Discovering Old and New Music

July 12, 2008

I stopped listening to the radio years ago. There was this particular station I used to listen to (the only rock station back then), and there I would get my daily dose of the old and new. That’s how I fell in love with songs that I have added to my endless list of favorites. My secondary sources of new songs were my then bandmates. They were buried deeper into the heavy metal/metal/punk rock genres so they knew more kickass artists than I did. They would suggest an artist to me and then I’d download a whole album and weed out those that didn’t quite strike a chord with me. I would then listen to the songs I picked and tried to incorporate them into my craft. Sometimes they would lend me cassette tapes and CDs to listen to and I’d take them in like a sponge.

The birth of another rock station renewed my hope in what I deemed to be a zombie industry. This rock station claims to be un-mainstream by playing songs the other rock station would not even think of including in their playlist. They have minimal product endorsements, which means more songs to listen to in a typical hour. I only listen to it though when I’m driving. Still, my main source of music is the MP3s in my computer and the ones I stream over the Internet.

Before, I never streamed music online because our Internet connection was so slow that you’d run out of patience just about the same time the audio had finished buffering. Now that we have upgraded to a DSL connection, I can now stream music until my ears bleed. I’m constantly looking for old and new songs I haven’t listened to before. To me, every unheard song has an equal chance of being a favorite. There are two sites I frequent to get new sounds. First is Last.fm. I call it a ’smart’ radio station. What I do is I type my favorite artist and tune in to the station that plays songs of artists similar in musical style or genre.

Another site I go to is NPR Music. It’s a neat source of all kinds of music - old and new. And I mean all kinds of music. My favorite sections are the Song of the Day and Music Lists. What I do is I read the artist writeup or song description first and then decide if I want to listen to it or not. Usually what would make me want to listen to a song is if there’s a compelling story behind it or if I find the artist interesting based on the writeup. I tend to gravitate to those who didn’t have it easy in life because those are usually the ones who produce the most heartrending songs.

More or less, the first 30 seconds of a song tells me everything I need to know about it. I immediately move to the next track if the song couldn’t sustain my interest in those first few seconds. What usually grab me are melancholic melodies that can make me choke up and want to cry (I cry easily so no problem), solid growls that can make me grit my teeth, bass lines and drum beats that can make my head bob, and guitar riffs and solos that can give me goosebumps. I also like songs with well written lyrics, but usually I would have to look them up because I don’t pay that much attention to what is actually being sung as I listen more to the melody and the song as a whole.

What would be a turnoff then? Happy songs. I rarely pay attention to those. If I would list all the songs I like, probably only one-fifths of them or less are what you may consider happy songs. The beautiful songs, to me, are always the sad or angry ones. Crappy lyrics, no matter how good the melody is, would always ruin the song for me. One example of this would be Rapture by Seed. I’ve loved the song for like forever; I just wished the band overhauled the lyrics.

I admit I’m still confined within the alternative/rock/metal genres but I’m opening my mind and ears to other genres because I know that I’m missing a lot still. I’m well aware that there are a ton of other great songs and legendary artists I should listen to. Eventually, I will find them.