MUSIC! What are your fave bands? Do you play an instrument?

[Loyal]

EEEE! Michael Buble! I'm never sure if it's *him* I love or the style of songs he sings. :3 I love those old "crooner" songs.

They are pretty contagious. lol

I also love his songs cuz they match my voice almost perfectly so they're all fairly easy for me to sing... so yeah, that's cool.

I really wish he would have done more Christmas songs though. There's only like 4 on the CD. LAME

[Thomas]

I've got an eclectic mix, but some of my favorites include:

Little bit of Punk: NOFX, Bad Religion, Green Day, The CLash, Ramones, Golgol Bordello, Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, Violent Femmes.

90's Ska: Reel Big Fish, Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Stuff I grew up listening to: Harry Chapin, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, Don McLean

Rock: The Fratellis, Ben Folds, Barenaked Ladies, Josh Clayton-Felt, Lily Allen

Other: Leonard Cohen, Magnetic Fields, Man Man, Nellie McKay, They Might be Giants, Tom Waits.

But really, I listen to whatever strikes me at the moment.

As far as musical go, despite being a theatre nerd, I'm not a huge fan of the genre. But Godspell, Drood, Wicked, Avenue Q, and a couple others get some play.

I only play kazoo however. But I'm the best kazoo player you've seen.

[Loyal]

...I only play kazoo however. But I'm the best kazoo player you've seen.

Nice.

[Branwyn32]

*bump* Cuz I need more music nerdery...

[Thomas]

Have I mentioned how much I love Gogol Bordello? Because my god, I love Gogol Bordello http://www.nerdist.com/2010/07/gogol-bordello-pala-tute/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gogol-bordello-pala-tute

[Guest tparker]

I have a too many favorite bands.

BT - Sheer genius. I am never displeased by any of his work.

Paul Van Dyk - Another absolutely amazing artist in terms of lyrical techno.

Venus Hum - Annette has some of the best pipes for a female vocalist I have ever heard.

Abney Park - Steampunk music

Cowboy Mouth - By far the best live show I have ever witnessed

Blue Man Group - Who DOESN'T like them?

Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Big band sound with attitude

Toadies - Simple, straight forward, garage band style rock

That would probably also be the order of favorite bands, with PVD and BT tied.

As for instruments, I goof around a bit on the bass, but am not really dedicated to it at the moment. Mainly because of time. But I think I need to manage 30 minutes a day just to play.

Favorite artists for bass: Joe Gittleman (MMB), Lisa Umbarger (Toadies), Gabe Nelson (Cake), Victor Damiani (Cake)

Also know how to play saxophone, but extremely out of practice.

[notanartmajor]

Favorite band is Dream Theater, far and above. I listen to all kinds of stuff, but my favorite stuff is prog metal/rock, or rock/metal with prog elements. I'm also really into folk metal, and to a lesser extent "traditional" folk music.

[67alecto]

All-time band is Iron Maiden. With a majority of their songs inspired by books, history, and art, it's the thinking-person's metal band.

I don't buy a lot of new music...things like American Idol have reinforced to music labels that the consumers all want bands that sound alike.

I think it started with Grunge, which signaled the death of 80s music. With Grunge, you'd be hard pressed as a casual listener to tell the difference between STP, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Screaming Trees, and so on. As the 90s progressed, it continued. Rage Against the Machine lead to a lot of copy cats, and I couldn't tell the difference between Limp Bizkit and Korn.

Listening to the current top hits, they all sound the same. That's the big reason why I like the music from the 80s. Back then, a radio station would have a playlist containing everything from new wave to hair bands. The Cure would be followed by Def Leppard, and so on.

These days, the new stuff I buy is Blues/Rock based on concerts I go to at local clubs. Chris Duarte, Eric Sardinas, and Scott Keeton are a few examples of guitar-driven blues that I like.

My preferred radio stations are classic rock.

[Branwyn32]

@tparker- Abney Park played DragonCon here in Atlanta last year. I didn't get to watch their show but heard great things, and the pics of them in costume were cool as hell.

@notanartmajor- "folk metal"? Tell me more about that, I've never really heard of that genre, and I love folk and folk-punk, so I'm curious! Would any of like, Nightwish's music be considered folk metal? (I've always heard it called opera metal or epic metal)

@67alecto- very much agreed w/you on today's "popular" music, ugh. That's why I generally don't listen to 99% of FM radio or take much interest at all in what's on TV. While I'm not a huge 80s person (apart from the amusing nostalgia), I know exactly what you mean. Most of what I listen to when it comes to music that's new to me is based on word of mouth from friends and stuff I hear on specialized internet radio stations, inspirations/recommendations from bands I already listen to, Pandora, one of the local college stations, and weekly show from a local folk/blues/acoustic venue that's on the 1 FM station I listen to semi-regularly.

[notanartmajor]

@notanartmajor- "folk metal"? Tell me more about that, I've never really heard of that genre, and I love folk and folk-punk, so I'm curious! Would any of like, Nightwish's music be considered folk metal? (I've always heard it called opera metal or epic metal)

I think Nightwish falls mostly into the symphonic category, opera metal sounds pretty accurate honestly.

Folk metal is metal music that incorporates folk instruments like bagpipes, flutes, etc., with lyrics focusing on the mythology or history of the area the band is from. A lot of folk metal bands are Scandinavian. Good examples are Týr, Korpiklaani, and Eluveitie. Korpiklaani's probably my favorite of those, since they were the first I heard.

[MMyers]

@notanartmajor- "folk metal"? Tell me more about that, I've never really heard of that genre, and I love folk and folk-punk, so I'm curious! Would any of like, Nightwish's music be considered folk metal? (I've always heard it called opera metal or epic metal)

I think Nightwish falls mostly into the symphonic category, opera metal sounds pretty accurate honestly.

Folk metal is metal music that incorporates folk instruments like bagpipes, flutes, etc., with lyrics focusing on the mythology or history of the area the band is from. A lot of folk metal bands are Scandinavian. Good examples are Týr, Korpiklaani, and Eluveitie. Korpiklaani's probably my favorite of those, since they were the first I heard.

For folk metal, I like Agalloch and Finntroll. Of course, I listen to most types of heavy metal at all times.

My favorite would have to be Agalloch. They're like black metal, with folk thrown in, but one doesn't over power another. Also, they're heavily into the Nature thing (as am I).

[notanartmajor]

@ArmyMBM - I tend to prefer the more melodic stuff mostly, though I like it all. I dunno, stuff like Falkenbach just gets me pumped, it's all epic and mournful and amazing.

[MMyers]

@ArmyMBM - I tend to prefer the more melodic stuff mostly, though I like it all. I dunno, stuff like Falkenbach just gets me pumped, it's all epic and mournful and amazing.

I don't know, I just like angry music I guess, but check out Agalloch's The Lodge. It's really soft and folky.

[DrewK]

I don't know, I just like angry music I guess, but check out Agalloch's The Lodge. It's really soft and folky.

The Mantle is a great album.

Yeah, so I go to music school, play guitar, mandolin, and a little piano, and sing.

Favorite music is prog in all it's pretentious glory. I also like a lot of folk music (folk metal is the most fun genre I've ever listened to.) Favorite bands are Jethro Tull and Porcupine Tree.

[MMyers]

I don't know, I just like angry music I guess, but check out Agalloch's The Lodge. It's really soft and folky.

The Mantle is a great album.

Yeah, so I go to music school, play guitar, mandolin, and a little piano, and sing.

Favorite music is prog in all it's pretentious glory. I also like a lot of folk music (folk metal is the most fun genre I've ever listened to.) Favorite bands are Jethro Tull and Porcupine Tree.

Yeah, Ashes Against The Grain is probably my favorite though

Good for you, dude. I could never figure out how to play the piano.

[DrewK]

In all honesty, my greatest skill with piano is knowing how to sequence it in MIDI. Play a wrong note? Drag and drop it to the right one. Problem solved

[MMyers]

In all honesty, my greatest skill with piano is knowing how to sequence it in MIDI. Play a wrong note? Drag and drop it to the right one. Problem solved

Yeah, but it's great that you know the theory. That, and the guitar is my favorite is the reason I don't know how to play.