I don't say "I like everything" because I don't like everything. I usually say something like, "I like a lot of stuff. Jazz, metal, hip hop, punk, electronica—you name it." I find it extremely hard to name off bands that will serve as any kind of helpful reference points for people. When I was younger it was a lot easier, I had an easy handful of favorite artists I could rattle off, but as I've gotten older and been exposed to more and more things, that list has gotten longer and longer, to the point where I have no idea how to frame it in a way that encapsulates my taste or would be remotely helpful for anyone else.

Which is the point. The people who do specifically say they like "everything", are almost always full of ****. They're not just exaggerating, not just innocently ignorant, but actively being pretentious douchenozzles. Every time I have ever heard anyone say this, this has been the case. Every time.

All you need is a couple of solid references Janzoon.

Though i don't entirely know your music taste i know you like The Talking Heads and TMBG and it's cause you mentioned them but if i didn't know you and you told me exactly what you said

"i like a lot of stuff. Jazz, metal, hip hop, punk, electronica—you name it."

i would've rolled my eyes at you. :laughing:

So am i to an extent :p:

i had a friend who was really into Creed back when they were popular and i once told him i thought Creed was a decent band. :crazy:

I quickly regretted saying it cause he started talking to me about their songs and he was so genuinely into it i just couldn't tell him i actually hated the band.

From that little experience i learned if i don't like a band somebody loves i rather don't say anything than pretend i like them too.

I betrayed myself that day just to be nice and it felt wrong.

I don't even know everything. For example, I have never considered diving into the traditional music of Vanuatu.

And I am incredibly pretentious, every second. Every single week, there is literally never more than one color band photo on my last.fm's top artists of the last 7 days.

I don't generally hear it from pretentious people, I feel like I usually hear it from people who are not very knowledgeable about what is really included under the umbrella of "everything". If you were to ask them what some of their favorite Chinese classical songs were, I'm sure they'd acknowledge that what they mean is "every kind of music that is popular in the circles I travel in".

"A couple solid references" doesn't cover it though. Who am I supposed to mention?

The problem is that telling people I like Talking Heads and They Might Be Giants doesn't give much of a picture of my tastes at all since they're both bands that may have a special place in my heart because they were on my shortlist of favorites when I was 15 but are bands I rarely listen to as a 37 year old.

it doesn't matter if any band you mention doesn't capture the entirety of your music taste all you need to do is give out a few to serve as a reference.

just say whtvr band you're listening to atm that should be enough.

The last artist I listened to was either Bongripper or Leroy Van Dyke. I'm not sure that's very helpful in giving people a sense of what I like.

And they would probably get defensive and act like a dick because you exposed them for being full of ****.

Honestly, if I actually said that to someone I'd think it was me that was acting like a dick. The fact is that the average person is not an obsessive geek about music like I am and it seems like kind of a dumb thing for me to act high and mighty about.