Problems and Solutions; aka The Bands I Like Suck
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2002 1:08 am
I like music, really I do. Love it even. Not as much as some people, certainly, but I have a bit of an aural affinity. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I here precious little of it. Or, rather, I hear quite a bit of it, but it's all the same. Right now, sitting on the back seat of my car are the following compact discs:
Title TK by the Breeders - Not a great album, by any stretch. A lot of catchy tunes, good fun and all; but, like everything else the Breeders have ever put out, you can tell it was assembled in all of two hours before Kim and company ran off to go smoke bowl or do whatever it is they've been doing for the last ten years while not writing or performing music in any form, except for those two discs Kelly put out that I can't find anywhere. But I like it a lot. But only because I find Kim Deal's voice to be the single most wonderful thing on the planet, and the way she fails to hit a single note on the disc's final track seems to me to be utterly adorable, even erotic. But you didn't want to know that.
Ben Fold's Live by Ben Folds - When all is said and done, Army remains the quintessential "I'd be worried about whether or not my friend is too drunk to drive but his car is incapable of going over thirty miles an hour anyway so I will just sing loudly and off-key along with this song" song out there. Still, cover of Tiny Dancer aside, this album is essentially just stripped down retreads of songs I've already heard a billion times, with the audience singing along occasionally.
Rotten Apples: The Smashing Pumpkin's Greatest Hits - Like the above, only worse. Some of my absolute favorite songs in the whole world on here, and some good tunes on the bonus "previously unreleased" disc, but, let's face it, I've been hearing Today for almost half my life, now. Time to move on, yes?
Geek the Girl by Lisa Germano - Christ on a whole wheat cracker, I'm embarrassed by this album. Don't get me wrong, Lisa is obviously a skilled songstress, but this disc reads and plays like the super-secret diary of every suicidal teenage girl ever. I wax and wane between absolutely loving the music and absolutely loathing the lyrics, which means that, unlike every other album on this list, I haven't really managed to burn myself out on it, yet.
Moon Pix by Cat Power - Chan Marshall's something of a love her or loathe her type of artist. I love her, everyone else I've ever met subtley hints that I should probably change out the CD when she's playing in my car. And I can understand that, as her songs range from "eccentric" to "incomprehensible", her vocals range from "singing well but slightly off-key" to "shrieking hysterically", which would be fine for a punk band, but is more than a little offputting for an acoustic outfit. So yeah, I like the music a lot, but it's not for everyday listening/singing along with in your car.
Which would all be a fine, if horribly pussified, collection of music, if it weren't for the fact that 99% of the CDs I own are either by the above-mentioned artists, by very similare sounding artists, and/or never-listened-to relics of music I used to like but now cannot stand or bought on recommendation and found out was piss-poor (see Radiohead, Everything They've Ever Put Out Except OK Computer). Oh, and any number of burned discs/cds full of MP3s/shit downloaded off filesharing programs which do me buggerall good, as they won't play on my car's CD player, which is where I do about 80% of my music listening. So it's either something I like enough to shell out the cash for, or it's something I listen to once, say "That's neat." and forget about entirely.
And discovering new music is kind of a bust. There's shit my friends recommend, which helps a little, but the people I hang out with most of the time do not really share my taste in music at all. There's broadcast radio, but really, wading through content that is even more repetitive then my CD collection, not at all tailored to my interests, and generally piss poor anyway in order to find one song that might hint at an artist who's discography I should look into is not the world's most efficient method of operation. There's Internet Radio, whatever's left of it at this point, but again, the whole car thing. Then, I noticed this whole satellite radio thing, which strikes me as equally likely to be the answer to my prayers or a complete waist of time and money.
I could, for instance, get one of these, which would, with the proper purchase of accessories and or widgets, give me access to non-Q101 content at home, in the car, and even at work, where I generally have to rely on my own singing or the disco blasting out of the office across the room if I want to listen to something. Of course, after getting the reciever, the relevant adaptors, and a set of speakers for my desk at work, I'm looking at probably 300-500 dollars or more plus subscription fees. Which isn't the end of the world, provided I actually like what I'm listening to, but more than I'm willing/able to waste on a toy I have no intention of using.
So, really, my questions are threefold:
1. Anyone have any experience with this? 100+ channels sounds like a lot of music, except that it's not really, considering 80% will probably be the same shit I could get on broadcast with better reception, and another 15% will probably be special interest crap I have no use for. Does this thing get decent music?
2. Any posters, lurkers, and/or gimmick characters know of any decent broadcast stations in the Chicagoland area?
3. Anyone here recognize enough of the previously mentioned bands to get some clue as to my musical tastes and, if so, does anything spring to mind as something I'd likely enjoy? Please provide links to some sample content if possible, or at least list likely MP3s to look for.
Title TK by the Breeders - Not a great album, by any stretch. A lot of catchy tunes, good fun and all; but, like everything else the Breeders have ever put out, you can tell it was assembled in all of two hours before Kim and company ran off to go smoke bowl or do whatever it is they've been doing for the last ten years while not writing or performing music in any form, except for those two discs Kelly put out that I can't find anywhere. But I like it a lot. But only because I find Kim Deal's voice to be the single most wonderful thing on the planet, and the way she fails to hit a single note on the disc's final track seems to me to be utterly adorable, even erotic. But you didn't want to know that.
Ben Fold's Live by Ben Folds - When all is said and done, Army remains the quintessential "I'd be worried about whether or not my friend is too drunk to drive but his car is incapable of going over thirty miles an hour anyway so I will just sing loudly and off-key along with this song" song out there. Still, cover of Tiny Dancer aside, this album is essentially just stripped down retreads of songs I've already heard a billion times, with the audience singing along occasionally.
Rotten Apples: The Smashing Pumpkin's Greatest Hits - Like the above, only worse. Some of my absolute favorite songs in the whole world on here, and some good tunes on the bonus "previously unreleased" disc, but, let's face it, I've been hearing Today for almost half my life, now. Time to move on, yes?
Geek the Girl by Lisa Germano - Christ on a whole wheat cracker, I'm embarrassed by this album. Don't get me wrong, Lisa is obviously a skilled songstress, but this disc reads and plays like the super-secret diary of every suicidal teenage girl ever. I wax and wane between absolutely loving the music and absolutely loathing the lyrics, which means that, unlike every other album on this list, I haven't really managed to burn myself out on it, yet.
Moon Pix by Cat Power - Chan Marshall's something of a love her or loathe her type of artist. I love her, everyone else I've ever met subtley hints that I should probably change out the CD when she's playing in my car. And I can understand that, as her songs range from "eccentric" to "incomprehensible", her vocals range from "singing well but slightly off-key" to "shrieking hysterically", which would be fine for a punk band, but is more than a little offputting for an acoustic outfit. So yeah, I like the music a lot, but it's not for everyday listening/singing along with in your car.
Which would all be a fine, if horribly pussified, collection of music, if it weren't for the fact that 99% of the CDs I own are either by the above-mentioned artists, by very similare sounding artists, and/or never-listened-to relics of music I used to like but now cannot stand or bought on recommendation and found out was piss-poor (see Radiohead, Everything They've Ever Put Out Except OK Computer). Oh, and any number of burned discs/cds full of MP3s/shit downloaded off filesharing programs which do me buggerall good, as they won't play on my car's CD player, which is where I do about 80% of my music listening. So it's either something I like enough to shell out the cash for, or it's something I listen to once, say "That's neat." and forget about entirely.
And discovering new music is kind of a bust. There's shit my friends recommend, which helps a little, but the people I hang out with most of the time do not really share my taste in music at all. There's broadcast radio, but really, wading through content that is even more repetitive then my CD collection, not at all tailored to my interests, and generally piss poor anyway in order to find one song that might hint at an artist who's discography I should look into is not the world's most efficient method of operation. There's Internet Radio, whatever's left of it at this point, but again, the whole car thing. Then, I noticed this whole satellite radio thing, which strikes me as equally likely to be the answer to my prayers or a complete waist of time and money.
I could, for instance, get one of these, which would, with the proper purchase of accessories and or widgets, give me access to non-Q101 content at home, in the car, and even at work, where I generally have to rely on my own singing or the disco blasting out of the office across the room if I want to listen to something. Of course, after getting the reciever, the relevant adaptors, and a set of speakers for my desk at work, I'm looking at probably 300-500 dollars or more plus subscription fees. Which isn't the end of the world, provided I actually like what I'm listening to, but more than I'm willing/able to waste on a toy I have no intention of using.
So, really, my questions are threefold:
1. Anyone have any experience with this? 100+ channels sounds like a lot of music, except that it's not really, considering 80% will probably be the same shit I could get on broadcast with better reception, and another 15% will probably be special interest crap I have no use for. Does this thing get decent music?
2. Any posters, lurkers, and/or gimmick characters know of any decent broadcast stations in the Chicagoland area?
3. Anyone here recognize enough of the previously mentioned bands to get some clue as to my musical tastes and, if so, does anything spring to mind as something I'd likely enjoy? Please provide links to some sample content if possible, or at least list likely MP3s to look for.