Hmmm that depends who I'm around. I normally hang with a bunch of music snobs so I don't get much of that but occasionally I get asked what I listen to & I just start naming bands they've never heard of & leave them to think what the fuck I'm I on.

I'll keep this in mind for next time.

good music

Porn movie soundtracks.

A lot of stuff. Listening to a fair bit of (BAND) at the moment.

Ridirects the conversation into a more useful area, unless the other person listens to totally different stuff, in which case its best to change the subject. Trying to explain my taste to a lad my own age who was into Phil Collins (he'd seen him live!) has to be one of the most futile things I've ever attempted. We talked about films instead, which he had great taste in, wierd.

If, like me, you hate entering into these conversations just say you listen to classical music. 99% of people won't pursue further. If they do just say Mozart. Conversation OVER.

I do find that as you get older fewer and fewer people tend to wear their musical tastes as some stupid identity badge which cuts down on these kinds of conversations quite a lot. But I guess some people never outgrow it.

Country AND Western!

I usually say anything. And if they pursue it I just say "whatever is on the radio, I have no time to buy cd's." Conversation over.

my favorite is watching their faces while i rattle off names of japanese and finnish bands i like.

or they say "...right..." thinking i'm making up names like kemialliset ystävät and kousokuya...seriously, i once had a "you're messing with me, right? those can't be bandnames"...fuck, i once got a dirty look when i started naming my favorite free jazzers to someone who was into JAZZ!!! (and not easy listening jazz, trane and miles and that!!!!) "kaoru abe, peter brötzmann, WOT?"

...come to think of it, that's happened to me twice now!!! (this guy who was super into pharaoh sanders and zorn and stuff but gave me dirty looks when mentioning abe, brötzmann and bailey; and this other girl who hasn't heard later coltrane or late 60's miles even).

tell them you listen to pizza.

Tapes of your (wife, girlfriend, mother) breathing heavy.

The sounds of silence.

Because I like to wrap myself in a cloak of mystery.

Sometimes I just say "Jazz." Most don't know enough about jazz to follow up with anything.

If it's a fairly nice person that's worth my time I might say:

"A lot of different stuff, from experimental music to primitive heavy metal."

If it's a hipster dickhead or contemporary music student:
"Anything but indie-rock and radiohead".

"Merzbow performing dubstep renditions of 1-Speed Bike's last performance."

bahahaha.

hahaha, best one yet :D

I hate it when people ask you the question... 'what do you listen to' what the fuck? how are you supposed to answer that, i mean, you cant answer it without talking and rambling for at least 5-7 minutes

I say that I listen to bands rather than music. Then I say that I like these bands to have their own particular sound and atmosphere. I usually stops to that.

In a festival a guy came up to me and asked what Liars were like after I'd said I'd come to see them. I didn't answer they were special for it's clueless. I tried to find elements and found none, I dared not mentioning any band name that could have had an influence on them, for I didn't know where that guy was coming from.
He then asked if it was reggae and as that answer was easy, I was relieved.

But what do I know about reggae? I'm not educated in that field.

I would like to say "audible paintings"

But that you just bring up more questions.

Or because you like Simon & Garfunkel?

I always try to answer the question because we all have learned about new artists and bands from somewhere, and just because someone does not know my uber-indie rock references does not mean they will not enjoy them.