Beck - The Radio Trump Card
In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.
In the time of iTunes, MP3 players, and podcasts, I was a radiophile...which really isn't a word, so the case could be made that I don't exist. But I digress...
Music has become infinitely customizable. MP3 players allow one to put exactly the music collection in their libraries and playlists that they want to hear. Music stores like iTunes make it possible for one to purchase just the songs they want to hear, instead of purchasing an entire album. Video didn't kill the radio star...computers did.
Don't get me wrong...I'm not advocating a change back to the covered wagon or anything like that. I own an MP3 player, and I've used it about 4 times. I've purchased songs from iTunes...the free ones I get from Mountain Dew caps.
What I'm trying to say is that I prefer the organized chaos and randominity of radio as opposed to having complete control of everything I listen to. For one, it introduces me to new music I would not otherwise hear. And it allows me to listen to music I either don't typically listen to, or forgot that I like.
I have ten preset music radio stations in my car that I rotate between. They range from light rock to hard rock, Christian to top 40. I will generally stop on a station if I know a song and like it, depending on my mood. But there is one artist that I will always stop for, no matter what. If I know that he's coming up in the next few songs, I will listen to songs I'm not particularly fond of just to listen to his songs. His name is Beck Hansen. He is the radio trump card.
I considered other bands for this honor, but they just didn't live up to it. U2 was in consideration, but some of their stuff I have to be in the right mood for, and their Pop album wasn't that great. Coldplay crossed my mind as well, but I still haven't forgiven them for Yellow, which might be one of the most insufferable songs released in the last decade. Smashing Pumpkins almost made the cut, but they have too few songs in the rotation now. Also, if you put up a Beck song to any song of those previous three artists, I would always to the Beck song.
Consider these songs, listed off the top of my head...Loser, Where It's At, Devil's Haircut, Lost Cause, and my personal favorite, New Pollution. For me, that's hard to top.
I would close with a cheesy tag line...but it's just not in me.
5 comments:
First, I absolutely agree that Beck is a radio trump card. However, I, personally, would also put Foo Fighters and possibly Nirvana in the same category of "waiting for them to come on." My issue with the radio is that you have to wait through a long portion of crap to get anything resembling a good song. It's just not worth it for me to hear that one song/band in the hundred songs that they've played that is new that I like. In fact, the best new band that I've discovered in the past year wasn't through the radio, but that's another post ;-).
It's just so easy to create a playlist of songs/artists that I know I like in iTunes and carry it with me wherever I go. That way, I'm sure that I'll have good music.
I echo what Ryan said about Pandora. Fantastic site. Completely free (for now) and legal.
Secondly, I take the whole Christian/Secular music debate like I do many things. It's up to the individual Christian. If someone who used to be heavliy into the metal music scene and would be tempted to slide back into that lifestyle through listening to that music, they should probably avoid it. As that person's Christian brother, I wouldn't listen to that music around them. One Christian feels that it's okay to have a beer with the football game on a Sunday. Another doesn't feel it's right to drink at all. The first person probably shouldn't have their beer around the second person.
For a Scriptural reference on this, please see Romans 14
Awesome...I get the award for first post to generate a string of comments that had nothing to do with the post! Sweet! Thanks lumpy. :o)
I also made said mistake of getting rid of secular music. Some of which I have re-purchased. Most I just pine for. It is up to the individual Christian. This is a tougher issue than some, because music is so personal. I basically echo the things that Ryan and Kamp have said. So really, I'm just wasting space. As usual.
I like the idea of a radio trump card "you're fired Dan Gladden." There are alot of people I would "Trump."
I also would add the following bands as ones that I will wait for (and ultimately disappointed by when the actual song comes one): Nirvana, Pearl Jam (I am a bit sick of the song Jeremy), Beck, Beastie Boys (actually no body plays them), System of a Down (I suppose I shouldn't admit to that one)and Rage against the Machine and Jessica Simpson.
Oh and blah blah - secular music.. burning discs at AFLBS... Blah. I agree with everything that everyone has ever said on this topic because I have believed and followed everything that has ever been said. I just remember one time after a class with Mrs C where she talked about "beat" and "Rythm" for the whole class period that Paco when up in his room and put in Project 86 and turned it up to "11." That was great...
Regarding the "Christian"/"secular" debate, I would highly recommend reading Franky Schaeffer's Addicted to Mediocrity: 20th Century Christians and the Arts. He makes a number of excellent points regarding this very subject.
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