I reached a point last week I did. After resident young, cool music aficionado DisplacedTexan wondered aloud who Bon Iver was, because Pitchfork.com was all over Bon's jock, I had to find out for myself. I listened to the free 30 seconds of each song eMusic allows, and I can guarantee a full minute would've driven me straight to my Texans' game bleach stash. No rhythm. No beat. No nothing.
I decided then and there: the indie rock hipster douchebag movement is officially dead to me. Arcade Fire? The National? Fleet Foxes? And especially My Morning Jacket? Go away and don't come back until you learn how to play an instrument. Fo' realz. Jump with me to find out what my awesome musical tastes have been savoring.
Oh, I'm so glad you made it. Feel free to kick off your shoes and take off your pants. Ah, I see Jordann skipped pants altogether today. Nicely played, though stained whitey tighties really don't work.
By living in Austin, I de facto have better musical tastes than you.1 It's true. I would never, ever lie (unless it involved bedding Allison Brie), so you know you can believe me.2 And, as you know, I'm not afraid to pimp my friends' bands.3 In that spirit, Hector Ward & The Big Time have been getting mucho play from me. Gimme a beat, gimme some brass, and it's a deal. Heck, it's music that makes me want to dance, even if it's just the occasional polka.4 Their latest is Sum of All. Go buy it and stuff. /pimpin'
Being a Southerner, I feel like I have a lot of free reign with my musical tastes. Hector Ward combines Southern rock, blues, ska, tejano, and other musical styles into a rich tapestry of music. But I've also been purist lately, with one of my all time favorite bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd, leading the Southern rock push. In my never, ever humble opinion, (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) is the best release in the 1970s. Sure, Led Zepplin, The Clash, and Wire certainly deserve their props in this era, but, for me, it's Skynyrd.
Finally, my most listened to music over the past month or so is local boy Bob Scheider's A Perfect Day. His 2000 release Lonelyland is easily one of my favorite albums, and A Perfect Day is quickly entering "just on" status.
Finally finally, a shout-out to my buddy MB. Good luck on Monday, brother.
What have you been listening to?
Hector Ward & The Big Time:
1 Seriously, it's true. Just lay back and take it, mmmmkayyyy?
2 I have a tremendous dong.
3 See also, Strange Attractors, The
4 That's right, I polka. I'm damn good at it, too.