what the F happened to 2k9?

And what do we have to show for it in the way of music? In my opinion... not much. I will say though, I have opened up more than I ever have to female singers. It's weird, I have always been so dead-set against chick singers. And to be honest I never really knew what it was that turned me off about them. I guess I sort of liked Avril Lavigne, It was cool. It was Pop-punk. catchy sing-a-longs... and not bad looking either. More recently, though, we have had bands like Paramore (amazing), and Versa Emerge (also amazing) that have opened the door for an appreciation of other artists like dare-I-say Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, and everyones favorite Taylor Swift. (Disclaimer: When I say "opened the door" I don't mean for the success of the artists mentioned. Yes, we all know that Britney Spears practically CREATED singing.. gross. I meant that it opened the door, or opened my eyes rather, to an appreciation of the other music out there. ...is all)

Now, before you hit the X button at the top of your browser and discount all of my opinions from here on, please hear me out. Take "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. It's one of the most uplifting ballads I've heard since "God Bless the U.S.A."(I would insert the artists name here but I'm too lazy to look it up. It's the "...proud to an American.. " song). It doesn't matter if she wrote it, or if she had multi-million dollar producers helping to sculpt it into the perfectly constructed song that it became. Same Goes for her "Party in the U.S.A" Incredibly catchy song. Let's Move on to Taylor Swift. Just about every song that comes out of her mouth is an instant hit. And with good reason. Whether you "like" it or not, you absolutely HAVE to admit that it accomplishes what they set out to do; make incredibly catchy, powerful music, that a really broad group of people can relate to. And, We can't leave Katy Perry out. She's perhaps the catchiest of them all.

So, if we can take ANYTHING away from 2009, let's all try to be more open minded when it comes to making the list of what we like. I don't mean go find that bands that you hate and listen to them anyway. I'm saying that it is best to not discount a particular artist just for who or what they are.

Take a listen.
Discover that it may actually be "Good Music"
THEN if it doesn't happen to be your cup of tea, you never have to listen to it again.

My words of wisdom for the day... Just because you happen to like the same song or music as a 13 year old girl, doesn't make you a 13 year old girl. Listen to what you like and be proud of it.

Thanks kids,
Mark/TMS

P.S.
I'm going to start leaving you with an artist or album to check out on your own time. Most of the time it will relate to the post. It will usually be someone that I think it worth checking out. Other times it may be something that I want to be burned down, but needs to be listened to anyway.

Artist of the day: VersaEmerge
It's really good.

Merry Christmas

It's this time of year that I usually will have made my decision on whether or not to embrace the Christmas music having been poured down our throats since about 3 hours after Thanksgiving dinner. Let's face it, we have the classics... Nat King Cole, dare I say Elvis, among many... Then, we have the new stuff that is either a blatant regurgitation of Christmas past, or if it is even somewhat original is so cheesy that emo kids can't even help but to stop crying and go hug their parents in sheer love and affection for the season. Barf.

So where does this leave us? The classic music is obviously dated, and there's hardly ever anything new that's worth listening to. And so... We have to make a conscious decision; "Do I just give in this year?" Well, my friends, this year I have. You'll catch me singing along emphatically with Blue Christmas. Thanks Elvis! I've never had more fun faking a seisure and pretending to cough out a melody.

All of the new stuff's not bad though. Several non-mainstream Alternative acts have put out some pretty awesome christmas music in the past few years. It just takes some looking to weed through the mess.

So happy hunting..
And all the best to you and yours.

-Mark/TMS

The "First" Post

These things are always awkward aren't they? I have the feeling that we (we, ha! that feels weird) all have big plans for the things that we're going to write about; Everything from the subject matter, to the way that we (there it is again) are going to address our potential audience. "Do I need to write in the form of essay (Stick to topic. Don't use I, you, or me. Watch those margins)?"..."Do I talk to people as if they were sitting right in front of me?" I think that's usually the best way to go for this sort of thing. That was actually the inspiration for this in the first place. You see, I would find myself hoplessly rambling to friends and coworkers, mostly to coworkers, on everything music related.... from what I like, to my distaste of things that everyone else likes. I would share my angst with things like the ridiculous premise for a song...Getting hugs from lightening bugs and things of the like, more on that in a later post. Do I think the people that disagree with my musical tastes are wrong? Of course not. I feel like, though, I have a pretty good grasp of "I call's 'em like I sees 'em" (insert quote reference here..some south brooklyn umpire somewhere, I dunno.) So that brings us to where we are.... Here. sipping this bourbon and Coke Zero(I got paid to plug "the Z" Sorry folks... Yay! for capitalism!).

I plan to write about the things that I like to hear and to share those things I like. I also intend to share what I don't like, which I realize is counter-productive because everytime I come up with a song or artist that I find to be a complete waste of radio airtime and internet bandwidth, It will instantly be searched and sought out. Which is fine. I'm not here to start a legion of followers that share my same ideals on what "good" music is. I'm here to write for people that are interested in what I have to say. I won't, however, let you be fooled into thinking that it's all for you. I need to get this stuff out for me too.

so,
as they say in France...
Here we go!