Friday Fiver - Music To My Ears
Taken from Nina D'Angelo
1. How often do you listen to music?
Everyday. I think my Mama must have put music to her belly when she was carrying me because all my memories are soundtracked. My first serious car accident - I don't remember where I was going but I remember Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters' was playing on the radio and the first time I met my current partner, Charlie Daniel's 'The Devil Went down to Georgia' was playing (rather ironic considering dating him was and still does feel like I made a deal with the devil).
Music to me is as essential as breathing. I couldn't live life without either. I either have it on as background noise when I'm puttering around the house or when I'm writing. The music, itself, depends on my mood and location.
I've always grown up surrounded by music. If it wasn't my Grandfather singing and performing for us (He was a stage actor) then it was listening to the music my parents forced us to endure while we were growing up. It still irks me that I swore until I was blue in the face I would never ever own any of the music my parents listened to. As I got older, I realised that my parents have pretty awesome taste in music. I grew up with parents who listened to everything from Queen to Zepplin to Buddy Holly, The Stones and The Beatles. And yes, I now own the whole back catalogue of The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys amongst many more. Hell, my mother asked me to upload her i-pod with Eminem and Katy Perry, so it just goes to show that music runs deep in my family.
I've used music to help inspire me in writing and it does more often than not. More than once I've heard a song and thought, hey if I twist it this way, it could become an amazing story on itself.
Music also calms me. Eight years ago I developed anxiety issues that came along with having an eating disorder. I found it hard to control and found that I became stressed very quickly and along with that came anxiety attacks -they left me jittery and unable to focus. Music helps those. If I feel like something is getting to much for me, I tune out with music.
Music is my haven. It's my safe place from the storm surrounding me.
2. Do you ever listen to the radio? What is your favorite station?
I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of listening to the radio. This seems to surprise a lot of people but the reality is, there's way too much talking and I have yet to find a radio station I really like - or one that will play the music I love. Or at least, in Australia. In the States I will happily listen to 99.5 The Wolf, simply because their music is amazing. I also love the talking that goes with it. Ok, yeah it's country music but I love country music and when I'm in the States, I find that station and blast it when I can. I discovered it while in Texas and wow, brings back of more memories of how much I love that frigging state.
Another reason I don't listen to radio stations is, apart from the endless chatter and advertising that's on the radio, I have a CD collection of over 7000 CD's. Why would I need a radio station when I can listen to anything and everything on i-tunes.
3. How do you find new songs, albums, or artists to listen to?
I get a lot of music sent to me to review. From record labels and magazines I write for. Or, I should say, I used to. I don't so much anymore. That helped encourage me to try new music but in the past I've also found artists through other musicians music. They may have sung backup or recorded a duet with them. If I liked them enough, I'd seek their music out. I also find artists through myspace, itunes and through reading reviews. I've got to be honest, other people's review don't generally sway me because I think what could be a great album for one person, could be awful for someone else. I feel the same about most reviews, although I admit I am also one of those people who has to try things for themselves to enjoy the experience fully.
I also cruise Amazon and listen to snippets of albums. I also buy albums blindly. If I see an album that states it sounds like something similar to what I like I'll buy it. I'm not prejudiced when it comes to music. I listen to metal, country, rock, musicals, alternative, jazz, and blues. I'm a music whore. I'll try anything twice.
One of my favorite sites to scope for music is last fm. You can listen to friends playlists, you can create playlists of your own and it's a great way to find newer bands and unlisted bands.
4. When was the last time you bought a CD? A digital music file?
I-tunes and Amazon probably rake in the cash from me alone. I buy way too much music. In fact, I bought a new album today. I also like to pre-order. Music is kind of one of my vices. It's good for me but it's really, really, really bad for my bank account. I bought four albums today. Yes, four. I'm the kind of girl who walks in to a music store not planning on buying anything and comes out with $200 worth of music. Luckily, I've got a guy in my life who is as nuts about music as I am and won't go on about me buying too much music. If we were talking logistics, buying music is my version of buying shoes. You can never have too many, you've got to have variety and they sure make me feel good.
The last physical CD I bought was Blake Shelton's Red River Blue which was the day it came out but the last digital files I bought were those four albums I previously spoke about, and they were the following:
- Adam Cohen - Like A Man
- Kelly Clarkson- Stronger
- Sixx AM- This is Gonna Hurt (C'mon it's Nikki Sixx Peoples. Strangely I did not find him the remotely sexy until I read the Heroin Diaries.)
- Bart Crow Band - Desperate Hearts
5. Do you think any of the technologies and distribution methods mentioned above will still be around in ten years? Why or why not?
Sadly I think CD's will be gone completely and that saddens me. I'm not the first to admit that most of my CD collection is in digital format these days and I recently transferred my whole CD collection to my hard drive, but I still love CD's. I love the feel of opening a CD, reading the booklet that comes with it and the feeling of popping the CD into the CD player for the first time. But like records, and cassettes, CD's are down in sales. Why have a whole heap of CD's that take of space when you can download it to your computer and listen to it anywhere. I-pods now have docks so you can listen to the music off them while they're charging. CD players are becoming less common as well.
Further down the track, I can see the original ipods - You know the ones that hold 30, 60 and 120 gbs disappearing. That's a shame because those are the ipods I love. I can't handle one that only has 4 gigs of music. How on earth am I expected to fit all the songs I love on just 4 gigs. I struggle with 120.
Technology always changes and ways to listen to music come and go but as far as I'm concerned, as long as I can still hear music, I'm not that fussed as to how it is played.
1. How often do you listen to music?
Everyday. I think my Mama must have put music to her belly when she was carrying me because all my memories are soundtracked. My first serious car accident - I don't remember where I was going but I remember Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters' was playing on the radio and the first time I met my current partner, Charlie Daniel's 'The Devil Went down to Georgia' was playing (rather ironic considering dating him was and still does feel like I made a deal with the devil).
Music to me is as essential as breathing. I couldn't live life without either. I either have it on as background noise when I'm puttering around the house or when I'm writing. The music, itself, depends on my mood and location.
I've always grown up surrounded by music. If it wasn't my Grandfather singing and performing for us (He was a stage actor) then it was listening to the music my parents forced us to endure while we were growing up. It still irks me that I swore until I was blue in the face I would never ever own any of the music my parents listened to. As I got older, I realised that my parents have pretty awesome taste in music. I grew up with parents who listened to everything from Queen to Zepplin to Buddy Holly, The Stones and The Beatles. And yes, I now own the whole back catalogue of The Beatles, The Stones, The Beach Boys amongst many more. Hell, my mother asked me to upload her i-pod with Eminem and Katy Perry, so it just goes to show that music runs deep in my family.
I've used music to help inspire me in writing and it does more often than not. More than once I've heard a song and thought, hey if I twist it this way, it could become an amazing story on itself.
Music also calms me. Eight years ago I developed anxiety issues that came along with having an eating disorder. I found it hard to control and found that I became stressed very quickly and along with that came anxiety attacks -they left me jittery and unable to focus. Music helps those. If I feel like something is getting to much for me, I tune out with music.
Music is my haven. It's my safe place from the storm surrounding me.
2. Do you ever listen to the radio? What is your favorite station?
I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of listening to the radio. This seems to surprise a lot of people but the reality is, there's way too much talking and I have yet to find a radio station I really like - or one that will play the music I love. Or at least, in Australia. In the States I will happily listen to 99.5 The Wolf, simply because their music is amazing. I also love the talking that goes with it. Ok, yeah it's country music but I love country music and when I'm in the States, I find that station and blast it when I can. I discovered it while in Texas and wow, brings back of more memories of how much I love that frigging state.
Another reason I don't listen to radio stations is, apart from the endless chatter and advertising that's on the radio, I have a CD collection of over 7000 CD's. Why would I need a radio station when I can listen to anything and everything on i-tunes.
3. How do you find new songs, albums, or artists to listen to?
I get a lot of music sent to me to review. From record labels and magazines I write for. Or, I should say, I used to. I don't so much anymore. That helped encourage me to try new music but in the past I've also found artists through other musicians music. They may have sung backup or recorded a duet with them. If I liked them enough, I'd seek their music out. I also find artists through myspace, itunes and through reading reviews. I've got to be honest, other people's review don't generally sway me because I think what could be a great album for one person, could be awful for someone else. I feel the same about most reviews, although I admit I am also one of those people who has to try things for themselves to enjoy the experience fully.
I also cruise Amazon and listen to snippets of albums. I also buy albums blindly. If I see an album that states it sounds like something similar to what I like I'll buy it. I'm not prejudiced when it comes to music. I listen to metal, country, rock, musicals, alternative, jazz, and blues. I'm a music whore. I'll try anything twice.
One of my favorite sites to scope for music is last fm. You can listen to friends playlists, you can create playlists of your own and it's a great way to find newer bands and unlisted bands.
4. When was the last time you bought a CD? A digital music file?
I-tunes and Amazon probably rake in the cash from me alone. I buy way too much music. In fact, I bought a new album today. I also like to pre-order. Music is kind of one of my vices. It's good for me but it's really, really, really bad for my bank account. I bought four albums today. Yes, four. I'm the kind of girl who walks in to a music store not planning on buying anything and comes out with $200 worth of music. Luckily, I've got a guy in my life who is as nuts about music as I am and won't go on about me buying too much music. If we were talking logistics, buying music is my version of buying shoes. You can never have too many, you've got to have variety and they sure make me feel good.
The last physical CD I bought was Blake Shelton's Red River Blue which was the day it came out but the last digital files I bought were those four albums I previously spoke about, and they were the following:
- Adam Cohen - Like A Man
- Kelly Clarkson- Stronger
- Sixx AM- This is Gonna Hurt (C'mon it's Nikki Sixx Peoples. Strangely I did not find him the remotely sexy until I read the Heroin Diaries.)
- Bart Crow Band - Desperate Hearts
5. Do you think any of the technologies and distribution methods mentioned above will still be around in ten years? Why or why not?
Sadly I think CD's will be gone completely and that saddens me. I'm not the first to admit that most of my CD collection is in digital format these days and I recently transferred my whole CD collection to my hard drive, but I still love CD's. I love the feel of opening a CD, reading the booklet that comes with it and the feeling of popping the CD into the CD player for the first time. But like records, and cassettes, CD's are down in sales. Why have a whole heap of CD's that take of space when you can download it to your computer and listen to it anywhere. I-pods now have docks so you can listen to the music off them while they're charging. CD players are becoming less common as well.
Further down the track, I can see the original ipods - You know the ones that hold 30, 60 and 120 gbs disappearing. That's a shame because those are the ipods I love. I can't handle one that only has 4 gigs of music. How on earth am I expected to fit all the songs I love on just 4 gigs. I struggle with 120.
Technology always changes and ways to listen to music come and go but as far as I'm concerned, as long as I can still hear music, I'm not that fussed as to how it is played.