On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:34:09 -0500, Alex Rodriguez
wrote:

In article ,
says...


On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 18:09:31 GMT, "Michael McKelvy"
wrote:


By the same token, the music companies produce
work that sells, so if it's crap, it's none the less crap people are
wanting to own.

They have a target market. The 12 to 14 year olds. There seems to be little
product aimed at grown folks.

You're just not trying hard enough.
There's tons of interesting stuff out there right now.

How does one try harder? You could run out and buy a lot of crap until you
find the good stuff, but that only serves to encourage the record companies
to put out more crap. You could try listening to the radio, but most stations
only play 30 or so songs over and over again. It's not as easy as one would
think it would be. This is thanks to the few companies that own so many
stations that only play the same 30 or so songs on all their stations.
--------------
Alex

Frankly, I find out about great music by subscribing to a few selected
mailing lists for musicians that I really like. The three that I'm
currently subscribed to are populated by people whose taste in music
I've learned to generally trust for the most part. I've found out
about so much great music through those lists. I especially wait for
the inevitable top ten of the previous year lists that flourish about
this time of year. Sure, it takes a little work to read enough posts
to find out which posters you can trust for their opinion. But if
you're interested enough in a couple of artists, then the time spent
isn't a burden, because you'll enjoy talking about that artists with
others.

I also check out certain channels on Sirius Radio, since I get some of
their channels on Dish Network. There are some surprisingly
adventurous channels out there.

Also, I have the local college station (where I first heard one of my
fav albums of 2003, Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie, for
example). You might not have that advantage though.

It also helps to go to a few shows, where you might catch someone like
Teitur opening up for Glenn Tilbrook. Teitur is from the Faroe Islands
and his debut album is just lovely (go to http://www.teitur.com/ and
get to the area where you can hear his music. If you don't fall in
love with the song Jospehine, then you've just got no heart).

Lowell George's daugher Inara, has a new album coming out soon. You
can hear the ENTIRE album streamed on her site until the release date:

www.inarageorge.com

Great album!

Also, there's just talking to friends who are into music. If you have
a cool independent record store in your town, you should befriend some
of the clerks, or even the owner. They'll turn you on to some great
stuff.

I don't know what kind of music you like, but some of the good things
that have come out recently (and even in the past couple of years)
a

The Finn Brothers (the dudes from Crowded House and Split Enz)
Sondre Lerche
Elvis Costello (who also released a classical album simultaneously
with a rock album)
The Shins
The Pernice Brothers
Glenn Tilbrook (from Squeeze)
Jill Sobule
Joseph Arthur
Queens of the Stone Age
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists
Aimee Mann (her album Lost in Space is wonderful)
Modest Mouse
Elliot Smith
Wilco
Bjork
Todd Snider
Madonna (!)
Morissey
Ryan Adams
The Jayhawks
The Arcade Fire
R.L. Burnside
North Mississippi All-Stars
Jon Spenser Explosion
Shawn Colvin
The Darkness
Ron Sexsmith
The Fountains of Wayne
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
Nick Lowe
Nellie Mackay
Iris Dement
Phantom Planet
Drive-By Truckers
Neko Case
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Weakerthans
Venus Hum
Eytan Mirsky
Features
Los Lobos
Los Lonely Boys
Rufus Wainwright
Lucinda Williams
Holly Williams
Peter Himmelman
Jerry Douglas (the great dobro player released a great album a couple
of years ago that even has some fusion type stuff on it as well as a
guess appearance from James Taylor who wrote a great song for him).

And I didn't even mention the kitsch break out of last year, Franz
Ferdinand. Or even the new wave of retro groups like The Hives, The
Strokes and the like (which I haven't really warmed up to all that
much).

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Sure, my list is weighted
heavily toward left-of-center pop, but I could add dozens of artists
in other genres.

You might not like a lot of these artists, but you can't complain that
they're homogenized and over-processed or aimed at 13 year olds. And,
guess what, it's really easy to check out many of these artists from
the comfort of your own home. Go to either Amazon or www.allmusic.com
.. Both of those sites have plenty of clips from virtually all of those
artists. Also, many of those artists have either clips or full songs
to preview on their own. Also, most of these artists have multiple
albums in the past couple of years worth checking out. Allmusic is
especially good for following connections once you find a group that
you like, because they have links to "related artists". And they know
their music.

No, there's no real excuse for finding out about new music. It's far
easier than in the past and I have no problem finding interesting
music. The problem I have is *buying* all of the great music that's
out there.