Music (Cantaloupe Island)

I first discovered jazz when I was in my high school's choir. I loved its ease, its sense of pure emotion, and how absolutely fun it is. No wonder that I fell in love with pianist Herbie Hancock and one of his signature songs, "Cantaloupe Island."

The piano seems so at ease, controlled yet unpredictable. There are moments that the trumpet seems to be laughing, because this piece is so fun and it's hard to contain it.

Hancock is known for his experimental style and pushing jazz into new directions, but I mostly just love his classical jazz style, which is super cool and smooth.

Music (Dr. Worm)

Speaking of funny, They Might Be Giants are a wonderfully creative band. They've been around since the early 80s and they just don't seem to care what normal songs are about and they write off-the-wall stuff like "Dr. Worm:"



One thing I love about TMBG is that they do a lot of educational music, which I like. But its more than just songs for kids. They have a fun sound and their music isn't pretentious. It's stupid sometimes, but it's okay for music to be stupid sometimes. And TMBG were kind enough to remind us about that.

Music (Fat)

Weird Al Yankovic is the king of parodies, and even though "Amish Paradise" has been his biggest hit, "Fat" has always been my favorite.



I should point out that I have made a point not to include any music videos for the songs that I've written about so far. I wanted the music to be the focus and not have anything take away from that, but I don't think that this video takes away from the laughs, but adds to them, especially when compared to the original.

Music (Go With The Flow)

Now that my musical journey is over (or at least current), I decided to continue the topic of music by simply writing about songs that are meaningful to me or that I simply like.

While Allison and I were dating, her little brother, Tom, was given the video game Rock Band as a gift one Christmas. Allison and I played through the game (on easy, I think) with her on vocals and me on the guitar controller (occasionally Tom would join in on drums). One song that I had heard before, but never enjoyed until that first play through, was the Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With The Flow":



We both really liked it. I liked its fast pace and use of guitars. I also liked the lyrics, how they seem a bit bizarre, but you can hear the theme of regret and longing (the lines towards the end, "I want a new mistake / Loses more than hesitates" work especially well). I searched out some of their other songs and I really liked what I found.

Who knew that a video game would change my taste in music?

Music

So, now that I have a favorite band, that means that my musical journey is over, right? Well, that's the complicated thing about personal development: it never seems to stop. When I decided that Beck was my favorite musician, it helped me define something about myself that I felt needed to be defined. But now, I'm less certain that I need that definition.

As I've gotten older, I've tried to explore other kinds of music. (Did you know that jazz can be very cool? I kind of did, but I never had jazz on my playlist prior to this year.) Through that exploration, I've discovered that sometimes the song I want to listen to is heavy or light or somber or happy or fast or slow and that if I keep going to Beck for all of those moods, I'll be limiting myself.

I still think Beck is my favorite musician, but I don't think it's as important to have a favorite band as it was when I was younger. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm married and nearly done with school and I feel like I know who I am and where I am going more than I have in the past. Maybe I was a bit lost in other areas, so having a favorite band was necessary to make up for that. Maybe not. Whatever the reason, I've progressed past that and now I don't feel the need to have a favorite.

And that's quite liberating.

Music (Missing)

Beck's music was fun, but it wasn't until I really listened to "Missing" that I connected with his music.



First off, this is a samba, which is weird for a rock/folk/alternative musician to produce. But it works. The lyrics are melancholy, but they're the kinds of feelings that everyone has experienced: you're living your life and doing the best you can, but something just isn't quite right and you can't figure out what it is; all you know is something is missing.

It's a beautiful song and to this day it's my favorite Beck song, who just so happens to be my favorite musician (can I call him a band? He has a band that he performs with, under the title, Beck, so does that make them the band Beck? Whatever.) With this song, something that was missing for me (having a favorite band) was now restored. As strange as it may sound, I felt complete in a way that I hadn't for a long time.

Music (Loser)

And that brings us to Beck.



This is Beck's first big hit, "Loser." The song, like the musician, is a bit strange. The verses are rapped, the chorus is a combination of English and Spanish, the lyrics are fairly nonsensical, and it employs the use a zither. It's like nothing else.

The funny thing about "Loser" is that it's a hit from the early 90s and I'd heard it many times before I discovered it. I remember Ian and I were seeing who could learn the words to this song first (why we chose this song, I don't know) and I got both verses down in a couple of days. It turns out that I liked the song.

Then I started checking out other songs by Beck. I liked how he didn't follow the same patterns that other artists did. There were certainly elements that appeared in his songs that were recognizable, but he changed it up with the sounds that he produced. I also liked that the emotion of the song was clear, even if the lyrics were incredibly esoteric.

(Plus I think it's cool that he has a guy in his band who just seems to dance.)

There was something that I really liked about this music and I listened to it more and more.

Music (Old Man)

The funny thing about downloading music is sometimes you download the wrong song. And sometimes that song is about twelve kinds of awesome. This is how I discovered the John Butler Trio with their song, "Old Man."



The John Butler Trio is an Australian band with a super unique sound. I was blown away by this song and I continue to listen to it regularly. I was so impressed with this song and others that I decided that this was my new band. Then I heard how politically charged many of their songs are and I realized that I couldn't get behind them as much as I thought.

Music (The Distance)

When I realized that I was no longer into the heavy stuff that I had defined myself with, I went searching for something that new that fit. I got some guidance from Ian (again), but also I really listened to the alternative rock station for something I could connect with. Cake's "The Distance" seemed like a nice place to start.



It has emotion, it has an almost spoken quality, it has trumpets, and it has distorted guitars. This is easily the heaviest song by Cake, but its one of many songs about cars, for whatever reason. I liked the honesty of the band, singing about relationships and real life stuff, not disconnected lyrics about war or destruction (like Metallica), plus they have a unique sound that isn't found with other bands. (Plus, Cake is the only band that has been brought up in Sunday School with their song "Sheep Go to Heaven.")

Even though I liked Cake, I don't think I ever really considered them to be my new favorite band. I liked them, but they didn't quite fit. The search continued.

Music (Prayer)

During my obsession with Metallica, I encountered another band that caught my attention because they were even angrier: Disturbed. I should warn you that the following song is really heavy and I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing in preparation for this post. There is no offensive language, but you may be offended by "Prayer."



I am very surprised that I could even listen to that, let alone that I liked it. And this is much less heavy than the band's first album, The Sickness. Obviously, I've calmed down since then.