Burning, Ripping & Playing Music
I love music.
After that, anything I say is really just gravy, me yakking away and filling up space. So if you are totally satisfied with the very core statement of "I love music" then this is where you can stop reading and ignore my ceaseless prattling...
But it is never that simple, and no half-decent author of any kind will stop there... books would never get beyond a few pages!
I don't love ALL music. Let me be perfectly clear about this! Certain genres are almost exempt in toto from my tastes - not totally - someone will always sneak in one or two good tunes in almost any genre, but for the most part, the genres I have zero interest in are as follows:
Rap
Gansta Rap
Country
Western
Country & Western
Top 40/Pop
Bubblegum Pop
Acid Metal
If I think of more I will add them. In the meantime, that does cover most of it.
Top 12 artists for me (not in order, as they all compete equally):
U2
Depeche Mode
Barenaked Ladies
Coldplay
Led Zeppelin
Rush
Dead Can Dance
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Beatles
Monkees
Simple Minds
Vivaldi
Top 12 Albums (again, no order):
Gordon (Barenaked Ladies)
Violator (Depeche Mode)
Riverdance (Bill Whelan)
The Black Stallion (Soundtrack)
October (U2)
Abbey Road (The Beatles)
Corrobee (Split Enz)
The Fifth Element (Soundtrack)
Ultra (Depeche Mode)
X&Y (Coldplay)
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
Stunt (Barenaked Ladies)
Top 12 Songs:
The Arrival & The Reunion (Dead Can Dance)
Gloria (U2)
Wrap Your Arms Around Me (Barenaked Ladies)
When I Fall (Barenaked Ladies)
Picasso Vista El Planeta de los Simios (Adam & The Ants)
Eligia (New Order)
Isabella (Mediæval Bæbes)
Clocks (Coldplay)
Special (Garbage)
Symphony No 7 - Allegretto (Beethoven)
Shadows & Tall Trees (U2)
Flower Duet (Sous Dome Epais) (excerpt from Lakme - Delibes)
I would love to say that I have always loved classical. I have always liked it well enough - my whole family - maternal and paternal - has a huge background in classical music. But the fact is that usually I was somewhat indifferent until it has been in a movie and had a profound affect in the show or scene or whatever. Take the last song, Sous Dome Epais from the opera Lakme. This is a simply gorgeous piece of music but what introduced me to it? The love scene between Catherine Denouve (spelling?) and Susan Sarandon in the movie The Hunger. Truly an amazing movie and there is not a man alive (no matter what his feelings on lesbian lovers) who wasn't completely turned on by that. Two stunning women... well I digress. But you get the idea. Same thing with Allegretto - Symphony No. 7 - that was in a very moving scene in the Richard Dreyfuss movie Mr. Holland's Opus, which I loved.
A lot of the more modern music has been in my repertoire for a very long time. I have been a U2 fan much longer than anyone hung up about his or her age would care to admit. Let me see. I have been listening to them since 1979, so almost 30 (ouch) years now. I would love to meet the band and thank them. Their music has seen me through sadness and joy and the lyrics and emotion in them is just... just... I could not find the right words to describe it. I love their music beyond imaging. The best song always is "Shadows & Tall Trees" - the lines "Do you feel in me/anything redeeming/any worthwhile feeling/is it a walking tightrope/hanging on my ceiling?". I remember those feelings as a teenager and I know that feeling now. And here is someone who put all those nebulous feelings and emotions that made no sense into words - for me.
Another brilliant group with regards to lyrics is Barenaked Ladies. How do I love them? Like U2, they touch on the bigger topics but unlike U2, they have a very off-beat sense of humour and that comes out too - such as in the track "The King of Bedside Manor" on Gordon. Lyrics like these:
"He says, 'Excuse me, I hope
you don't mind that I followed you into
this shop,
But I couldn't help but notice that
riding crop
Sticking out of your haversack,
Um, I wouldn't mind riding you
bareback'.
He's subtle on the dance floor and
he's suave around the bar.
He's a quickdraw with the lighter,
he's a pseudo movie star. You know he's quite a singer,
quite an actor, quite some time ago.
He had quite a famous program,
late night bedroom tv show."
OK, how many artists write such funny lyrics and put them to great tunes to boot? They were a find for me... Oddly enough, I never gave them any thought when my cousin Renée asked me for some CDs of theirs several Christmas' ago... I just thought what a weird name they had. But then I started hearing the song Pinch Me and I loved it. Now I have all their CDs and get every one that comes out immediately. Their latest, "Everything to Everyone", is very, very good. The tracks Upside Down and War on Drugs are excellent as always.
Now, Depeche Mode has been around for a very long time, too, and they are excellent as well. Again, they score high for lyrics and music and their most recent release, "Playing the Angel", is very much as their music of "Violator" - one of my all-time favourites. They have always put out great music but this is Depeche Mode at their best.
Luis found a song on one of his shows, Las Vegas, and I like it too - this is not my normal style of music but it is really quite energetic, great beat, excellent dance floor music. I hope the DJ at our squad installation dinner in March has this to play! It is a song called Ponce de Replay - I think - sometimes Windows Media Player does not get the names quite right. It is by a young woman named Rihanna - good Irish name! Well, Celtic, anyway. Nonetheless, while this is dance music, something that I usually only find good on a dance floor at a wedding or big party, this is fun to listen to anywhere.
There are, of course, always exceptions - I really have little use for Country and Western in any fashion, but The Devil Went Down to Georgia is undoubtedly one of those remarkable exceptions. It is fun and great to listen or dance to. Those songs are always exceptions.
I do like a fair amount of heavy metal, although not enough to own too much of it. I listen to a lot of punk, alternative, rock, classical, soundtracks and Irish/folk music. I also love Dead Can Dance, an Irish group that does a lot of Middle Eastern music. I love folk music from all over - we went to a friend's wedding that was Hindi - it was an amazing wedding - and I loved the music. I really should get Vineet to send me some of the music he had there. I loved it. This is one reason that I hate it when people say that any culture is all bad or whatever, or are just terribly prejudice. That is an entire culture that you are ignoring - the history, the music, the books, the knowledge, food, etcetera - the list of things that any culture contributes to the world is endless - it is a terrible thing to be so insular. And yet, so many cultures are totally insular. Certainly Americans epitomize this attitude. This is where I am not - NOT AT ALL - proud to be an American. I would not be happy to be a part of any group with that attitude. Mostly I like being an American and this is an amazing country to live in but not when it comes to the pervasive attitude that we are the living end and should not embrace any other culture but ours!
Again, another topic for another time, I guess.
Anyway, I love music.
And I have it - or try to have it - everywhere. I have a radio/MP3-CD player in my office at work, my computer in my home office (where I am right now, happily ripping and burning music at this very moment), in my car, and a wonderful little MP3/WMA player that Luis got me for Christmas last year. I have the Rio Carbon. I got Luis an iPod for his 40th birthday in June (back when I was rich, ha, ha) but I like my player much better. It holds as much as his iPod, but weighs quite a bit less. That iPod is a doorstop! I have a ZipConnect stereo system on my Christmas list this year, as my radio at work is starting to experience issues and I know it will eventually cease to work. Then what? I won't go in without something else! I don't think it will look good if I'm sitting there with headphones on.
So there it is - a nearly two hour dissertation on music!
And this brings us back to the original statement:
I love music!
After that, anything I say is really just gravy, me yakking away and filling up space. So if you are totally satisfied with the very core statement of "I love music" then this is where you can stop reading and ignore my ceaseless prattling...
But it is never that simple, and no half-decent author of any kind will stop there... books would never get beyond a few pages!
I don't love ALL music. Let me be perfectly clear about this! Certain genres are almost exempt in toto from my tastes - not totally - someone will always sneak in one or two good tunes in almost any genre, but for the most part, the genres I have zero interest in are as follows:
Rap
Gansta Rap
Country
Western
Country & Western
Top 40/Pop
Bubblegum Pop
Acid Metal
If I think of more I will add them. In the meantime, that does cover most of it.
Top 12 artists for me (not in order, as they all compete equally):
U2
Depeche Mode
Barenaked Ladies
Coldplay
Led Zeppelin
Rush
Dead Can Dance
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Beatles
Monkees
Simple Minds
Vivaldi
Top 12 Albums (again, no order):
Gordon (Barenaked Ladies)
Violator (Depeche Mode)
Riverdance (Bill Whelan)
The Black Stallion (Soundtrack)
October (U2)
Abbey Road (The Beatles)
Corrobee (Split Enz)
The Fifth Element (Soundtrack)
Ultra (Depeche Mode)
X&Y (Coldplay)
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)
Stunt (Barenaked Ladies)
Top 12 Songs:
The Arrival & The Reunion (Dead Can Dance)
Gloria (U2)
Wrap Your Arms Around Me (Barenaked Ladies)
When I Fall (Barenaked Ladies)
Picasso Vista El Planeta de los Simios (Adam & The Ants)
Eligia (New Order)
Isabella (Mediæval Bæbes)
Clocks (Coldplay)
Special (Garbage)
Symphony No 7 - Allegretto (Beethoven)
Shadows & Tall Trees (U2)
Flower Duet (Sous Dome Epais) (excerpt from Lakme - Delibes)
I would love to say that I have always loved classical. I have always liked it well enough - my whole family - maternal and paternal - has a huge background in classical music. But the fact is that usually I was somewhat indifferent until it has been in a movie and had a profound affect in the show or scene or whatever. Take the last song, Sous Dome Epais from the opera Lakme. This is a simply gorgeous piece of music but what introduced me to it? The love scene between Catherine Denouve (spelling?) and Susan Sarandon in the movie The Hunger. Truly an amazing movie and there is not a man alive (no matter what his feelings on lesbian lovers) who wasn't completely turned on by that. Two stunning women... well I digress. But you get the idea. Same thing with Allegretto - Symphony No. 7 - that was in a very moving scene in the Richard Dreyfuss movie Mr. Holland's Opus, which I loved.
A lot of the more modern music has been in my repertoire for a very long time. I have been a U2 fan much longer than anyone hung up about his or her age would care to admit. Let me see. I have been listening to them since 1979, so almost 30 (ouch) years now. I would love to meet the band and thank them. Their music has seen me through sadness and joy and the lyrics and emotion in them is just... just... I could not find the right words to describe it. I love their music beyond imaging. The best song always is "Shadows & Tall Trees" - the lines "Do you feel in me/anything redeeming/any worthwhile feeling/is it a walking tightrope/hanging on my ceiling?". I remember those feelings as a teenager and I know that feeling now. And here is someone who put all those nebulous feelings and emotions that made no sense into words - for me.
Another brilliant group with regards to lyrics is Barenaked Ladies. How do I love them? Like U2, they touch on the bigger topics but unlike U2, they have a very off-beat sense of humour and that comes out too - such as in the track "The King of Bedside Manor" on Gordon. Lyrics like these:
"He says, 'Excuse me, I hope
you don't mind that I followed you into
this shop,
But I couldn't help but notice that
riding crop
Sticking out of your haversack,
Um, I wouldn't mind riding you
bareback'.
He's subtle on the dance floor and
he's suave around the bar.
He's a quickdraw with the lighter,
he's a pseudo movie star. You know he's quite a singer,
quite an actor, quite some time ago.
He had quite a famous program,
late night bedroom tv show."
OK, how many artists write such funny lyrics and put them to great tunes to boot? They were a find for me... Oddly enough, I never gave them any thought when my cousin Renée asked me for some CDs of theirs several Christmas' ago... I just thought what a weird name they had. But then I started hearing the song Pinch Me and I loved it. Now I have all their CDs and get every one that comes out immediately. Their latest, "Everything to Everyone", is very, very good. The tracks Upside Down and War on Drugs are excellent as always.
Now, Depeche Mode has been around for a very long time, too, and they are excellent as well. Again, they score high for lyrics and music and their most recent release, "Playing the Angel", is very much as their music of "Violator" - one of my all-time favourites. They have always put out great music but this is Depeche Mode at their best.
Luis found a song on one of his shows, Las Vegas, and I like it too - this is not my normal style of music but it is really quite energetic, great beat, excellent dance floor music. I hope the DJ at our squad installation dinner in March has this to play! It is a song called Ponce de Replay - I think - sometimes Windows Media Player does not get the names quite right. It is by a young woman named Rihanna - good Irish name! Well, Celtic, anyway. Nonetheless, while this is dance music, something that I usually only find good on a dance floor at a wedding or big party, this is fun to listen to anywhere.
There are, of course, always exceptions - I really have little use for Country and Western in any fashion, but The Devil Went Down to Georgia is undoubtedly one of those remarkable exceptions. It is fun and great to listen or dance to. Those songs are always exceptions.
I do like a fair amount of heavy metal, although not enough to own too much of it. I listen to a lot of punk, alternative, rock, classical, soundtracks and Irish/folk music. I also love Dead Can Dance, an Irish group that does a lot of Middle Eastern music. I love folk music from all over - we went to a friend's wedding that was Hindi - it was an amazing wedding - and I loved the music. I really should get Vineet to send me some of the music he had there. I loved it. This is one reason that I hate it when people say that any culture is all bad or whatever, or are just terribly prejudice. That is an entire culture that you are ignoring - the history, the music, the books, the knowledge, food, etcetera - the list of things that any culture contributes to the world is endless - it is a terrible thing to be so insular. And yet, so many cultures are totally insular. Certainly Americans epitomize this attitude. This is where I am not - NOT AT ALL - proud to be an American. I would not be happy to be a part of any group with that attitude. Mostly I like being an American and this is an amazing country to live in but not when it comes to the pervasive attitude that we are the living end and should not embrace any other culture but ours!
Again, another topic for another time, I guess.
Anyway, I love music.
And I have it - or try to have it - everywhere. I have a radio/MP3-CD player in my office at work, my computer in my home office (where I am right now, happily ripping and burning music at this very moment), in my car, and a wonderful little MP3/WMA player that Luis got me for Christmas last year. I have the Rio Carbon. I got Luis an iPod for his 40th birthday in June (back when I was rich, ha, ha) but I like my player much better. It holds as much as his iPod, but weighs quite a bit less. That iPod is a doorstop! I have a ZipConnect stereo system on my Christmas list this year, as my radio at work is starting to experience issues and I know it will eventually cease to work. Then what? I won't go in without something else! I don't think it will look good if I'm sitting there with headphones on.
So there it is - a nearly two hour dissertation on music!
And this brings us back to the original statement:
I love music!
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