life & music.

tonight someone asked me to list 20 of my favorite and most influential music artists in under 15 minutes. i think this was the most truthful and thoughtful list i could give, because these musicians were the ones that came to my mind first in this short period of time, for whatever reason. some of the ones i listed even surprised me. we always get caught up in why we like certain artists, and why. but really, it doesn't matter. we listen to each musician for different reasons, and they all matter. we should all stop picking apart music intentionally, and just listen... because the way you feel and think about it can be two very different things... and you should always go with the way you feel about music when you are actually listening to it, not critiquing it separately. most lyrics sound ridiculous when spoken, and that's why they are sung. get my point?

anyways, here's my list, in the actual order i wrote them:
van morrison, neil young, the anniversary, destroyer, madonna, otis redding, michael jackson, the talking heads, fleetwood mac, the unicorns, against me!, modest mouse, built to spill, saves the day, the get up kids, bon iver, glass candy, tina turner, the smashing pumpkins, elliott smith.

there are several more artists i feel embarrassed to have left out, and i feel compelled to mention that the beatles, specifically george harrison, has played a large part in my life of listening to music.

strange, yet great story sbout george: soon after my dad passed away, i closed my eyes, and skimmed across his record collection, and wanted to be guided to the one i was meant to hear from the batch of them. i stopped on "all things must pass" by george harrison. not surprising, because the beatles were always one of my dads favorites, the title was strangely perfect for the moment, and pictured on the front of this record was george with gnomes, which my dad had always collected. there were so many things that fit this "random" choice that it was hard to put it off as a coincidence.

i have many more stories about each of these artists i have listed, and why they are equally important. but, i won't get in to all of those details. basically, they all represent different points in my life, and the way i felt, and somehow i was able to portray those feelings, as well as understand them better through music.