These albums are either new/newer releases or are just new to me. I’ve been listening to these albums quite a bit recently and highly recommend Vampire Weekend, it’s becoming one of my all time favorites.
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Paramore - Riot!
The New Pornographers - Challengers
The Fratellis - Costello Music
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
Presidents of the United States - These Are the Good Times People
These have all been added to my favorite albums playlist and I have no problem listening to them multiple times. That’s a big indication of a good album to me; if I can enjoy the whole thing without getting bored and skipping songs then it is a keeper. If you are adverse to profanity I think track 2, “Oxford Comma”, on Vampire Weekend drops the f-bomb a couple times, but everything else above should be pretty clean. Have you discovered any good tunes lately?
Note: I’m becoming a fan of Amazon’s MP3 downloads (high quality, DRM-free and well priced) and if you want to buy any of the albums (download or CD) use these links and I’ll get a small commission.
Tagged with: albums, bands, music, rock
Posted under: Entertainment Stuff
I’ve never been a huge music nut but the history of rock music class I took a couple summers ago at Cerritos has kept me thinking about music in ways I hadn’t when I was younger. I remember when my musical taste was dictated by what was on the radio, now I’d be surprised if I even like 10% of it.
Looking back at some of the bands I used to listen to frequently, I find they get less play time on my mp3 player, in the car, or on the computer. So what gives? Did I grow out of them? Did I listen to them because friends at the time did? Am I tired of them? Has my taste in music become more sophisticated? Am I more critical now?
I can probably answer yes to all those questions to some degree. I seem to value songwriting, composition, and the recording itself more than anything now. Before a fast beat and catchy guitar riff might have been enough to hold my interest. Now I find I don’t mind deviations from the 3 piece rock band. That probably started with my interest in swing and then ska, but has expanded from there. My new found appreciations probably came from listening to more classic rock and seeing the genre evolve from rock n’ roll to what we listen to today.
Some of my more recent infatuations include Beck (old and new), Cake, Ben Folds, Reel Big Fish, The New Pornographers, Less Than Jake, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Presidents of the United States (they just seem to never get old), The White Stripes, and probably more I can’t even think of right now. There will always be exceptions to the rules though. I’ve found recently that I actually like melodic metal and as I type I’m getting some Parliament and Funkadelic which I got a taste of in my aforementioned class.
So what trends have you noticed in your own tastes and is there anything you listen to that you are slightly surprised you liked in the first place?
Tagged with: bands, music
Posted under: Entertainment Stuff
