Mark Freedman’s Blog

Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

I was reviewing my list of album addictions since 1990, and although I’ve had a hunch that I’ve been leaning towards female vocalists over the past several years, I didn’t realize how strongly that leaning was until now. Here’s a female / male count comparison list, by year, color-coded for dramatic effect. Bands with a relatively even mix (or no vocals) are in the last column:

Interesting, eh? Well, I find it interesting. Baffling.

Since 1998, the totals are 38:15:4. 70% female.
Before 1998, the totals are 19:38:1. 34% female.

A complete turnaround. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why this should be. Is it a statistical anomaly, or a significant pattern?

It may be anomaly, or shifting personal tastes. It appears that the typical range of female vs. male vocalists in people’s music collections are much lower than the inverse of these percentages. And it’s getting harder to find female singers on the charts.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been ignoring the charts and subconsciously giving female artists more of a chance, or if it’s because I’m ignoring male vocalists because I’m growing tired of them. Or are most current male artists sounding like post-grunge monotony or whiny adolescent punks?

Is it that female artists are just not getting their due? Are they just bubbling under? Is it that they’re not getting enough airplay, and the reason they’re so hard to find in music collections is because of a lack of marketing?

I’m not sure what it is, and I don’t have the answers yet. All I know is that I’m completely addicted to female artists lately, and find myself listening so often I begin to question if I’m missing out on the male-dominated bands.

A huge passion of mine is music. Listening… and since 2001, playing. I started learning the guitar when I turned 40, and although I’m still not very good, I picked up enough to enjoy it a lot, and play several times a week. No audience (maybe my wife), but just for my own personal enjoyment. The trigger was U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. I was so excited that they were able to come out with something great again since the slippage of 1997’s Pop.

Because music is the background of my life, I rarely consider it a foreground topic here on my blog. I wonder why that should be? A few times, I considered running some sort of music related blog, posting articles or reviews about some of the more obscure (or not so obscure) artists that I like, to make others aware of them. Some music touches me so deeply that I feel I should help promote them.

I’ve also struggled whether or not I should post articles about music here, or should I have a dedicated blog for different topics. But this is MarkFreedman.com, so I should feel free to post about all my interests. I talked about this in my first post of the year. But I’ve yet to go through with the idea of dedicating a topic for each day of the week. I originally thought that music would be my weekend topic. But sometimes I feel more passionate about music than anything else, so I’d like to not limit it to weekends.

But…

But I don’t think I’m good at writing music reviews. I’ve done several on Amazon.com, but I haven’t in a very long time, because I just don’t feel I use a musical vocabulary very well. Sometimes my album reviews unintentionally turn into hyperbole, because I often choose to write at the peak of my passion for them. I’m better off waiting a few months after my addiction to the album fades.

But I still have the issue of how to write a good review. I’d love to be able to write regularly, and to express my feelings about the music and the artists intelligently. So I started researching articles on how to write a review. (Don’t you hate it when people link every word in a sentence? Aren’t you glad I didn’t link the "a"?)

Until I finish digging through these articles, and feel comfortable enough to post what will likely be a pretty crappy first review, I want to throw out a list of the albums I became addicted to over the past several years. You know — those albums that become the only ones you listen to for a few weeks until you completely play them out? Maybe I’ll end up reviewing a few of these. You’ll recognize several, but there are many more obscure ones just below these which may make more interesting reviews one day. The years don’t necessarily reflect the years I became addicted. They’re the actual release years.

I find it fascinating that my favorite musical years seem to be the early to mid 90s. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, but although I love a lot of stuff from then and earlier, I definitely do not live in the past, and I’m not one of those who think good music ended at that time. That’s complete and utter bull, and I think it’s sad that so many people have missed out on great music quite simply because they’re stuck on just the music they grew up with. Great music is constantly being made, and continues to excite me.

This list is from 1990 on. Each year is sorted by artist (yeah, I sort by first name. So sue me. ). I’ll visit the earlier years in a follow-up article. My favorites of each year are in bold. You’ll notice certain patterns of styles I like. But some will throw you off. Some of these may surprise you. Some may shock you. What may surprise you more are some of the omissions. Good. Musical taste is completely subjective. And that’s one of the traits that make it one of the most amazing things in life.

• 2008 - Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

• 2007 - Alizée - Psychedelices
• 2007 - Angels And Airwaves - I-Empire
• 2007 - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
• 2007 - Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
• 2007 - KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic
• 2007 - Tegan & Sara - The Con
• 2007 - Vanessa Carlton - Heroes And Thieves

• 2006 - Keane - Under The Iron Sea
• 2006 - Killers, The - Sam’s Town
• 2006 - Natasha St. Pier - Longueur d’Ondes
• 2006 - Nina Gordon - Bleeding Heart Graffiti
• 2006 - Pink - I’m Not Dead
• 2006 - Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots

• 2005 - 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie
• 2005 - Coldplay - X&Y
• 2005 - Natalie Imbruglia - Counting Down The Days
• 2005 - t.A.T.u. - Dangerous And Moving
• 2005 - Veronicas, The - The Secret Life Of

• 2004 - Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos
• 2004 - Keane - Hopes & Fears
• 2004 - Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
• 2004 - Killers, The - Hot Fuss
• 2004 - Natasha St. Pier - L’Instant d’Apres
• 2004 - Rachael Yamagata - Happenstance
• 2004 - Tegan & Sara - So Jealous
• 2004 - U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

• 2003 - Alizee - Mes Courants Electriques
• 2003 - Dido - Life For Rent
• 2003 - Evanescence - Fallen
• 2003 - Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will
• 2003 - Julia Darling - Julia Darling
• 2003 - Michelle Branch - Hotel Paper
• 2003 - Nelly Furtado - Folklore
• 2003 - Tegan & Sara - If It Was You

• 2002 - Alanis Morissette - Under Rug Swept
• 2002 - Avril Lavigne - Let Go
• 2002 - Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
• 2002 - Tori Amos - Scarlet’s Walk

• 2001 - Angela Ammons - Angela Ammons
• 2001 - Michelle Branch - The Spirit Room
• 2001 - Natalie Imbruglia - White Lillies Island

• 2000 - Alizee - Gourmandises
• 2000 - Chantal Kreviazuk - Colour And Moving Still
• 2000 - Chumbawamba - What You See Is What You Get
• 2000 - Nina Gordon - Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
• 2000 - Smashing Pumpkins, The - Machina- The Machines Of God
• 2000 - U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind

• 1999 - Danielle Brisebois - Portable Life
• 1999 - James - Millionaires
• 1999 - Julia Darling - Figure 8

• 1998 - Hole - Celebrity Skin
• 1998 - Kent - Isola
• 1998 - Madonna - Ray Of Light
• 1998 - Stretch Princess - Stretch Princess
• 1998 - Tim Janis - Flowers In October
• 1998 - Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel

• 1997 - Chantal Kreviazuk - Under These Rocks And Stones
• 1997 - Chumbawamba - Tubthumper
• 1997 - Cool For August - Grand World
• 1997 - Natalie Imbruglia - Left Of The Middle
• 1997 - Radiohead - OK Computer
• 1997 - Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind

• 1996 - Counting Crows - Recovering The Satellites
• 1996 - Guided By Voices - Under The Bushes Under The Stars
• 1996 - Matchbox Twenty - Yourself Or Someone Like You
• 1996 - Mazzy Star - Among My Swan
• 1996 - Sugarspoon - Sugarspoon
• 1996 - Superdrag - Regretfully Yours

• 1995 - Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
• 1995 - Belly - King
• 1995 - Garbage - Garbage
• 1995 - Juliana Hatfield - Only Everything
• 1995 - Oasis - What’s The Story (Morning Glory)
• 1995 - Radiohead - The Bends

• 1994 - Bush - Sixteen Stone
• 1994 - Heather Nova - Oyster
• 1994 - Danielle Brisebois - Arrive All Over You
• 1994 - Lush - Split
• 1994 - Live - Throwing Copper
• 1994 - R.E.M. - Monster
• 1994 - Oasis - Definitely Maybe
• 1994 - Stiltskin - The Mind’s Eye
• 1994 - Sponge - Rotting Pinata
• 1994 - Tori Amos - Under The Pink
• 1994 - Weezer - Weezer

• 1993 - Belly - Star
• 1993 - Catherine Wheel - Chrome
• 1993 - Counting Crows - August And Everything After
• 1993 - Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet
• 1993 - Dinosaur Jr. - Where You Been
• 1993 - Frank Black - Frank Black
• 1993 - Fury In The Slaughterhouse - Mono
• 1993 - Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
• 1993 - Radiohead - Pablo Honey
• 1993 - Suede - Suede

• 1992 - 10,000 Maniacs - Our Time In Eden
• 1992 - Cure, The - Wish
• 1992 - Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
• 1992 - Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

• 1991 - Billy Bragg - Don’t Try This At Home
• 1991 - Ned’s Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder
• 1991 - R.E.M. - Out Of Time
• 1991 - Roxette - Joyride
• 1991 - Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
• 1991 - This Picture - A Violent Impression
• 1991 - Tribe - Abort
• 1991 - U2 - Achtung Baby
• 1991 - Wonder Stuff, The - Never Loved Elvis

• 1990 - Abandoned Pools - Humanistic
• 1990 - Cars, The - Heartbeat City
• 1990 - Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
• 1990 - Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
• 1990 - Queensryche - Empire
• 1990 - Sinéad O’Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got

Wow. 115 album addictions since 1990. And this year is a slow one. I’m not into some of these albums like I used to be. Remember — this is a list of albums I became addicted to at one time. Some I’ve just played out too much. Some I’ve lost the taste for. Also, I’m sure I’ll still be discovering others from these years that I wasn’t aware of, or I just haven’t given enough attention to, yet.

I also plan on putting together lists of some of my all time favorite songs. Magical songs. As you know all too well, some songs are the only great part of an otherwise crap album. But there are some amazing songs like that.

Save the music.

Some of you may be wondering what happened with our TDD and NUnit experimentation. Well, I had to switch my focus to Continuous Integration, while my development team continued on with NUnit. Despite our initial intention to just use the samples to learn from, they decided to experiment on an actual application of ours. I’ll discuss that and my experiences with CruiseControl.NET and Team City in the near future.

Every so often, we all accidentally come across something incredibly inspirational and touching when we least expect it, and it makes us stop and reevaluate things. I was surfing YouTube looking for some new Tori Amos videos, when I came across some videos created by a music teacher named Gregg from P.S. 22 in NYC. He taught his 5th grade students Tori Amos songs, including some of her best from her latest album, and he and his chorus are amazing. But the best part is what happened on May 4th in front of the Sony studio. Tori actually took time off from promoting her album to meet, watch and sing with the chorus. They actually moved her to tears. Watch all of the videos, including, most definitely, the reactions from the students on the bus after the experience. Kids are wonderful. We can learn a lot about life and gratitude from them. Remember being their age and loving life so much?

I wish I had a teacher like Gregg when I was in 5th grade. Damn, I wish I had a teacher like Gregg now.

http://youtube.com/user/agreggofsociety

Those who really know me know that my second favorite band is Tegan & Sara (even people who don’t know me know my favorite band). So one release I’ve been looking forward to this year is their latest — The Con. So Jealous, released in 2004, is one of my all time favorites, and what got me into them. Actually, hearing Where Does The Good Go on Pandora.com is what really got me going. Pandora is awesome, by the way…

But I have to say that my first impression of The Con was not very glowing. From what I read, I expected something a little more raw, which is fine by me, since I love their first two albums, which are also quite raw. So I figured this may take repeated listenings.

I was right.

My wife calls them “Alvin & The Chipmunks”, and I can’t say she’s too far off with the sound The first time I listened to the new album was in her car, which was playing with fire, because I knew I’d have to turn it off quickly and turn XM back on. Nope — she’s not a fan. I guess T & S are an acquired taste. But I had just finished downloading the album (uh — did I mentioned it was leaked a couple of months before the release date? Real fans scour the Web for leaks, and we still buy the CD the day it’s released — please don’t kill me ), and we had to leave the house right away, so I just had to throw it on the iPod…

Back to the album…

It’s definitely a grower. It took about 5 to 10 listens, but it finally took. I’m a bit surprised how many other fans took to it right away, since it is not immediately accessible at all. There are still a few songs that I’m still trying to get, but I don’t feel the urge to skip them. Once these songs become my new best friends (and once the album is officially released), I’ll write a full review on Amazon. For now, just consider this post a recommendation for The Con, and Tegan & Sara, in general. If you get a chance, look them up on YouTube. They are great live, and they are very funny. Their stage banter is worth admission.

There has been a lot of talk about the Vertigo Tour setlists so far, maybe too much talk…

As someone pointed out in this thread, the only people who really care much about the setlist from day to day are the bootleg traders. It’s the experience that counts.

Since more people than ever are now bootleg traders, it’s no wonder there’s been too much talk about this.