Wow—most of those tunes were unrecognizable to me. I’ve been living under a rock, I guess; most of “my” music comes from the 80s and 90s—Sting, Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Dave Matthews, Elton John, Queen, Billy Joel, et al. Later on, a bit of Fiona Apple, whose voice I find incredible. Otherwise, it’s all movie soundtracks. Any horizon-widening musical experience came courtesy of my brother Sean, a professional cellist who also loves rap and electronica, hence my exposure to Bjork, Old Dirty Bastard (later Big Baby Jesus), and the oh-so-hilarious Beenie Man (“Girls Dem Sugar”). And then there’s my buddy Steve, who alerted me to a marvelously f*cked-up music video: Thunder Cat’s “Tron Song” featuring Eric Andre (here). And that’s my musical knowledge in a nutshell. I inherited none of the musical aptitude my two brothers have, so I guess I’m just a troglodyte.
80% of my CDs are from the same period because I was DJing in Japan at the time. The transition to intangible media was both a blessing and a curse – a curse because I had sunk thousands of dollars into it, but a blessing because I downloaded so much new music. Exploring on Spotify or Soundcloud or even YouTube can really be a great way to find new music. The thing is, I know some people who just don’t NEED music the way that others do!
Wow—most of those tunes were unrecognizable to me. I’ve been living under a rock, I guess; most of “my” music comes from the 80s and 90s—Sting, Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Dave Matthews, Elton John, Queen, Billy Joel, et al. Later on, a bit of Fiona Apple, whose voice I find incredible. Otherwise, it’s all movie soundtracks. Any horizon-widening musical experience came courtesy of my brother Sean, a professional cellist who also loves rap and electronica, hence my exposure to Bjork, Old Dirty Bastard (later Big Baby Jesus), and the oh-so-hilarious Beenie Man (“Girls Dem Sugar”). And then there’s my buddy Steve, who alerted me to a marvelously f*cked-up music video: Thunder Cat’s “Tron Song” featuring Eric Andre (here). And that’s my musical knowledge in a nutshell. I inherited none of the musical aptitude my two brothers have, so I guess I’m just a troglodyte.
80% of my CDs are from the same period because I was DJing in Japan at the time. The transition to intangible media was both a blessing and a curse – a curse because I had sunk thousands of dollars into it, but a blessing because I downloaded so much new music. Exploring on Spotify or Soundcloud or even YouTube can really be a great way to find new music. The thing is, I know some people who just don’t NEED music the way that others do!
A better version of the Beenie Man song—the one that Sean actually exposed me to—can be found here.
I can’t listen to dancehall without the accompanying booty shakers.