Music (or "How Out Of Touch Is Laura?")

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In this post, I asked for topics to write about, and bendy1 asked me to talk about music. I fear this will be somewhat boring, as I don't exactly keep up on new or popular music. Seriously, I still listen to some of the same bands I liked in middle school (but then again, I also listen to the Beatles, which my parents liked in middle school). If you're hoping to get good music recommendations, this is probably not the place.

I never listen to the radio anymore, except occasionally talk radio. Mostly, I listen to CDs in the car, and my iPod the rest of the time. I've never watched MTV or VH1 (do they still do music? it seems like all reality shows these days), and MySpace frightens me. I don't know where else people find bands, so I only listen to what I stumble across accidentally.

Most of my new music lately has come from TV shows. I went through a serious West Wing phase in college and tracked down a bunch of songs from there, which makes for a very eclectic collection, ranging from Yo-Yo Ma to Bif Naked to Jeff Buckley. I also got a ton of stuff from Buffy and Veronica Mars, which were probably up-and-coming bands at the time, but as both those shows are now canceled, I'm sure I'm woefully outdated.

My iPod is probably pretty embarrassing for other people to listen to. Aside from audio books, which totally kill the shuffle momentum, I've got things on there I don't even want to listen to (Clay Aiken?? Dashboard Confessional? Really?), but for some reason I never delete anything. I have a lot of musical soundtracks on there, because I enjoy belting out off-key songs from Rent or Wicked while I'm doing the dishes or cleaning the apartment. I can only hope it annoys my neighbors, as payback for their absurdly loud TV watching.

Just for kicks, I decided to do that thing where you put your iPod or iTunes on random and list the first 20 songs that come up. Here's mine under the cut.

1. "What Is This Feeling," from Wicked
2. "Jump For My Love," The Pointer Sisters - My college roommate and I used to dance around the house to this song like Hugh Grant in Love Actually.
3. "On My Own," Don't Look Down - fun fact: the Governor of PA's son was the bassist for this band until his parents made him go to law school.
4. "Youth of the Nation," POD
5. "Light My Candle," from Rent
6. "Lonely No More," Rob Thomas - This is actually one of my least favorite songs on his solo album, but I really like the rest of it, and I loved Matchbox Twenty.
7. "Higher," Creed
8. "Lonestar," Norah Jones
9. "Ugly Day," Five Iron Frenzy - Possibly the most random band ever. Christian heavy metal ska? I was introduced to them by a guy on my freshman hall who made me a mix CD for Valentine's Day, and a few of their songs were on it.
10. "Graze," Live
11. "For Always," Josh Groban
12. "I Dare You To Move," Switchfoot - Oh, went through a big Switchfoot phase when I had a crush on a guy whose favorite band was Switchfoot. I tend to do that - start listening to music that the guy I like listens to.
13. "Under the Bridge," Red Hot Chili Peppers
14. "King of Love," Delirious - I have a large collection of Christian worship songs from my evangelical phase in college. I haven't gone to church since who knows when, but I still listen to the songs occasionally.
15. "New York Minute," The Eagles
16. "A Whisper," Coldplay
17. "Against the Wind," Bob Seger
18. "What You Feel," from Once More With Feeling
19. "Peaceful World," John Mellencamp
20. "Tangled Up in Blue," Bob Dylan

This is sort of an odd mix, and not really representative of what I listen to regularly. Maybe I'll try it again another day and see what comes up.
Feel free to leave music recommendations in the comments.

Comments

[goodbyebird]

I can relate. I've gotten completely allergic to the radio, and pretty much live off my iPod, using soundtracks and movies, plus reviews, to find new music.

Bigbang(beware of the asian boyband by the same name), The Strokes, Adele, The magnetic Fields, Fiona Apple... hmmm I'll just toss in some music vids instead. Pretty eclectic taste, so should eb a little of this a little of that.

This is Madrugada, my favorite norwegian band :)



The Caesars:



Billy Talent:



Thomas Dybdahl:



The Raconteurs:



Belle & Sebastian:



The Arcade Fire:



Sigur Rós:



Ane Brun(my fave norwegian female singer:)



Wolfmother:



The Shout Out Louds:



okies, gonna try not to drown you any more than I have. Hope you hear something you like!

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Thanks for the recs! I do love Belle & Sebastian, and I've heard good things about Arcade Fire. Will check out the others when I get a chance. :)

[randi2204]

Seriously, I still listen to some of the same bands I liked in middle school (but then again, I also listen to the Beatles, which my parents liked in middle school).

There's nothing wrong with listening to the music you listened to in middle school (which I do, because I do like my 1980's music), and there is certainly nothing wrong with listening to the Beatles.

Mostly, I listen to country music (and that confession alone is sometimes enough to send people running and screaming), so really, I'm right there with you on new "popular" music. I do listen to the top 40s stations sometimes, and sometimes I do buy things that were played there, but not often.

I like to flip through the cd bins at Newbury Comics or Borders or Best Buy until something catches my eye. Borders is good for looking, because they have the things where you can listen to a short clip and decide if you like it... and then go buy it somewhere cheaper. ^^

It is an interesting mix... and I am dead certain that if you try for a representative mix of what's on your iPod or whatever, the iPod knows that and plays all the weird stuff. I have Winamp on my computer, and whenever I make a post to LJ, 8 times out of 10 the shuffle brings up something that underscores my post in some way. All unintentionally.

[next_to_normal]

Haha, what I meant was, if the Beatles are still cool, and they're from when my parents were young, then the music I listened to should still be cool, too. However, I don't know if you can quite compare Hootie & the Blowfish with the Beatles... lol. (But OMG I will never stop loving Hootie)

I've never really be into country, except I've been absolutely addicted to Kane (Christian Kane's band) lately, and they've got me dipping into country a bit more.

[bendy1.livejournal.com]

I love soundtracks. I'm about three years out of date with pop at any given time so that playlist is actually cool :D

[next_to_normal]

Yay! Soundtracks are awesome for finding a bunch of different bands at once. Also, I feel that the TV shows I watch are cooler than I am. :)

I have just guiltily realised

[selinde2.livejournal.com]

Your birthday has come and gone and I have not wished you any happies. I do so now, many, many, manies.

Re: I have just guiltily realised

[next_to_normal]

Thanks! No need to feel guilty. :)