Music

I like listening to a wide range of music... I can listen to almost everything. On top of that, my tastes somehow tend to change all the time. What I've written below is a sort of reflection on the different times in my life and the music that I like/d.

Preface

Originally, this section was supposed to be about music only, but as I added more and more thoughts, I started to drift away to the meaning of life, etc. But since it's still relevant I'm keeping everything here for now.

The early years

So... here goes. When I first asked myself the question What kind of music do I actually like? was back in high school. I couldn't find the answer straight away, and that kinda pissed me off because everyone around seemed to know what were they doing. So I started looking for something that I could associate with, and that's when I started listening to Russian music. I didn't have a lot of tapes with me, but I had enough to keep me happy for a few months without needing to look for anything else. After a while though, it started to get a little boring. So I started looking for something else.

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Junior high school

Looking back to it now, I really wish I started listening to rock/alternative back then. But no... my sister was listening to Offspring and Blink182 all day long, and because she liked it so much I decided to start to hate it. Rock was out... some of my friends were into techno and dance so I tried to pick that up too. It caught on, but only for a while. I still felt like something was missing.

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High school

I guess this is the time where I gave up on trying to be cool and decided to try and do something useful with my time instead. Finally got into sport and made some new friends. This made a pretty big impact on my music tastes, too. I gave up on dance and techno and finally got some decent CDs from Russia. My sister got over Offspring so it was ok for me to listen to them now. At the same time, she was heavily into R&B and Rap so it was only natural for me to hate them. My friends got me into some other cool bands such as Metallica, Foo Fighters and Blink182. While I was studying for my final exams I also realised that I liked classical music as well. My first CD was Tchaikovsky and I still really like it. I have some other classical CDs at home but I don't really know that much about them. I just like listening to them when I need to relax or concentrate on some serious uni stuff.

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First year

I was pretty happy with my musical tastes in first year so I didn't really look for anything new. Nevertheless, a few new bands managed to creep their way into my CD stack. Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory really struck a chord with me. It was really different from everything else I was listening to, and I liked it. I don't remember how, but I also started listening to Rammstein. I think it was an accident but I listened to them non-stop for weeks in session 2. This was also around the time I started listening to The Red Hot Chili Peppers. This one time, I listened to Californication for like 4 times in one night - we were doing an all-nighter for SEng and I just couldn't get over it...

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Second year

In second year things got more interesting. I went to Russia and brought tons of CDs back with me. Mostly Russian stuff, but a lot of English music too. My best friend from primary school got me into Guns N Roses, and I was heavily into them the moment I put their CD into my player. A few other things happened in second year. The Chilis released By the Way and that became my favourite CD. Linkin Park's Meteora also made a lasting impression. Until session 2, I didn't really change much though. But then...

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One encounter changes the life...

After spending an amazing week away from uni, work and judo I realised that I can listen to pop and R&B, something I've been hating all these years. Not only could I listen to it, but I really liked it, too. How could I change so much in one week? The answer to that question lies away from music, so I'm not going to say more about it now. Maybe some other time...

At the end of the year I also got myself into listening to Deep Purple. It was by accident really, I stumbled across their Perihelion dvd in the music section while I was at work. I played it during my shift and I liked it, so I took it home. A few weeks after that we got another DP dvd in and I took that home too... I liked all the songs, but Sometimes I feel like screaming has been a clear favourite for me since day one.

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Third year

In the summer vacation after 2nd year, I found myself on an 8-week holiday in Japan. Most of the time, I was staying around Saitama university, where I trained with the uni judo club. Aside from judo training, we also spent a lot of time at the gym, where by chance I was introduced to a range of music, some of which I liked almost immediately. In particular, I liked Oasis, Nirvana and Eric Clapton. Japan would probably be one of the most unexpected places for an introduction to this kind of music for me, but I was really glad to come across the Saitama uni gym music collection. I was also able to top up on my Queen collection. On top of that, B'z (a Japanese band) also found its way into my favourites list. Going to a Crystal Kay concert and listening to Japanese radio in between training sessions also led me deeper into the realm of Japanese music. My trip to Japan, aside from many other things, ended up being a journey of musical discovery for me.

Soon after my second trip to Japan in August 2004 I discovered the error of my ways and moved steadily away from pop (among other things). I shitcanned my only Crystal Kay cd (yes, I admit it, I had one) along with some other crap I realised I didn't really need. Moving to a new job with a huge music collection did wonders for me - finding Guns 'N Roses Use Your Illusion was a definite highlight and they re-established themselves as my current favourite. I felt so inspired I actually went out and bought a couple of GnR dvds. States of emotional extremity due to outside influences I was feeling at the time sent me spending hours learning Slash's solos on my electric guitar. That really helped out... Back off Bitch, Sweet Child of Mine and Ain't it Fun solos got me through the hard times.

Round this time more bands made their way into my selective musical world - JET, Rage Against the Machine, The Screaming Jets and some others became regular favourites at home and work.

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Now, was that worth the time?

Click here to go back and find out more about Misha.

This document was last updated on: 00:08 7/04/08