I got the music in me …
[Note to self: Get your freaking holiday look up this weekend!!! Or else don't bother.]
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I thoroughly enjoyed Blog Crush Day yesterday. Truth be told, I enjoyed it TODAY, because I had time to go browsing. I found so many cool new-to-me blogs that I may actually be forced into using a feed reader. But I’ve been feeling in a bit of a rut blogwise lately, and it was refreshing to visit bloggers whose blogrolls don’t have the same people as mine! When you tend to hang with the same crowd, you forget how many kajillion really good writers there are out there in the blogosphere.
Same thing with music. I genuinely love hearing a song for the very first time, unless I genuinely hate it (I’m not a big fan of female singers). But for the past several months, I haven’t had much exposure to new stuff. The radio station we listen to in the car plays a good mix of familiar and fresh, but I’m only in the car a total of about 10 minutes per day, and it won’t pull in on my office radio. The two stations that tune in best in my office both play primarily songs from the ’80s and ’90s. Not that the decade matters ? if you’ve never heard a song before, it’s new to you even if it’s twenty years old. Only these two stations stick mostly to “top hits,” so it’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed some crispy-fresh ear candy.
Here’s what I need: Tell me what I should check out. What music rocks your world? What’s in your iTunes queue that I might appreciate? It doesn’t have to be new, as long as it’s new to me. Please post your recommendations in the comments! Later on, I’ll do a follow-up post and share my reactions.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hmmm, I really like Michael Buble, but I think you have already heard of him?
It is fun to find all those new blogs! Sometimes I forget to go looking on my own, because I hang around the “same crowd,” like you said ;)
December 15th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I love the female singers, so I might not be much help. Ani Difranco, Tori Amos, Jann Arden, etc.
I also love Belle&Sebastian, Coldplay and this australian band called George. Oh my they are good.
December 16th, 2007 at 7:10 am
“Don’t let go…you’ve got the music in you.”
Blue October I think you’d like. You liked those couple of DM songs I played for you. I too am huge on the women singers like Tori, Tina Dico, Jann Arden , Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor and I could go on and on….
I think that Blue October is definitely more up your alley though.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Music? Well, I’m not sure what you normally listen to, so here my favourites of the moment. Not into women singers either.
Ongiara, Great Lake Swimmers. Exceptional album really, it sounds outside.
What The River Gave the Boat, Marc Berube. (Tom Waits inspired.)
Wintersleep, Welcome to the Night Sky.
Weakerthans.
(For the girl singer I’d suggest Emily Haynes (or Metric) and Lightning Dust.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:16 am
I love finding and reading new-to-me blogs. I hope you dug into some of my regular reads. There are some good ones there.
James Taylor put out a really good Christmas CD last year.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:18 am
if you gave me a hint of the artists you already listen to, i might be able to point you in a good direction. or check out pandora.com where you can select genres/artists and then they play them plus artists that are LIKE that one. i’ve found some good new tunes/musicians that way.
i’m a big fan of chick singers so i might not be the most helpful to you. do you like rock? jazz? indie/alternative? folk?
December 16th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Everyone: Thanks for your suggestions! I already have Michael Buble, Blue October and Coldplay in my music library.
I’m not a fan of soft rock, folk or R’n'B. Have to be in the right mood for country, rarely can take more than one song at a time. Classical instantly puts me in a Very Bad Mood. I prefer rock and alternative.
Current and continual favorites include Radiohead, Tom Waits, Muse, Hinder, Godsmack, Rob Thomas, Social Distortion, Tool, Beck, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, The Eagles and Journey. Three female singers I DO like are Fiona Apple, Joss Stone and k.d. lang.
Nat, I will definitely be checking out your recommendations, as I’ve never heard of any of them!
Sizzle, I’ll also be looking into Pandora.com. Thanks!
December 16th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I regularly check out Aurgasm:
http://www.aurgasm.us
They profile bands and music from across the globe and across all genres. They have a few tracks for download for free, so you can see if the artist does music you like before buying an entire CD.
It’s not like Pandora or any of the other “music-matching” services, in that it doesn’t match you up with similar musicians based on other self-designated favorites…but since Pandora seems to be just a wider swath of popular North American-played music, seeing music from around the world is a nice counterpoint.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I don’t know if you can find it or not but look for Rossington Collins Band. You will probably have to order it from the Internet. They made 2 albums. The 1st one is by far the best. It was called Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere.