Rock On
My favorite music:
It’s pretty hard for me to say I like or don’t like a given genre of music – except there are some that I truly despise: like country! (I think it’s mostly an attitude thing. Country singers sound cheesy and sentimental to me…) And some of my tastes rule out other genres like heavy metal or hardcore because I don’t like vocals that are screamed rather than sung. I guess that’s how I would sum up what I like: I like guys and girls who sing, with natural style (not too much affectation) and with meaningful/interesting lyrics. My favorite songs are ones I can sing along to. I tend to like bands rather than pop diva/divo? [what’s the male equivalent of diva? Sister-in-law, help me out here…] types. I like it when rock bands mix in some fancy instruments like piano, strings, and brass. I notice the singing first, and it’s kind of a make-or-break thing for me, but I also pay attention to the instruments. One of my favorite songs is by Sarah Masen and it’s got her pretty voice, and then an interlude that mixes a kind of wail-y electric guitar with twangy banjo. Nice! I like classic/old school jazz, ever since I took a history-of-jazz class for my senior semester and got turned on to Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington. I like the Beatles, because they deserve it. I liked Ska during that fad – tons of fun!
My favorite artists:
These ones I like pretty much every song they’ve played, and I’m loyal to them for my own reasons (regardless of popularity or cultural “importance”):
Coldplay
Switchfoot
the Newsboys* (my first rock music love)
the Waiting*
Jack Johnson
Some other top favorites:
Collective Soul
Lemon Jelly (I usually don’t care for electronic music but this is in a class by itself)
Sarah Masen*
Barenaked Ladies (Go, Canada!)
Dave Matthews Band
R.E.M.
U2
Beatles
Dianogah (scant on the vocals; drums and bass play the melody. Cool!)
Thelonious Monk
Miles Davis
Jars of Clay
Sixpence None the Richer
the Sundays
Cranberries
Silage*
Dido
Simon & Garfunkel
Enya
Five Iron Frenzy*
These artists, while I can’t say I like everything I’ve heard (and maybe haven’t heard much anyway) have songs on my favorites list:
Alanis Morissette
Burlap to Cashmere*
Built to Spill
Cat Stevens
Counting Crows
Cracker
Death Cab for Cutie
Flaming Lips
Frou Frou
Goo Goo Dolls
Modest Mouse
Natalie Merchant
Norah Jones
Phish
the Police
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sheryl Crow
Smash Mouth
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Tori Amos
The Cloud Room
*If you haven’t heard of these people or can’t find them on iTunes or Pandora, it’s probably because they are in the “Contemporary Christian” pigeonhole. But I think they’re just as cool… goes back to that meaningful lyrics thing…
Wow, what a wide range of music. I love some of that; others have not yet heard of.
i bet you’d like “Beirut”. he does all the instrumentation on his albums, and singing. he uses a lot of “old-timey” instruments.