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…