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Inspirational Reads

New Music: Apparently, Still Being Made

December 12, 2008

Liz over at Gingers is the Watchword posted a list of the albums of the year for 2008. Awesome, right? Sadly, I've never even heard of these groups/singers. In fact, it was news to me that new music is still being made.

Well, that is, except for country. Lots of country albums still being cranked out. I guess songs about shootin', dyin', drivin' in circles and blonde girls with big, floppy tits are still popular. To be fair, there's the occasional times when I feel in a "country mood" and will toss in a Garth Brooks CD or get seriously old school with a George album (take your pick, Strait or Jones), but those times are few and far between. Typically, if I'm in need of the equivalent of lyrical suicide notes, I turn to R.E.M.

But, to say that there's new music out there...wow. Blow me over, or whatever it is that Popeye mutters shortly before knocking the shit out of Bluto. See, I wouldn't know that, mostly because I have some of the most corporate of corporate radio shoved down my throat, and even then, it's nothing new. Sad, but true. A few years ago, all of the radio stations down here underwent format changes. The good classic rock station got turned to country and they stole my beloved Bob & Tom and replaced them with John Boy and Billy. Now, you might think Bob & Tom suck, and I wouldn't be able to argue with you very passionately or for very long, but Bob & Tom compared to John Boy and Billy is like comparing the collective works of Shakespeare to the contents and RDA information on the side of a box of generic Lucky Charms. Also, I will add here, the classic rock format that it was prior to being switched was actually filled with good music from a by-gone era, as in Elton John did not tickle the airwaves in between thunderous anthems by AC/DC and Black Sabbath.

This, of course, left a void on the airwaves for good to decent music. Unfortunately, we had two radio stations that decided to fill that void. One was a new rock/alternative station, the other was an adult alternative station. The new rock station suddenly became the classic rock station, except not. Everything's watered down now, and every third song is Metallica followed by Ozzie Osborne (gotta cling to the popularity of the reality television series, I guess) followed by more Metallica, I think. I don't know. I actually heard Space Odyssey on there the other day, and while I haven't anything against David Bowie--except maybe that his dick is much bigger than mine--it isn't the sort of thing I want to rock out to when I'm feeling angry, bitter, or just like turning the volume up. For some unknown reason (oh wait...we do know...they're lying to us!), the radio station dubbed themselves "96 Rock: Everything that Rocks!", when really they should be called "96 Suck: Everything that Sucks!" Probably won't sell as many t-shirts that way.

The adult alternative station turned over to a classic rock format, as well, except this one is like pussy classic rock. Lots and lots of Elton John. And Queen. But, not like the good Queen, no, we can't have any of that. It's Bohemian Rhapsody. All. The. Fucking. Time. If it's not Sir Elton or Freddy Mercury, we throw the door wide open and let in a lot of arena rock. *shudders* There's a constant mixture of Yes, Boston and Styx with a healthy injection of ELO playing all the fucking time! Again, not that I have anything against Elton John, but seriously, I can't take anymore Tiny Motherfucking Dancer, alright.

The remainder of the dial is littered with oldies (tolerable), 80s--and not the good 80s, either, mind--country (argh), religious (no thanks), jazz (passable, at times), and classical (soporific). As you can see, it's pretty much a radio wasteland down here. This is why I'm pretty much forced to listen to talk radio and sports talk radio. Even then, I can only take those in small amounts because the sports talk guys around here are pretty much douchebags. The only good sports talk personality down here is Bomani Jones, and he takes over during the lunch hour, so I don't even get the pleasure of listening to him.

This all brings me back to Liz's post. I pretty much have to rely on the rest of the world filling me in on the music scene because I am pretty limited on my music sources. Oh, sure, I could get back on the Pandora radio thing--and I just might, when Santa delivers unto me the new computer--but that would be pro-active. I would just rather you guys do all the work and then I can read about your thoughts on the music and then I can go out and sample these things. See how this is? It's give/take: You give; I take. Simple as that.

One final thought on the paucity of good radio around here: You'd think that, if you're such a badass that your on-air personality that you've createded for yourself is "Bob the Blade", you'd sound more like said badass and less like a fourth grader with allergies. Just a thought.

13 comments:

Dr Zibbs said...

That pic at the bottom is a classic.

Gwen said...

We have crap radio here, too, so I rely on iTunes to keep me informed. Every so often I take a $20 over there and look at what's new. I give it all the 30-second try and buy what I like.

I enjoy browsing the celebrity play lists and have found some obscure but excellent stuff that way.

Scope said...

While not as rock'n as you may want, I will throw out listening to WXRT on Thursdays. They stream.

Thursdays is "New Releases Thursday" in the morning where they sprinkle in new stuff about every third/fourth song. And then 9pm (Central) they do "New Noise @ Nine", which is just the new stuff coming out.

~E said...

Please never post that picture of the Wonderwoman ever ever again.

You will be receiving a bill from me in the mail shortly.

For corrective surgery on my burned up pupils.

Chemgeek said...

As one who deals with young college aged students, I used to try to stay on top of the popular music. Around 2004 I decided to stop trying cause it all sucks so bad I can't stand.

When I drive my daughter to school, she always asks to listen to music from when I was a kid. I am teaching her the ways of Rock N Roll.

Hap said...

Sorry - I can't help. Other than Rush and Metallica, I don't like much in the way of anything that anyone else considers good music. I like Staind and Nickelback, for example.

We had a format change at the station I listen to - it went from "all the new rock that labels have compliant deals with" to "all the ten-year old rock we're looking to sell". It's like AC/DC every time I turn on, which as I'm aware could be far worse. Sports radio here for the most part is for those who are recovering from the lobotomies received on local political radio, with interludes for hockey and OSU basketball (which I can't stand). Oh, and when they do have an ESPN person who isn't a moron, there are five-minute breaks for content followed by five minutes of commercials. Um, no thanks. The new music station plays diverse music, most of which I don't like. (YMMV - see above). Of course, I can hear endlessly about the glories of HD radio, where I can get three more channels of crap and endless commercials. Whee!

Of course, most of my music taste is not munchkin-safe. I don't know what to do when she can understand it (well, what else to listen to).

Frank said...

This is why I never listen to the radio anymore. Everything in Chicago is either jazz, which I can tolerate only to a certain point, or day long cry-fests of Fall Out Boy and Dashboard. Pure shit, I tell you.

mike said...

I cant listen to the radio anymore either. Even satellite radio has let me down, when they merged Sirrius and XM, they got rid of all of the good channels on both. Instead of old school rap, now it's all Akon and Rhianna all the time. Luckily, sports radio here in Boston is among the best in the country, but even that gets old with all the on-air hand jobs they give the local teams.

red said...

Yep. Radio everywhere blows.

Mathdude said...

Red stole my line.

LYDIA said...

Have you seen that Lincoln commercial that has the female singing Space Oddity (Ground Control to Major Tom?) - I love that commercial! It's Cat Power's singing, I think she does a pretty good job :)

Leon Basin said...

Why oh Why!!!

Liz said...

I gave up on radio a while ago. I get most of my new music from the Internetz, and friends' suggestions.