Top Ten Bands and More

[vovat]

I saw something interesting on the bulletin board in the break room. It was a map of the United States, showing what the preferred term for a soft drink was in different parts of the country. I remember when I went to college in western Pennsylvania, I thought it was weird that people said "pop." According to the map, most of the country by area says "pop," but "soda" is used in the northeast and in California, where many major metropolitan areas are. "Soda" was also used in parts of Illinois and Missouri, Hawaii, and northern Alaska. Most of the South just calls everything "Coke." Pennsylvania was pretty much split in half, I think, so it makes sense that everybody says "soda" where I live, and "pop" where I went to school. I still think "soda" is the CORRECT term, however. {g}

Anyway, I said I was going to say more about my musical tastes, and while I'm sure no one is interested, I might as well keep my word.

I don't listen to music by genre, but there's a certain sameness (if that's a word) to most of what I listen to, beyond what I already pointed out about its being by English-speaking white people. If I had to sum it up, I like stuff that's weird but catchy. As for lyrics (and I'm very much into lyrics), I like stuff that's somewhat intellectual, heavy on references, and full of wordplay. Being led by a song to do research is a good thing, I think. I also appreciate a sense of humor, whether overt or more subtle. Those are the main factors I look for, I guess. I don't know that it's always done consciously, though. If you know of any bands that you think fit my criteria, I'd be glad to hear about them. I'm always looking to expand my narrow musical horizons (Or at least I WOULD be, if it weren't so expensive.)

My top ten bands and/or artists would probably be somewhere along the lines of:

1. They Might Be Giants (obviously)
2. XTC
3. Frank Black/Pixies
4. Young Fresh Fellows/Minus Five
5. Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker
6. "Weird Al" Yankovic
7. Moxy Früvous
8. Tori Amos
9. Hypnotic Clambake
10. Neko Case (thanks to Beth)

Whenever I do a list like this, I always point out that it's subject to change at any moment, although I guess that kind of goes without saying. It's not necessarily a reflection of what I'm listening to now. I mean, I don't listen to Weird Al with any regularity anymore, but he was my first musical obsession, so I don't know that I could make a top ten list without him. I HAVE been back on a TMBG kick recently, but regardless, it would take a lot to knock them out of the top spot.

I've thought of making a list of my personal Top X Albums, but it's not as easy for me as you might think. I can rank albums for a given band, and I can generally rank bands, but comparing an album by one band to an album by another is just more difficult. Some bands are going for different things with their albums than other bands are. It's like the old adage about comparing apples to oranges. Besides, what am I ranking the albums based on? The average song quality on each one? The flow? Whether there are any weak links? I know there are a few albums that I would definitely put on a favorites list (XTC's Skylarking, Früvous' Bargainville, Frank Black's Teenager of the Year and Dog in the Sand, most TMBG albums), but beyond that, it's kind of difficult. Then there's the fact that I really haven't heard that many albums, and the list would be heavily weighted toward the few bands I do listen to. So it's not that easy. Maybe I'll go ahead and try it sometime in the future, though.

Comments

[arfies.livejournal.com]

IUP?! No kidding! I'm thinking about going there to the Robert E. Cook Honors College. I really liked it. What did you think of IUP, the college that no one can remember what state it's in? ;)

By the way, I'm from Ohio and we say "pop." It's just a more fun word. :)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I was in the first-ever class of the Honors College. I did like it; it was pretty cool that the people in the dorm were all in the Honors Core class with you, so it was easier to meet people than it would have been otherwise. And I liked the school itself, even if it has a dumb name. {g} Indiana is a nice little town, but "little" is an operative word there, and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. That didn't really concern me at the time, but if you like to go out and do things, it might not be one of the best places to go. Otherwise, yes, I'd recommend it.

And the map placed Ohio pretty clearly in the pop-saying range, so that makes sense.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And now, a stereotypical college search question: "What do you wish you would have known then that you know now?"

Where did they get this map?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I wish I'd known not to major in computer science. I did that for the first two years, and it was too stressful for me. I also wish I'd known that I probably wasn't going to find a job whether or not I had a college education, but that's kind of pessimistic, isn't it? {g} I don't think either of those answers are what you're looking for, though.

And I don't know where the map was from.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't plan to. But thanks for your advice!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Found it, I think:

http://www.popvssoda.com/

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that looks like it.