Between the Lines discussion

I really like Regina Spektor as well!

In this year's Danish x-factor there's a young girl who seems to have huge potential as a down-to-earth singasong-writer. I'm looking forward to see where she takes it. I must admit I watch some of these shows (or at least the beginning of them) to see the bashing!
Fiona, I just checked out 'The Call' - it sounds amazing but it's only available if you buy the entire Prince Caspian soundtrack :-(

Music i DETEST:
Rap
Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus
Jonas Brothers

All other music is pretty good, excellent, my fav, or ok

Love the Beatles!

Now that would have been amazing! john lennon was killed when I was 3 or 4 years old. Still love the Beatles.

what a lucky woman your Mum is -- seeing the Beatles live. I am so jealous. Their lyrics were amazing and they had such a variety of music styles. I don't think there is or has ever been anyone like them.

Love the Rolling Stones too.

I agree with you too, Bella!

I love REM - that's my favourite band. I really like Coldplay as well - and the old Suede/new Brett Anderson. And Bowie of course.

I love REM too! Coldplay is a good group.

OOO I love music, almost more than reading!

I just got the new Lady Gaga CD. I know I was a little skeptical, but her cd is fabulous! That woman can SING! And if you are all curious, she sings the "Just Dance" song and the new "Poker Face" song. Even though both of those songs are hip hoppy, the rest of the cd isn't really that much. I was pleasantly surprised!!

Regina Spektor! It's so weird, I can never find anyone in this damn country who's heard of her. I first heard her music on the Jonathan Ross show, and now I've got two albums (Maryanne & the Gravediggers and Begin to Hope). I've tried converting my sister and a few friends but, no, they'd rather listen to soulless rubbish.

Fiona wrote: "...this new album I don't think is as good as her previous stuff, quite a more relaxing style and less quirky voice ..."

I know what you mean. I feel she's got more mainstream, which is a pity.

Yeah, I'd like to see her one day too.
I suppose the real appeal she has for me, other than how 'different' her music is, is that each song seems to tell a story. I like to listen and interpret - geeky as that may sound.

And she's a fashion icon, I reckon. :D

I'll give all kinds of music a chance, but I tend to gravitate towards rock, acoustic guitarist stuff, some pop, and some soft hip-hop (the ones that you can dance to).

With that said, I love U2, Coldplay, Damien Rice, Jason Mraz(from way back when "I'm Yours" wasn't repeatedly played everywhere; he does have other great songs people! Give them a listen!), Incubus, Radiohead, Muse, John Mayer, Boyce Avenue, Phoenix, Adele, Lifehouse, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga(take away the exotic outfits, the girl has a great set of pipes), Matisyahu...I have a lot more but those should give you an idea of what I like.

A couple of months ago I discovered Pandora.com radio. It streams only music you like. You tell it if you like or don't like a song and it alters its algorithm towards your preferences. Its introduced me to so many new bands. Unfortunately it only works if you are in the US. If you are in the UK you need a proxy - the best one is Hotspotshield.com (and don't forget to enter a US zip code when registering with Pandora, the one for Hotspotshield is 10601).

Oh wow, thanks so much for the link Petra!

Kris wrote: "Oh wow, thanks so much for the link Petra! "

If you find out how to record it successfully let me know. All the instructions I have been given so far are too complex for me.

I'm in the US so I didn't have a problem when I tried it out. I like the concept of the Music Genome, I would love to keep using it, but I looked through the FAQ's and there's no way to relay my listening info to Last.fm. I like keeping track of artists and songs I've listened to so that's my only grip with Pandora.

Last.fm is good, but now I'm going to try Pandora.

Kris wrote: "I'm in the US so I didn't have a problem when I tried it out. I like the concept of the Music Genome, I would love to keep using it, but I looked through the FAQ's and there's no way to relay my li..."

Kris wrote: "I'll give all kinds of music a chance, but I tend to gravitate towards rock, acoustic guitarist stuff, some pop, and some soft hip-hop (the ones that you can dance to).

With that said, I love U2,..."

I like your musical taste Kris. I wasn't really feeling Lady Gaga at first. I saw her as a gimmick. But I really like her new Papparazzi song, and Just Dance makes me want to do just that - Dance!
John Mayer - love, love, love! My favourite songs of his are Wheel and Split Screen Sadness. Sometimes I feel he's not as 'famous' as he should be, although i don't know how many records he's sold. Also, he has won multiple grammy's, so I'm happy!
Are you familiar with Roisin Murphy?

As fro hip hop, I know you like the 'dancey' stuff, but check out Dead President's, Nas - 'Illmatic' and 'Stillmatic', classics. Jay Z -'Reasonable Doubt'. Kanye - 'College Drop out' and 'Late Registration', Lil Wayne - 'Tha Carter 3'. Common, Talib Kweli, very lyrical!

Michael wrote: "I like your musical taste Kris. I wasn't really feeling Lady Gaga at first. I saw her as a gimmick. But I really like her new Papparazzi song, and Just Dance makes me want to do just that - Dance!
John Mayer - love, love, love! My favourite songs of his are Wheel and Split Screen Sadness. Sometimes I feel he's not as 'famous' as he should be, although i don't know how many records he's sold. Also, he has won multiple grammy's, so I'm happy!
Are you familiar with Roisin Murphy?

As fro hip hop, I know you like the 'dancey' stuff, but check out Dead President's, Nas - 'Illmatic' and 'Stillmatic', classics. Jay Z -'Reasonable Doubt'. Kanye - 'College Drop out' and 'Late Registration', Lil Wayne - 'Tha Carter 3'. Common, Talib Kweli, very lyrical!"

Thank, Michael :) I agree, "Just Dance" definitely makes you definitely want to do just that.
I'm not familiar with Roisin Murphy, but I'll definitely check her(him?) out. Thanks for the hip hop recs as well; out of the ones you mentioned, I like Kanye and Common. I've heard of Talib but can't say I've listened to any of his songs yet. Jay-Z, well, I like "Can I Get A..."; it has an infectious head bopping beat. I like some of his other songs too.

John Mayer "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room", I love it.

Just Dance is really great, I like it almost as much as Starstruck.

Am I behind the times or what??? I don't recognise a single artist in the last few messages apart from Jay-Z and Kanye and I wouldn't know their music if I fell over it.

What I like is Coldplay, Akon, Eric Clapton, Massive Attack, Ministry of Sound stuff, Cafe del Mar stuff, Brazilian jazz, reggae (bored with it), and masses of other stuff.

But now I need suggestions to modernise my listening, so suggestions please

If you like reggae, you might want to try Matisyahu, Jewish reggae rapper. I love his stuff.

Petra X wrote: "Am I behind the times or what??? I don't recognise a single artist in the last few messages apart from Jay-Z and Kanye and I wouldn't know their music if I fell over it.

What I like is Coldpl..."
Definately listen to a couple of tunes from the artists I mentionjed. I'm sure you'll find at least a few you like! : )

Hey Fiona, I just bought Far the other day. My oldest son came in the room when I listening to it and he said it was the weirdest music he's ever heard (I think Machine was playing at the moment). I told him if you think this is weird you should hear her earlier stuff. Jacob's response was, "not her again." LOL. Kids! At least my husband said some of her stuff is growing on him.

Kris wrote: "If you like reggae, you might want to try Matisyahu, Jewish reggae rapper. I love his stuff."
I used to like Matisyahu, but went off him. I only like his early stuff. I'm well up on reggae since I live in the Caribbean and the music is soca and reggae in all its forms. Its modern music I have no idea of, but I'm going to dl Regina Spektor and some others. I got some Lady Gaga today and liked it, made me want to dance.

Is Lady Gaga the one who sings "Poker Face"?

Jacob's only 8 but he learned that song at school, when the 5th graders did their talent show. Aaron, my 20 year old, has some of the dirtiest songs I've ever heard on his ipod. I can't believe he wasn't embarrassed to let me hear one called "Best I Ever Had." I can't listen to the theme song for The Andy Griffith show without blushing, thanks to that song. I told him he better not ever play that or anything like it for his little brother!

Ooh, I finally saw the 'Far' album (by Regina Spektor) ad. It came on between Ugly Betty. Sadly I thought it was fairly mainstreamand weirdly I felt slightly annoyed that it was on the TV -- she'll be too well known! Ack.

~
Btw, other than hers, I like music by Bob Marley, Finley Quaye, Peggy Lee, Keane, Damien Rice, Gorillaz, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, etc.

Yay Damien Rice! I hope he puts out his new CD soon.

Beth wrote: "Jacob's only 8 but he learned that song at school, when the 5th graders did their talent show. Aaron, my 20 year old, has some of the dirtiest songs I've ever heard on his ipod. I can't believe h..."

The song is sleazy. I know a lot of girls who have no self-respect and think the best thing a girl can be is really pretty and have a boyfriend with a lot of money that all the other girls want and not to worry if he boasts about sex with you so long as he says nice things. This song was written for them. Doesn't matter what advancements women make in the world, this is what it comes down to for so many.

What really embarrasses me though is all those ads for viagra and cialis for when 'the time is right' that I have to sit through with my son. There isn't even a choice like there is with music. Its also telling my son that that middle-aged women are rabid for sex (some truth in that!) and men of that age are likely to be sexually-dysfunctional and need medication to keep up with them. I don't like those messages at all.

Fiona wrote: "This is one of my favourite songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-B2Sv...

and 2nd fave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PILJRH...



They really speak to me, th..."





I agree with you Fiona. I've been a hip hop fan since I was ten years old, and it irritates me that the most popular hip hop artists and songs are the one with stereotypical and often negative lyrics. I've spoken to a few artisits about this and they all say the same thing: 'record labels won't give us a deal unless we give the audience what they want. According to the record sales statistics, audiences want tales of violence and bling, and fast cars and women.'

For me, I would like to see artists who have sold an enormous amount of records to take control. If you have established yourself as a successful and profitable artist, surely you can have a little more over the type of music you want to release? I am sick and tired of old fashioned record execs assuming what an audience wants. I think in general an audience will only accept what is readily available. It takes a certain personality to shun trends and look a little deeper. It is actually no more than 50% of hip hop artists that make these type of cliched songs. But unfortunately it's these so called 'bling bling' artists that seem to sell the most records. I believe hip hop artists are some of the best lyrical writers but this is often obscured by the nonsense that record labels choose to release. I will continue to shun theses records and stick to insightful hip hop artists like Nas, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dead Prez.

I think a lot of this applies to video games too. There are parental advisory stickers on violent titles but it is still difficult for parents to keep tabs on what their children are up to. One can only hope that people use their own minds and not get too influenced by ridiculous fantasy. After all, The Terminator didn't make me or my friends want to become deadly cyborgs that blast everything in sight.

I just discovered Calvin Harris...it's fun dance music, I can't stop playing it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh2ose...
and this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1S3JC...

Emily wrote: "I just discovered Calvin Harris...it's fun dance music, I can't stop playing it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh2ose...
and this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1S3JC...

Good dance music! He's proving quite a hit over here in the UK.



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