“OMG, you listen to WHAT?!”

Call Me Maybe – One of the catchiest songs in the past ten years…

This song follows Pop Music Hooks 101 – Rule #3: “When in doubt, add strings.” Now I am not exactly the target demographic for this song, but damn if it won’t get out of my head! I’m sure half the world is going to hate this thing in a couple of weeks, but right now? Yeah, it is stuck in Trent’s head.

Poor wittle innocent pop song:(

Some of you are probably asking yourselves: “Why the f*ck did Trent post about some teen pop song?” I love music, and always have. It affects me like little else, save reading and writing. It speaks to something primal in all of us, regardless of what particular type of music we listen to.

But mainly I wanted to write about something not quite so heavy. Don’t worry though – heavy and dark will be back very soon 🙂

One of the first things I like to ask when I’m getting to know someone is what kind of music they like. Perhaps I am guilty of being a tad overanalytical, but I’ve always felt it gave me a tiny glimpse at what kind of person they might be. Now, that said, I make sure not to make generalizations or assumptions about people based on what they listen to. Taste is subjective. One man’s masterpiece is another man’s emetic.

What got me thinking about music was when I was going through my phone, updating the songs on it. Yes, I stream – a LOT (Pandora, I heart thee) – but I also buy quite a bit of music. All digital downloads of course; I am struggling to recall the last time I actually purchased a CD. And while I was updating my playlist, I was struck anew at the bat poop crazy range of music that is on my phone.

You’ll never hear me criticize the music others choose to listen to, mainly because for me to do so would be akin to the pot calling the kettle black. Perhaps there are others out there like me – maybe this is the new normal in an increasingly specialized and subdivided entertainment culture – but my musical tastes are…schizophrenic. You’ll find anything from metal to country, Debussy to Deftones. There’s New Age (yes, really), pop, gangsta rap, trance, trip hop, ambient, etc. There’s even a super trippy, long form yoga composition(!), complete with spoken word segments mentioning the stars – and I don’t even do yoga. The point is, I’m all over the place.

Now, my personal favorite band is TOOL. I can’t pick out a favorite song of theirs – there are just too many. I can narrow it down to a few though:

– Reflection – These guys managed to create a song that’s dark, serpentine, even thoughtful – and sneak in cool references to the story of Narcissus from Greek mythology. The fact that this song does all of this without being pretentious is simply amazing.

– Lateralus – The title track from their nearly flawless album released in 2001. This is one of my favorites due mainly to an incredible arrangement, complicated time signature and a stunning, soul-stirring finale. This song is eleven years old and it still gives me chills.

– 10,000 days – Wings for Marie (Part 2) – Written by lead singer Maynard James Keenan as a sort of elegy (no, I did NOT confuse this with ‘eulogy’) for his disabled mother following her death. It’s so powerful, so heartbreaking, and, ultimately, supremely uplifting. This is a moving, incredible gem of a song that will make you want to give your mom a huge hug.

There is a lot of other music I love, but I am boring you all at this point. I would really love to know what music you guys like to listen to, what moves you. Please feel free to comment, or send me an e-mail if that’s more comfortable for you. Until next time:)

Trent