katallison (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
katallison) wrote2005-03-26 07:54 am
katallison) wrote2005-03-26 07:54 am
Kat's Big Ginormous Amazingly Long Music Poll!
In which you, dear readers, get to advise me extensively and lift me from the crevasse of cultural ignoramushood. The Poll So Big, It Comes In Parts! And On Cutaway!
So, this part of the poll is: Imagine that you have been charged with enlightening someone who has lived in a cave since the mid-70s about the music of the past 30 years.
[Background: The living-in-a-cave part is not much of an exaggeration. I more or less stopped listening to popular music about the time vinyl went out, due to a combination of changing tastes and amazing lack of income. Most of my music collection of the late 70s through the late 90s grew out of a very primitive form of piracy, consisting of:
(1) Go to the library and check out LPs (almost exclusively classical or older jazz);
(2) Dupe them onto cassette tapes;
(3 Return LPs to library, listen to cassette tapes on crappy tape player.
When CDs came to the fore, I looked at them, thought, "Huh. Boy, *those* are pricey," contemplated my amazing lack of income, and passed them by. I also didn't have a car, so the input mode of driving around listening to random shit on the radio wasn't happening. And so, with one thing and another, I basically had no connection with any music that hit the airwaves between, say, 1975 and the present day.]
But now that I have the amazing resources of Our Glorious Intrawebs (in the form of a Rhapsody subscription--Rhapsody rocks!--as well as iTunes et al.), and even some actual income, I am taking on the project of actually trying to listen to current music (for a broad definition of "current") and figure out what I like. So your question is:
What five albums/artists (random number, feel free to contract or expand it) are essential for me to check out, representing music without which Jeezus Keerist, Kat, your life has been a barren wasteland spent in a cave!? (Note: this is just a reply-in-comments kind of poll, devoid of ticky-boxes, because the limitations of LJ's Poll Creator for text boxes frustrates me.)
Part II: So, When/Where/How Do You Listen to Music, Anyway?
[Background: OK, this will sound funny and pathetic to most of you, but one of the things that hinders my plunge back into the realm of music appreciation is that I've simply gotten out of the habit of having music on. Driving around in the car is about it, but I don't drive much, and the rest of my life is basically background-music-free. So really, I'm just curious about how everyone else manages to work this into their lives.]
[Poll #462147]
ETA: Thanks so much for all the great ideas so far!
And although, as noted in the comments, part of my intent was to not restrict your suggestions within the framework of my pre-existing preferences, still I realize a few directional markers might be helpful. So, just a short list of some of the (very few) CDs I have actually purchased and dug:
David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust
Dylan, Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde
Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
Cowboy Junkies, Trinity Sessions
Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense
REM, Automatic for the People
Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street
The Donnas, Spend the Night
Bonnie Raitt, Luck of the Draw
...to the extent that this provides any help whatsoever. *g*
So, this part of the poll is: Imagine that you have been charged with enlightening someone who has lived in a cave since the mid-70s about the music of the past 30 years.
[Background: The living-in-a-cave part is not much of an exaggeration. I more or less stopped listening to popular music about the time vinyl went out, due to a combination of changing tastes and amazing lack of income. Most of my music collection of the late 70s through the late 90s grew out of a very primitive form of piracy, consisting of:
(1) Go to the library and check out LPs (almost exclusively classical or older jazz);
(2) Dupe them onto cassette tapes;
(3 Return LPs to library, listen to cassette tapes on crappy tape player.
When CDs came to the fore, I looked at them, thought, "Huh. Boy, *those* are pricey," contemplated my amazing lack of income, and passed them by. I also didn't have a car, so the input mode of driving around listening to random shit on the radio wasn't happening. And so, with one thing and another, I basically had no connection with any music that hit the airwaves between, say, 1975 and the present day.]
But now that I have the amazing resources of Our Glorious Intrawebs (in the form of a Rhapsody subscription--Rhapsody rocks!--as well as iTunes et al.), and even some actual income, I am taking on the project of actually trying to listen to current music (for a broad definition of "current") and figure out what I like. So your question is:
What five albums/artists (random number, feel free to contract or expand it) are essential for me to check out, representing music without which Jeezus Keerist, Kat, your life has been a barren wasteland spent in a cave!? (Note: this is just a reply-in-comments kind of poll, devoid of ticky-boxes, because the limitations of LJ's Poll Creator for text boxes frustrates me.)
Part II: So, When/Where/How Do You Listen to Music, Anyway?
[Background: OK, this will sound funny and pathetic to most of you, but one of the things that hinders my plunge back into the realm of music appreciation is that I've simply gotten out of the habit of having music on. Driving around in the car is about it, but I don't drive much, and the rest of my life is basically background-music-free. So really, I'm just curious about how everyone else manages to work this into their lives.]
[Poll #462147]
ETA: Thanks so much for all the great ideas so far!
And although, as noted in the comments, part of my intent was to not restrict your suggestions within the framework of my pre-existing preferences, still I realize a few directional markers might be helpful. So, just a short list of some of the (very few) CDs I have actually purchased and dug:
David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust
Dylan, Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde
Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville
Cowboy Junkies, Trinity Sessions
Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense
REM, Automatic for the People
Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street
The Donnas, Spend the Night
Bonnie Raitt, Luck of the Draw
...to the extent that this provides any help whatsoever. *g*
radio me
Biggest specific way I listen to music now is not by album. Never really liked to do that, so I have a lot of soundtrack CD's.
Too much of one flavor at once, and suddenly you're sick of it. Now CD's get ripped to disk right away and either listened to in the shuffle or if I really love them, end up on a mix cd in the car cd collection.
Artist and favorite song(s) of the moment:
Ani Difranco: (To the Teeth album) Cloud Blood, Carry you around, Back Back Back, Wish I may
Beck: Diamond Dogs, Nobody's fault but my own
Belle and Sebastian: Sleep the clock around
Bjork: (Selmasounds album) 107 steps, I've seen it all, New world
Cake: I will survive, Building a religion, Rock and roll lifestyle
Chris Isaak: Blue hotel
Crowded House: Sister Madly, Always take the weather with you
Elisa: Luce(tramonti a nord est, Rock your soul, Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover, and he's gotta be included too, but he started by the 70's at least. Ditto Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Cat Stephens, etc)
Eurythmics: I saved the world today
Jason Mraz: 0% interest, Sing glory
Joan Jett: Cherry bomb, Hit me with your best shot
Joan Osborne: Man in the long black coat (Dylan cover), Spooky, St.Theresa
Kate rusby: Let the cold wind blow
Magnetic Fields: All the umbrellas in london
Manu Chao: Bongo Bong, Je ne t'aime plus, Trapped by love, Que hora son mi corazon
moe.: Plane Crash, Captain America, New York City
Morphine: Top floor, bottom buzzer, pulled over the car
Prince: (ymmv, these tracks have stood the test of time for me, though some I used to like, haven't) Anna Stesia, Thieves in the temple, Starfish and coffee
Sara Bareilles: Fairytale (no major label album yet, but you can buy her album at http://www.sarabmusic.com, more than worth it IMO.)
Sinead O'Connor: Daddy I'm fine, The last day of our acquaintance, The emperor's new clothes, Sacrifice (Elton John cover)
Sublime: Scarlet begonias, Early in the morning
Talking Heads: Sugar on my tongue, Nothing but flowers
Willy Mason: What's so bad about being bad, Our town, Where the humans eat, Sold my soul
Re: radio me