Friday, April 22, 2005 | by nathan

Music Makes The People Come Together

Okay, Jonathan. You are correct; my profile does make me look a lot cooler than I am. In my defense, I have never - never - owned a New Kids album. Never. Debbie Gibson, I did have. But no NKOTB, no MC Hammer, and no Vanilla Ice. And I think that’s saying something.

However. I thought I should shake down the incredible complexity of my musical preferences. I got to thinking in terms of genres, which I realized I don’t believe in. So I made up my own genres, because these are more appropriate. This is a way-too-thorough shakedown of my iPod, because I am procrastinating on writing a paper.

Angry and/or Sad Women, All of Whom Have Guitars, Some Of Whom Are Lesbians: Mary Chapin Carpenter, KC Clifford, Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Sarah McLachlan, The Geraldine Fibbers, Alanis Morissette, Shawn Colvin, Corrina Repp, Sophie B. Hawkins, Tori Amos, Carole King, Loretta Lynn, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Tracy Chapman, Rebecca Correia, PJ Harvey, Marianne Faithfull

Alternativey Music I Love But Which Has the Unfortunate Side Effect of Making Me Appear Cooler than I Could Ever Hope To Be (Or, What My Boss, Seth, Calls “Sad White Guy Music”): U2, Interpol, The Stills, The Cure, Postal Service, The Killers, The Rapture, Dismemberment Plan, Weakerthans, The Shins, The Smiths, Comsat Angels, Kind of Like Spitting, The Velvet Teen, REM, Snow Patrol, Beck, Decemberists, Chaz Jankel, The Flaming Lips, Bjork, Rufus Wainwright, Bright Eyes, The Incredible Moses Leroy, The Good Life, Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, Bif Naked, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Travis, Aslan, Cursive, Chomsky, Blanket Music, Franz Ferdinand, Badly Drawn Boy, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Sneaker Pimps, G Love and Special Sauce

Stuff People Keep Telling Me I Should Be Ashamed To Love But That I Am Not(Or, “Music I Dance Badly To At Gay Bars”): Tina Turner, J. Lo, The Dixie Chicks, Cheryl Lynn, Cher, Buffy The Musical, Pink, Grease, 80’s Whitney Houston (what a crack ho), Michael and Janet Jackson, Gwen Stefani, The Cranberries, ABBA, FeFe Dobson, Beyonce, Elton John, TLC, some Shania Twain, The Corrs, Enrique Iglesias, about a third of Christina Aguilera’s songs

The Stuff I Hear on My New Favorite Radio Station, 103.5: Missy Elliot, Ashanti, Lauryn Hill, Outkast, Nelly, Sean Paul, Fugees, Tupac, Kanye West, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Usher, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Eve, Eminem, Shaggy, Omarion, Faith Evans

People Who Sing About Jesus and Speak To Me, Even When They Get Cheesy: Derek Webb, Rich Mullins, Sara Groves, Bebo Norman, Jennifer Knapp, Jill Phillips, Nichole Nordeman, Cindy Morgan, Avalon, older Caedmon’s Call, Chris Rice, Watermark, Ginny Owens, Jars of Clay, OC Supertones, Mitch McVicker

Stuff It Was Hard To Keep Listening To When Frat Guys and VH1 Got Hold Of Them But That I Refuse To Stop Listening To: Michael Tolcher, David Gray, Graham Colton Band, Incubus, July For Kings, Maroon 5, Green Day, Josh Rouse, John Mayer, Howie Day, Hootie and the Blowfish, Grant Lee Buffalo, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, Blues Traveler, Jason Mraz, Vertical Horizon, Gorillaz, Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls, Eve 6

Stuff I Listened To In Secret In High School Because I Was The Merest Bit Angry: Dead Kennedys, The Clash, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Disgruntled Youth, Hole, Bikini Kill, Elastica, Violent Femmes, The Doors, The Ramones, MXPX, Marilyn Manson (who I like more now), Sex Pistols, NOFX, Bush, The Breeders, pennywise, Tool, Babes In Toyland, L7, Goldfinger, Chainsaw Kittens

Dance and Pop Music That Rocks My Face Off: Scissor Sisters, Junior Senior, AK1200, Junior Vasquez, InGrid, M People, Heather Small, Kristine W, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Sonique, Robert Miles, Robbie Williams, Vernessa Mitchell, Ultra Nate, Burnside Project, Barry Harris, Deborah Cox, Kim English

Miscellaneous Stuff That STILL Makes Me Scream and/or Get Goosebumps In The Car: Bruce Hornsby and the Range, David Wilcox, Dire Straits, Rent, Live, No Doubt, Nickel Creek, Allison Krauss, Ghoti Hook, Les Miserables, Songs for a New World, Kane, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Velvet Underground, Willie Nelson, The Cardigans, Fleetwood Mac, Joan Osborne (don’t listen to that stupid “If God Was One Of Us” song. She is amazing, and that song is shite. Download “Right Hand Man,” “Ladder,” “St. Theresa,” or “My Love is Alive.” Her voice makes me almost pee in my pants.)

See how much I like to procrastinate? Anyway, I hope that helps. I am currently in the process of getting “schooled” in hip-hop by my good friend Kanika, who works at 103.5 KVSP, the really great, non-Clear Channel hip hop station here in OKC. We lost our only independent alternative rock station, 105.3 KSPI “The Spy,” so I am having to find out about cool indie music through *sigh* the internet. Also, for some reason lately, I’ve been crazy about 80’s college rock. It might have something to do with the fact that I can’t stop watching “Real Genius” and that I just finished reading “How I Learned to Snap.”

And now, because I was asked a moment ago, The Best 5 Albums I Bought in 2004 (in no particular order):

1) Hot Fuss - The Killers
2) How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
3) teeth-marks on my tongue - KC Clifford
4) I See Things Upside Down - Derek Webb
5) Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters