i'm a big fan of music.
{obviously.}
my mom used to bring me to rock concerts in my car seat as a baby, so i guess my love of loud stems from that.
the blogosphere seems to be all about the mellowest kinds of songs;
artists who whisper their lyrics and plunk along on xylophones and ukeleles.
and you know that i think that's great, but i'm all about balance.
i like the whisperers, the ukelelists, the girls in their dresses and the boys in their suspenders.
but i will always hold that the funnest shows are the ones where the artists on the stage are absolutely wrecked by the end of their set. gasping for the breath to scream the next lyric, leaning over the crowd of worked-up, screaming kids, running around like their hair is on fire.
my roommate in college hated my cd collection. she'd cover her ears and make a sour face at me until i turned it off, but i had a small group of guy friends who'd quickly pack a car and drive off to any show within a six-hour radius on a moment's notice. the next morning we'd all show up to our respective classes, ears ringing and eyes bleary, incredibly happy and maybe wearing a new band t-shirt. the buzz from a show could last me a week.
because that kind of music you can drive to in the country where no one can see you, yelling along as loud as your little voice can go. the whisperers sing into your ears and make you cry, the yellers sing into your spine and make you move.
this morning, i'm listening to a slightly toned-down playlist of the bands i loved back then but haven't listened to in a while {why, i have no idea}, and a couple bands that i've never stopped listening to and hopefully never will. he is legend and brand new and thrice and mewithoutyou and stuff. i wanted to share--it's not for everyone, but you have to admit: they sound like they mean what they're saying. which is, at the very least, loveable.
{click through for the playlist if you're reading in a reader or email!}
12 comments:
You've got me craving some old mixed tapes of music I haven't listened to in FOREVER. Cheers for this, Suzy.
I think people are surprised when they find out I like ska punk and grunge and some metal because I look more like a plinky plonky indie guitar music kind of girl. And I do love a lot of plinky plonky indie guitar music. But I really love a song with energy.
That said, I say "like", but it's ages since I last listened to music regularly. I logged into lastfm last week for the first time in months and played the Me First and the Gimme Gimmes inspired station and LOVED hearing loud bouncy music once again. Maybe I'll make a point of listening to music more...
I barely know anyone who likes the same music as me. And only one girl...that whispery dreamy stuff and hipster crap has no place in my lifestyle! The bands that I think are light and fun are still rock bands. Like, with guitars. That are plugged into something. Sometimes it's so frustrating.
Maybe it's a prairies thing? You grew up in the prairies right? I did.
Even my boyfriend and I hardly can even meet in the middle with music. We've settled recently on The Raconteurs because I think it's impossible not to like them.
I am a huge fan of the mellowest artist, Jack Johnson. But back in Italy I also used to go to a pub where only rock was played and it was awesome. Singing along was great, you can hae lots of fun listening to rock, while the mellow music relaxes more.
I went both to a concert of (slighly outdated) band Europe and also to a concert of Jack Johnson, and liked them both in another way. Like you said, balance is better.
I am listening to your playlist while painting the lst walls after a whole day at work. You are right, it works, I have energy to do it now =)
GAH I've noticed that about blogs too! It's all Bon Iver and really mellow stuff. A lot of it also seems really...empty to me. I feel like there isn't as much soul, music for music's sake. We're big fans of Social Distortion, Bruce Springsteen, Flogging Molly, Alkaline Trio...I can FEEL that music, not just listen to it. Does that make sense? I don't mean to judge other people's music tastes, that's just me! I totally agree with you, and I've never heard the artists on your playlists but I'm eager to :)
I grew up listening to shitty country music. My parents weren't big into music, so I had to get re-educated when Rob and I got together, haha.
I wrote a similar thing in my blog post yesterday, about how I'm sick of all music sounding the same. And you're right, 'whispery' is a great way to describe it. So it's good to have a louder back catalogue because sometimes you just need to scream your head off because ukelele's just don't do justice to how you're feeling right then. Oh, and I LOVE Mouth Like a Magazine too. It's a good one for jumping around as though your hair is on fire, as you say :)
i LOVE digging up old mix tapes! go to it. :)
oh man, i listen to music more than half of each day. partly because i hate a quiet house. partly because IT'S SO GOOD.
haha, i bet you're right. it must be a prairies thing. because the prairies are awesome, obviously.
that's something that i've always loved about your blog though, how you're not obsessed with the same bands as everyone else... that you post about like, the pixies and whatnot. like i said, i like the whole indie music thing, but my heart belongs to the yellers.
oh yeah--when we're renovating or working hard or driving somewhere late at night, we put on this stuff and it gets the job done. because it doesn't put you to sleep, i guess? haha. but you're right, i like different stuff for different reasons. music is sweet like that.
oh man, in my town that was ALL anyone listened to. country. bleck. i can't handle it.
i'm glad you've been re-educated. isn't it much better on this side of the musical spectrum? {i don't mean to judge either but...well...maybe i do. i just can't handle country music.}
hahaha isn't it? i like the electronic parts mixed with the yelly parts. it's pretty. in a loud way.
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