals, though it's not something I go out of my way to look for.