Poster with the best taste in music

A bit of a subjective thread! But I will argue that I am the most open-minded about listening and collecting different TYPES of music. My record/CD/Mp3 collection easily expands into the thousands, and I own music in everything from:

Celtic/Irish Folk
Indian/Hindu Roots (sitar, slide guitar, etc -- really long ragas)
American Roots (this is a big one)
Reggae/Ska/Calypso
Indonesian Folk
African Tribal/Afrobeat
Scandinavian Folk

Roots includes:

Zydeco/Cajun/Creole
Bluegrass (my personal favorite)
Early Country
Appalachin
Neo-Psychedelic Folk

All the way to:

80's Rock
New Wave/Post-Punk
Punk
Hardcore
Classic Rock
Jazz/Bop/Post-Pop
Classical
Metal (Power, Death, etc)
Jam Bands (Phish, GD, Virginia Coalition)
Psychedelic
Experimental

Within country music itself, I'm not much of a fan of the modern day, Top-40 pop country. That stuff's too manufactured and fake for my tastes. The most involved I get in that music would be Rodney Crowell or Charlie Daniels. Bluegrass music is very enjoyable, and I especiallly enjoy a lot of the modern bands, that take heavy influence from the early pioneers like Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, and Earl Scruggs, and incorporate their own sounds.

I like the more rock-oriented country, too -- specifically with amazing live bands like Pure Prairie League, whose "prairie dog" fans are similar to deadheads, in their devotion to seeing the live performances.

Speaking of that, I have a love for the entirely American phenomenon of the Grateful Dead -- never before, and probaly never again, has a band reached such technical prowess (though in a different form from say, Rush), general talent, and complete obscurity/obliviousness to what was going on during their own show.

Keeping within the realm of "folk" music -- I use the definition vageuly, as I believe folk music to, while keeping within the tradition of non-electrical instruments (this is not a strict rule, though), be any kind of music that really comes straight from the heart, utilizes tradition and authenticity within music.

I have a penchant for folk music in the genre -- a term coined by John Fahey, "American Primitive," originally a genre meant in terms of artwork. Steel string guitarwork, usually instrumental, that speaks in volumes more than any lyrical piece of music. Masters of this genre include the founder, Fahey, and others like Robbie Basho, Peter Lang, Peter Walker, Jack Rose, and the commercially successful Leo Kottke.

Fun fact, John Fahey also recorded one of the only AMAZING Christmas albums in the history of American music -- steel-string instrumental versions of traditional/popular Christmas songs, many performed in a duet with Richard Ruskin.

In rock music, I grew out of the punk rock phase in high school, though I still have an appreciation for some of the more innovative punk bands over time, like the Minutemen, or Operation Ivy. I am particularly enamored over punk bands that managed to take the music, and transform it into entirely original and emotionally authentic music that most bands never achieved (see: Jawbreaker/Jets To Brazil, Olivia Tremor Control, Dinosaur Jr)

I enjoy some metal, though I don't enjoy how some of the death metal / power metal (like Dragonforce) take themselves too seriously -- which also probably explains why I like "Metalocalypse" so much. That said, metal has some of the most technically proficient and solid bands currently out there (In Flames, Dragonforce), and I can appreciate it. Modern bands which have both hardcore and metal influences, usually aren't very talented, but there are exceptions. Take for instance "The Fall of Troy." Listen to their song "FCPREMIX" and you'll understand what I mean.

"Nu Metal" is a trend that seems to mostly never get beyond terrible local music scenes, and hopefully will stay there. We can't avoid mediocrity such as Evanescense, but oh well.

I also have an obscene amount of AC/DC, the first rock band I ever really got into. Some of their music, is, well, terrible, but some of the early stuff (I reccomend watching the BBC Sessions) is incredible, and really epitomizes the best of 80's rock.

Hardcore Punk, an offshoot of punk and metal which focuses on different guitar stylings and screaming/shouting for vocals. There's a lot of terrible stuff out there, but a few bands have pulled off the music reasonably well, some producing albums and songs worthy of awards (see: Bad Brains, for a more punk band, and Comeback Kid, for more straight-up hardcore -- specifically the song "Wake the Dead")

Being the General Manager of a college radio station has also allowed me to become (somewhat forcibly) exposed to 80's music in the form of New Wave, with bands like Devo, INXS, Echo/Bunnymen, etc) and also become a fanboy of the Smiths/Morrissey. It's pretty much a rule in college radio, you have to like Morrissey.

"Indie Rock," meaning independent rock music, has somehow become looked at as a genre of music. I don't know how. I think people, when considering indie rock as a genre, look at the music of Death Cab For Cutie, Lou Barlow, Pavement, Q and Not U -- and that's indie rock. No definitive style, really, just a loose collection of alternative-rock bands who aren't that big.

Also, any kind of really quiet rock music, with lyrics revolving around girl troubles/etc -- maybe within "Shoegazer," could be called indie rock. I really don't know. There's a lot of hit and miss within the current independent rock music scene. Too many misses, but I hear a lot more music than most folks do.

Psychedelic/Drone music, combined with the surprisingly active and talented underground scene, has produced some of the best sounds the world has ever (but probably wont) heard/will hear. Hendrix and Sonic Youth have achieved commercial success, but there's so much more that can reach the same levels. Drone/Ambient artists like Windy and Carl, Galaxie 500, and Ghost have incredible music, while more heavy Psychedelic bands (Landing, Paik, Cul De Sac) incorporate solid rock as well.

Next to American Roots, psychedelic might be my favorite music. And that's saying a lot. There's also some solid drone/psych bands with metal undertones, like Isis. Isis is an amazing band. All of their albums, too, which is tough to pull off.

I enjoy video game-oriented music too -- specifically Final Fantasy soundtracks/piano collections, music from other RPGs like Earthbound and Chrono Trigger (the best RPG ever made, probably, right up with FF6 and FF7). Music from the Sega game "Ecco the Dolphin" produced a sondtrack that no other pre-Playstation era game has matched, besides Chrono Trigger. Spencer Nilsen composed the music for Ecco, I believe.

Some of my favorite music is simply "experimental." Takes leads from all kinds of artists and bands, and simply tries new things. In a way, truly experimental music is some of the last pure music out there, in that bands or artists will try and accomplish things that have either never been copied/done, or only influenced by a few other people.

Anyways, this is not a post to brag, but one that will hopefully open your eyes to the wonderful world of music that's out there --- send me an IM or a PM and I can link you up with downloads for tons of amazing music.

(PS i also have the best taste -- everything!)

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