Nov. 10th, 2010
As requested by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whitemage. Sort of.
Nov. 10th, 2010 08:09 pmIf the Glee cast performed songs like the cover of "Teenage Dream" all the time, I would watch it EVERY WEEK. WITHOUT FAIL. I wouldn't care how bad the writing was, or how problematic or tokenistic the plots were, or how much I hate Rachel Barry how uneven the characterization is. THE MUSIC WOULD MAKE EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT.
That's the kind of crazy I am about music.
My taste in music is catholic and eclectic, and I'm willing to give about anything a try. I have over 39 gigs of music on my hard drive, and that's not everything, just what I've stopped to rip or download. According to iTunes, I have 6,407 songs that work out to 17.8 days worth of music. The only demand I make of my music is that it has to use instruments competently. Not just musical instruments, but the noises you find in techno, and the most amazing instrument known as the human voice. If the band can't play, I'm not interested. If the artist can't sing, I'm - well, I'm actively repulsed. I'm willing to give a little bit of leeway to "quirky" voices - I like (more recent) Bob Dylan, for example - but Joanna Newsom makes me want to stab myself in the ears. (It makes me SO SAD, because her lyric writing is so beautiful. But Joanna, here's a bucket for your tune. Carry it to someone else, please.)
And if you do it right?
There is nothing more powerful in my world than a good song.
I love the way Jars of Clay handles their violins. I love solo piano (but not by Yanni), classical guitar, lots of strings.
I don't get crushes on actors, I fall in love with musicians. I would let Michael Crawford do anything he wanted to me as long as he was singing while he did it. I love bands who've been doing it a long time and are damn fine musicians because of it. Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles. U2. Green Day, after Billie Joe stole my heart at his concert. Jars of Clay, Counting Crows, Matchbox Twenty. Billy Joel, who is not a band. Meat Loaf. (He's also not a band, but who's counting? Well, stop.)
And all you have to do to gain entry to my polyamorous musical heart is get music. It's powerful, it's earthshattering. It doesn't have to be deep, either - I totally love Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry. Lady Gaga makes my heart (and my senses) sing. It just has to make me feel something (happy and wanting to dance? totally something). I love music that seems shallow but really has something to say, like Barenaked Ladies'.
Then there's my Philosophy of Covers. A cover is a relationship that seems familiar but isn't. I have feelings about the song, the way it is. Give me different feelings. Make me think about the song in a new way. Change the world, the song, the music. One of the things I liked about Glee (back to that!) was the way they interpreted the songs. The cover I hate most in the world is the Dixie Chicks' cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." Why? Because it's virtually identical to the original. They brought nothing to it. At that point, why the hell are you even in the studio? I love Barenaked Ladies' cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time." (The violins, they kill me.) Butch Walker did a cover of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" that totally changed the tenor of the song. (Normally I don't like covers that change the lyrics; I especially love opposite-gender covers that leave the lyrics intact. Antigone Rising's "Fat Bottomed Girls?" YES.)
I love a good mashup, too. (Especially when they have clever titles.) "Chasing Cars That Way" (Snow Patrol vs. Backstreet Boys) has changed the way I hear the originals. DJ Earworm's "United States of Pop" mixes are AMAZING. I didn't used to like dance remixes, but they grew on me. To be a good dance remix, you have to do more than just add a backbeat, but I've started to really love them. Some of them, at least.
Okay, I think I've rambled enough about music for now. Somebody else's turn.
That's the kind of crazy I am about music.
My taste in music is catholic and eclectic, and I'm willing to give about anything a try. I have over 39 gigs of music on my hard drive, and that's not everything, just what I've stopped to rip or download. According to iTunes, I have 6,407 songs that work out to 17.8 days worth of music. The only demand I make of my music is that it has to use instruments competently. Not just musical instruments, but the noises you find in techno, and the most amazing instrument known as the human voice. If the band can't play, I'm not interested. If the artist can't sing, I'm - well, I'm actively repulsed. I'm willing to give a little bit of leeway to "quirky" voices - I like (more recent) Bob Dylan, for example - but Joanna Newsom makes me want to stab myself in the ears. (It makes me SO SAD, because her lyric writing is so beautiful. But Joanna, here's a bucket for your tune. Carry it to someone else, please.)
And if you do it right?
There is nothing more powerful in my world than a good song.
I love the way Jars of Clay handles their violins. I love solo piano (but not by Yanni), classical guitar, lots of strings.
I don't get crushes on actors, I fall in love with musicians. I would let Michael Crawford do anything he wanted to me as long as he was singing while he did it. I love bands who've been doing it a long time and are damn fine musicians because of it. Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles. U2. Green Day, after Billie Joe stole my heart at his concert. Jars of Clay, Counting Crows, Matchbox Twenty. Billy Joel, who is not a band. Meat Loaf. (He's also not a band, but who's counting? Well, stop.)
And all you have to do to gain entry to my polyamorous musical heart is get music. It's powerful, it's earthshattering. It doesn't have to be deep, either - I totally love Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry. Lady Gaga makes my heart (and my senses) sing. It just has to make me feel something (happy and wanting to dance? totally something). I love music that seems shallow but really has something to say, like Barenaked Ladies'.
Then there's my Philosophy of Covers. A cover is a relationship that seems familiar but isn't. I have feelings about the song, the way it is. Give me different feelings. Make me think about the song in a new way. Change the world, the song, the music. One of the things I liked about Glee (back to that!) was the way they interpreted the songs. The cover I hate most in the world is the Dixie Chicks' cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." Why? Because it's virtually identical to the original. They brought nothing to it. At that point, why the hell are you even in the studio? I love Barenaked Ladies' cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time." (The violins, they kill me.) Butch Walker did a cover of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" that totally changed the tenor of the song. (Normally I don't like covers that change the lyrics; I especially love opposite-gender covers that leave the lyrics intact. Antigone Rising's "Fat Bottomed Girls?" YES.)
I love a good mashup, too. (Especially when they have clever titles.) "Chasing Cars That Way" (Snow Patrol vs. Backstreet Boys) has changed the way I hear the originals. DJ Earworm's "United States of Pop" mixes are AMAZING. I didn't used to like dance remixes, but they grew on me. To be a good dance remix, you have to do more than just add a backbeat, but I've started to really love them. Some of them, at least.
Okay, I think I've rambled enough about music for now. Somebody else's turn.