Music is basically everything to me. I listen to loads and loads, and listen to genres of all makes and models. But like Miss Bungle did, I'll go through the artists I consider "landmarks" in my life and my musical timeline.
Herbie Hancock/Miles David/John Coltrane – Around 6th or 7th grade my dad played the Headhunters LP for me, and it was love at first listen. I went out and bought Takin' Off and it really opened my eyes to how vastly different jazz could be. Miles Davis, well, he ruled my life for a while. I dug my teeth into anything I could, I bought his albums of every era and loved it all (minus that 80s era of flops). My collection to this day is still majoritively Miles Davis. John Coltrane... As someone who plays saxophone, anyone who can play chords on one instantly becomes a god to you. And now, as someone who as a much larger taste for the avante garde and "noiser" music, his later work is absolutely mind-blowing and ahead of its time.
Then, simultaneously....
Rage Against the Machine, the Clash, Against Me! – so in junior high I was seen as the anti-social jazz kid who had the political ethics of a punk. The above mentioned bands are where that political energy came from. Today I plan on majoring in political science in college. Sandinista! From the Clash in particular remains one of my all time favorites. And of course when Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! came out as trans my connection to the band became all the more deep.
Then...
Radiohead/Radiohead/Radiohead – My explanation for this? Radiohead. Kid A... Holy smokes, it was powerful, and today it remains one of the most powerful albums in terms of its impact on my life. Not to mention the rest of their incredible discog. I like to impress myself by thinking that I even own their solely Japanese release COM-LAG. Gahh. This band truly paved the road that I am now on today.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – the first song I heard from this band was Providence. I remember being absolutely mesmerized by the noises I was listening to... I couldn't believe instruments could create such a soundscape... It wasn't until I saw live footage that I was like "Oh yeah, this is a band, with string players, and guitarists".
Stravinsky – my initial foot into actual passion for orchestral works. I actually attempted to perform all of the Rite of Spring on the computer using MIDI controllers, but it proved vastly too difficult.
This past year was pretty rough for me... To stay positive I would resort to electronic music. Not really positive... I moreso used EDM as the means to get my feelings out. But aside from the deadmau5 and Daft Punk (before it was cool ;P ), and other house artists, my taste reached its most abstract and "out there". I listened to The Seer by Swans over and over again. It's still soon to say, but I definitely think that will be up there with Kid A, Sandinista, and Lift Yr. Skinny Fists. I also listened to all of Somnium, a 7 hour abstract album. And one week I listened to the whole SIgur Ros discog which was completely new to me. I can already tell that that too will one day be a huge nostalgia kick. Also, I discovered Penderecki, who has probably earned a seat next to Stravinsky in my musical palace. So this year (especially since downloading spotify) I lived off wild/abstract/noisy/beautiful artwork (or what I consider artwork) and EDM.
DEFINITELY not all the music I listen to, but these are the "Musical Titans" in my life.
