Play that Funky Music

I fancy myself pretty in tune with a lot of different music genres. (Oh how punny am I?) But I feel like I'm late to the party with a lot of bands. Like, Neutral Milk Hotel. They disbanded before the turn of the century, and I just discovered them a year or two ago. It's not that I was busy listening to top 40 radio, it's that I'll get really into a new band and kind of immerse myself in them, and then when I come up for air, I've missed other amazing bands. It's hard to keep up. There is a lot of amazing music out there. And with the all the technology, more people are making music and getting it out there than ever before.

I grew up listening to classic standards like The Beach Boys and The Beatles. My parents were music lovers, so there was always something good coming out of the stereo. My favorite band was The Beach Boys. They were my first concert, and my parents actually met Mike Love and Al Jardine when they went to take a smoke outside before the concert started. I was so jealous. They got their autographs, and I really hope that I still have it somewhere.

In the 2nd grade, if we passed our spelling test on the first try, we were allowed free time while the kids who didn't pass had to retake the test. Being a smart cookie, I passed and raced to the tape player with my Catch a Wave cassette in hand. Clunky, blue headphones on, I started jamming to "Fun, Fun, Fun" and was really getting into it, when I was tapped on the shoulder by my teacher Mrs. Heck. Apparently, I had been singing aloud, and was disturbing the rest of the class as they tried to spell words like "autumn" and "bicycle." Morons. The whole class laughed at me, and my face went a bright crimson, but I didn't abandon my love of Carl Wilson's lovely falsetto on "God Only Knows" or Brian's knack for writing a perfect pop song. I'm not going to lie, I got really into NKOTB, Tiffany and Milli Vanilli during that same time. But affairs come and go, true love lasts forever.

In high school, I opted for rock bands like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who, and Led Zeppelin. I also got really into Jimmy Buffett and Dave Matthews Band. I'm going to stand by my love of Jimmy Buffett, because he has some pretty great songs if you get past the dreck that is "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "Margaritaville." Take a listen to "Biloxi" and "In the Shelter." Both are on the Changes in Latitudes album, and both are close to my heart. Listening to Jimmy Buffett reminds me of family road trips to Florida in our big Chevy Beauville van, that we called "Old Blue." Dad had a standard mixed tape that he'd pop in for the 18 hour ride, and it included a lot of Jimmy Buffett, The Beach Boys and The Byrds. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I'm headed down to Florida myself on Saturday, might have to pay a little tribute.

In college, the birth of Napster, Scour, and Kazaa and befriending different friends with different music tastes broadened my horizons. Now, I subscribe to emusic.com, which allows me to download 50 songs a month for around $12. There, I've been introduced to Bon Iver, Magnetic Fields, Ryan Adams, Blonde Redhead, Of Montreal, Old Crow Medicine Show, and one of my new favorites: The Decemberists. But I still feel like I'm missing out.

Is there anything anyone thinks I should be listening to? My loves range from Talking Heads to George Michael, back to Ben Folds to Willie Nelson to Heart. I'll take a listen to just about anything, and I'll probably end up liking it. What do you have for me, Internet?


Now playing: "Knights of Cydonia" by Muse