The Sound Of Music

Well, my last two posts have been kind of deep and philosophical, so enough of that crap.

I need help.

I am in desperate need of some new music, you see.

I have an addictive personality; it's just part of my genetic make-up. So when I find a thing that I like, I indulge my penchant for that thing wholeheartedly.

With certain things, this can be quite beneficial. Being addicted to books is a good thing. Caramel Machiatos? Not so much. It's just a crying shame that I have not been able to foster an addiction to exercise or sex or housework.

The problem is, that after a prolonged period of complete and total saturation, that thing becomes so tedious and tiresome that I have to abandon it altogether.

Such is the case with my current iTunes playlist. Once, I played it so often that my offspring would roll their eyes and plead with me to play something, anything different. Now, it makes me want to clap my hands over my ears. I literally cannot stand to listen to it one more time.

Alas, even my beloved Mika has become wearisome. I wish he would come out with his new album (do we still call them that, even though albums are obsolete?) already.

So I've been browsing. But damned if I can find anything that really moves me. All the toplists seem to be full of hip hop garbage, R&B, and teenyboppers. I don't mind bubblegum, but I absolutely cannot abide rap. And it is dominating the top 40.

Even Madonna has succumbed to this cacophonous musical trend. Frankly, "4 minutes" is about three minutes and 58 seconds too long.

Who the hell is Timbaland and why does he think he belongs on the Billboard Top 100? Why does anybody? And Justin Timberlake? Puh-leez. WHY is he so popular? He's not awful, but he is lamentably mediocre.

I don't know...it just all seems so....done. Nothing new, nothing original, nothing inspiring.

After nearly a week of prowling iTunes, Yahoo, Billboard, and Amazon for ideas, I have found a grand total of 5 songs:

Bleeding Love, by Leona Lewis
When You Were Young, by the Killers
Hey There Delilah, by the Plain White T's
Pocketful of Sunshine, by Natasha Bedingfield
I Don't Wanna Be, by Gaving DeGraw (not new, but I like it and didn't have it)

So. I need suggestions. My taste is fairly eclectic, so don't judge by the above selections. Those are just a couple things that caught my ear. I generally prefer more upbeat stuff, but that's not a hard and fast rule.

Basically, if you like it, I want to hear about it. Unless you're a hip hop/rap fan, in which case, we need to strap you down and subject you to a steady stream of Neil Diamond music until you are sufficiently deprogrammed.

On a related note...my oldest son is cracking me up with his latest musical "finds". The other day he came to me, iPod in hand, and exhorted me to listen to his newest downloads.

"These songs are so COOL." he enthused.

I put the earphones in, prepared to underwhelmed. Often I enjoy his musical discoveries, (he did turn me onto The Killers) but lately his tastes have become much heavier, and sometimes a little too "Shout At The Devil" for my aging ears.

To my surprise, this is what he had downloaded:

Cherry Pie, by Warrant
Cult of Personality, by Living Color
One, by Metallica
Sweet Child of Mine, Guns N' Roses

I laughed.

"Dude...Cherry Pie is so 1987! ALL of that stuff is! I listened to every one of these songs in high school."

"What??" he said indignantly, "You did not!"

"Did so. Google 'em."

He was aghast. But that's what happens when one get one's music selections from Guitar Hero. He took my advice and turned to Monsieur Google, only to find that almost all of his new favorites were 20-25 years old.

"That just means they're classics." said Husband. "They will always rock because they can stand the test of time."

Speaking of classics, did I happen to mention that in 9 days, we will be going to see the Eagles in concert? Yes. THE Eagles.

Husband got a nice bonus not long ago, and dutifully put a substantial portion into one of several investment vehicles we have. But then he spent a ridiculous amount of money on a 50 inch flat screen plasma television. And, then he decided to fulfill his nearly lifelong dream of seeing the Eagles in concert.

All that was fine with me. The man never buys himself anything. I have to be stealth personified if I want to dispose of his holey underwear.

The day, nay, the second, that the tickets went on sale, he was at his computer, credit card in hand. It was touch and go for a while. Those seats were going FAST and every time he pushed submit, his request timed out due to the heavy traffic. But, by sheer luck, just seconds before he processed what he declared to be his very last attempt, they opened a second show, and he scored us some sa-WEET seats.

They were ridiculously expensive and Husband suffered a pretty good case of buyer's remorse afterwards, thinking about all the other things we could have and should have done with the money.

BUT....you see, we are taking the boys, and what we have bought are not merely concert tickets, but memories. Diminutive One will someday be able to say that the first concert he ever saw was The Eagles.

How cool is that??

My first concert was the Violent Femmes. Cool music no doubt, but not legendary.

Anyway, enough rambling. Help a musically bereft sister out here. Pretty please?