What kind of music do you listen to while you write?

I listen to a lot of Regina Spektor, Rosie Thomas, Taylor Swift, Kimya Dawson. (Just to name a few) Generally light, quieter music I guess. A lot of it most people haven't heard of. I listen to a lot of indie/obscure music when I write because it's easier to use as background music than say Rush, Metallica, AC/DC, Black Sabbath...

I listen to a lot of 60's music if I'm writing short stories, mostly the folk-rock type stuff. If I'm writing something longer, I listen to soundtracks since I don't care for classical music. The Folklore and American McGee's Alice soundtracks are my main two.

And if I'm proofreading or re-writing, I'll throw some early 60's surf rock on. The Ventures rock hard!

I write mostly music, but I still listen to music while I write. Generally, a song will inspire me to write something, so I'll listen to songs that are similar to what I want to write. They usually don't sound anything alike by the time I'm finished. Sometimes, a song will inspire me for one part (say the verse), but another song will inspire me for another (chorus or bridge or something). So I'll have two or three different types of music going on a playlist so that I can get an overall feel for what I want.

The other day, I wrote a song while listening to The World/Inferno Friendship Society (ska), Otis Taylor (banjo), and Metric. Yesterday I wrote while just listening to a single Coldplay song (I think the only one not sung by Chris Martin).