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katallisonIn 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*
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-27 04:07 am (UTC)This stuff tends to be a bit more recent, because I'm 19 and most anything before 97 or so is viewed through the filters of elementary school. I'm jumping genres quite a bit here, to try to give a variety of options. Most of these guys also have other strong albums, though these days I mainly listen to mix CDs I've made for myself.
Collaborations/Greatest Hits:
- Red Hot Chili Peppers: Greatest Hits
- Smashing Pumpkins: Greatest Hits (I personally prefer the Machina... album, but this is more comprehensive.)
- Sarah McLachlan: Mirrorball
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- The Album
- Big Shiny 90s
Old Standards, More Mainstream
- Our Lady Peace: Clumsy and/or Happiness is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
- Tragically Hip: Trouble at the Henhouse
- Liz Phair: White Chocolate Space Egg
- Tori Amos: Under the Pink
- Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf
- Foo Fighters: One by One and/or There Is Nothing Left To Lose (You're probably getting all sorts of recommendations for Nirvana, but to be honest, I've always preferred the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl, Nirvana's drummer, is the lead singer and guitarist for FF.)
A Little More Off-Beat
- The Whitlams: Eternal Nightcap and/or Torch the Moon
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell
- Interpol: Antics
- Brand New: Deja Entendu
- John Butler Trio: Three
Icebergradio.com is a great place to find new music. They have steaming channels for pretty much any taste. I'm particularly fond of the Canadian Indie Rock and Cool Britannia stations, but they have pretty much anything you could want, even time capsules.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-27 02:47 pm (UTC)(And thanks for the Iceberg Radio link as well -- you know, being the geezer that I am, I keep forgetting that they actually have radio on the Internet these days. O brave new world!)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-28 04:32 am (UTC)I have a bit of music uploaded, and you can find it here. I'm actually planning on putting more up for people in the near future, so if you want anything I listed? Let me know and I'll hook you up. *G*
I was trying to avoid doubling -- looks like I didn't do very well at it, but -- so I actually have quite a bit what other people have recommended. I forgot to mention Metric. Everyone should give Metric a chance, because they have great lyrics, and if you kind of like them the first time, you'll like them more and more every time you listen to them.
I'm trying to remember what I saw recommended multiple times that I have. I know for for that in MP3 format I have Arrogant Worms, Arcade Fire, a bit of Belle and Sebastian, Bloc Party, Cat Empire, Dashboard and Death Cab, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, Go Sailor, Green Day, Hives, Jack Johnson, Live, Magnet Lane, Magnetic Fields, Modest Mouse, Morrissey, Neutral Milk Hotel, some Pixies, Postal Service, Rilo Kiley, Sarah Harmer, Sarah Slean, Sleater Kinney, Snow Patrol, Spoon, Tegan and Sara, U2...
That list really isn't as scary as it looks. It's just that amongst my friends, I am the bringer of new music. They show me some mass-produced, mainstream album that they like and I show them a better alternative. *G*
Like I said, I'm planning on uploading some music for some people anyway, so if you'd like I could throw some up for you as well. It wouldn't be a problem.