Music Music Nerds

Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about it? I supposedly did all the right things to secure a sound footing in the working world, but then technology, greed and a host of other things conspired against me. Even though I'm fully employed at the moment (after nearly three years of not being so), I still don't feel secure. Yet, when it comes to music, I know no bounds. I'd spend money on music first and skip food. I actually did that a few years ago on a road trip to see Steven Wilson in Chicago and Cincinnati with friends. I just didn't buy groceries for three weeks and ate a lot of rice, beans and whatever else was in the cupboards. :D
 
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I'm the same way. Music is my second largest non-essential expense, the first being books. I feel like I've got a lot make up for after being unemployed and hand-to-mouthing it across the south for almost half a decade.
 
Music and books are my top expenses as well, and then traveling, which mostly goes hand-in-hand with music. I have been spending with (my version of) abandon on that stuff since I got my full-time job after missing out during those lean years.
 
I don't regret those years, though. I turned to music as a coping mechanism to help keep myself as close to sane as I get. If I'd been working, I don't think I'd be in the same place musically.
 
^^^Agree. Music saved me big-time. When I listen to music or go to a show, I can forget everything else going on. It gets 100 percent of my focus. It was during those years that I became a Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree fan, and I really branched out into other genres from that. His Bass Communion got me into other ambient and drone music as well. I started getting into more electronica, too. I would sometimes read his playlist and not know one single artist on it, but I'd check them all out and see what I liked.
 
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Used to play a game called Follow the Artist where I'd start with someone I already liked and follow the influences to see where I ended up at. I came across a lot of good stuff that way. I mean, I could start with Andrew Bird and end up at Mark Lanegan. I don't really have time to do it much anymore, but it was fun.
 
I discovered Cowboy Junkies through the lead singer of Strapping Young Lad. It really is funny and amazing to me who likes what type of music or artists. I mean, I know human nature, but I wouldn't have expected to get there from here, you know? It'd be like discovering George Strait likes Cradle of Filth.
 
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Exactly! I wouldn't have expected James Hetfield to like Tom Jones, for instance, but he's a huge fan. Here's one of the biggest names in metal and he was nervous to meet him because he was such a big fan. Tom Jones Live! was the first record album I ever owned. I got it for my 10th birthday. It was like I'd struck gold. :)
 
^^^ I ordered mine yesterday! I splurged on the deluxe package to get the demos. The shipping was ridiculous, and normally, I might have just gone for the standard package, but I got a little bonus from work so I threw caution to the wind. So cannot wait for this!

Are you loving it? I just got this last week (Steven Wilson's - The Raven that refused to sing). Such beautiful work.

The video is amazing too.

 
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^^^Yes, I am. I have been listening to it daily. I haven't watched the video yet, as I've been so entrenched in listening to it, but I'm sure I will at some point. I'm at work, otherwise, I'd watch it right now. :D.
 
Anyone else on here a fan of Intronaut? Seriously, check out their new album if you like your prog a little sludgy.

 
So I have just come off a couple of weeks of outstanding live music. I saw Alice In Chains and Soundgarden twice each, and they rocked hard. I went to Milwaukee for one of the Alice shows (I was meeting lots of music friends there), and we got an extra new song called "Phantom Limb" because Jerry Cantrell said Milwaukee crowds are consistently awesome. I couldn't agree more. This is the fourth time I've seen a show in Milwaukee, and the crowds are just insanely enthusiastic. What a difference from CT crowds. It's a wonder anyone wants to play in CT, lol. Still, all the shows were badass, and Phantom Limb was wicked heavy live. My new AIC album should be coming in the mail Tuesday. I have refused to listen to any clips or anything on line, save for the songs that have already been played on the radio or live (Hollow, Stone); I want to listen to it in all its glory Tuesday night (if it actually comes on time, haha). I still can't get behind much of the new Soundgarden stuff, but live, that band is ridiculous. Matt Cameron was a beast on the drums. I don't know how he does it. And Chris Cornell sounded fantastic. "Beyond the Wheel" is a sick song, and he so nailed it.

Ok, enough babbling/gushing :D
Next up: Metallica and Jane's Addiction (plus many other bands) at the Orion Festival in Detroit.