Music

I listen to music quite a bit, both on my CLIÉ and my PC. I use pressplay to get music on my PC but I can't get music on to my CLIÉ very easily. My tastes are pretty much split between two types of music, Pop Rock and Alternative. Although my favorite genres remain pretty much the same, my favorite artist changes on the order of every 2 weeks. I think the reason is that for those two weeks, I listen to that band constantly. Here are a few of the artists that I like. They are organized roughly chronologically. From oldest to newest.

My current favorite is Lucy Woodward (February-March 2004)

I discovered her through some deep digging on Amazon.com, using the "other people liked"-type features. What I like about her is that although her music is somewhat bubble-gum, she puts more emotion into it and has edgier instrumentals. Her range of songs is pretty impressive, going from rock to almost hip-hop. I don't have one big favorite like I've had with most of the previous artists I've liked, but I like most of her songs quite a bit instead. Lucy Woodward is a great artist and I hope she puts out another CD!

Past Favorites:

Pop Rock

Alternative(ish)

Jessica Andrews (Winter-Spring 2002)

Train (Summer 2002)

One of my earliest favorites. I still listen sometimes but not that often. I bought her CD because I really liked Who I Am. When I got the CD, I didn't really like the relationship songs but they grew on me.

I heard Drops of Jupiter a couple of times on KARA, a now deceased radio station, and loved it. Within a week, I had the CD. I eventually started liking the rest of the songs on the CD and my Alternative tastes were born.

Sheryl Crow (Early Spring 2003)

Vertical Horizon

I forget exactly how I discovered her, but Sheryl Crow became a favorite of mine. It turns out though, that I only really like C'mon C'mon (the album).

In my opinion, very similar to Train except that their songs tend to have more energy. I still listen to them some but not as much as I used to. Good band.

Vanessa Carlton

I found out about her via TiVo's "Artist of the Month" thing. I didn't like her enough to go out and buy the CD but when pressplay came along, I started listening to her other songs. I like some (A Thousand Miles, Pretty Baby, Unsung, etc.) but others (espescially Paint It Black) are too weird for me. I bought her CD last month so I could listen to her on my CLIÉ.

I bumped into them during my wanderings on pressplay and decided that their music would make great background music. I was pretty much right.

Avril Lavigne (June 2003)

Matchbox Twenty (June 2003)

I first heard "Complicated" at a school rock concert (yeah, that's my school) and a friend told me that Avril was the artist who wrote it. I then went on pressplay and loved all of the other songs I found there. Too bad I didn't know about her when she came through on her tour.

I consider them to be a little better than Vertical Horizon and may buy a CD in the near future. Again, fairly similar.

Michelle Branch (late June, Early July 2003)

Lifehouse (late June, Early July 2003)

I found her by putting in Jessica Andrews and Avril Lavigne into Gnod. Later, I discovered that Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, and Vanessa Carlton are all considered similar to each other by pressplay.

After listening to almost only Michelle Branch for several weeks, the novelty has worn off. I now own Hotel Paper and listen to mostly it but it's just not the same as when I first heard her. Hotel Paper sounds more like vanessa Carlton.

Gnod has suggested this band to me over and over again but pressplay never had any of their songs until recently. The lyrics are a little weird but I like the band.

End of the Line (July 2003)

I think it's pretty much the end of the line for new alternative bands for me. Since I write so much about the pop artists, and very little about alternative artist, I'm going to take advantage of the extra space.

Rachel Farris (mid-July 2003)

I discovered her through an ad for LidRock before a movie. I wsa the perfect customer for them. I didn't even buy a large soda (which comes with a sample CD) but I bought her CD. I wouldn't have known about her at all if weren't for the ad though. At first, I wasn't quite sure if I liked her or not. Pressplay didn't have her so I couldn't listen to full songs, only the snippets on her website. I eventually decided to buy the CD from Amazon. It's on it's way and should arrive next week.