BEST. POST. EVER.

For me, at least. Maybe not for you. :-) Because I am taking an entire blog post to talk about one of my absolute most favorite subjects. Anyone want to take a guess? I can feel my friends literally rolling their eyes right now. A few of them are about to close this window, even.  WAIT! Stay with me...humor me.

I've gotten a few inbox messages about my music. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than talking about music--it's honestly a passion of mine. Anyway, instead of writing people back individually, I decided to take to the blog to talk about it. Because hey, it's my blog, and I can do that! :-)

I've always loved music. My dad was a musician and had a strong passion for music--it's quite possible I got it from him, although I'm not really a musician myself. I'm not bad with playing instruments (orchestra for 9 years, HOLLA!!!!), and I can talk about the nuances in music, but I cannot sing to save my life. I think it's one of the world's greatest travesties--to love music as much as I do and not be able to carry a tune. Oh well.

I clearly remember my first "favorite song".  I listened to the radio at a young age, and from the very first time I heard it, this song just blew me away. I begged my parents to take me to the music store in the mall--where I bought a 45 of this song. Yep--a 45.  The music store still had RECORDS when I was little. Yikes. Anyway, I proudly brought that record home and listened to it over and over...memorized the words. Funny...that song was a little bit alt/indie in the 80s, and that's still pretty much my favorite musical style.  I had lots of other favorites as a kid--Cyndi Lauper, Madonna...all the typical girly music. I just loved it all.

I won't bore you with my entire musical past (although I want to--I'm sparing you!), but I will tell you that Steve Jobs changed my musical life. Until I got my first iPod, I listened to the radio and to select CDs, which are a pain in the ass because you actually have to go somewhere to buy them. I've always hated CDs and tapes because, even with my favorite artists, there are always songs on albums that I don't like. I hated having to buy a whole album for three good songs. Anyway...the iPod. Wow.  And iPod + Internet = music heaven.  I could google songs/artists, find new people I liked. I was out of control.

My taste is always evolving.  For the past 7, 8 years, it's stayed fairly similar--mostly alternative, indie, and acoustic. I NEVER listen to the radio. I kind of think most pop music these days is contrived crap--with a few exceptions of course. There are always exceptions. I love music for both the lyrics and the sound.  Some songs don't have the best tune, but the lyrics are magic, and some songs have terrible lyrics, but if the sound is catchy enough, I can overlook it. The best songs have both.

(Inserting a jump here--this is a long one!  Click on to hear some of my very favorites...)


So...without further ado, here are some of my favorite musical artists/songs, broken down by genre:

Acoustic ( These are my classics. I can listen to them any time--never get sick of them...):

Joshua Radin--Winter, Closer, and probably my favorite, Sundrenched World

Damien Rice--The Blower's Daughter, 9 Crimes, Rootless Tree--those are just a few. This man is pretty fantastic.

Joe Purdy-- I Love The Rain The Most, Ah-La Song, (this one kind of tells a story--A-MAZING...)

Joseph Arthur--In The Sun, Honey and the Moon, September Baby

Jose Gonzalez-- Heartbeats (that one still takes my breath away), Crosses, Down the Line

Iron & Wine-- Naked as We Came, Such Great Heights, Flightless Bird, The Trapeze Swinger

Cary Brothers-- Ride (An absolute favorite...)

Feist-- How My Heart Behaves (one of the most beautiful songs of all time...)

Tina Dico-- In The Red (also one of the most beautiful songs of all time...)


I also love Gary Jules, Elliot Smith, David Ford, Jonathan Rice (I listened to this song over and over when I was in the hospital on bed rest--still think of Anderson when I hear it), Laura Veirs, Mason Jennings, The Middle East (love this--Blood), The Shins, Sufjan Stevens, Turin Brakes, William Fitzsimmons, Benjamin Francis Leftwich.  I would love to direct you to each and every song that I love, but that would just take so incredibly long. However, ask if you are interested. I'll surely tell you. :-)
,
Alt/Indie: I kind of go back and forth between this and acoustic. I'm definitely in an alt/indie phase right now. Here's what I'm listening to:

Death Cab for Cutie--Okay, I was pretty much a groupie for a few years. I've seen them 4 times now, and I'm finally getting over them a bit. Here are my favorites... Transatlanticism, (that is AMAZING live, I tell ya), A Movie Script Ending, Cath, The New Year, I could go on for days. Check them out if you haven't.

MGMT-- Electric Feel, Kids, Time to Pretend

Passion Pit-- Sleepyhead (Anderson's current favorite song), Swimming in the Flood (my personal favorite),

Silversun Pickups-- Kissing Families, Lazy Eye,

Bon Iver-- Blood Bank, just about anything is pretty good here.

Other songs I'm really loving right now:  Young Blood by The Naked and Famous, We Own the Sky by M83, Twice by Little Dragon. I love The National, Modest Mouse, Radiohead...I can get into most indie or alternative music.  The soundtrack to the movie "Garden State" is the most classic, best complete album of all time.

That was so much fun!! It was almost like my all-time dream job of being a DJ (but one that plays only music that I like...)!  If you stuck it out and listened to some of the music--YAY!  If you have questions or just want to chat music, I'm the nerd who loves that. So please...drop me a comment. Let me know what you think, and if you share some of my musical passion.