My Relationship to Music Part IV

In this time I'd serious relationship to industrial, glam-grunge rock(?), death metal, and jam bands like Nine Inch Nails (Year Zero was released), Janes Addiction (thanks to my friend B.), Death, Decapitated (various friends like O.), and The Grateful Dead - actually, with the the dead I've been listening to them for years now but my brother re-enlivened my dead spirit and now I have quite a collection of live boots. Anyways, this would all change at the outset of the summer of 07 with the road trip to Bonnaroo in Manchester. It revolutionized the way I looked at music and its eclectic group of musicians really held water for me. I particularly enjoyed Tool, Clutch, The Black Keys, The White Stripes, and Superjam. Most people, or so I've been told, have been turned off to the festival because of its widening popularity and big name artists that are coming in this year, and I say fuck 'em...it adds to the dimensions, and if you don't like kanye west or metallica then just go to another tent. There's plenty of them. Actually I'm happy that there're some big named acts that I'm not as intrigued to see because that will allow me to spend more time on all the great groups I missed out last year due to my ignorance. I also broadened my horizons and got into The Flaming Lips, which gave one of the best stage shows I've ever seen.Anyways, over the summer I saw a number of big named artists such as Perry Ferrell and Satellite Party and Rush and I went to a Death Metal Festival in Allentown which had my ears ringing after eight hours. I was happy to see some artists that I was familiar with (Decapitated, Bury Your Dead), and also saw my friend O's band play and that was pretty awesome to know someone on stage. Going back to school for my 2nd year was interesting musically because I decided to take a jazz history class, and my eyes were wide and willing. The biggest thing that came of that was an absolute fascination for Miles Davis (I did a whole report on him) and the ideas of Free Jazz, Ornette Coleman, and the whole Bop/Post Bop era of Jazz. My how do I love my jazz now, it really made me appreciate a language once foreign to my ears.Somewhere around the same time, my exploration into Indian classical music began after a viewing of Monterrey Pop 1967 with the finale of Ravi Shankar having me completely mesmerized and an absolute raving lunatic. I also got to see The Smashing Pumpkins and for about a month or two I listened to every one of their albums incessantly.That was somewhere around december 07 and since then I've begun working my way around the cracks of my collection - listening to trip hop, post rock, jazz, jam, metal and all shapes and forms of it, classic rock, pop, indian, hindi, avant garde, grunge, alt rock, ect. Just recently my pianist friend's turned me onto Ben Folds so I went through a period of listening to him. I got to see The Mars Volta in Philie and they gave the greatest performance honestly, that I've ever seen. I got to meet Cedric and Ikey backstage and it kicked ass. I obsessed about them as well especially their new album.These are other interests in recent times: Janis Joplin, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Robert Johnson, Janes Addiction, Iron & Wine, Widespread Panic, Cold Blood, Regina Specktor, Bumblefoot, Most recently I've been obsessive about Current 93, and everything about them. Also, John Rutter's Gloria, which, as mentioned earlier, we're singing in Choir right now. At the moment I'm listening to The Flaming Lips and one of their new albums just recently acquired. So, that's my history with music thus far in my 19 year old shell. My road's just begun. Thanks for reading.