The music post

I have learned not to be as judgemental about music because we all have at least a little bit of crappy music that we are ashamed of, or should be, and to be perfectly honest I like what I like and I have no interest in anyone's esoteric collection of indie bands and rare recordings. I don't listen to "vinyl" or go to concerts, I like my music clean and polished not "raw" and "authentic."

That being said, I have a nice collection of classical music that I am very fond of, especially Dvorak. There are a handful of songs by Nina Simone which more than make up for all of the crap that Billie Holiday sang. I'm particularly partial to PULP and actually think that "This is Hardcore" is their best album. I give props to the Pixies, 12 Rounds, and Eleanor McCevoy. Queen is amazing, the 60's suck harder than any decade not starting with a 7, and I like a little Guns N' Roses with my Gypsy Kings. Three times did Kate Bush do something right, the Killers haven't done anything wrong, and the Strokes had a brief, but pleasant, moment on center stage.

I was a late comer to U2 and yes they are great, but the song "beautiful day" sucks and I don't want to hear any argument about that from anyone - not interested.

Paul Simon's Graceland is one the great albums of all time. That and Bridge over Troubled water with Arty, make for two diamonds in a lot of strange rough.

I love one and only one musical and it might technically be an opera - Les Miserables.

I like Maroon 5 (or at least that one album) and actually saw them in concert at the Whiskey when they were still named Kara's Flowers and I actually enjoyed it which is odd seeing as how I normally despise concerts. I have to give thanks to Nicole for that one, thanks doll.

Interestingly enough (Mark, you get props for finding this in th 90's and turning me on to it), Milla Jovovich has an album, and it's good. Really, really good.

Sheryl Crow had one good album, The Sundays had two, Smashing Pumpkins had one good song, while T-rex had two. Sinead O'Connor has one good album but too bad it's her best of. . . and David Bowie could do it right, and oh so wrong.

Laugh all you want but Roxette had four songs that I am more than happy to own. Tom Waits sounds like a chain smoking, alcoholic, drug addled nut job but he has produced a handful of amazing music. I say go Ramones, go.

Sarah Mclachlan's all right - ah hell, estrogen rock is in. Except Tori Amos, about whom I can honestly say that I would rather listen to Dan Fogleberg sing a trio with Ashlee Simpson and the lead singer from Shriekback doing ABBA gold covers for all of eternity than one second of her shrill, self-indulgent public therapy session. Never in all of human history has more misery been caused by one rape. Whatever asshole violated her should be. . . shit, I can't even think of something horrible enough for whatever son of a bitch unleashed her psychological trauma on the world in the form of "music." She is actually so terrible that she makes me glib about a sexual assualt. I would be ashamed of myself if I wasn't so pissed off.

As an aside, I stumbled across a bossa-nova inspired cover of Bill Idol's "dancing with myself" that is pure freaking genius. The artist is Nouvelle Vague and it is a jaunty delight