Another music renaissance
Last night I said to someone that this is a great time to love music.
I'm not sure that it's because the music being created is so creative or innovative, not like it was during the mid-to-late sixties, anyway. It's just that we have so many options for listening, so many ways to collect, so many places to go to hear music these days.
When I work from home I usually have an internet radio station streaming from the computer. I listen to Radio Paradise, "eclectic online rock radio," though what plays is usually what the industry calls "alternative." RP is commercial free (if you ignore the online reminders that it's commercial free and dependent on viewer contributions), and I've added bands as diverse as Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Sun Kil Moon and Doves to my own preferences as a result of airplay on the "station."
Speaking of ... RP's programmer has a knack for the well-put-together playlist. I just heard two classics I hadn't thought of in years - The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and Bruce Cockburn's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" - and chuckled to myself at the imagination. Earlier this morning there was this line-up:
- Roxy Music, "While My Heart Is Still Beating"
- BT, "Dark Heart Dawning"
- Morphine - "Buena"
- Traffic - "Glad"
Four songs with much in common, but four bands that have probably never been played so near each other before.
Between internet radio, the ubiquitous iPod, satellite radio, podcasts, online music stores, concert DVD's - with all these, believe me, it would be difficult to stay in a bad mood with so much music - old and new - so accessible so easily.
I'm not sure that it's because the music being created is so creative or innovative, not like it was during the mid-to-late sixties, anyway. It's just that we have so many options for listening, so many ways to collect, so many places to go to hear music these days.
When I work from home I usually have an internet radio station streaming from the computer. I listen to Radio Paradise, "eclectic online rock radio," though what plays is usually what the industry calls "alternative." RP is commercial free (if you ignore the online reminders that it's commercial free and dependent on viewer contributions), and I've added bands as diverse as Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Sun Kil Moon and Doves to my own preferences as a result of airplay on the "station."
Speaking of ... RP's programmer has a knack for the well-put-together playlist. I just heard two classics I hadn't thought of in years - The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and Bruce Cockburn's "Wondering Where the Lions Are" - and chuckled to myself at the imagination. Earlier this morning there was this line-up:
- Roxy Music, "While My Heart Is Still Beating"
- BT, "Dark Heart Dawning"
- Morphine - "Buena"
- Traffic - "Glad"
Four songs with much in common, but four bands that have probably never been played so near each other before.
Between internet radio, the ubiquitous iPod, satellite radio, podcasts, online music stores, concert DVD's - with all these, believe me, it would be difficult to stay in a bad mood with so much music - old and new - so accessible so easily.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 11/27/2005 08:23:00 AM
2 Comments:
I must compliment your excellent taste in music. With so much available to us, it still amazes me how blind so many folks are to some really incredible stuff out there because it hasn't been commercialized. Don't get me wrong: I do not begrudge any artist who experiences commercial success. In fact, just the opposite. However, it's undeniable that most music that is readily available to us on the radio or tv caters to the lowest common denominator. Or teeny boppers.
I've even had the experience of exposing people to music that they've turned their nose up to only to later find the CD in their collection once the artist has penetrated the mainstream. Too often I think people think radio airplay = good music.
TLL - Thanks for the compliment and the anecdote. You truly are a creature of the arts. Your muse may be sleeping for a bit, but my guess it's a cat-nap, at worst an afternoon power-nap, feet only under the covers, and certainly not a Van Winkle-like hibernation.
Take out the camera - soon. For us as much as for yourself.
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