On Music

Those of you who know me well know that I am a music freak. When time allows, I listen to a lot of different stuff, and also read up on as much as I can. My eclectic taste (and it IS eclectic) derives from my parents. My mother spoonfed classical music to me as a child. One of the greatest pieces of all time that's permanently engrained in my mind is Edvard Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King". (That's his sexy mug to the right). I remember her playing it for me in the house, and my brother and I chasing each other around the dining room table when the tempo picks up near the end. Before my teen years, my father saved me from nerd band stardom and played some Black Sabbath, Kansas, Jethro Tull, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden among others to introduce me to the world of rock n roll. For as long as I can remember, my parents have listened to a great classic rock station out of milwaukee, 96.5 WKLH (http://www.wklh.com/). The dial rarely moves. During middle school, I switched to R&B and hip-hop for awhile. When high school rolled around, I was diving into trance and techno. My first love has always been 90's alternative, but I'll listen to anything except for country music. This diverse background has molded me to the music afficionado that writes this to you today.

A common question I've been getting lately is, "How do you find your music"? Welcome to the internet, my friend.

I tend not to listen to the radio a lot. Popular music annoys the shit out of me, and a rotation of 15 songs for 2 weeks just doesn't cut it in my book. A good resource to check out if you're interested on what's getting airplay is Radio & Records (http://www.radioandrecords.com/). Hover over the 'CHARTS' tab and you'll see what's getting spinning in America.

Another great resource, although I hate to admit it, is Myspace (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music). Some bands are even opting to use their myspace music profile as their main page on the net. In my opinion, Myspace really reinvented itself from the Goth-Emo-Child HQ to a Music Mecca. You can find some really great new bands just browsing around.

I used to read a lot of music magazines, but I've slowly filtered them out. Rolling Stone (http://www.rollingstone.com/) kinda sucks, but I do enjoy their 'Download This!' section. Fader (http://www.thefader.com/magazine) and Mixmag (http://www.mixmag.net/) are both good reads every now and then if you can find them. But a magazine that has really grabbed my attention lately is Paste Magazine (http://www.pastemagazine.com/). It's an odd lil read with great insight on new music, sections on art, design, and culture - and comes with a free cd! It really tickles my fancy.

As far as blogs go, there's none better than the Hypemachine (http://hypem.com/). One view from that site and you'll be hooked forever. Browsing it for the first time is like taking your first bite of cotton candy as a lad. Mad props go to Gus (http://phishnchipswsuw.blogspot.com/) for pointing me in the right direction. The Hypemachine selects the greatest mp3 blog posts of the day and fits it into one convenient package for you to scan. It's truly one of my favorite, most visited sites on the web. Make sure to check out each blogs 'friends' or 'other music blogs' on the left, or right-hand sides of the page. You can literally spend hours browsing them.

I'm still not sure how I got into electronica music. I don't dance or do drugs, so it's still a mystery to me as to why I like it as much as I do. It's a puzzling genre, with plenty of ridiculous sub-genres to be tied with it. So, if you're not a fan, go ahead and skip to the next section. I first got my trance fix from TranceAddict (http://www.tranceaddict.com/), but I don't think it's updated anymore. Become a member of Euroadrenaline (http://www.euroadrenaline.com/) though, and you'll witness a world of great people and great music. The forums there are a great resource for the newest in house, trance, and electro. Recently I've discovered BeatPort (http://www.beatport.com/) and Track it Down (http://www.trackitdown.net/), but haven't purchased anything off of them yet. Trance.nu (htttp://www.trance.nu) is also a great resource for dance music news.

Lastly - go listen to some internet radio. You'd be surprised about the new music you can find on there. I prefer slacker's (http://www.slacker.com/) customizable radio stations. You can listen to mine - search 'the Hip Trip Slip' (I would link you, but for some reason, Slacker decides to cycle through songs at will...not sure why). A friend of mine enjoys Pandora Radio (http://www.pandora.com/), which selects tracks based on what you like. On the electronica side of things again, I listen to di.fm (http://www.di.fm/) regularly. If you have the cash, go for a portable Sirius or XM satellite radio.

Hope this update helps you in finding, sharing, listening, and most importantly - supporting - good music. Now you know where I come from. Get out there and make love to your ears!