This is more than just background noise.

Music is a huge part of my life. I had a few years of piano lessons as a child, and I played clarinet for a while (third string out of 2 players), but many years ago I realized that no matter how much I love music I simply am more of an audience than performer. The production aspects do appeal to my nerdy side, but that is an avenue for future pursuits.

I have rather wide ranging interests in music, although there are certain kinds I cannot stand. Hip hop has probably been my most longstanding broad interest, starting I was introduced to Public Enemy my first year of college by my ex, Dino.

My favorite artist, bar none, is P.J. Harvey, apparently to the chagrin of all my friends, who cannot stand her. I think what I love most is how terribly raw she is. I just want to climb inside the music. Mostly this just leads to me turning it up loud enough to damage my ears.

Since I was at pole, I've been in a much more downbeat kind of mood, starting with Massive Attack and Portishead, and, of course, Tricky. This bleeds over into Bjork, Morcheeba, The Controls, Goldfrapp, and Cat Power. Other hip hop bands:

While in grad school in Minnesota, I stumbled into a crazy scandanavian music scene that I can't get enough of. Much of it seems to be coming out on one label, North Side. There is a huge movement afoot that is combining traditional scandanavian music--both tunes and instruments--with modern equipment and style. It has an amazing energy. The experimental music scene in Reykjavik is out of control in a very good way. For good old fashioned rock, I tend to lean towards, hmm, female vocalists, apparently. When I'm down I tend to pick some ultra downbeat or Sigur Ros. When I'm just a little melancholy, I might put on Skip James, R.L. Burnside, Muddy Waters, or John Lee Hooker. Or I might have a classical day, although the term Baroque would probably be more accuate, as I tend to select Bach, Albinoni, Vivaldi, and Sainte Colombe. I spent two years living in the home of the riot grrl music scene, Olympia, Washington. And then, about a year after I moved away, I really got into riot grrl music, especially on Kill Rock Stars and Chainsaw. I don't think I've ever gotten over the opportunity I missed to be involved with some of those early bands.
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