X is…

I’m not a fan of television.  Really never have been.

I do, however, love music.  So the one big value of youtube for me is to watch videos of bands or artists who otherwise would never get a song on the radio or MTV- those wonderful reality television people.

Everything else is like watching television on the computer.  I don’t get it.  Nor do I get the random people telling us their life stories on youtube.  I don’t understand and I cannot watch it.

I’ve decided to make a page.  I call it Music, Music.  Link is at the top, or you can click here.

You may not like what I like to listen to, but it takes me where I want to be.

Oh, and music really is the one value of myspace too.

Popularity: 31% [?]

As I pointed out before, I’m a huge lover of music.  Rock specifically, and I love progressive rock.

One of the best sites for finding progressive rock is progarchives.  While I take their reviews with a grain of salt, it is a great site for finding bands and determining what they style is and whether or not a band is worth checking out.

As I was doing some reading the other day, the progarchives boards had this discussion.  The title is theism vs. atheism in prog.  Well of course that caught my eye, but why stick to prog or even religion?

Does anybody care what anybody has to say?  Does most of the world even know what the song is about and does it effect their opinion of the song, artist, or in their own life at all?

Popular opinion in the seven pages was that religion or spirituality did not matter as long as it wasn’t too much or too preachy.  Fine, and somewhat agreed.

I recall a conversation I had a few years back with a Libertarian friend of mine who is basically willing to give up social rights and privileges for money.  I would ask him why he listens to much of the liberal rock that is out there in the world.  Rage, System, Disturbed, and many more.  These bands write songs that do not support the politics nor the president that he supports.  He told me that he didn’t care what people sang about as long as the music rocked.  OK.  I don’t agree.

The lyrics of music are the poetry of today.  To me they define the music and can truly ruin a song if not in line with my way of thinking.  I look for and support bands that I can get into due to what they are saying.  Sound is not everything.

I know that Rage Against the Machine was discussing their political views several years back and were disappointed because the kids just didn’t get their message.  The music rocked, the kids got into it, and they completely missed the point.

Sometimes bands give ambiguous messages or their message just isn’t very clear.  Or maybe we define the message to suit our own needs.  We’re far less interested in what the band is saying and far more interested in how it fits what we want and desire from the music we like.

The band Chevelle was labeled a Christian band after their first album.  I’m not sure how they felt about it and I know it was only because their debut was on a label famous for supporting Christian acts.  I personally don’t see them as a Christian band, but I could be missing something.

Thoughts?  Do lyrics make the song?  Do we tolerate lyrics that don’t quite align with our attitudes because the music is good?

Are you the type of person who only listens to The Girls Got Rhythm and She Rides to avoid having to think too much?

Maybe you could care less.

Honestly, I may like a band until the band says something in the media or writes a song that I simply cannot listen to.  Once a band writes a song that disappoints me lyrically, I often cannot listen anymore.

Sometimes…. the song remains the same.

Popularity: 32% [?]

..Every night while she was praying… over my head, over my head, I hear music oh lord.

That King’s X song was the beginning of an awakening for me of music.

Music is a huge part of my daily life. It’s about the only thing that gives me peace and as I saw Ordinary Girl play this little game, I thought that was a great idea. Then The Exterminator decided to make a mockery of it, but it was still entertaining and I expect nothing less. Phillychief decided to jump in with a little more my style.

Of course I’m weeks behind because I don’t really expect anybody to know my music nor care to, but for my own entertainment’s sake I’ll shuffle.

So here it is. Skipping, of course, all the post rock and post metal in my iPod since there really isn’t any lyrics to such tunes. Skipping, as well, any songs in which the first line is the title.

Starting with a scorcher from the mid-90’s.

1. Dying felt so god damned good today
2. Stay with me a while, rise above the vile
3. How do you preach the word if you don’t know how to read
4. Well I don’t know why I came here tonight
5. You and me are the disease and the germs are spreading
6. Yeah, the rain came independence day OG
   
7. Penetrate, penetrate all the simple minds
8. If this is a dream I’m happy you’re having it with me
9. Moon hangs around, A blade over my head
10. It is not a good if you’re not looking good
11. I hate you and you hate me I cannot look at you and see
12. Listen to the tales and romanticize
13. I don’t know whose side I’m on
14. Amplified on fire, strapped to take you higher
15. You won’t admit it, but it’s true- I’m happy without you
16. Wake up son of my mine, momma got something to tell you
17. So tell me, when you took the practice Scholastic Aptitude Test
18. I’ve sewn my seeds with a metric grosse
19. They took the drugs and left you stranded down in Mexico
20. Free at last I’m the past
21. Found myself a way to rid myself clean of pain
22. Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air OG
23. After defying the grip of the hangman’s noose
24. Chaos, it’s just the beginning
25. Yesterday when I was just a boy

Popularity: 28% [?]

Music, to me, is the place of peace.  Today’s music world is full of cookie-cutter music.  I suppose this is not any different than at any other time of our society, but we have the opportunity to find music that would otherwise not see the light of day now more than ever.

So how does the wide range of music get countered?  Why with American Idol (or whatever version your country may run) and Disney and Nickelodeon singing clones and producers who spend their entire careers creating one sound alike after another.

How do we purchase music?

Well, iTunes is now the number one seller of music.  The modern version of the 45 sells more than anybody else as people clamor to get the one song of these shitty albums that they like.

The success of iTunes comes at Wal-Mart’s expense.  Wal-Mart is now #2.  Frustrating me is that Wal-Mart sells only censored music.  I know that they call it “clean,” but let’s really call it what it is- fucking censorship.

Other options?  Target, Best Buy, Circuit City?  Selection is thin, and all those box stores only carry music as additional opportunity to make money and attract customers to their store.  Best Buy has often said that they can afford to sell their CDs so cheaply because they expect that a CD isn’t the only thing the customer will be coming into their box to purchase.  I’m guessing they are correct.

People have a tendency to purchase Best Buy gift cards for me because they know how much I love music.  I can wander around forever at Best Buy and not find a damn CD I want.  Selection at any of these boxes is pathetic at best and if I do purchase anything, it’s likely something I will be disappointed in owning.

Other options are FYE and Sam Goody; the mall music retailers.  For $17.99- $19.99 per CD the selection is a little better, but hardly worth my money.  I guess it’s OK, but the extremely loud rap in these stores drives me crazy.  Or, worse yet, they’ll be playing country.  I can handle it if it wasn’t so damn loud.  My wife knows I cannot make it very long in any store that is playing loud country.

I could purchase my music at any of the various online retailers, but when I purchase music, I want it now.  I don’t have much patience for mail.  I want to go to the store, pickup my CD, and pop it in the car on my way home.  Sometimes, online is the best option though.

Here’s the point of this post.  Independent retailers of music is the best way to go.  I here there was a time when independent retailers almost thrived, but the boxes have put them out of business over the years.  The margins are small if one is solely selling music and it’s hard to keep quality staff.  The boxes don’t have to worry about quality.

I live about 25 miles from the closest quality independent retailer.  I heard yesterday that they are closing that store down.  They cannot keep up with the changing market and have basically been priced out due to high overhead costs in the region.  They will still be running the three other stores that are quite a bit further north from me.

Why have we allowed this to happen?  Are people really so satisfied with Hannah Montana and Mariah Carey that they are not willing to explore further?  They are really so happy with the fact that all the music sold at any box is either cookie cutter or censored that they don’t care to support independent retailers in any form?

I know people have been complaining about the walmartization of our society for years.  I agree.  It bothers me.

The better question is how do we reverse this trend?  How do I get my music back?

How can I get something useful out of my Best Buy gift cards?

Popularity: 40% [?]