Alex's history of music that I listen to.
I like listening to Jon Brion's "Her Ghost" on repeat because he says clever things like "Her ghost makes of of this occur, he does it breathlessly/As long as he's the life in her, he'll be the death of me."
But you know...I also like disco. I think it was somewhere between 4th and 8th grade where I went through a disco phase. To me, nothing could beat the first few notes of The Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive" or the infectious bassline of The Trammps' "Disco Inferno". I even enjoyed the Village People, though I was never too sure just exactly what a Y.C.M.A. was at the time (but I knew that you could have a good meal there).
I didn't own any disco albums, though, since I didn't even get a CD Player until the 10th grade as a Christmas Present. To put that into perspective, my first album owned was The Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Californication", given to me by Heatherhsmith1, also as a holiday gift. I was not totally behind on the times, however. I knew my shit - I paid attention to details, baby. I picked up everything I watched on MTV and heard on the radio. I knew who Echo and the Bunnymen were...I just never heard their music. Ditto The Cure. Ditto The Smiths. Ditto The Doors, even.
Somewhere in between the disco era of Alex, I also got into rap. This was around the emergence of Puff Daddy and the Family, and right after the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. It wasn't the best time for hip-hop, but I was able to appreciate the old - specifically the Death Row crew; Snoop, Dre and 'Pac. Old school rap was also very entertaining to me, as I'd savor the rare occasions when MTV would play old school videos from Run DMC, Digital Underground and De La Soul. The new shit was stuck in a kind of time warp - gangsta rap was dead and rap was starting to become big business so now instead of rhyming about being broke, P. Diddy and the Fam. were talking about being rich! It seems to have worked, but the shiny jumpsuits didn't help much. After a while, until Eminem and Outkast, actually, rap just became a battle of meaninless excess. The lowest points were guys like Cannibus and Master P. Rap had lost me.
I couldn't be a middle class, southern white boy without liking metal, of course. During the Bad-Boy era of music, however, there wasn't too much room for metal. I was able to catch a few old Metallica videos - I adored the song and video for Nine Inch Nails' "Closer". Mark Romanek and Trent Reznor are geniuses. Marilyn Manson was on his way up, but MTV and the radio were afraid to play his stuff. It wasn't until I heard "Antichrist Superstar" that I actually became thankful for this because his music isn't all that great. I still enjoy his persona, and I agree with him on a lot of (but not all of) his views. The group Prodigy also made a buzz with such hits as "Breathe" and "Smack my Bitch Up", but quickly fell off the radar in the US. Rock couldn't quite find it's way in the mainstream.
Until KoRn came along, that is. I started to notice, all of a sudden, everybody had these KoRn shirts. Even my sister, and she had been spending the past 5 years obsessing over The Beatles. Are they that good? It just so happened that they were just about to release a new album, "Follow the Leader", to what seemed like a massive audience. Like how I wonder how people hear of bands like Pedro the Lion or Jets to Brazil, I was flummoxed by the sudden popularity of this group. Eventually, I heard the singles "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash" and was impressed by the hard rock edge mixed with the extremely catchy melody. That was what made nu-metal stick with peope - I don't think it had anything to do with angst or rage (ok, some of it did), but the basis of it is that nu-metal is catchy. Damn catchy.
And that's what people love: to sing along and to throw their body around in rhythymic motion. Did it matter that most of what Jonathan Davis was singing about was sick and perverted? No, since we've all been there, right? Wanting to choke our wives to death in a sexual fantasy, right? Or did it matter that Limp Bizkit, who I defy anyone to say that they didn't at least sort of like from the start, was fronted by one of the most moronic, self-indulgent figures ever to hit the music scene? Nah - cause he had "Faith"! Yes, it was a good time to be a whiny, 13-14 year old kid.
When I got my CD player, Nu-Metal was at it's peak. I bought KoRn's "Issues" first thing, just to see what the buzz was all about. There's probably one song on there that I like (the last track - "Dirty"), but I kept it since it was, at the time, only one of three CDs I had. I went on a search for more stuff like that, except it's got to not suck. Quickly I was introduced to two of my favorite music acts of all time: Tool and Nine Inch Nails. Say what you want about most of the idiots who like them, those bands rock. NIN might be blasphemous to some, depressing to most, but I am constantly amazed by Trent Reznor's talent whenever I hear albums like "The Fragile" and "The Downward Spiral". Tool took me a while to get into, but once you're there, you're hooked.
I also got into the group Staind because I was a really, really depressed, lovesick teenager and nothing feeds into that better than Staind. Now they're trying to be The Goo Goo Dolls or some shit, but it's cool - you can't be too depressed about getting rich and having a daughter, can you? I haven't listened the them in a long time now, especially their new album which has only one good song ("Blow Away"). Radio certainly killed the whiny rock stars.
By then, I had already found myself enthralled with Radiohead's music and falling in love with Mr. Dave Matthews who, say what you want about him, can create music that makes me feel so happy inside. I actually didn't think I'd like him much when I'd simply hear his stuff on the radio - how good could this dude be? I was shocked and amazed. Radiohead did not suprise me considering all the buzz they've been getting, which they certainly lived up to, in my opinion.
With those two bands, my interest in the copycats and soundalikes ensued. Bands like Sigur Rós, Coldplay, Daivd Gray, Muse and Bjork all took my interest and still do to this day. I like eclectic romance...or maybe I should call it post modern, neo, transfixated ambient ethereal tehcno love songs. No...not that either. Sometimes I just like a guy or gal with a nice guitar, or piano, and a pretty voice. John Mayer has a kickass cover of Radiohead's "Kid A" that y'all should hear.
Now I want to branch out some more. Been doing a lot of downloading to find just the right stuff. Mirah, Jeff Buckley, Jon Brion, This Mortal Coil - even The Hidden Cameras, a solemn homosexual band with a catchy, sweet tune called "Boys of Melody". Of course, I'm only familiar with one or two songs from these artists, but I really like what I hear. A lot better than freaking KoRn - good god.
I'll never be a rockstar, I can tell you that much.
Alex
But you know...I also like disco. I think it was somewhere between 4th and 8th grade where I went through a disco phase. To me, nothing could beat the first few notes of The Bee Gee's "Stayin' Alive" or the infectious bassline of The Trammps' "Disco Inferno". I even enjoyed the Village People, though I was never too sure just exactly what a Y.C.M.A. was at the time (but I knew that you could have a good meal there).
I didn't own any disco albums, though, since I didn't even get a CD Player until the 10th grade as a Christmas Present. To put that into perspective, my first album owned was The Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Californication", given to me by Heatherhsmith1, also as a holiday gift. I was not totally behind on the times, however. I knew my shit - I paid attention to details, baby. I picked up everything I watched on MTV and heard on the radio. I knew who Echo and the Bunnymen were...I just never heard their music. Ditto The Cure. Ditto The Smiths. Ditto The Doors, even.
Somewhere in between the disco era of Alex, I also got into rap. This was around the emergence of Puff Daddy and the Family, and right after the deaths of Biggie and Tupac. It wasn't the best time for hip-hop, but I was able to appreciate the old - specifically the Death Row crew; Snoop, Dre and 'Pac. Old school rap was also very entertaining to me, as I'd savor the rare occasions when MTV would play old school videos from Run DMC, Digital Underground and De La Soul. The new shit was stuck in a kind of time warp - gangsta rap was dead and rap was starting to become big business so now instead of rhyming about being broke, P. Diddy and the Fam. were talking about being rich! It seems to have worked, but the shiny jumpsuits didn't help much. After a while, until Eminem and Outkast, actually, rap just became a battle of meaninless excess. The lowest points were guys like Cannibus and Master P. Rap had lost me.
I couldn't be a middle class, southern white boy without liking metal, of course. During the Bad-Boy era of music, however, there wasn't too much room for metal. I was able to catch a few old Metallica videos - I adored the song and video for Nine Inch Nails' "Closer". Mark Romanek and Trent Reznor are geniuses. Marilyn Manson was on his way up, but MTV and the radio were afraid to play his stuff. It wasn't until I heard "Antichrist Superstar" that I actually became thankful for this because his music isn't all that great. I still enjoy his persona, and I agree with him on a lot of (but not all of) his views. The group Prodigy also made a buzz with such hits as "Breathe" and "Smack my Bitch Up", but quickly fell off the radar in the US. Rock couldn't quite find it's way in the mainstream.
Until KoRn came along, that is. I started to notice, all of a sudden, everybody had these KoRn shirts. Even my sister, and she had been spending the past 5 years obsessing over The Beatles. Are they that good? It just so happened that they were just about to release a new album, "Follow the Leader", to what seemed like a massive audience. Like how I wonder how people hear of bands like Pedro the Lion or Jets to Brazil, I was flummoxed by the sudden popularity of this group. Eventually, I heard the singles "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash" and was impressed by the hard rock edge mixed with the extremely catchy melody. That was what made nu-metal stick with peope - I don't think it had anything to do with angst or rage (ok, some of it did), but the basis of it is that nu-metal is catchy. Damn catchy.
And that's what people love: to sing along and to throw their body around in rhythymic motion. Did it matter that most of what Jonathan Davis was singing about was sick and perverted? No, since we've all been there, right? Wanting to choke our wives to death in a sexual fantasy, right? Or did it matter that Limp Bizkit, who I defy anyone to say that they didn't at least sort of like from the start, was fronted by one of the most moronic, self-indulgent figures ever to hit the music scene? Nah - cause he had "Faith"! Yes, it was a good time to be a whiny, 13-14 year old kid.
When I got my CD player, Nu-Metal was at it's peak. I bought KoRn's "Issues" first thing, just to see what the buzz was all about. There's probably one song on there that I like (the last track - "Dirty"), but I kept it since it was, at the time, only one of three CDs I had. I went on a search for more stuff like that, except it's got to not suck. Quickly I was introduced to two of my favorite music acts of all time: Tool and Nine Inch Nails. Say what you want about most of the idiots who like them, those bands rock. NIN might be blasphemous to some, depressing to most, but I am constantly amazed by Trent Reznor's talent whenever I hear albums like "The Fragile" and "The Downward Spiral". Tool took me a while to get into, but once you're there, you're hooked.
I also got into the group Staind because I was a really, really depressed, lovesick teenager and nothing feeds into that better than Staind. Now they're trying to be The Goo Goo Dolls or some shit, but it's cool - you can't be too depressed about getting rich and having a daughter, can you? I haven't listened the them in a long time now, especially their new album which has only one good song ("Blow Away"). Radio certainly killed the whiny rock stars.
By then, I had already found myself enthralled with Radiohead's music and falling in love with Mr. Dave Matthews who, say what you want about him, can create music that makes me feel so happy inside. I actually didn't think I'd like him much when I'd simply hear his stuff on the radio - how good could this dude be? I was shocked and amazed. Radiohead did not suprise me considering all the buzz they've been getting, which they certainly lived up to, in my opinion.
With those two bands, my interest in the copycats and soundalikes ensued. Bands like Sigur Rós, Coldplay, Daivd Gray, Muse and Bjork all took my interest and still do to this day. I like eclectic romance...or maybe I should call it post modern, neo, transfixated ambient ethereal tehcno love songs. No...not that either. Sometimes I just like a guy or gal with a nice guitar, or piano, and a pretty voice. John Mayer has a kickass cover of Radiohead's "Kid A" that y'all should hear.
Now I want to branch out some more. Been doing a lot of downloading to find just the right stuff. Mirah, Jeff Buckley, Jon Brion, This Mortal Coil - even The Hidden Cameras, a solemn homosexual band with a catchy, sweet tune called "Boys of Melody". Of course, I'm only familiar with one or two songs from these artists, but I really like what I hear. A lot better than freaking KoRn - good god.
I'll never be a rockstar, I can tell you that much.
Alex