What I’ve Been Listening To

October 3rd, 2008

If you love music like I do, then you should have a Last.fm account. Go, right now.

When I first found Last.fm I was listening to a lot of classic rock. Mostly Santana, Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. Then it introduced me to Massive Attack. I’m not sure how I found Last.fm or how I ended up listening to Massive Attack, but I loved it. “Trip-hop” was very different from anything I had listened to. Well, not exactly, because my first impression was that it sounded like the kind of music that plays during movie credits. It kind of gives you that “time to stumble into the lobby and take a leak” feeling. (You know, that vulnerable time after having sat in a dark room for 2 hours matching a suspenseful movie staring at a bright wall and you feel like someone could steal your pants and you wouldn’t notice. Anyway…)

Massive Attack – Butterfly Caught

Well trip-hop then got me into hip-hop, which I had been exposed to a lot in high-school but never got into. I’m not talking about 50 Cent or Ludacris, I’m talking about what I would consider “real” hip-hop. Like The Herbaliser.

The Herbaliser – The Hard Stuff

So then I was introduced to turntablism. You know, scratching and all that. Starting with DJ Shadow’s album Endtroducing. The entire album is 100% samples from old vinyl records.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54_7m-CVTMY
DJ Shadow – Midnight In A Perfect World

He completely changed my perception of hip-hop.

Then I started to get into other electronica genres. Right now I’m listening to downtempo, though electronica genres tend to blend together a little. Basically, right now I’m listening to Bent and Air.

I could listen to this song forever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr4fP9A3Oi0
Air- Surfing On a Rocket

This one too:

Bent – Private Road