They say that in polite discourse there are several topics that one should avoid at all costs. Unfortunately, these also tend to be the most interesting topics with the strongest emotional investments.
Seeing as we spend so much time here discussing 2 highly controversial topics, religion and politics, I figured we could devote a post to the most controversial topic of all!
Music preference.
What are you grooving to now, and why?
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Extreme; Foreigner; Huey Lewis & the News; a little (very little) Queen thrown in.
ReplyDeleteAll courtesy of YouTube
Good topic.
ReplyDeleteGillian Welch - Hell Among the Yearlings.
Given to me by a traveling friend of mine as he treks across the country, it's got such an earthy feel to it that I can't stop wishing that I could quit the day job and go work on a farm somewhere.
The 'Amelie' soundtrack by Yann Tiersen. I watched the film a couple of days ago and it's still as fresh and beautiful as ever - the soundtrack is as good as watching the film, IMHO.
In Rainbows - Radiohead. Pure genius.
Oh, and Led Zep are over-rated....
"Huey's too black-sounding for me"
ReplyDelete- Patrick Bateman, American Psycho
Oh, yes, dear Maragon, it has been a long time since I rocked and rolled.
ReplyDeleteLed Zeppelin was what I was listening to when I had an epiphany about music.
ReplyDeleteI was listening to "Whole Lotta Love," when it dawned on me at 12 that these guys were SINGING ABOUT SEX.
And then I wondered how many other people were singing about 'dirty things' too. =)
The phrase "rock and roll" was an euphemism for sex.
ReplyDelete"Squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg".
But I have to admit, I didn't at first know that Cyndi Lauper was singing about masturbation in "She Bop".
ReplyDeleteLisa Ekdahl and Triakel even if it reveals what a "söt liten tjej" I am
ReplyDelete"Squeeze my lemon til the juice runs down my leg".
ReplyDeleteI know, one of my favourite lines.
Along with,
"I'm gonna give you every inch of my love."
And half of their stuff is about LOTR. What more could a nerdy girl want?
The Mars Volta , All that remains ,Slipknot, The Cavalera conspiracy
ReplyDeletePrince Paul - A Prince Among Thieves
ReplyDeleteBlind Faith - just for you guys, courtesy of napster
ReplyDeleteOh, uh...
ReplyDeleteNine Inch Nails, Metallica, Apocalyptica, The Weakerthans, Death Cab For Cutie, Foo Fighters, This Will Destroy You
Let's see...
ReplyDeleteHere's a partial list, in no particular order:
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Joni Mitchell
King Crimson
Procul Harum
The Boomtown Rats
Bjork
Jethro Tull
The Pixies
The Cure
Rush
The Tragically Hip
The Steve Miller Band
The Eagles
The Who
David Bowie
Black Sabbath
Boston
Chicago
The Clash
The Sex Pistols
Rage Against The Machine
The Dead Kennedys
Yes
Foreigner
Moody Blues
Styx
The Doors
Mission U.K.
Traffic
The Grateful Dead
The Ramones
The Guess Who
Blue Oyster Cult
Fleetwood Mac
Journey
Lou Reed
Ministry
Steely Dan
Warren Zevon
Grand Funk Railroad
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Three Dog Night
Elvis Costello
Nine Inch Nails
Triumph
Peter Gabriel
The Human League
Midnight Oil
Jefferson Airplane
Siouxie And The Banshees
Squeeze
Depeche Mode
New Order
XTC
Crosby, Stills, and Nash
America
Bread
The Call
I'm sure I missed a few, but that should be the bulk of them. ;)
MFT,
ReplyDeleteI do love the Mars Volta. I saw them at the Leeds Festival in the UK a few years ago and they were incredible.
Trip,
Pink Floyd are second in your list...must dust off Dark Side of the Moon....
Queen, Beatles, Rolling Stones ... most of tripmaster's list. Just a bit of led zep.
ReplyDeleteTripMonkey's taste is excellent!
ReplyDeleteCurrently, Marillion's new album on heavy rotation.
Anyone on LastFM by the way?
http://www.last.fm/user/BaldySlaphead
We could start a group.
Trip*master*. Sorry - tired to fuck by the new arrival; I'm forgetting my own name right now... ;-)
ReplyDeleteMarillion is still making music? I lost track of them after "Kayleigh".
ReplyDeleteNew singer since 1989, and don't sound much like they used to. Just released their fifteenth album (a double) - you can download it for free with their blessing from here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.musicglue.com/marillion
Of course, if you care to give them something for it, they'd be very grateful!
Simon & Garfunkel
ReplyDeleteElton John
The Beatles
BeeGees
There are others. But those dominate my listening habits. (I particularly like "Someone Saved my Life Tonight" by Elton John.)
The Reign of Kindo. I like it because it's not stupid music. My time as a music education major before I switched to psychology really turned me into a music snob (but, some how, only turned me into a mediocre musician).
ReplyDeleteAny way, there's lots of temporary tonicizations, Key changes, they play with the meter a bit, and they don't settle themselves down to just one genre of music. They do some kind of weird combination of Rock and Jazz, just plain Jazz, and fiery Latin stuff. Their lyrics are almost equally enjoyable just read as a poem as they are set to music.
Emery is my other favorite right now, though I haven't gotten their last two albums (sad face). They stick with just rock/screamo, but they still play around with meter changes and key changes as well. They do more with meter than Reign of Kindo, but not as much with key changes.
Another band that I was into for a while was Yellowcard. They are basically like the two bands listed above, except they have a violin and they're secular. Overtly so. The last song on their album "Lights and Sounds" is pretty much about how bitter (and yet, hopeful) the story teller is over a girl who found religion and left him.
Deas Vail has a few songs that I've heard, and I kinda like them. They aren't nearly as technical as the other three, as much as I've seen, but the lyrics in some of them really strike a personal chord. Plus, the vocalist has a half-decent falsetto, which he uses a lot, and I like that.
It's really hard for me to find music that I like. I can't just listen; I have to listen actively and intently. These three bands are pretty much the only three I have right now.
Wow a lot of classic rock lovers hear...anyway a list of some of my favorite bands can be located in my profile! I could re-type them hear but I'm lazy!
ReplyDeleteCurrently grooving to Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but seriously considering starting up with the Christmas Music.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was going to put this in the sidebar, but it's more appropriate here:
FIFTY YEARS OF POPULAR SONGS
CONDENSED INTO SINGLE SENTENCES.
BY MARC HAYNES of McSweeny's
- - - -
The Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"
I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Led Zeppelin, "Whole Lotta Love"
I want to do it with you.
- - - -
James Blunt, "You're Beautiful"
I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Sir Mix-a-Lot, "Baby Got Back"
I want to do it.
- - - -
Elvis Presley, "Hound Dog"
You're doing it with everyone.
- - - -
R. Kelly, "I Believe I Can Fly"
I believe I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Patsy Cline, "Crazy"
I want to do it with you so much I'm going fucking nuts.
- - - -
Frank Sinatra, "Strangers in the Night"
I'm drunk and I want to do it with you.
- - - -
The White Stripes, "My Doorbell"
Using metaphor, I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Little Richard, "Good Golly Miss Molly"
I'm doing it with Miss Molly, and she's totally into it.
- - - -
Duran Duran, "Rio"
I'd love to do that chick dancing on the sand.
- - - -
The Beatles, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
I'd like to do it with you right now.
- - - -
Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"
We used to do it, but then you did it with someone else, and now I'm not going to do it with you, although I wish we were still doing it.
- - - -
Pulp, "Common People"
I once met a stuck-up European who wanted to do it with me.
- - - -
Radiohead, "Creep"
I'm filled with self-loathing, and, though outwardly I hate everything you represent, I want to do it with you.
- - - -
Kate Bush, "Wuthering Heights"
I'm an 18th-century fictional character and I want to do it with another 18th-century fictional character.
- - - -
Bob Dylan, "Blowin' in the Wind"
The Man is currently doing it to you.
- - - -
Elvis Presley, "Jailhouse Rock"
Incarcerated men will on occasion do it with each other.
- - - -
Meat Loaf, "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"
Hey! You won't believe what this one chick said while I was doing it with her!
- - - -
Kings of Leon, "Sex on Fire"
I did it with you, and now it hurts when I pee.
- - - -
Céline Dion, "My Heart Will Go On"
Even your death has not stopped me wanting to do it with you.
- - - -
AC/DC, "You Shook Me All Night Long"
We did it yesterday.
Meat Loaf, "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)"
ReplyDeleteMeat Loaf? I absolutely hate his music. I hated the man until his Oscar-worthy performance in Fight Club...
In fact, in the small town in which I used to live, whenever the local radio station played Meat Leaf (while I was at work), I'd fax two pages to them -- the first showed an overhead view of a toilet, the second, the same picture but with turds/vomit in the shape of "Meat Loaf".
The truly funny part was that the radio station was a major customer of ours, but they never figured out who was responsible, and the station's management actually bitched about "The Meat Loaf Bandit" when they were in the store and Meat Loaf was played...
Okay, maybe it's only funny to me. Piss off.
--
Stan
Bad Religion, what else?
ReplyDeleteStan
ReplyDeleteI liked Meatloaf in Fight Club and Rocky Horror Picture Show...actually the last time I went to Rocky Horror when he was killed someone in the back yelled out 'his name was Robert Paulson'
I'm dead to you. Led Z. is just ah-ight. Your epiphany reminded me of the thrill I got hearing Frank Zappa's "Mothers Live at Fillmore East" the first time. Recommended for any music lover who also likes clever and dirty lyrics.
ReplyDeleteAll time favorite: Elvis Costello
Best voices ever: Al Green and Marvin Gaye.
I'm not as adventurous as I used to be but newer music I like a lot: Ted Leo, Spoon, Gogol Bordello, Camera Obscura, The National.
I have a 9 year old girl and I want to strangle the Jonas Bros. with my bare hands.
You do the Jonas Brothers and I'll do Miley.
ReplyDeleteSince I write and produce educational songs (working on k from k-4 right now) for online curriculum and run the recording studio and live sound system for the performing arts center I work at, I mainly listen to what I'm working on at the time.
ReplyDeleteBut when I want to clear all of that from my head I listen to.
Kate Bush
Steely Dan
Talking Heads
Brian Wilson
Genesis (before Phil Collins started singing)
Yes (before they got their fancy 80s mullets)
Prince
The Strawbs
George Duke
Parliament/Funkadelic
Todd Rundgren
Zucchero
Weather Report
CSN
Motley Crue
The Smiths
Shriekback
Motown
I really miss Motown. R&B isn't even a shadow of it's former glory. One of the joys where I work is getting kids back into the real music. With melody and lyrics that made you feel something.
Dang Craig. I forgot all about Elvis. He is right up there with Kate Bush for me as all time favorite songwriters.
ReplyDeleteRD Burman - Shalimar soundtrack: Funky 70's Indian.
ReplyDeleteM.I.A - One of the few modern music I like.
Althea & Donna - because they're Uptown Topranking.
Don:
ReplyDeleteModern R & B: Retch and Barf.
Consistent pleasure has been delivered to my eardrums by:
ReplyDeleteBen Folds
Pink Floyd
Astor Piazzolla
Genesis
Aimee Mann
Gorillaz
Garbage
The Beautiful South
Weird Al Yankovic
Ultra Bra
...and Castlevania, Final Fantasy and other game soundtracks & arrangements and a ton of other game music
Yes I'm weird.
What am I currently grooving to? Skeptoid, ep. 125. I actually listen to more podcasts than music. I'll have to change that now that I think of it...
Lately, it's Leonard Cohen for me:
ReplyDeleteCan’t run no more
With the lawless crowd
While the killers in high places
Say their prayers out loud
But they’ve summoned up
A thundercloud
And they’re going to hear from me
Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There's a crack, a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
("Anthem")
Ahh... music. The ultimate topic of controversy.
ReplyDeleteMy tastes range:
Powderfinger, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Linkin Park, Metallica, Nickelback, and many of the Themes for Orchestra and Choir by Immediate Music (some of the most dramatic music I've ever heard).
don said...
ReplyDeleteI really miss Motown. R&B isn't even a shadow of it's former glory. One of the joys where I work is getting kids back into the real music. With melody and lyrics that made you feel something.
don, while I agree with you whole heartedly, I can't help but think back to my dad telling me I was listening to crap and big band and jazz was "real music". I dismissed his old fogie music and what I considered condesention. I was exposed to it though and now I have Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Art Blakey, et al as part of my music collection.
My daughter listens to what I consider the most insipid, formulaic pop music but I won't tell her what "real music" is. I try to expose her to all types of music and she actually likes some of what I like.
The good news for all you cats and kittens is I've heard some fairly decent R&B recently but I can't tell you who it is. I'm not as hip as I used to be but I'm still plenty hip. Gnarls Barkley maybe?
My son and his cronies have just discovered classic rock.
ReplyDeleteThey heard it before but it's taken on a new meaning of some kind to them.
It is good to hear strains of the Beetles emitting from his room.
It's also hilarious when he comes running with a "New" discovery like yesterday they were playing Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's KarnEvil. He hollered, Dad! listen to this! I'm goin...ahhh, I've been listening to that album, Brain Salad Surgery since 1973.
Him and his friend were looking at me like a cow staring at an oncoming train...like 1973 could never have existed.
I turned them on to Stix and others over the last couple months.
Stix' "Paradise" is one of my favs, but ELP's instrumentals are sooo nice.
I think Stevie Nicks has written some of the most beautiful melodies ever.
I haven't seen Stevie Ray Vaughn mentioned. I love hot Blues.
Led ep? Hell ya!
For some good R&B check out the god tube videos here and tighten your glutes while your at it.
ReplyDeletehttp://patriotboy.blogspot.com/
because I'm lazy I'l take trip's list and mod it with
ReplyDelete! = I like
§ = meh
X = I don't like
? = Who the fuck are they?
! Led Zeppelin
! Pink Floyd
! Jimi Hendrix
§ Janis Joplin
§ Joni Mitchell
§ King Crimson
! Procul Harum
§ The Boomtown Rats
X Bjork
! Jethro Tull
? The Pixies
! The Cure
? Rush
? The Tragically Hip
§ The Steve Miller Band
! The Eagles
! The Who
! David Bowie
§ Black Sabbath
§ Boston
! Chicago
! The Clash
§ The Sex Pistols
? Rage Against The Machine
? The Dead Kennedys
! Yes
§ Foreigner
! Moody Blues
§ Styx
§ The Doors
? Mission U.K.
? Traffic
§ The Grateful Dead
§ The Ramones
§ The Guess Who
! Blue Oyster Cult
! Fleetwood Mac
§ Journey
! Lou Reed
? Ministry
!!! Steely Dan
!! Warren Zevon
? Grand Funk Railroad
§ Stevie Ray Vaughn
§ Three Dog Night
!! Elvis Costello
? Nine Inch Nails
? Triumph
§ Peter Gabriel
§ The Human League
x Midnight Oil
! Jefferson Airplane
§ Siouxie And The Banshees
! Squeeze
X Depeche Mode
? New Order
? XTC
! Crosby, Stills, and Nash
! America
! Bread
? The Call
Left out:
!!! Tom Waits
!! Radiohead
!! Rolling Stones (old)
! Dire Straits
! Travelling Wilburies
!! Neil Young (+ Crazy Horse)
! JJ Cale
! Begood Tanyas
! Bare Naked ladies
! Scraping fetus off the wheel (not really but it is my al time favorite band name)
I tend to go with the dictum that on any given night, any given band in some bar somewhere can be the greatest rock band alive.
ReplyDeleteThus, seeing Viva Voce live last year here in Portland, just totally spur of the moment and without ever hearing of them before, has left me a fan of theirs for life. Check 'em out.
Too many to list on a Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteI'm partial to AC/DC - bought their latest album 'Black Ice'. I never thought that I would say this about an AC/DC album - it's pleasant.
It reminds me of a line from a song 'When did Motley Crue become classic rock?'
Argh. I know the guys are getting on, but this album is so bloody safe it's not funny.
Maragon,
ReplyDeleteWere Led Zeppelin paragons of Frodologist virtue? It seems certain that they were.
Also, what's this BS about Zep doing a reunion tour without Plant?
Oh, I could go through a lengthy description of how I got to my current preferences. It would surely involve talking about what I value musically (or more generally, artistically), which is fertile ground for controversy :)
ReplyDeleteBut for the sake of brevity, I'll answer you directly:
I generally trend towards jazz & jazz funk, almost anything "expermental" - with a healthy dose of death metal thrown in.
Examples: Medeski Martin and Wood, Joshua Redman, John Scofield (with his "Up All Night" group), The Fringe & Meshuggah.
The CDs sitting in my car right now:
*Pantera's Beyond Driven
*Caribbean Jazz Project (I forget the album)
*Monk and Coltrane, live in NY
*Meshuggah's obZen
*Chick Corea's Elektric Band: Eye of the Beholder
(and a dozen others)
Stew - per your list (and 'legend/key') you said you don't know who these bands/people are?
ReplyDelete? The Pixies
? Rush
? The Tragically Hip
? Rage Against The Machine
? The Dead Kennedys
? Mission U.K.
? Traffic
? Ministry
? Grand Funk Railroad
? Nine Inch Nails
? Triumph
? New Order
? XTC
? The Call
I just find it interesting that you'd not at least HEARD of some of them, like the Dead Kennedys, NiN, Triumph, Rush, The Pixies, XTC..
But just my observation. We all have our likes and dislikes.
This thread has forced me to list musical influences, bands/artists I've assimilated to date:
ReplyDelete*The Mahavishnu Orchestra
*The Fringe
*Chick Corea (anything with Dave Weckl on the drums)
*Rush
*The Dixie Dreggs
*Frank Zappa
*Medeski Martin & Wood
*The Eagles
*John Zorn
*Billy Cobham
*Michel Camilo
*King Crimson
*Tom Waits
---
Mr Penn, loved your descriptions. I'm going to dig into Reign of Kindo and Emery based only oin what you wrote - thanks.
Ok, fine, I'm gonna have to say it. The band Free has got to be one of the underrated all time greats. And lest you judge them as a one hit wonder on the basis of "All Right Now," you should hear the Zeppelinesque powerhouse they can become.
ReplyDeleteWeM -
ReplyDeleteDefine 'assimilated' in the context of your previous post.
I've taken some part of the bands' (artists') music, and amalgamated it into the lump of stuff I label as Me.
ReplyDeleteIn some cases, the influences actually changed how I look at life; I'm not kidding - I'm a different person for having spent several years watching The Fringe live here in Beantown [Boston, MA]. In others, some of the stuff I play comes directly from having listened to them.
To be honest, I don't like where some of the influences have led me musically, but so be it. I am who I am in part because of who influenced me, past or present.
whatever,
ReplyDeleteBirds of Fire is top 50 on my all time best album ever count down. Jerry Goodman inspired me to buy a violin at a garage sale. It collected dust until I traded it for a guitar which now collects dust.
Have you heard anything John McLaughlin did with Al Dimeola and Paco DeLucia? Pretty good.
Woot Craig - that album is in my top 10! I'm always happy for some silly reason when I encounter people who've heard of it.
ReplyDeleteJerry Goodman, Jean-luc Ponty - they both blew my mind back then. I've never been an emotional person; I'm pretty even keel, so to speak. But I remember the very first time I listened to the title track of that album. Someone had recommended that I use headphones, so I was standing in my room, in front of the turn table, volume turned up loud (because the gong starts out soft).
I can't remember if it brought tears to my eyes, but the time signature and Goodman's squeal and the raw ballsiness of the song - it made me have to sit down.
I'm gonna hafta listen to it now :)
I tracked down the lineage of that album by checking out much of McLaughlin's work and that of Jan Hammer, Billy Cobham, Al Dimeola and others that appeared later. I still have a vinyl copy of Love Devotion Surrender from that phase :)
By the way, did you notice the release of the Trio Of Doom? Not my favorite, but well worth owning...
Oh, by-the-by - I must be dead to Maragon.
ReplyDelete:-(
wem,
ReplyDeleteI'll give it a listen. Thanks.
Geoff,
ReplyDeleteThank you thank you thank you for the Radiohead hook-up; those cats know how to play.
Wee,
I saw Leonard Cohen in Toronto a few months back; he was epic!