Music I Like

I like all manner of music and listen to whatever's good. That said, let me talk about what I listen to most often.

I usually listen to indie rock but sometimes jump over to trip hop and acid jazz. Mostly it's indie rock. Indie music is hard to speak of in concrete terms because it encompasses a wide range of styles collectively lumped together. There's a few loose definitions of style that tag them to each other. You might think that it's simply independent music, but nah, not really. Some of what I listen to is truly independent, but the better known stuff can't really be called that. I mean, they did sign to a label.

It goes like this: In indie rock there's "i"ndie rock and "I"ndie rock. The little "i" is what's usually called indie rock, and that is what I usually listen to. But like I said, it's not really independent. They sign to a label. They have agents and managers and producers and a whole bunch of people telling them what to do. So it's really hard to call them independent in a true sense. They're also pretty well widespread (which is partly why I listen, see below) and stop just short of pop music. In fact, Sub Pop, the label that became famous for signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other Seattle bands got it spot on with their name — sub-pop.

Big "I" Indie rock is a little different. It's a whole lot more obscure. That's the stuff played in local bars and city scenes and when it does branch out, it still stays pretty well under the radar. There's a lot of great stuff here. Music as a biz, however, is dependent on a great many factors and most of big "I" Indie rock doesn't float to the surface. You know, some bands don't even want to float up and that's fine too. It still rocks.

Now, I dabble in everything. Like I said, I'll listen to bluegrass music if I'm in the mood. I love the sound of Gaelic music. I love jazz. Classical doesn't put me to sleep. I'll even listen to hip hop and country music if they come up with something more interesting than a song about how much money they've got (hip hop) or how little they've got (country). But I mostly listen to little "i" indie rock. I like the experimentation there, the lyrics, the sound, but I still want to be able to say, "Hey, have you heard ___? That rocks!" and I can't do that with most big "I" Indie rock because it's a little too obscure.

So, here's my online stations based on the above:

Indie 103.1 FM, Los Angeles, California - Little "i"

Great playlist. Because they're based in Los Angeles, it's almost like going directly to the source for the more widespread indie rock.

97X WOXY, Cincinnati, Ohio - Big "I"

Hands down one of the best online stations for true Indie rock. I'm not saying that. That's the press they receive, and with good reason. They actually have two stations. One's big "I" Indie music in general, the other only covers the vintage stuff. Extra weird because they're local and I was listening to them long before they went online.

Insomnia Radio Podcasts - Big "I"

Hot up and coming podcast with several channels in major cities across America and abroad. If you're looking for the really, really obscure rock check them out.