Why didn't I do this before?
Have spent today at work with my headphones on, listening to internet radio of Alternative Rock.
GodDAMN there's some good music being made these days. I'm particularly impressed by the ones that are having fun with rhythm, e.g., "Light Grenades" by Incubus. (Emo doesn't have fun with rhythm. Exuberant rock does!)
I'm less impressed by the stuff that's (IMO) over-engineered. Some of it rises above (hello, Muse), but some of it gets a little generic. Still, I'm racking up quite a "buy this" list.
I feel like I've spent the past decade not listening to anything new. I'm glad some of my jewelery classmates bring iPods with newer stuff for class. It got me inspired to go looking. New music to analyze makes my brain happy!