After almost a full year of obsessive Dire Straits listening, I’ve decided to sample some other artists out there in the vast wasteland that is music.
The first is an artist I had begun listening to in Grade 10. His music style had entered my library when I finally began to delve into more exciting styles and flavours of music that could not be readily found in the mediocre pop/rock sampling of 90’s and 00’s music.
The artist was Tom Petty.
I had only been exposed to him through an old “Greatest Hits” album that my father owned, but I’ve been acquiring a lot of his stuff from an entirely legitimate source and it is pretty good. Tom Petty’s music is written with a very poetic flare to the lyrics, and I quite enjoy it. As for the sound, it is just classic, easy to listen to rock and roll, and I can appreciate that.
He also has a really good singing voice. It is kind of gritty, with a tinge of country in it. Definitely makes for good music, especially Girl on LSD and Mary Jane’s Last Dance.
Beyond Petty, I’ve also been listening to a bit of Bruce Springsteen. I’ve never really been a fan of The Boss until “Born To Run” was featured as a title in my favourite television series, Lost. After that, I tracked down the name to the Springsteen song, and began listening. This is similar to the method in which I found Dire Straits (credit to that goes to Brian I., who - through the second season of The West Wing - exposed me to the song Brothers in Arms, which was featured in the season finale).
Springsteen’s stuff is quite varied, and - from what I’ve heard - it is generally pretty good. Born to Run has become one of my favourite tracks, but it is still to early to call it “my absolute favourite” as I have not listened to everything Springsteen has to offer. Some of his music is difficult to acquire…and I’m not sure if I have the patience to get it all. I collected Dire Straits songs for 2 months solid, and I’m still missing some tracks here and there.
Due to the request of Sam, I’ve commenced listening to Neutral Milk Hotel. I’ve got the entirety of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea added to my iTunes playlist, and I thoroughly enjoy most tracks (except King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3, which weirds me out.)
They are a good band. Their indie style reminds me of two or three years ago, when Blake got me listening to Sunny Day Real Estate. It’s good music that I enjoy listen to while reading, but I don’t know if indie rock will ever weasel into my all-time favourites, but it certainly has a bit of potential.
The final artist I’ve been listening to has been Eric Clapton or Slowhand. I’ve been taking some music from various points in his career, with Derek and the Dominoes, The Yardbirds, Cream and his solo career. A lot of his stuff is really good, and I can see where the “Clapton is God” statement originated. In pure fact.
His dabbling in all sorts of music, although generally being rooted in a blues-rock hybrid is pretty cool. From his experimentation, you get the idea that Clapton is a musical scientist, who thoroughly enjoys sampling everything that the art has to offer. And I admire that.
And thus concludes my first - and poorly written - music related post. It has been in the pipeline for a while, and I finished the bulk of it early in the morning. So, it kind of sucks. But, oh well…here it is. Take it or leave it.