100 Greatest Living Songwriters.
Jun. 15th, 2006 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lululuvsolI stayed up late again last night getting myself tied up in music blogs. I found some gems though. I was able to download a whole Red House Painters album, have been listening to that today. I still have the inability to give a shit about a 12 minute song, that's just taking yourself too seriously or something to me...but there's been some really good stuff on it too.
Yesterday when I was downtown I stopped and bought 2 of my favorite magazines. I didn't renew my subscription to Paste because I didn't want to deal wit the change of address stuff when I moved. So since the newest one came out I needed to buy that, and I picked up a Venus...you just can't beat their music review section. I think my dream job would be to write their music reviews.
The Paste magazine's cover story is "100 Greatest Living Songwriters"...an interesting list indeed. They gave the names and description of each person on the voting committee and it was quite an impressive group, so I think they did a decent job finding educated and worthy voters, and they also include a list from the readers poll. Some of the choices are obligatory...Bob Dylan tops the list, it feels almost cliche to me, perhaps because I never cared for him much, but then again I wasn't exposed to much either I guess. Others really made me happy, so I am gonna mention a few here that I own records by (and I am gonna stick to that rule)...
90) Nick Cave - amazing lyrics, I fully concure with this choice, though perhaps I'd have put him higher.
86) Sam Beam (of Iron & Wine) - better than Nick Cave?! I dunno about that, but some of his lyrics are truely magical. Jesus The Mexican Boy? I vote yes.
85) David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) - again, amazingly simple and brilliant rock songs that tell stories and do it so articulately.
84) They Might Be Giants - Yes, Yes, Yes. They win because they go about things so differently. It's silly, it's genius, it's fun as hell. Yes.
81) The Flaming Lips - They aren't a FAVORITE of mine, but goddamn if I don't respect the shit out of them for making such original and downright bizarre pop music. Brilliance indeed.
79) Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement) - again, wish I was into him more, but I am a proud owner of at least one Pavement CD.
74) Over the Rhine - Hmm, okay Ohio natives. I admit, I am not sure how they made the list over some others despite my liking of them and despite my owning of at least one of their records, but okay.
67) Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) - Though I find him cliche at times and find his voice irritating at other times, I can't discount that the guy knows how to write.
59) Jack White (The White Stripes) - as I've read in other articles about the guy "this guy could write amazing pop songs blindholded, asleep and underwater. He knows what he's doing.
55) Dolly Parton - This woman is sort of an idol of mine. I would put her higher up this list. Don't let the boobs fool you, this woman is genius.
54) Aimee Mann - She's the modern day Joni Mitchell, really.
39) Led Zeppelin - I am putting them on because I DO own some stuff by them. But did I ever get into them? No. Sorry. But I do enjoy including them here so I can show who ranked ABOVE them.
36) Beck - Hotness. Love this guy. He's amazing because he can write tripped out whack songs that are rap-esque and can also write these most beautifully elegant pseudo-folk/pop songs too. He's got the goods...in more ways than one.
29) Tom Petty - Eh, sure, I'll agree.
26) R.E.M. - Intelligent rock music never gets old.
22) Lucinda Williams - a modern classic.
19) Patty Griffin - OHHHHH, who made the top twenty?! Yes, my girl Patty did. She's friggin amazing, I can't say enough about her. I listen to her sometimes and I sit back and say "shit, this woman is a walking classic". The people in the know, the insiders, they all know this, but the mainstream has yet to realize her brilliance. I think this is for the best. Goddamn she's amazing. Songwriting skills out the wazoo and a voice stronger than Gods, how's she manage?
10) Prince - A guy who writes songs that make it nearly impossible for me not to dance. Hells yeah.
9) Joni Mitchell - The Matriarch. Forever Joni. You rock, just lay off that jazz shit, k?
6) Leonard Cohen - He's really brilliant. So many other respected artists cover his songs and they're just so brilliant that they can survive almost any interpretation.
5) Paul McCartney - Come on, it's the Beatles, don't play...they gotta represent.
(You can find the whole list written out here.)
I've been very music-centric lately, I know. I can't help it, it gets me. I so cannot wait for my California trip and my multi-Amoeba shopping spree. Did I mention I am buying a new CD tower later this month? Yeah, it's time.
Yesterday when I was downtown I stopped and bought 2 of my favorite magazines. I didn't renew my subscription to Paste because I didn't want to deal wit the change of address stuff when I moved. So since the newest one came out I needed to buy that, and I picked up a Venus...you just can't beat their music review section. I think my dream job would be to write their music reviews.
The Paste magazine's cover story is "100 Greatest Living Songwriters"...an interesting list indeed. They gave the names and description of each person on the voting committee and it was quite an impressive group, so I think they did a decent job finding educated and worthy voters, and they also include a list from the readers poll. Some of the choices are obligatory...Bob Dylan tops the list, it feels almost cliche to me, perhaps because I never cared for him much, but then again I wasn't exposed to much either I guess. Others really made me happy, so I am gonna mention a few here that I own records by (and I am gonna stick to that rule)...
90) Nick Cave - amazing lyrics, I fully concure with this choice, though perhaps I'd have put him higher.
86) Sam Beam (of Iron & Wine) - better than Nick Cave?! I dunno about that, but some of his lyrics are truely magical. Jesus The Mexican Boy? I vote yes.
85) David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion) - again, amazingly simple and brilliant rock songs that tell stories and do it so articulately.
84) They Might Be Giants - Yes, Yes, Yes. They win because they go about things so differently. It's silly, it's genius, it's fun as hell. Yes.
81) The Flaming Lips - They aren't a FAVORITE of mine, but goddamn if I don't respect the shit out of them for making such original and downright bizarre pop music. Brilliance indeed.
79) Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement) - again, wish I was into him more, but I am a proud owner of at least one Pavement CD.
74) Over the Rhine - Hmm, okay Ohio natives. I admit, I am not sure how they made the list over some others despite my liking of them and despite my owning of at least one of their records, but okay.
67) Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) - Though I find him cliche at times and find his voice irritating at other times, I can't discount that the guy knows how to write.
59) Jack White (The White Stripes) - as I've read in other articles about the guy "this guy could write amazing pop songs blindholded, asleep and underwater. He knows what he's doing.
55) Dolly Parton - This woman is sort of an idol of mine. I would put her higher up this list. Don't let the boobs fool you, this woman is genius.
54) Aimee Mann - She's the modern day Joni Mitchell, really.
39) Led Zeppelin - I am putting them on because I DO own some stuff by them. But did I ever get into them? No. Sorry. But I do enjoy including them here so I can show who ranked ABOVE them.
36) Beck - Hotness. Love this guy. He's amazing because he can write tripped out whack songs that are rap-esque and can also write these most beautifully elegant pseudo-folk/pop songs too. He's got the goods...in more ways than one.
29) Tom Petty - Eh, sure, I'll agree.
26) R.E.M. - Intelligent rock music never gets old.
22) Lucinda Williams - a modern classic.
19) Patty Griffin - OHHHHH, who made the top twenty?! Yes, my girl Patty did. She's friggin amazing, I can't say enough about her. I listen to her sometimes and I sit back and say "shit, this woman is a walking classic". The people in the know, the insiders, they all know this, but the mainstream has yet to realize her brilliance. I think this is for the best. Goddamn she's amazing. Songwriting skills out the wazoo and a voice stronger than Gods, how's she manage?
10) Prince - A guy who writes songs that make it nearly impossible for me not to dance. Hells yeah.
9) Joni Mitchell - The Matriarch. Forever Joni. You rock, just lay off that jazz shit, k?
6) Leonard Cohen - He's really brilliant. So many other respected artists cover his songs and they're just so brilliant that they can survive almost any interpretation.
5) Paul McCartney - Come on, it's the Beatles, don't play...they gotta represent.
(You can find the whole list written out here.)
I've been very music-centric lately, I know. I can't help it, it gets me. I so cannot wait for my California trip and my multi-Amoeba shopping spree. Did I mention I am buying a new CD tower later this month? Yeah, it's time.
