Top Ten iPod Listens

This article about Maynard James Keenan, of Tool, A Perfect Circle, etc., and his top ten iPod listens made me want to share mine. So here goes:

10. Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis
9.Chemtrails by Beck
8.No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand
7..Red Light Indicates Doors are Secure by Arctic Monkeys
6.Everybody Knows You Cried Last Night by The Fratellis
5. 3rd Planet by Modest Mouse
4.Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand
3. Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2.Try It Again by The Hives
1. Tighten Up by The Black Keys

So there you have it!

The Raconteurs, Level

I can't get enough of these guys. Made up of Jack White, Brendon Benson and two members of the Greenhornes, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, this band rocks my world. I can best and most succinctly describe them as just good all around feel good rock.

Favorite Multi-Instrumentalists

I'm sure all the Zeppelin fans out there know how much one good multi-instrumentalist can benefit a group of talented musicians. But many people probably also think that the bass player is just the bass player and nothing else, as in most bands. But John Paul Jones of Zeppelin is one of the great musicians out there because of his ability to play- and play well - so many different instruments. Pick any Zep album and you'll find him playing everything from bass guitar and the upright bass to piano, organ, mandolin and others. Songs like In the Light and Battle of Evermore just wouldn't be the same without his skills and talent.

Another great multi-instrumentalist is Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. He not only plays a mean guitar, as in Paranoid Android, but beautiful piano like in Karma Police, he also arranges all the strings. He is also one of the few masters of the Ondes Martenot, a rather strange instrument played by only a few people the world over. Here he is playing the Ondes Martenot on How to Disappear Completely:

Go by Jonsi: The Music of Spring

Even if you're not already a fan of Jonsi via Sigur Ros I highly recommend giving at least some of these breathtakingly beautiful songs a listen. Whether it be a fast paced, sometimes frenetic song like Go Do, the breakneck craziness of Animal Arithmetic or a mellow emotional song like Grow Till Tall or Tornado each song seems to almost fly by as the ethereal qualities begin to overwhelm the listener. It's so good and so enjoyable that it makes one want to rush outside and breathe in all the wild growth of spring before it melts into summer.

There have always been naysayers who claim that a solo album from a front man of an already successful band will inevitably be watered down, weaker or only a slightly tweaked version of the original bands' music. And that's a valid critique, but not in this case. Yes, he sings in his haunting falsetto a lot, just like he does with Sigur Ros. And yes, the music is very good. But the similarities really end there. Go features much faster rhythms, heavier synthesizers, a lot more orchestral work, less guitar and one other glaring difference between Go and the music of Sigur Ros.

Jonsi sings more than a little of the lyrics in English. It's English sung with a heavy, but not overpowering, Icelandic accent, granted. But it's beautiful and can be understood once the listener has gotten over the newness of the album and has learned how to listen to his pronunciations. I don't find it unpleasant at all to not always know exactly what he's singing about. In fact, it adds to the over all aesthetic, to the air of mystery and otherworldly quality. That said, the lyrics are beautiful so it's not a bad idea to look them up.

From Go Do:

Tie strings to clouds

Make your own lake - Let it flow

Throw seeds to sprout

Make your own break - Let them grow


And from Animal Arithmetic:

Every time, everyone, everything's full of life

Everyday, everywhere, people are so alive

I see you in the trees

I see you're colourful

I see you in the breeze

You're spiritful

Personally, I've officially recognized Go as the soundtrack of my springtime. In fact, I've become rather obsessed by it! Never before in my life have I been so eager for the warmth and growth of spring and this album encapsulates all the glory, wonder, beauty and sometimes heady pace of springtime. It's as if the spring flowers and awakening animals and I are racing at a feverish pace and this album is the music we are making.

Here's a nice acoustic version of Go Do:

Exiting the Music Cave

Up until two or three years ago I was pretty firmly entrenched in what I'll call a music cave. Or a slump or stagnant pool of tunes, especially compared to my listening habits since joining Last.fm. I spent roughly five years listening to either stuff I already knew or classic stuff but almost nothing new. With a very few exceptions I didn't listen to modern music at all. To be fair, it wasn't totally stagnant. I greatly deepened my love for Pink Floyd. I also became a lifelong Led Zeppelin devotee whereas before I didn't care much for their music at all. I also came to know a lot more about Jimi Hendrix and a slew of others most notably Janis Joplin, The Doors and Bob Marley. There were a few other classic rockers I came to know better but, other than the above, I just listened to classic stuff I already knew.

There were a very few modern artists I came to know during this time as well. There was K's Choice, Mazzy Star, Queens of the Stone Age and Tool. And that's pretty much it. As far as modern music went those four were it. Add it all up and in the space of about five years I deepened my knowledge and love of maybe 20 musical artists or groups. Looking back I realize that's a pretty damned sad fact. I didn't listen to internet radio, I rarely visited YouTube and I never listened to regular radio stations if I could at all help it. Nope, it was just me, my best friend and Mary Jane avoiding reality, avoiding the modern world and it's soundtrack.

It wasn't all bad. It helped me get over a broken heart. But I missed a lot. I have regrets, sure. For the purposes of this journal I'll just say that I missed a lot of great music. Since joining Last.fm last August, and using other services for a while before that, I've been swimming ever deeper into a vast ocean of music. There is more music out there that I could have ever dreamed! Every day I discover more music to love and there is so much that I'm happily overwhelmed by it. I feel like I really am entering a much, much wider musical world than the one I knew before.

This sense of discovery reminds of the time period when I first discovered my deep and abiding love of music. I was about ten years old and my folks got me a stereo for my birthday. It had AM/FM radio, a cassette player and a phonograph. I remember that I used the tape player and the radio from time to time, they didn't go to waste. But I wore out needle after needle playing records. My folks let me listen to their records and I had a ball! That old collection was dominated by tons of Beatles records, LPs and 45s. But there was variety. I remember Jackson Browne, Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Alice Cooper and many, many others. All those old records made me realize that there was more to music that what was on the radio and "that old crap Mom and Dad like". Music could not only move the body, but the mind and soul.

Back then it was a confluence of events and things, just as now, that brought about this overwhelming sense of wonder at the world of music. When I was ten there was puberty and a new stereo and a crate of old records. Now there's no more Mary Jane, no more best friend and a different kind of heart break all bringing me into the positively gigantic world of internet radio. And while I miss certain things, especially the smoke, I'm enjoying this crash course in modern music. I've got a lot of catching up to do and a lot of discoveries to make and I'm looking forward to it.

Music Box Lessons

I have a love/hate relationship with genre labels, tags and categories that is in a constant state of flux these days. If you'd asked me a few months ago what I thought about grouping music into separate little boxes I would have said it was pointless. I might even have gone so far as to say that the categorization of music could be detrimental as it can keep people from exploring what they don't think they'll like; sometimes I still feel that way about it. But, as I move further into the world of Last.fm and other music sites, I'm starting to appreciate the usefulness of genre labels and tags and all the rest. And while my knowledge of these things, and their seemingly endless connections and permutations, is very much at the beginner level I've begun to begrudgingly enjoy learning about them.

For instance, have you ever listened to any filk music? I found it, in that wonderful accidentally-on-purpose way so common in the world of internet radio, when I was listening to Folk music. As you’ve probably guessed it’s a sub-genre of folk so it features acoustic instrumentation and sometimes humorous songs about various fairy tales or folk legends as well as nature and country living. But, and this is a big but, it also includes lyrics about technology, science fiction and other nerdy subjects. So, it’s got all the acoustic guitars, harps and mandolins of folk but also deals with very modern things like internet relationships and Star Wars. Basically, filk is still folk; it’s just not your grandmother’s folk.

Another recent discovery of mine is regarding post-rock music. Now, I’ve been listening to Sigur Ros and Mogwai for a while now and I’d seen the post-rock label in their bios and I didn’t really get it. I thought their music was cool and unique and perhaps drew heavily on some Pink Floyd, especially Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I realize now that post-rock is more than just music with long segments of instrumentation sans vocals. It’s a rebellion against the classic type of rock song: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, chorus, chorus, jam, the end. And it’s a different way of utilizing the instruments, including the voice. There’s subtle layering and shades of this and that, including vocalizing without actual words, to make a complete composition where no single instrument or musician is necessarily the star. And while some seem to object to the very term I’m glad to have learned about it.

So that’s my confession: I’m learning to like genre labels and tags and all that categorization stuff. The world of internet radio is massive and awesome in its overwhelming grandeur and all of these boxes are helping me learn to navigate it. It’s useful for finding music I might not otherwise come across. And it’s a fascinating field to study: what musical qualities make this fall into that category and the motivations of the musicians for expressing those qualities. It’s just interesting and fun as hell. The above are only two of the genres I have recently discovered and I’m sure there will be many more.

How Radiohead Found Me

I am a huge Radiohead fan. I know, "how original". But I'm willing to admit that I am not a longtime fan. I'm a very new fan and have only been seriously listening to them for a year or so. Their music means a lot to me as it was one of the few positive things that got me through a very dark, difficult and excruciatingly painful time in my life. The music of Radiohead was, in fact, the medicine and the comfort that kept me going during the worst experiences I've ever lived through.



For about 8 months or so I listened to almost nothing besides Radiohead and it saved me. It truly did. And while I don't listen to them so exclusively now their music will always be a part of me, a part of my soul. But that wasn't always the case. I've had a weird relationship with their music and somehow missed the chance to be a fan until recent years.

Many years ago when I was living on campus during my freshman year in college my cousin and I happened to be walking out of the cafeteria closest to my dorm. On one of the many bulletin boards was a flyer for REM tickets. All but one of the tear off phone number strips had been torn off and the concert was for the next day so I didn't think my chances were good. But for some reason the tickets were still available when I called. Turns out a girl had broken her leg and wasn't up for the 3+ hour trip to St. Louis for the show. And she was only asking for the ticket price. So, my cousin Clary and I were bad college students, ditched our Friday classes and took off for St. Louis.

I was already an REM fan so this journal entry isn't really about them. Rather, it's about the opening act that night: Radiohead. When they started playing I immediately knew they were good but I had no idea who they were. Eventually they played Creep and everyone in the crowd, including me, realized who they were and started cheering like idiots. But all of their songs that night were great. I couldn't understand everything Thom Yorke was singing about but it sounded great and I resolved to buy some of their music.

Unfortunately, the first Radiohead cd I found was Pablo Honey and, as I later realized, most of the music they were playing when I saw them live was from The Bends. And, as any Radiohead fan knows, those two albums are very different. Yeah, they both feature much more guitar work than their recent albums but their overall sound is much different. The levels of maturity and introspection are much greater on The Bends. If you don't know just give a listen to Ripcord from Pablo Honey and Fake Plastic Trees from The Bends and you'll hear what I'm talking about.

So, knowing the difference between the two albums perhaps you can understand my dismay and frustration when I put Pablo Honey on and it sounded nothing like what I'd heard at the concert. I tried to like it, I gave it a few listens but I eventually sold the cd out of disappointment. I was pretty pissed about the situation and must have formed a mental block about their music because they more or less dropped off my radar for a long time. I have a vague memory of seeing a little blurb about The Bends in a magazine but, amazingly enough, that's the last I heard about Radiohead for years and years. I don't even recall hearing about OK Computer which is still, by many accounts, considered one of the greatest albums ever made. It seems I was just so pissed about Pablo Honey that I either ignored or somehow missed hearing about Radiohead for ages.

Then came In Rainbows and the controversy regarding their decision to sell it online for whatever price the buyer chose. I remember that broo ha ha went on for what seemed like ages. But I still didn't bite. Then we got DirecTV that brought XM radio along with it. I naturally gravitated toward the "alternative" rock stations and began hearing some great stuff. I was especially struck by a little tune called Paranoid Android, perhaps you've heard of it? There was also Street Spirit and Karma Police that caught my ear. Eventually I got my head out of my ass and learned that these were all Radiohead songs. I looked around the internet and, lo and behold, Radiohead was everywhere! And their music saved me. Even when I couldn't listen to music I knew it was within reach, it was my incentive to keep going. Although my life itself was hellish I was able to visit heaven simply by putting on some Radiohead. And the rest is history.