Introduce Yourselves!

I am : Dr. C aged 39 I live : in South-West London I earn money for records by : doing marketing in UK and USA I like : 1960's : US Garage-punk (Nuggets etc), Kinks, Small Faces

I am : Dr. C aged 39 I live : in South-West London I earn money for records by : doing marketing in UK and USA I like : 1960's : US Garage-punk (Nuggets etc), Kinks, Small Faces 1970's New York Punk, The Who, most punk/new-wave post '76. Kraftwerk 1980's Factory 1990's : electronica, Mag.fields

I have a weakness for : box sets, extra tracks, remasters of old stuff I can't be bothered with : hip-hop, metal.

When I'm not obsessing over music trivia I : play soccer (goalie or striker), play guitar (loudly and badly) do stuff with my 2 kids (8 and 5), drink beer.

What else do you want to know?

Well i like it here, so since I'm planning on staying for a while... I am Omar Munoz, 29, Spanish but born and still living in Amsterdam. Work at a new hip hop magazine, also write S.F. stories. Like: to read theory, S.F. and yr usual American writers. Fashion, film, drugs all very interesting. Hardcore Real Madrid and Ajax fan. But on to the music: at a young age got obsessed with The Beatles, went through a dreadful Supertramp/Pink Floyd period, for a short period lived the life of a metalhead and was saved by the onslaught of rave. I'm still trying to make sense of the shift that whole period/lifestyle had on my way of thinking. I like every sort of music but have certain obsessions: Kraftwerk, Astrud Gilberto, Detroit Techno (esp. Underground Resistance), Basic Channel, Spiritualized, 1968-1975 Miles Davis, Coltrane, dub, Patti Smith, NEU!, jungle that channels the ghost of rave (Doc Scott, Source Direct, Total Science). My favorite Beatles song is: 'I Am The Walrus", my favorite track of all time probably is Derrick May's 'It Is What It Is', closely followed by Carl Craig's 'How The West Was Won'. Next month I'll become father :) That's it...

David, 36, gay, living and working in north west London.

Favourite bands: The Magnetic Fields, Marc Almond, Kirsty MacColl, Orbital and XTC. Favourite album right this minute: Lemon Jelly KY.

I've recently started a blog: http://swishcottage.blogspot.com

Hi. I'm Tanya. I Hate Music.

What else do you need to know?

I'm Mark. At 31, I'm the elder statesman of the Pitchfork staff. Whenever I want to feel good I play the Boredoms' Super Roots 7 in my car really loud. If I feel sad, I play either Nobakazu Takemura's "Kepler," Schneider TM's cover of The Smiths' "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" (re-titled "The Light 3000") or Nina Simone's cover of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." When I'm angry, it's Bob Dylan's "She's Your Lover Now." To boost my confidence, it's something off Dr. Dre's 2001. And if I'm feeling misunderstood, Silver Jews' "Random Rules" usually does the trick. Jan St. Werner is something close to a hero of mine, I really love most all of what he does, from Mouse on Mars to Lithops to Microstoria. And I want John Coltrane's "Welcome" to play when my future wife walks down the aisle.

I'm Dan and I'm a 28-year-old African-American living in Boston, Massachusetts. By day, I'm a big software engineer geek, while at night I sing in various choruses around Boston, including Tanglewood Festival Chorus (the OFFICIAL chorus of the Boston Symphony/Pops Orchestras, nyah nyah nyah). I like sunsets, science fiction and bragging about my singing. My turnoffs include the word "moist" and Fred Durst.

I'm an American Tom, a quietly punk 20. I wear lots of sweaters, to make up for which I drink alot, wear my pocketwatch on a chain, and just got an odd-looking piercing done by a bearded lady. People think I'm gay, but I'm not. My favorite music is/was made by Stefan Jaworzyn, Fahey, Ayler, Weezer, Outkast, Gluecifer, NWW, Beefheart, Scott Walker, Britney, Nick Cave, Creedence, the Stooges, AMM, the Dead C., Sleater- Kinney, the Mag Fields, Blind Willie Johnson, Ground-Zero, and the Boredoms. I like bowling, darts, pickles with pancakes, and Coen Bros. films. I've been told I have "impossibly blue" eyes and "Hobbit feet." I'm currently going out with someone, but don't let that stop you.

I like this and I like that. I'm intrigued by the fact that Otis has heard all this cool stuff that I haven't, and therefore am also jealous of the bastard. I do things. I enjoy things. I smile. How are you? Yes, I love me too. Embrace the nothingness that is me. Further lies to be found at my home page.

White, male, British, straight, mid-30s, living in the Leiden, the Netherlands. Got massively into my dad's Buddy Holly + Beatles albums when a bairn, never looked back. Last album bought Kid 606 'down the scene'. Love Newcastle United + Sparta Rotterdam. Read obsessively politics + history. Speak Dutch badly.

Omar, do you ever buy SF at Barry's Book Exchange on the Kloveniersburgwal in Amsterdam by any chance?

This is so AOL Chatroom of you, Tom.

Hi, I'm Ally, I'm 20 and I live in NYC and I'm a cigarette- holic...err, wait, I'm supposed to have quit, scratch that. I own a lot of shoes. I like virtually every type of music, I'm really not that picky. My current playlist, ie that which I've brought to work and have in my CD holder, includes Dido, the Donnas, the Who, D'Angelo, All Saints, Le Tigre, Madonna, Dandy Warhols, Donna Summer, Pulp, Lulu (? Why did I bring this to work for crying out loud?), Jay- Z, Nelly, the Junior Vasquez at Twilo CD, some trance compilation, Tommy Boy's greatest hits, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, Marvin Gaye, Britney Spears, Joy Division, another Madonna CD, Bebel Gilberto, and Saint Etienne. I just listed those artists because they're in my case but I really honestly listen to everything. You can of course read my site if you want to learn more about my tastes cos I do review things there. Except right now I'm too busy talking about Jason Sehorn's winking disease to review anything.

Except for Mariah Carey. I can't abide that one.

OK then: male, British, 20, unemployed, prospective Open University student, living in Dorset since 1994 though actually born in London. Into a massive range of music from early 90s hardcore through current R&B to 60s / 70s folk/rock, but certain names stand out: The Fall, Public Enemy, Outkast, The Auteurs, The Magnetic Fields, Momus, Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine, Wu-Tang Clan, Kool Keith / Ultramagnetic MCs (purely the first names that come to mind, and only the tip of the iceberg). Favourite album ever (if I have to choose): XTC's "Skylarking". Favourite music currently: The Avalanches (though they're little short of a living dream; they *send* me).

Website at www.elidor.freeserve.co.uk. Other websites contributed to: www.freakytrigger.com, www.offthetelly.co.uk and www.transdiffusion.org. Not actually a contributor to www.commonground.org.uk, but eternally indebted to its every word.

Kris, 24 (though I still get ID-ed even for cigarettes(!)), M, 1st year phD student at Berkeley in the Molecular and Cellular Biology program (I study viral genetics, sort of) after spending 6 years at UC Davis getting a B.A.S. in English and genetics, the only magazine I have a subscription to is the Economist, the only records I've listened to in the past week is an Eater collection and the first Donnas album, the only things I have on tape are boxing matches, porn, and most of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, my favorite drinks are bourbon and very cheap beer, I have terrific eyes and a nice head of hair so I wear hats and sunglasses most of the time (egalitarian, you see), I enjoy slow-dancing with the oversized women ("who look like Sam Kinison") that frequent the local dive bars, I have some sort of reputation as a rocker but 99% of what I listen to is either pop/R& B radio or whatever someone else is listening to, my favorite bands are Black Sabbath and the Angry Samoans, I am actually enjoying the Ken Burns' Jazz series quite a bit (and I nearly cried the way they set up Billie Holiday doing "Strange Fruit"), my favorite "ball" sports are baseball and pinball, my lies are often misinterpreted as sarcasm, and I'm hella pleased to meet you.

Kris, you asshole, that was much better than whatever I'm going to come up with.

I'm Josh, edging up on 23, finishing a master's in math and planning to start Ph.D. in philosophy (goodbye career prospects) in the fall. I like lots of music. The last five CDs I listened to were by Bad Religion, Rachel's, the Borodin Quartet playing Dmitri Shostakovich, the Beta Band, and before that I don't remember. I inflict my musical selections on the listening public, such as it is, on one of those freeform communist indie rock stations. I write about music now and then. I also like Wittgenstein, William Carlos Williams, Thomas Pynchon, John Berryman, Borges, Haruki Murakami, and many other usual suspects. I speak Russian, but not all that well. I like ginger beer.

I'm a 20-year-old guy from Boston, Massachusetts, going to school in Providence, Rhode Island. I'm double-majoring in computer science and theater. I like pop music but I hate making favorite band lists; there's only what you're listening to right now. According to WinAmp, I've today and yesterday listened to tracks by Eminem, Trembling Blue Stars, Destiny's Child, Avalanches, Les Savy Fav, Jay-Z, Six by Seven, Beta Band, Acen, Common, St. Etienne, DJ Assault, Alpha Breed, Skee-Lo vs Survivor vs Breeders, Backstreet Boys, Pixies, Shaggy, Magnetic Fields, Sweet Female Attitude, Snoop Dogg, and the Dismemberment Plan. I have a blog at http://bleedingears.blogspot.com/ and I don't answer questions on the forum very frequently, so I'm really just plugging myself now.

Another 20 year old college boy...likes lots of college-boy music but not exclusively...lives in Hoboken, NJ...preparing to become either computer engineer or minor indie rock star, whatever comes first, which pretty much means in two years I'll be working at some dot-com in the city...hates backpack rap...addicted to Napster and Dr. Pepper...currently listening to Nick Cave's "Let Love In"...has seen Dead Alive 30+ times...last 6 CD purchases: "Crooked Fingers", "From the Desk of Mr Lady" - Le Tigre, "I Need Drugs" - Necro, "Blank Wave Arcade" - The Faint, "6 Feet Deep" - Gravediggaz...enjoys singing and writing, Big Star, D-Plan and Les Savy Fav shows, anything Kool Keith, Pixies, wearing band T-shirts and indie rock glasses, Public Enemy, BDP, basically any and all old school hip hop, driving, arguing, Pavement, D-Child, punk rock, Fugazi, "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" Outkast...wants to start a blog...That's all.

29, USA although i had duel citizenship(canadian) until i was 19. professional student, currently a grad student in physics. also a plant pathologist assistant as of today. i am one of those horrible indie types that seem to be so despised here favourite bands are pram, luke sutherland stuff, ectogram, gorkys, roy montgomery, sex clark five, anything on siesta(usually). have more college credits than anyone else in recorded history. make very little money. write record reviews in five minutes or less for friend's website but its name would discredit me greatly. libertarian, i tend not to accept anything that is free.

I'm David, 20, and I live in the unfashionable end of London (near Romford - urgh). I like loads of stuff, but principally The Smiths, Magazine and The Associates. I watch 'Vids' on Channel 4 religiously. I'm also a frustrated musician, so if there's anybody out there near me who wants to make music drop me a line...please?

18 years old in Melbourne, Australia. Entering the second year of an Arts/Law degree and wondering whether there are any legal ramifications to music writing I can make money out of. I pontificate for free at Skykicki ng. I like UK Garage, street hip hop, R&B, house, jungle, techno, Britney Spears and anything with a good beat and cool production. I also enjoy a decent amount of post-punk and its decendants - late eighties/early nineties experimental guitary stuff, mostly. Right now the three songs that touch me deep down inside are Aphex Twin's "Xtal", Omni Trio's "Thru The Vibe" and Disco Inferno's "Second Language".

Contrary to popular opinion, I have not sold my body to strangers for cds.

White, Male, Straight, Deprived Of Any Nationality, Depressed, Annoyed, Nearly Dead and Bored.

I'm 21 years old and live in Canada. I'm graduating this spring with a bachelor's degree in journalism and after that it's rather hazy. I suppose you could call me an indiekid but I don't like a lot of the current "scene". I used to have strong views on the kind of Big Ideas this forum discusses but I've been just too burnt out the past few months to bother with it. Fortunately, the old spark re-appeared Friday night at a party where I threatened a good friend with physical violence when she told me how little music means to her. I thought last year was a rather dull year for new music and mostly concentrated on finding obscure songs to put on mix-tapes and CD-Rs for others. Mixing makes me happy. I don't read much anymore except for newspapers and blogs since I don't have time for anything else. I blather on in this fashion on a semi-regular basis here.

I'm 26, from Sydney, Australia. I work as a legal editor, I spend all my money on clothes, nightclubs and alcohol and what is little left on cds. I am also an unrepentant indiekid. I have the bob and the glasses and the slavish devotion to Belle & Sebastian. Currently on rotation is Grandaddy, The Delgados, Le Tigre. Beloved favourites also include Suede, The Smiths, The Charlatans, The Divine Comedy, Hefner, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Broadcast, Clinic, Apples in Stereo, SFA and Shed Seven. When my boyfriend goes back to Glasgow at the end of the year I’m going with him.

Age: 20; Profession: Computer Science Major, UC Berkeley, Senior Year; Music Likes: doesn't discriminate -- velvets, post-velvets, costello, post-punk, free jazz, pop, R&B, rap, oldies rock, classic rock, minimalism, UK Garage, just plain garage, "IDM", occasional indie, alt-country, Motown, soul, occasional contempo-non-alt- country, more frequent non-contempo-non-alt-country, post-rock, big rock, non-contempo-folk, jazz vocalists, et cet.; Music Dislikes: not even Limp Bizkit, not always anyway; Literary Likes: Pynchon, Vollmann, Amis, Kawabata, McInerny, Ellis, Barthelme, McElroy, Undset; Literary Dislikes: innumerable; Style: plaid shirts, I wear lots of plaid shirts; Other interests: history, developmental psych., user interface design, workflow processing; Other hobbies: meat, I eat lots of meat; Currently Digging: tha' new Eve track; Web Presence: in collaboration with my partner in kryme, Jimmy Mod, In Review (media items want to be) .

You're all so bloody YOUNG!

It occurs to me that some people may not know me either! I'm 27, live and work in Oxford but my heart is in London. I'm an 'Internet Analyst', hem hem. I like to go to the pub a lot (you should click on that link as it takes you to the best weblog in the world).

Music I currently love best: late 70s/early 80s post-punk and pop- rock trash, 00s R&B and pop, hip-hop, minimalist electronic and classical music, a smattering of predictable cross-genre classics.

Music I want to learn more about in '01: hip-hop, early country and western, show tunes, avant-electronic stuff, early and latterday Jamaican music, African pop, and reconnecting with dance music would be nice too.

Music I currently love least: most current indie, post-Coldplay slowrock, 60s pop and its myriad imitators.

Music I like but dont feel a particular buzz for at present: jazz, krautrock, 80s pop, soul.

I'm 23, living and working in London as a CRM analyst (which sounds earily similar to Tom's job) and have quite bad spelling and typing skills. I haven't contibuted yet but plan to, i really do.

Music i like: Hip Hop, current R+B, jungle before it went crap, pirate radio pumping out garage at the weekend (massive shout out to the text message massive!), st etienne, post rock (for my sins), reggae (esp early ska), Scott Walker, mowtown, 70s soul/funk, decent indie (B+S, Magnetic Fields, Smiths, etc), increasingly jazz as the years creep by, new jazzy house stuff like cinematic orchestra, abba, masters at work style house, northern soul, Dexy's, ABC, Trail of Dead. Main worry: there's too much good music and not enough money!

Music I dont like: Coldplay et al, modern soul that reckons its more authentic that r+b (e.g. Erica Badu), Beatles (dont hate, but I'm sure you understand).

I've hardly written anything, but what the hey. 19, from Brisbane, Australia, uni student, writer of bad poetry and complete and utter idiot with questionable taste.

Like: Pulp, Garbage, Radiohead (not Kid A), Madonna, Daphne & Celeste, Britney Spears, Atomic Kitten, Portishead, Goldfrapp, Lamb, The Avalanches, Kent, Muse, Gomez, Dandy Warhols, Placebo, Supergrass Machine Gun Fellatio and whatever crappy all-girl group is in the charts at the moment, and bugger it, Scary Spice's solo stuff. See, I told you I was an idiot. And there's even more embarassing stuff I deliberately left out.

I hate: Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Christina Aguilera, Craig David, Limp Bizkit (so bad they deserve two mentions), Moby and Destiny's Child.

Nicole, twenty-feh, living in the Middle of Nowhere til I finish my masters degree in Library and Information Science. My favorite drinks are black coffee (just the plain stuff, I won't deal with all of the Starbucks fluffery) and Guinness. Likes to read history books and lots of fiction, but can't stand Bridget Jones and her ilk. Sadly addicted to Sanrio & San-x stuff, cheesy pop cultural moments like Britney and Aerosmith at the Superbowl, Aero bars, and Iron Chef.

Music I lurve: Loads of girl groups (and by this I mean stuff like Destiny's Child and the Shirelles, not crap like the Bangles), Disco, Bacharach, hip hop, most Max Martin produced material (with the exception of N'Sync), r&b, too much old heavy metal, Roxy Music (& Eno in general til he started working with U2), 70s soul/funk, some post rock, J-pop, Adam & the Ants, Nick Cave, Abba, Scott Walker, Motown, Abba, Talk Talk, Pixies, Smiths, Prince, Aphex Twin, Dusty Springfield, Felt, Donna Summer, etc. etc. etc….

Music I loathe: Verticalmatchbox's creed of coldplay, divas with no flair (Mariah, Kylie, Christina, etc.), nu-metal, coffee table stuff like David and Macy Gray (could they be related??), indieshite.

Jimmy The Mod is a displaced Canadian, sent to America following that country's long and bloody confrontation with a group of Huns seeking the creation of an independant City-State in the Newfoundland area. He comes from a family of nobles, but not notable nobles. He is a contradiction, yes he is.

Likes: Pie, cheeses, intellecutal chaos and salted meats.

Dislikes: Green vegtables, fat chicks.

He contributes to In Review with partner in crime Sterling Clover, and confuses some and delights others with his alternately long winded and painfully brief diatribes on women and music, but not nessicarily women IN music.

The King is dead. Long live The King.

maura, 25, philadelphia, cranky, often referred to as mauradotcom, vaguely dissatisfied with the state of gender/religious/employment-related/domestic affairs, wears lots of black, nearsighted, started going gray at 18, writes for nylpm and the philadelphia weekly.

current favorites: all natural lemon and lime flavors, queens of the stone age, 'fast food nation' by eric schlosser, hot roast beef sandwiches, the places, the stickmen.

perennial favorites: mudhoney, bikini kill, david foster wallace, amtrak, 'beyond the valley of the dolls,' 20-song blocks of the black crowes, fried bean curd in spicy sauce.

i'm about as new as they get, but i want to post more, so what the fuck. i'm 15 and live in surrey [uk], supposed to be a maths/physics nerd but i haven't the bloody faintest what math-rock is supposed to be [someone tell me]. listen to quite a bit... stereotypical alternasomething sonic youth and velvets, the manics and suede [i'm young enough to get away with it dammit]... quite a bit of metal and industrial, techno and some hiphop, and whatever asian dub foundation / black star liner are. eighties hangup with jane's addiction, joy division and so on, plus obsession with 1997 pop music - fantastic year. two-step garage completely lost on me, as are boybands. no website or anything, but should be starting an online fanzine this summer post-gcses. would blog, no time.

OK - 44 (the oldest so far?) - living in delightfull beachside Thirroul, south of Sydney, Australia - working as a computer something in market research - with a loving partner + 2 dogs & 1 cat - continuing old-time favourites : Pere Ubu (still making some good stuff, amazingly), early Scritti Politti (I love all their releases but the pre-pop days are favourites), Slapp Happy (marvellous), Faust, Bowie, Eno... - currently liking : modern German stuff where digital meets analogue (Tarwater, Kreidler and, to a lesser extent, To Rococo Rot); Aimee Mann; post-glitch electronic (Pimmon et al); and, even though they've broken up and have always been disliked by most - Ben Folds Five

Have a look at my web site : http://www.users.bigpond.com/pturnbul : for more including my small place in the history of Australian post-punk...

But Nicole, me, you and Ron will ALWAYS have the Bangles, how could you besmirch them...

I'm going to be at work til midnight tonight. Jolly ho, all I want is a dance.

Hi everybody, I'm Simone, Swiss (please avoid quips on chocolate, banks and watches ;-) tough I actually live and study in Milan. I'm into a bit of everything... my favourite bands are dirty three, morphine, tortoise, arab strap, pascal comelade and... many others.

Hi, erm...28, live and work in Edinburgh as a computer programmer and have spent a fair proportion of my life rooting about in record shops even if i didn't actually have the money to buy anything (something my wife will never understand!).

Seem to spend money on records with the hope that I will discover the new Beatles or Brian Wilson but am nearly always disappointed.

There now follows the usual random, unqualified list of stuff i really like or have been listening to lately: SFA, Boo Radleys/Brave Captain, Olivia Tremor Control, The Shazam, Jayhawks, Jellyfish, Outkast, Ben Folds Five, The Zombies, Roy Wood, Smokey Robinson, Aimee Mann, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, The Kingsbury Manx, Blur, Ryan Adams, Dexys Midnight Runners etc etc etc.

I am currently building a database of all my records and of course its for insurance reasons not because I'm sad.

One of my fave films is Brazil and my fave tv prog is the Simpsons. The current question i am pondering is, how much can you actually tell about someone from a list of their favourite things?

Which Zombies stuff have you been listening to, Mark? I got 'Odessey and Oracle' last year, and it still knocks me dead.'Time of the Season', ' I Want Her, She Wants Me' - genius. An overlooked classic.

No Ally, I think the Bangles are best left to Ron -- I haven't earned the right to call myself a fan! After all, I wasn't a "consultant" to the Behind the Music special on them like he was. The fact that I was sad enough to watch it should speak volumes, but Behind the Music, no matter what awful band is being profiled, always makes great backround noise. And how else would I have gained any knowledge of the Creed story?

Name: Old Fart!!!! Age: If it's good enough for the ladies to say someting like "29!!!", then it's good enough for me!!!! Work: Computers and webby programming stuffs!!!!! Webstuffs: Senior Citizen, Senior Dads and Dadweb IndieWebPubs Location: In and around the Glasgow area, in Bonny Scotland!!!! Musical abilities: Not Too bad.... Music likes: loadsa good stuff. especially nice dirty electronic stuff!!! (As long as it's not got an ominously chin-scratching title like "Mathematical Logical Progressions vol. XIV: Teaching The Next Level of Nu-Kool" or some othher dreadfully studious title!!!!) Music dislikes: anything woefully pretentious or plain dull.. (ie I'm not too much into Van Morrison or Westlife!!!!!!)

Er... That's it!!!!!

Old Fart

Dr C

Odessey And Oracle is indeed most fine but given you said one of your weaknesses was box sets (as it is mine) I'm sure you'll understand I have the fantastic box set Zombie Heaven. 2 cds of everything they ever released in their original mixes, 1 cd of home demos and studio outtakes and 1 cd of BBC sessions plus a rather lovely booklet.

What with recent re-releases of Odessey I think its been getting more notice of late than it probably has for many years. The tracks recorded immediately after it as the band started to metamorphosise into Argent are equally as beautiful and even a lot of the tracks from the first album Begin Here are worth hearing. I especially like their version of Summertime(over exposed though that song is), although anything Colin Blunstone sings sounds good.

I'm sure there is no other band who would have such a strong singles collection and yet only one UK hit. Their problem I think was the complete lack of image. Just 4 unassuming guys who dropped out of their studies/bank jobs to have a go at being a band. Its pretty rock 'n' roll how un-rock 'n' roll they actually were - I'm sure if they had fought with each other, done loads of drugs and tried to write a rock opera they would have been huge but thankfully they didn't and weren't

I'm 23, male, from Croatia.

I study journalism. I am also the editor of pop-magazine Nomad, a sort of The Face-meets-early nineties Melody Maker affair that doesn't sell very well, but has managed to show that intelligent writing about pop culture is possible even in this particular part of the world.

Spent my teenage years being an indie kid, then ditched guitars and switched to modern-day club and pop sounds. Into: UK garage, house, hip hop, R&B, Bacharach, brazilian/easy listening... I've spent the most part of last year listening to garage. Then during the summer I discovered Todd Edwards, and now I listen to nothing but garage and Todd Edwards. Mostly.

In my spare time I also DJ, and I'm starting to make tracks on my computer. They're not terribly good yet, but I've made an Aaliyah vs Jimmy Nash bootleg which I'm kinda proud of, and which all my friends and relatives had to sit through. I opened my set at last year's biggest Croatian rave with it, too. Then procedeed to play loads of garage and house. On the chill-out floor, mind you.

Mark - Zombie Heaven is gonna be the next box set I get, for sure. I nearly bought it while on a worktrip to Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I guess what stopped me was the fact that I haven't heard anything they've done apart from Odessey and "She's Not There' - I wondered if the rest of the box would be as good, or whether I'd be shelling out 40 quid only to find that I already had the best stuff.

So I got the Nuggets box instead (even though I had about half of it on other compilations). The best box I've ever bought! ( superb re- mastering, great packaging, fantastic book)

Dr C

I have the Nuggets box too and agree on how fantastic it is. Hard to believe all this stuff is from only a 3 year time period and nice to get an informative booklet too. I got the Phil Spector box for my christmas and it has an awful uninformative booklet. I suppose the quality of the music is paramount but when you pay £40/£50 for a box you expect decent packaging.

You may find that Odessey is the best Zombies stuff but most of the rest of the tracks on the box are great too and I don't think you would regret the purchase.

This list is too long already, so I don't expect many people to get to this posting, but my name is Michael Dieter. I'm 20 years old, currently studying cultural studies at the University of Birmingham on an exchange type thing, but I'm usually living/studying in Melbourne, Australia. Music taste, been through early 90's US alternative (ugh), through Britpop and indie, and now embaressingly late listening to electronic dancey, rave things. My favorite colour is blue, I own a black cat named Micky (sort of co-own), the last albums I've gotten recently: Lemon Jelly Ep collection, Doves, Plaid retrospective, Thievery Corporation 'Mirror Conspiracy', Beatles 'Rubber Soul' (finally!), Spiritualized 'Ladies and Gentlemen...'

well, i guess it's time i came clean. my name is really alan j. billingsley and i'm a documentary filmmaker, which is a much better way of saying that i'm utterly and wrongfully unemployed, since i don't really count waiting on tables at the wander on inn in ho-ho- kus, nj as a *JOB*: it's more like a hobby. i don't even really much *like* music, though when i do listen, it's usually something like the dave matthews band or matchbox 20 or any group whose lead singer could be described as "gritty." oh, and phish is really talented. like most people, i guess, i'm just looking for someone to love and to love me: all the info you need about me can be found here.

thanks.

Snow Dog, aged 20, from Los Angeles, California. Currently unemployed and writing music reviews for Lotus magazine. I have a love/hate relationship with music, but love good criticism. Came to this board a few months ago, & post infrequently.

Likes: Dogs, cities, vegetable stir-fry, B movies (esp. Peter Jackson), anime, the desert, the Internet, video games, Pellegrino, litchi nuts, wandering aimlessly, dancing to psy trance, dreams, crazy people, midnight movies, mind expanding literature, old houses, that my name sounds cool in Japanese, melodic techno, jungle, electro, FSOL, psy trance, early Rush, finishing this paragraph.

Dislikes: Pop, Jazz, House, IDM, chat rooms, alcoholic beverages, secular existentialism, mindless people.

Currently: Sitting on my legs typing at 2:00 AM.

Website: http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?top ic=Psychedelic%20Trance

Steve, 26, living in Oxford, spending far too much time on the magic bus that takes you to london and back and runs all nite. Currently doing menial secretarial work at Ruskin College in Oxford, which is pissing me off no end.

Have been doing this for about two years, this for about three months, and this since yesterday.

Likes that belle and sebastian band, arab strap, delgadoes, b*xendale, yoyos, flaming lips, going to see shit indie bands in toilet venues, dancing at indieschmindie discos, going to the pub, listening to Radio 2 on a saturday morning (mmmm, sounds of the sixties).

Jeremy, 21, in Melbourne Australia. I came to this page via the Reynold's archives and enjoy reading decent music commentary. I'm currently in limbo having finished a degree in Journalism and decide whether to remain idealistic or defect.

Music-wise I gravitate between some hip-hop, Brit guitar types (loved the Doves album) and dance stuff, including (this jumps from genre to genre) Herbert, much of the Detroit jazzier sound (like C. Craig & Recloose), K & D and their derivatives, Ian Pooley and the Jaxx.

Pop annoys me and I love anything by Kundera and Haruki Murakami. The Avalanches new disc is my constant summer companion.

cheers.

Name: Michael Bourke Nickname: Carrot Height: 5ft 8' Hair: Red and needs cutting Eyes: Blue and bloodshot I dont like saying what my fav bands are so the last things I was listening to on Winamp were Nas, Bo9b Marley, Pixies, Regular Fries, Duke Ellington, Happy Mondays, Tommy Spurlin and the Southeren Boys, Beach Boys, OP8, CJ Bolland and Leonard Cohen. I'm currently unemployed. Ive often been told that I look like a young Van Morrison (I dont know whether to take that as a compliment or not) My favorite books are Trainspotting, Catch 22 and The dead school My Favorite movies are One flew over the cuckoos nest, Wild strawberries, Pulp fiction and Mad Max My fav albums are Pet sounds, Slanted and enchanted and Better living through chemistry

Oh yeah, I'm 23

Richard Jordan 24, Devizes(Wiltshire) UK

I am a Student Teacher (RE) Studying at Bath Spa Uni.

I have to admit I lurk more than I post here but with the current state of the British Music press there's nowhere better for intelligent music criticism.

Likes: 2Step Garage, Early 90's hardcore, jungle when it was good, R&B, Hip Hop(Outkast and Mos Def are the best) Post Rock, Spiritualised, Kelis, Destiny's Child. Karl Marx, Weber, Keynes, Simon Reynolds, Doug Henwood, Erik Davies(Check out Techgnosis awesome book) cool Sci-fi, The Sopranos(Genius!) and too much other crap to mention.

Dislikes: Coldplay, Travis et al. Indie bores/snobs, Nu Metal sheep, NME, neo- classical economics. Religious Bigots/fundamentalists, OFSTED, Utilitarians(of all varities) oh and not forgeting the conservative party.

Umm that's it!

My name is Jens and i´m 20 yrs and living in Sweden. I´m currently study at a university, Gender issues.

current favourite songs: billie ray martin - "your loving arms", the gerbils - "crayon box", throw that beat in the garbagecan! - "a kiss from you", the go-betweens - "people say", lil kim - "suck my dick", television personalities - "favourite films", kicking giant - "fuck the rules" bratmobile - "cool schmool" ´lew kirton - "heaven in the afternoon" sea & cake - "afternoon speaker"

favourite bands: erics trip, jonathan richman/modern lovers, daniel johnston, b&s, tindersticks, skinned teen, field mice & other sarah stuff, lou barlow stuff, noise addict, helen love, teen anthems.

i don´t like: most jazz stuff (that i´ve heard), metal, too cheesy new romantic...well i like most stuff. oasis, stones (except one or two songs) the who, phillysoul, westcoast hiphop, FUNK....

My name is Simon and I am not Cool.

oh right, yeah, sorry, i didn't notice this bit before. i'm 19, from brighton in england - i live in denial about my base instincts to love nothing but b-movies and rock'n'roll garage music by reading clever things like freeeky tigga and listening to low. i have posted about twice but i read most of it, even the crappy threads! i have a shitty weblog, its cheap and lazy, go there!

I'm just a guy who likes music.

I'm actually Ian Moore. I thought the pihkalboy pseudonym would make me sound more interesting. I'm thirty three and a third yrs old, I live in Ireland, I like music. At the moment I'm listening to a lot of Magnetic Fields, B&S, Fields of the Nephilim and stuff. The last gig I went to was Will Oldham, the next will be Babes In Toyland or maybe Goldfrapp. The last record I bought was the JJ72 single. It was shite.

18. hazel eyes. like 7 artists now, get around an album a week. from milwaukee

I am from London. I am 24. I like a lot of different music. Some of it is probably not very cool. Maybe once I was a music snob. I like some old metal bands, some 'classic' groups, Elepant6 stuff, some indie, some electronic stuff. I'm in a band called "the Various Artists"...lo-tech toy noise. Thats it. goodbye.

i am richard, i am currently in the vicinity of nottingham, but am (in a week) about to sod off to Australia/New Zealand for a good long time. i'll be back though. FT is one of the better web pages i've found in a while.

musically, i'm all over the place. in my cd player right now is aphex twin, but we can also talk pink floyd, belle and sebastian, radiohead, godspeed you black emperor!, manics (old), rem, smiths, nirvana... hell, you get the idea. i'll buy anything, and like most stuff thats not manufactured.

i have a webshite, but its crap and redundant. i'll build another when i get a moment...

oh, i'm 28, got a fantastic personality, am devastatingly good looking, and oooze charm and wit... or something...

Hey, Toronto, Ontario here. I'm 29 (30 on St.Pats). I'm fascinated by small shiny objects. I like a lot of things. I hate a lot of things.

Eighties music trivia is my superpower (or so my friends believe). I even know a non-top 40 song or two from since then. I'm probably cooler than I think I am. Or not. Hi.

Who am I? 31, Welsh, sometime manic depressant, lover of music from an early age, first love the Beatles and Andy Williams (blame the parents), second love early synth stuff (Kraftwerk, Eno, OMD, JM Jarre), third love indie music (from late night listening to John Peel - typical eighties indie, Factory, 4AD, Creation, particular love for Durutti Column, Teardrop Explodes, AR Kane, then onto Sarah Records type stuff, then post-rock and then anything interesting) I suppose to give an idea, here's what CDs are in my Walkman pouch today - "Mark Hollis" - Mark Hollis, "Classic Yes" - Yes (bought to see if I like it, I sort of do), "Absolute classic masterpieces" - Felt, "Freaky trigger" - Win (Ha! I didn't even think about it...), "Sunflower" / "Surf's up" - Beach Boys, "Further" - Flying Saucer Attack, "Echoes in a shallow bay" - Cocteau Twins, "Home XIV" - Home, "Kid A" - Radiohead (Heck, it sounds like the great lost album Insides should have made in 1994, how come nobody else loves it?)

I don't have a website, I do have a band and THEY have a website... we are the Cloud Minders, go to thecloudminders.com and you'll see bugger all, because we've not had time to do anything to it yet. Try seeking us inside the labyrinth of Peoplesound.com (we ARE there HONESTLY) and you'll hear what we sound like, you could even buy our EP, and we're making another one, and I'm making a solo album, but there's another story too.

I've only just scratched the surface of my musical loves, and I've only just scratched the surface of this website - any site named after a Win album is fine by me. I hate the way I lapse into American style writing when I'm saying stuff on websites. Keep up the good work, I love you guys. Can I write for you sometime?

::stands up:: Hi my name is Mog and i'm an alcoholic,.... oh wait wrong room ,... damn humor i just couldn't help that ::slaps hand:: BAD MOG!,.. er i mean,... my favorite band is Our Lady Peace, but i manly listen to metal, and not this new rap rock crappy genre "metal",... ::sigh:: oh well Mog needs an advil,...

I am an enigma. Not Enigma. The last year has been one constant battle against a Fleetwood Mac obsession (probably God taking revenge on my love for Prick Decay). I was cured by a Neil Young mix-CD.

I definitely qualify as a musical wh--err eclectic. Started off as a hard-core 'classic rock' fan, and although I've matured beyond that, I'm still willing to put up a fight for the Doors, Beatles, Pink Floyd etc.

Still, I hardly ever listen to that stuff anymore. I'm always on the look for new and interesting music, and so freakytrigger is an incredible resource. A few years ago, I never thought I'd like hip- hop, but now I'm a convert (I admit I'm a bit of a backpacker, Black- Eyed Peas Jurassic Deltron etc). I never thought I'd like electronic music of any kind; Now I'm a huge fan of Orbital, Two Lone Swordsmen, Innerzone etc. Always open to new suggestions, thanks for being here for me!

Ally, 22, layabout sod. Just realised I was described in this forum last year as a 'Glaswegian smart-arse' by Mr Michael Jones, which possibly sums it up. Enjoy being called a twat in public, and dancing on my own. I'm sure I'm a quiet boy, but people seem to laugh when I say this. Ho-Hum.

matthew, 25, computers but maybe not forever. i have a website at stuckwiththeduck.com that nobody understands. sundays, i like to watch golf on mute.

I'm going to start trying to contribute to I Love Music occasionally (if I remember), so here goes . . .

Vaughan Simons, 29, living in West London, working for BBC Online (but not techie or geeky - a computer's a computer, and that's all I know). Music - used to be severely alt-indie-leftfield in the early 90s, when I was at university and then unemployed and had time on my hands. Now, I don't keep in touch with any of the latest trends, hardly know what's Number 1 in the fabulous pop charts from week to week, like everything from Gavin Bryars thru to David Gray (I know, I'm sorry), via Ute Lemper, Phil Spector and sixties girl groups, chill-out electronica (my friends think I'm stressed - I got about ten CDs that could be classified as 'chill-out' for Christmas), Magnetic Fields. Basically, anything and everything, and a lot of nothing. The favourite hidden corners of my music collection will always be inhabited by Disco Inferno, Furniture and David Sylvian though, I guess.

I don't know if anybody's gonna make it this far down the page, but here we go... I'm Patrick Hould, 28, I'm a French Quebecer living in Montreal, and I work for the city's income security department. My meat-and-potatoes Clash/Stones/Springsteen tastes make me a bit of a dad-rock type by Freaky Trigger standards, but really I have a huge appetite for music old and new, as well as a curiosity that my income can't possibly keep up with. Also, I hate my ancient pre-Pentium PC for not being powerful enough to play MP3s.

From Austin, TX, mid 20sish, working at an audio/visual library still, loading/cleaning projectors and filmstock, surfing the day away. I was once a regular here before here existed, but that all changed. I miss some of you people, even though I don't really know you, and all the new faces... Little Freaky is a big baby now. Otie's Fahey tribute was really swell btw. I write about music sometimes, but not near well enough to get paid for it (or contribute to this site). I'm an elitist. Recent purchases: Stones "Sticky Fingers," Hall of Fame "S/T," Low "Things We Lost in the Fire," Ex "Pokkheherie," Air "Moon Safari," Boredoms "Vision Creation New Sun"...I like most music, have trouble with some of Tom's more mainstream dance-pop stuff. I know very little about "techno"...I am punk rock. Hello Kathleen...been a while *tips hat*

Is anybody going to read this? No. But anyways, I live in a small town. The last 5 records I listened to were Wowee Zowee, In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Tonight's The Night, The Queen is Dead, and Enter the Wu-Tang. I like bread.

what the hell--my name and email should have been on that last post.

Is anybody going to read this? No. But anyways, I live in a small town. The last 5 records I listened to were Wowee Zowee, In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Tonight's The Night, The Queen is Dead, and Enter the Wu-Tang. I like bread.

are people still reading posts this far down the page?! Oh well, here goes. i'm in working in london as a sound engineer but my heart is in belfast, northern ireland. used to do a proper fanzine called weedbus, i'm now setting up a fledgling zine at www.slowthrills.com. left-field indie is mostly what i'm into - last few records i've bought have been Arab Strap, the Strokes single (The Modern Age), Low ('Things we lost in the Fire'), and the Kings of Covenience album.

That's all for now...

I still read all the new answers to this question. So there.

I'm resubmitting my answer! I am a postgraduate student studying Mass Communications, I'm going to be writing a dissertation on on-line diaries dealing with issues such as identity and community. After I graduate I am faced with the prospect of work, though ideally I'll do some sort of research/academic job. I like lots of music. I have about 450 Cds and 200 tapes and 70 seven inch singles. That makes me kinda geeky? so I'll keep quiet about my comicbook collection!:) Ok, have fun! bye bye!

hi. 30 something support analyst. obbsessed with music. www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk.. a lo-tech website easier to maintain. too many genres hit the spot to isolate specifics, but to start - on- u sound,turntablism,indie rock, foetus, mo-wax,fax the usual suspects basically. time consumed by fatherhood and so music is third in priorities.thankyou

hello, last weekend a strange man in a pub told me that i should go to freaky trigger, and i never ever ignore the advice of strange men in pubs. they know too much.

here is the requisite information about myself: i am approximately thirty one and four fifths, and though it seems to be a popular method of introduction, i do not have a 'favourite' band, so for the sake of this posting i shall pretend that i do, and that my favourite band is transvision vamp. i derive great enjoyment from the between song banter on local radio stations, and the juxtaposition of classical music and platform announcements in the bar at birmingham new street station.

that is all.

Age: 28 Location: Baltimore, MD, USA

Work: I do software programming/engineering for $$$, which is why I spend much of my time internet browsing!

Bands that I am: Roads to Space Travel, Slow Jets

I enjoy lots of bands/artists but I have serious interests in: British Punk/"Post-Punk" (from about 1976-1982); 80s "New Wave"; 60s- 70s Jamaican Ska/Rocksteady/Reggae/Dub; and I have a soft spot for 80s synth pop.

Newer, smaller bands I would vouch for: Spoon, Candymachine (RIP), Enon, Les Savy Fav, Lifter Puller (RIP), The Fuses, The Glands.

Interests: Musical gear/instruments/recording ( http://www.guitargeek.com/layouts/display.php3?id=399 ); Vintage analog and newer, cheap, digital synthesizers; BMW motorcycles (preferrably 70s boxers, I own a '77 R75/7); Saab 99/900 autos (up to 1994); My dog Benny; Basketball; Football; Driving too fast; War Movies; Behind the Music; Drug Legalization (not for my own purposes, however).

Dislikes: Most music journalists; Record Labels; Most Booking Agents; Promoters; Record Reviewers.

maura mae deedy, 19, short pixie hair with wispy bangs.

mauramae dot com. i am AICON 14! sophomore in college, wheaton college, near boston, too poor to ever get out there to do anything and when i do. i spend more money. i am studying anthropology and women's studies, doing astronomy in my spare time.

i am into neutral milk, and apples in stereo, liz p, bjork, just bought le tigre and LOVE it. prince (!), elliott smith. i really hate writing all the bands/artists i listen to cause i always forget something. i should just catalog my cd collection. i adore mix tapes, and those are my favorite things in the whole wide world. i love making mixed.

i don't like pretentious elitist hippies, and recently i don't like being touched when i am sleeping. i like silver bangles and fun clothes. i have a coat, hang bag, scarf fetishes. i like to cook. my dad and gramma are both sick and 2001 has been the worst year of my life so far.

I'm a 38 year old, almost completely asocial ex-junkie living close to the ass end of the world. (Does that make me sound cool?) ('cause it's meant to).

writer now and then first in UK to interview youssou n'dour inadvertently outed the late billy mackenzie as bald attended ut's last ever show first to develop theory that daphne and celeste's appearance on never mind the buzzcocks was this millennium's answer to the sex pistols and bill grundy (it was certainly funnier) favourite movie: mabaroshi favourite inexplicable use of a smiths song: "how soon is now" as themetune to charmed favourite improv guitarist: john russell favourite member of hear'say: myleene, obviously

A 33 year old news desk editor for a weekly news magazine based here in New York City and freelance writer on the side. LOVES: KILLING JOKE, Cop Shoot Cop, Firewater, Gang of Four, the Stranglers, Iggy & the Stooges, Buzzcocks, (vintage) Kiss, Motorhead, XTC, Julian Cope, Pussy Galore, Skeleton Key, the Ramones, Television, Jeff Buckley, lots of old metal and (sheepishly) old goth, Gavin Friday, Talk Talk, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack, Robyn Hitchcock, the Modern Lovers, Velvet Underground, (vintage) Devo, Berlin-era Bowie, classic American hardcore (Minor Threat, MDC, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys), the Wonder Stuff, (vintage) Alice Cooper, Kraftwerk, Laika, This Mortal Coil, Prong, the Saints, Public Image Ltd., and loads more.

LOATHES: The plague of self-styled so-called 'divas' (Mariah, Whitney, and their vile ilk), contemporary cheeze-whiz r'n'b (Sysquo, Destiny's Child, R.Kelly), teen pop in all its vaccuous manifestations (N'synch, Backstreet Boys, etc.), lowest-common-denominator-fueled hip-hop that is obssessed solely with the acquisition of easy wealth and "booty," unforgivably mookish rap/rock bands like Korn, Bizkit, deplorably self-righteous and self-congratulatory Lilith women like Paula Cole and Jewel (and to the same extent, Ani Defranco) and yawnsome fraternity rock like Dave Matthews, Phish, Hootie, etc. etc.

AGE33, SOLD/GOT RID OF ALL MY RECORD COLLECTION DURING 1999, HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANYTHING ELSE SINCE BUT LISTEN TO LOADSA MUSIC WHEN OUT + ABOUT,HOMEMADE CD'S FROM DODGY BANDS. USED TO READ MELODY MAKER IN LATE 80'S, THEN THE WIRE IN THE 90'S NOW RELY ON WORD OF MOUTH. MY TASTES WENT FROM ROCK>METAL>INDIE>DUBINDUSTRIALTECHNOHIPHOPAMBIENTJAZZetc Before deciding I needed freedom from choice. . .

I like hearing music unannounced best of all - on a dance-floor, from a turn of the dial, in a lift, on random shuffle.

I live in London where I once snogged Billy Mackenzie.

guy, you've probably made tom more jealous than you'll ever know. ;)

should have done this ages ago i guess...

i'm gareth, i like pop music (well, i'm here aren't i, so i spose thats obvious). live in london, but originally from oop north.

i'm probably supposed to insert a big and exciting list of eclectic music here or something.

i run surface vs depth/1471

the self publicity is now over

This is my 100th ILM posting, so it seems appropriate to splash my baby-bio all over this thread at last.

Born in '68, earliest musical memories: "School's Out", Lt Pigeon's "Mouldy Old Dough", "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", "Without You" (the last two equally moving). Pop-life shaped early on by older brother (born '58). Preferred my Abba records to his "Brain Salad Surgery", but after being singed by the cleansing fire of punk in Sixth Form, his tastes got more interesting. As a result, Joy Div and Magazine transport me back to Mr Odell's RE class as keenly as Blondie or BA Robertson. Fave record of 1980: Lipps Inc - "Funky Town".

"Boys with toys" sneers future thesp R Delamere in Physics one week, as we enthuse about the latest Fiction Factory release. He has a 'Smiths session' on tape... I'm not sure what this means. Moz with flowers in his pants makes a big impression, but so does Mr O'Dowd in a kimono and lipstick - the Stephen Patrick obsession starts much later. Mostly, it's the Bunnymen and China Crisis, Frankie and the Icicles. Y'know, local boys come good. Don't stray too far from chart territory because, after Kid Jensen, it's all gets a bit strange. German metalbashers? Nein danke.

1984-87: the wilderness years. Bro' leaves home, I start buying 'Q' and Joni Mitchell LPs. Melody Maker have someone I've heard of on the cover - 45p later, Stubbs, Reynolds & co have me snared. There's an inspiring South Bank show on a Mancunian ex-quartet - oh, I know they were magnificent all along, I just, er, taped the singles off the radio... If 4AD offered season tickets, I'd buy one at this point; Black Francis screams on the Late Show and things turn upside down. Coast through the latter under/postgrad years, comfy with post-MBV indie dreamers. My guitar-pop conservatism reaches some kind of apotheosis/nadir in '92; "Mixing It" on R3 play some of that daft dance music - scandalous that this context should 'legitimise' it for me, when extended rave blasts in East Midlands nightclubs on 'alternative' night never did - but suddenly, my ears are open. So, somehow, Penderecki leads me to Aphex Twin.

Mid-90s: on an overgenerous income in a remote coastal town with a nice flat, a nice stereo and no pals within 200km. Expand nervously into 70s Miles, 60s Coltrane, more austere electronics... Tricky and Laika rule and I've never heard anything like "Sour Times" before in my (sheltered) life. Mark Radcliffe plays a song called "The State I'm In" by some band named after a kids' show and my life *literally* changes.

Move to London, meet some stellar folks on top of a hill, turn 30, exchange marriage vows in a Lambeth registry office. My pop-life has pulled me to the place I live, and introduced me to the people I know. What would've happened if it had been hang-gliding, or kick- boxing? I'll name five good records beginning with 'T' and then stop: "The Fat Skier", "Tri Repetae", "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima", "Tigermilk", "Thixty-Nine Luff Thongs".

I've barely said a word, but I've been reading I Love M for some time. I usually join parties just as everyone's yawning and thinking about bed, but this one still seems to be going strong, and what a vibrant, thoughtful place this is. I was about to mail saying "I'm older than all of you!" which has become something of a self-denigrating personal mantra recently, but I'm thrilled to see I'm not the oldest. Bless you. This also means that I can't fall back on "hey I'm old and I'm not listening to Eric Clapton and moaning how great music was in 1978!" and feeling I deserve some sort of Longevity Award. Brave New World...

Let's say I'm 30-*, with the emphasis on the asterisk, I live in Edinburgh, I know some of you :) and it's nice to be here, although I'm a bit scared to post, honestly. I think I found this place after Tom's "Why we hate indie kids" was posted rather mischievously elsewhere, with some nice consequent fallout displaying a total lack of irony. Currently (Monday, 4pm, it changes that quick) simmering with gentle obsession over Life Without Buildings's "Let's Get Out" although I'm not sure quite why, or whether I'm making a terrible social faux pas. Oh heck, I'll just hit Submit.

Duane wrote: living close to the ass end of the world

Ok Duane, well if you're near it, as our ex-PM said, I'm in it. 26 yr old post-queer Aussie writer, author and freelance media whore (email me if you want to know where my novel Fuct & Fiction's available from). Grew up in Buttfucke, Queensland, won a scholaarship to Argentina when I was 17, landed in Buttfuckette, Argentina, for a year which I dedicated to the pursuit of weight gain via alcoholism. Returned, fucked up a lot more, thought I was Rimbaud in bad nailpolish, then stopped writing poetry when I realised I was lying to myself. went back to Arg, came back to Oz, had a break down, spent 4 months in a psych clinic trying to decide why life was worth it, and cleaniing my system out of the chemicals I'd put into it. Kicked the booze in 98, finished my BA in 2000, and am now working on the 2nd novel. Likes: Magnetic Fields, Lou Reed, VU, Patti Smith, Cafe Tacuba, Illya kuriaki and the Valderramas, Ryan Adams, Avalanches, Dylan, RHPs and Mark Kozelek, Elvis, Shellac, Big Black, Eminem etc. Literature of many types, sizes etc, and of course, a nice bit of cocksucking to pass the time. Dislikes: Commercial pap, though I do have a recent hankering for the Pet SHop Boys and Madonna.

I remember reading some of the folks here on a.m.a. way back in the day. Anyway, I am always looking for people to talk music with and especially to tip me off on anything good that's come out. Especially since I graduated last year and fell out of the college radio loop. Ah, but I start my new show at my graduate school (Sarah Lawrence) next week. Lately I have been digging Sigur Ros (who's show sold out in 3 minutes today grrr), Clinic, Delgados, Damien Jurado, Richard Buckner, the Czars, New Year... And I just got tickets to see Grandaddy and Autechre. So that is good.

when i said that thing about the ass end of the world, i wasn't trying to give this place a bad-rap. i live here 'cause I like it here.
The effect I was going for was more like, I live a long way from the percieved cultural centres of the world because cities are full of fraudulent shit that I'm trying to leave behind & rise above.
You know, a romantic distortion of the truth to (like I said) make myself seem really cool.

― D."Getting it together in the country" Zarakov, Saturday, 14 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Time to stop them damn italics.

I don't even know how to start them.

oops,sorry 'bout that.

Former music magazine editor, former men's lifestyle magazine editor, former adult magazine editor. Looking for something new to become former in. Very occasional freelance writer. Last online piece: www.villagevoice.com/issues/0104/palmer.shtml. Just turned 30. I find posting to I Love Music quite therapeutic. So excuse me if I often sound like I'm talking to myself.

I'm 25 unfortunately. At present I'm in the musical backwater that is Australia, where Leanne Rimes, Powderfinger and Crazy Town rule the airwaves.Out here on a work visa, actually from Liverpool. Got into house and techno in 1987 via the much travelled route of M/A/R/R/S through Chicago, (the city not the group) into Detroit, and these were the holy grails for me in my formative years: stuff like 'Illusion' R-Tyme; 'Promised Land' Joe Smooth; early Mr Fingers,Reese,Knuckles and followed its developments VERY closely up to and including today. Still my first love, but now I'm also getting more and more excited by the stuff many music writers dismiss as light and insubstantial, you know, the records which get discussed a lot on this site: Max Martin style pop, r+b, U.K garage. Good songs, out of this world, futuristic production. Proper shiny, visceral, stimulating music. This stuff is about making people actually ENJOY music, as well as apreciate it. A quick list of favourites: Carl Craig, Timbaland, 'I Feel Love', 'Ain't Nobody', 'Wichita Lineman', Daft Punk, Bola, Boards of Canada, Britney, Neil Young, Pepe Bradock, early PSB, all BSB, 'Technique', Rakim, UR, MAW, '76.14' etc.etc.etc.

K-reg

Shepherd's Bush/West London - from The North, grew up abroad and lived all over UK. late 20s - Freelance whatever?

likes getting lost, ignoring phones, playing dumb, Chris Marker films, having a pen handy, repetition, pressing the square root button, using the optimise function on cubase, filming with digicams then watching it back with friends, driving cars at night, ctheory.com/edge.org seam, listening to Hip-Hop in city traffic, google.com, hallucinogens, The Wire's Xmas Like and Dislike interviews, napster, dancing, airports, recordable MDs players, more dancing, film sets, Artangel projects, extropian urges, crisis, documentaries, surrendipity, jodi.org, Burroughs, reflexivity in art, CDs full of MP3s, the cinema of Wong Kar-Wai/Tarkovski/Koreeda, psychogeography, Bill Viola, paradoxes, motorways or any huge bits of concrete in the countryside, riding very fast down Oxford Street through all the traffic, laughing at the TV, keyboard shortcuts, Erik Davis, the tube system, corresponding with artists, Steven Shaviro, typing..I mean, writing and music

dislikes missing the beginning of films, comedians, ignorance, national attention deficiency disorder, institutionalised religion, people grew up with access to good records, slow moving intricate things, not having a car anymore, anyone who seeks to restrict freedom of information, the guy who slept with my girlfriend, and people who dislike missing the beginning of films

I also am Ian Moore. I got fed up with the Pihkalboy name when it became apparent that no one can spell it.

Such miserable weather!

"The greatest writer the music press never had." "Crack-brained old acidhead." "Decrepit ex-child prodigy." These are just some of the things which have been said about Marcello Carlin. An Italian- Scottish hybrid, Marcello's interest in music was galvanised by his parents taking him to see "Mary Poppins" at the George Cinema, Bellshill, at the age of nine months, and tapes of him atonally bawling his way through "Let's Go Fly A Kite" still exist. Similarly early exposure to his late father's extensive modern jazz and contemporary classical record collection helped to nurture his passions. In the 1980s he came to Oxford to study English Language and Literature; contemporaries of his included Simon Reynolds, David Stubbs and Stewart Lee. Since then he has led a full and varied life divided between Oxford and London and continues to maintain a highly successful career (which is entirely unconnected to music). To music press veterans he is probably best remembered for his controversial but lucidly argued polemics which appeared regularly in the Melody Maker letters page; indeed he holds the record for most "Letter of the Week" awards in that formerly august journal, but has never sought to become a music journalist (short answer to the question "why not?" - IPC freelance rates). But his correspondence has also infrequently appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Wire, Mojo, Uncut, Coda, Downbeat, Literary Review and London Review of Books. He supposedly appears in "High Fidelity" (the book, not the film) as the chap in the suit who asks for the theme tune to "Fireball XL5" (which indeed he did once do in the late Rock On Records in Camden which was the acknowledged model for Championship Vinyl) but much prefers the writings of Ian Penman, Paul Morley and Iain Sinclair (and Ray's Jazz Shop and Intoxica). If he could overcome his minor social affectations, such as continually talking about himself in the third person as if he were Wyndham bleeding Lewis, then he still has the potential to become a fully-rounded and sociable human being.

Tracer Hand, 26, born in Tennessee. Killt me a bar when I was only 3. Have lived in Chicago, Glasgow, Providence, 46th St. Manhattan, now Park Slope. I get traxxy for the dexxxy and I end up seeing a bunch of of my friends' bands, like Dare Diablo, Itchy Trigger Finger, and Slut 'Em Go.

I play sad country ballads to myself on guitar because nobody else can stand it. Which goes for most of my records too.

38 years old, canadian living in california for the last 4 years. getting pretty sick of it, too. came to ILM via the great I Hate Music site, which I think I found through a link on a site about The Fall. I enjoy reading this stuff, even though much of it is about current British Pop, which I don't hear much of over here, and, to tell you the truth, am not very excited by the sound of. But I like the writing on this site, and the debates. I currently like a lot of older US and British garage rock stuff (yeah, the Nuggets box, and more than a few others), some of the current US country rock stuff (whiskeytown, etc), punkrock (ramones, buzzcocks, more ramones), rockabilly, 40s and 50s R&B, drony psychedlic stuff like Spiritualized, african pop (franco, four brothers, prince nico mbarga), older reggae (desmond dekker, etc), some of the better spanish-speaking rock (manu chao, los fabulosos cadillacs), oddball rock (the fall, captain beefheart, the grifters) and a bunch of other stuff. I used to do community radio shows in Ottawa, Canada for years, and am a recovering music junkie. Still buy about 10 LPs a month, which is quite a few less than I used to.

Hey there, I live in Chicago; next month I'll turn 28. For money, I work for a publishing company and currently edit a soccer magazine. I'm also an editor for could-be magazine, webzine StopSmiling, the print version of which should be back on newsstands in June. Ooh. Aah.

I confess: I really am Geri Halliwell. Sorry.

I'm new. I like lots of music. I live in Canada. Shame on this site for giving me yet another way to watch my oh so budding youth slide past. oh...i'm 23 and a guy.

still 33, was brought to you by creative e-mailing, boxes within boxes, blah blah . off on my travels....

31, single, music geek lawyer whose "lawyerly" work has nothing to do with music or the entertainment industry (and who likes it that way). Born and raised around Princeton, currently living in Hoboken and working in midtown Manhattan, and saddled with a silly and unpronounceable ethnic name.

Will tell more maybe later. Just hanging out for now, taking it all in.

Scott Bassett - 31 years old, white. From Middlesbrough but grew up in Lagos, Nigeria where I regularly got to see King Sunny Ade play at the local Ikoyi Club and through that developed a love of African music (which no one seems to mention on this site). Now living in Surrey where I do computer shit for the NHS (except when I'm reading ILM instead which is quite often - now for instance). Love: Louis Jordan, the Stooges, Mekons, James Carter, Kinks, Archers of Loaf, Minutemen, James Brown, George Jones, Unholy Modal Rounders, Le Tigre (the album), Trailer Bride, the Go-Betweens and Miles. Hate: the current crop of whiny Brit bands - Coldplay, Travis et al. Also hated Radiohead until I heard Kid A.

Out of lurking, finally. With this I might even get to posting eventually... 28 years old Finnish guy, right now mending a broken heart by studying philosophy in a relative non-entity of a place, Aarhus (= rural Denmark). Got into ILM and loads of great weblogs by having lots of spare time to avoid any real work done and a healthy interest in anything pop. Poplife: loved Kraftwerk and Sex Pistols as a kid, first album bought: Remain In Light by Talking Heads. Worshipped (almost) everything Eno-related afterwards. Got very context/concept-fixated by late teens (aquired a taste for superb music writing: Reynolds, late-'80s-early'90s Melody Maker stuff in general, later: Eshun's book blew my mind) until rave & hiphop (= frenetic clubbing instead of all that reading) wiped it all out and got me where I'm now: maintaining a hopefully-healthy balance of immediate appreciation & analytical distance. Sounds a bit pretentious, but you'll get my drift...

more about me, 'cause I like to talk about me:

some of my likes: Velvet Underground, New York City, the Kinks, David Bowie, London, Philadelphia, Gamble-Huff TSOP soul, the Ramones, Constitutional Law, political theory, Tax Law and Estate Planning, Stravinsky, Arthur Schoenberg, Vladimir Nabokov, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Ween, New Hope Pennsylvania, Brian Wilson, cannolis, homemade pierogies, Frank Zappa, the German language, spicy food, the NYC subway system, Vermont, Sonic Youth, Nick Drake, Joy Division, the Boredoms, Sigur Ros, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, the Smiths, Joy Division, Jean Renoir, Krautrock, David Lynch, Wu Tang Clan, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Mozart, Cape May, Wales, Neil Young, Syd Barrett, Belle and Sebastian, Portishead, liberal politics, Spiritualized, death metal, Slayer, Henry Fielding, being a pain-in-the-ass, sleep, Czeslaw Milosz, William Douglas, Brian Wilson, the Rolling Stones, Italy, rice, John Coltrane, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, artsy-fartsy and offbeat people, cold weather, old buildings.

some of my dislikes: Rage Against the Machine, Republicans, Miami, Los Angeles, hot and sticky weather, "mook rock" (i.e., Korn, Slipknot, Blink-182, etc.), Antonin Scalia, Criminal Law, Pearl Jam, emo, most (non-techno) dance music, buttrock, Morrissey's solo music, Billy Corgan, TV talkshow pundits, journalists, cars, New Order, Switzerland, borscht, Garth Brooks, Drew Carrey, Grateful Dead, Creed, Ralph Nader, peaches, stupidity, conservatism.

indifferent: Eminem, Brittney Spears, the Beatles, most electronica, r'n'b, William Burroughs, yuppies (though purported to be one), sushi.

Reads like the lyrics to a Black Box Recorder song...

i just realized that i've never answered this question properly:
ask a hundred people what they think of fred solinger and you're likely to get a hundred different answers. to prove this theory, i went out and did just that. here's a selection of some of the answers we got.

"super honey man!"
"dancing machine!"
"#1 love giver!"
"really quite large in the pants!" (ed. note: thanks mom!)
"my baby's daddy." (?)

we tracked down the man himself in his quaint new jersey bedroom and this is what he had to say:
"some might say that i'm vain, selfish and lazy, to which i reply: i AM vain, selfish and lazy. among things, i'm a son, a brother, an uncle, a man. a poet, a lover, and a fighter. i'm easily given to making preposterous claims, subject to delusions of grandeur, but at heart, my life is all about the simple truths.

"what do i do for a living? why, i work for the 6th largest magazine publisher in the country. i used to work for wenner media/rolling stone but was disappointed to find that it wasn't very rock and roll at all. i secretly wished that i'd be laid off and on the day that my wish came true, the office was quite literally flooded with my tears of joy.

"i'm 23. what? oh, thank you, yes i do get that a lot, i'm afraid. despite my age, i'd like to think that i'm well-informed about things like film, music, and literature. in the realm of all things musical, my favorites include -- though are hardly limited to! -- the beach boys, the velvet underground, al green, david bowie, the stooges, sly & the family stone, abba, the pixies, smiths, and roxy music.

"final thoughts? yes. when i die, and you write to casey kasem, as i'm only too certain you will, please make sure that it's something heartwrenching, like 'how am i supposed to live without you?' (laura brannigan verson) or 'without you' (mariah carey!). the other morning, having forgotten to turn off my alarm, i was awakened by the dulcet tones of mr. kasem who was relating a tragic story of a man cut down before his years, as penned by the woman who loved him like no other. as he concluded and as i wiped the copious tears out of my eyes, my empathy turned to rage when she pissed on the man's grave -- figuratively! -- by requesting the little river band's 'reminiscining' with its carefree opening keyboard notes. such disrespect can not be tolerated and i do hope the man haunts the woman until she loses her bleeding mind. let that be a lesson to you all."

ohhhhhkay. he's an original (!) you can say that much. elusive and mercurial, that's fred solinger. and that's the end.

You forgot to add "He's a wankerface who leaves his psuedo-girlfriend psychotic voicemails accusing her of being a whore". That's like the best part of your story, fuck that Velvet Underground shit (which isn't even true).

I am a 27 year old with a certificate in cultral managment, and 3/4 of an art history degree specializng in problems in contempary methodology. I work in a used bookstore. I am living with a wonderful man named David who is a writer and does not listen to music and hates contempary art. I listen to jazz, avant garde nonesense , country, punk and misc. prettiness. I love Frank Black and Momus . I barley make enough money for music and art but i pull thru. In september i will finsih my degree in Madison because David got a scholarship. I live in Central Candada because that is the only thing that makes endless praries livable. I also write poetry and go to the movie house once a week.

read i belive in God because it makes endless praries liveable.

I'm 25 and I write and record music always. I work at an art school in Boston but dream of having a record contract. However, my music seems to only appeal to me. Oh well. I like lots of stuff, and I shall not choose "favorites"at this time, Hear me here http://www.mp3.com/mikehanley

http://www.mp3.com/pennysongs

cheers!

I'm an entomologist in kentucky. I'm the sort that tends to like short pop songs with lots of melody and harmony (Buddy Holly, Beatles, Kinks, Byrds, Beach Boys). I also really really like early albums from Van Morrison. Here's some psychosis for ya: I'm putting off buying Veedon Fleece because its the only Van album left that I suspect I will like. I'm actually saving it for a later period in life when I desperately need a good album that's new (to me). Does anybody else do that? Lately I've been catching up with old stuff that I've never listened to before (Mike Nesmith, Nitty Gritty Dirt, Todd Rundgren, the Move) and some newer things by some of these Elephant 6 people, and others. Unfortunately, I'm not really qualified to be in this forum. I don't write music or music reviews. I did write some music reviews for myself so that I could read more criticism on the albums in my collection (I would like to expand this project so that I can learn more about my opinions of my friends' albums). Also, I once dated a girl whose dad wrote the "we do chicken right" jingle for KFC, so I have connections to the music "biz." Okay, I never really dated a girl. Speaking of dating, I watched _Looking For Mr. Goodbar_ for the first time last night. Man, if that don't turn you off stabbing someone to death, I don't know what will. Perhaps _Suspiria_. Favorite albums, cause you want to know and I like to list things: Moondance, Astral Weeks, Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of...), Get Happy!!, Imperial Bedroom, loveless, isn't anything, stone roses, pet sounds, 69 love songs Favorite albums which perhaps aren't as cliched as the above, but then again they are: cake and I've seen everything (trash can sinatras), uncle anesthesia and dust (screaming trees), the good earth (feelies), Gone (yoakam), and the hits just keep on coming (nesmith), pinkerton (weezer), heaven or las vegas (c. twins), wrecking ball (emmylou), va va voom (cinerama), saturnalia (wedding present), simpatico and copacetic (velocity girl), straightaways (son volt), Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy (Nitty Gritty). Other insterests: movies (how predictable), false sea serpent sightings that aren't hoaxes, non-offensive uses of Liquid Paper.

36. Office worker in Cleveland.

Jan and Dean, Dif Juz, the new Lucinda Williams record. Twee.

6'1", 160 lbs.

Asexual when sober.

I've been reading and occasionally contributing here for a while, but now that school's out, you'll be seeing more of me.

I'm 33, live in Chicago. I work in an art / film/ music library. We've got a music library with an annual budget of about $25,000, so I've been listening to a lot of free stuff lately and our collection is surprisingly good.

Um, to be brief, I'm very intolerant and have distinct taste boundaries that could be best characterized as urban: I like poppy things, stoopid things, funky things and arty / experimental things. I like music sung in languages other than English and Mayo Thompson-era Rough Trade. I dislike Brand Name personality music, confessional music and music made by guys who wear plaid shirts. I have, however, been known to boogie out to the trashiest rock anthems.

hi :) Marianne, 23, Australia. I'm a uni student...soon to be teacher (help!). Types of music I adore: AIR, Tori amos, Amon Tobin, NIN, blur, portishead, radiohead..and various other kinds of chill music. Of course I'm also into everything from Bobby Darrin to the Sex Pistols.

sorry..you can't pigeonhole me. nope, won't let it happen :)

My Life In Music by X. Y. Zedd

I was born as a shiny new vinyl 45-rpm record in 1969; when the doctor pressed a needle to my skin, he heard "Ball Of Fire" by Tommy James And The Shondells. Well fed by a diet of pop radio, I rapidly grew into a slim long-player and people would call me "Ziggy Stardust." Then I grew bigger and fatter until I was "Yessongs" by 1974, with triple gatefold and Roger Dean apparel. My adolescent rebellion wavered between slipping cantakerous Harry Partch cantatas and Kraftwerk concept album sleeves over my soul. Bloated and overplayed, I suddenly broke (though I was labeled "unbreakable"), and out of my shards grew a thousand punk and New Wave records. For a brief time I spun wilder and faster and became a 12-inch single of "Rapture" by Blondie, but soon broke out in a bad case of crackles and pops. Remixed and posing anew as "Twenty Jazz-Funk Greats" by Throbbing Gristle, I spun 'round on the turntable of education until I was formally rejected. By the time I was "The Queen Is Dead," I'd lost my virginity to an eight-track and suddenly metamorphosed as a cassette. Over the years I became worn out through too much abuse of my "Bone Machine" "cassingles," so I went into silent hibernation, wrapped a jewel case about me, and became a fully grown Aphex Twin double CD. Now I am contemplating whether or not to undergo life counseling and try out being an audiovisual DVD of "Vespertine" by Bjork or pare back and settle for a career as a minidisk of Matmos or Momus. In the meantime, I've lost a lot of weight and am proud to show off my trim mp3 files of rare Brian Eno bootlegs to hard drives I know and love.

You are my DJ, I am what you play.

I too am a 69'er, only was born a reel-to-reel which my parents would play while synched up to lite-show speakers. My favorite things come in fresh pressed plastic, heavily laden in irony and color, and endure the usual 3.15 seconds of any pop song starting from early Brill Building girl groups to latest 3 piece indie outfit from the midwest. I am a struggling actor and musician, meaning that I am sure to make a spectacle of myself at various stages of my life - but that's a wanted risk I take. No website to hype either myself or my band, but that's currently in the works...

London. 31. I do stuff.

Cork in Ireland be my place.

I never did this either despite having been a semi-regular poster for a couple of months now. It's about time, I imagine.

My name is Dave, I am 21 and a sophomore at Princeton U. in New Jersey. I am Canadian, and my parents live in Toronto (although my family and I are originally from Newfoundland). I've been a sax player for about eleven years now, and also play bits of piano, drums, bass and guitar. When I was a kid, I sang in a lot of classical choirs until my voice broke, and listened to my parents' Beatles records as well as Roxette, C + C Music Factory and MC Hammer. After a big Nirvana phase, I now listen to Aphex Twin, Peter Brotzmann, P.I.L., Big Black/Rapeman/Shellac, John Zorn, Radiohead, Pussy Galore and Lester Young.
I am the Program Director for WPRB, a station in New Jersey. If you'd like to listen, there's a RealAudio link at http://wwww.wprb.com and if you like any of the stuff on this list, you'd probably dig us. Nice to meet you, by the way.

Hi there. Born Minneapolis, university in NYC, live in London. Graduated college 1990 - you do the maths. Started writing for magazines and newspapers the second I arrived here but really consider it the waiting tables of writing. Curate art events, write and edit books too. Happy to consider self a feminist but I wish it didn't still have to be so necessary. First record bought: Johnny Cash Sun sessions, age 5. Was obsessed with the Orient as a small child. Spent most of childhood outdoors, building civilisations in woods, swamps, vacant lots. Or indoors writing stories. Saved from annihilation by mall bitches at school by feisty punk rock girls, repaid karmic debt setting up riot grrrl events in London. Trying to rekindle excitement I had for music but writing about it can make you seriously jaded and cynical towards motives of biz. Lead champagne lifestyle on beer budget. Procrastinate too much. Like now. Also try hard to walk it the way I talk it, let's hope I succeed...

Ah, what the heck... 29 y.o., Asian-American, grew up in Connecticut, living in Seattle, currently a grad student in clin. psychology and psychotherapist (seriously) at Harborview Med. Cen. (the birthplace of "911"; don't tell Flavor Flav). Appallingly polite, formal, and quiet in real life. What else? Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. The original drummer in the Mothers of Invention was Jimmy Carl Black, Walter. I'm as tired of it as you are, and I hope that our children will come to love us again, in some better world than this. (Sigh) AND...I deeply miss Geir Hongro. REALLY. I do.

This is cool; so much diversity & enthusiasm. I am 33, live in Bakersfield CA, music lover above all else. I like many, many musicians & bands, almost all in 40s-60s "roots" genres (C&W, R&R, R&B) + some 70s-80s rockabilly-punk. It's elaborated on a link page below ... We have a music site & more minutiae at http:mp3.com/TheDuskDevils or http://artists/mp3s.com/artists/207/the_dusk_devils.html Bakersfield Sound C&W, honky-tonk & country blues w/emphasis on songwriting. Strong melodies & lyrics for artists looking for songs.

AND...I deeply miss Geir Hongro. REALLY. I do.

Ha! I thought you were Joe McGlinchey! Welcome aboard.

George, notyetthirty, make Computer things for Interactive TV, used to play in pop group Jack, used to be more exciting than I am now, right now listen to: Frank Sinatra, Squarepusher, Abba, Bobby Womack, Mag Fields, shit garage, the Fall, Wu-Tang Clan, blah

some old nonsense is at http://fiddlesticks.com

I'm a student, just graduated in fact, and am now working to pay off my not inconsiderable debts at some dead-end call centre. I'm currently listening to loads of krautrock - Neu!, early Kraftwerk, Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, etc. Also many of these grooving hipsters: Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, The Strokes (boo, hissss!), Smashing Pumpkins (still), Belle and Sebastian, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Ride, MBV, 13th Floor Elevators, Primal Scream and so on. I love this board, it makes my working life that much more bearable, so big thanks to whoever tames the technological beast of the cyber- lands to bring us such future-visions.

Just introduced myself on ILE so it's about time I got around to this board. Just turned 40, born in Connecticut, moved to NYC when I was 18, have lived in LA since '96. Work at various crappy jobs within the commercial production world. I used to be a Teamster-a rainbow Teamster! Once wrote for a local LA music rag but I thought I was terrible and I'm glad I got out of that racket.

My first rock idols were Mama Cass and Janis Joplin. I had all the usual adoption/houseboy fantasies one has at that age. Then they went and died on me. So I replaced them with Bowie and Patti Smith. My pop development: went from Have a Nice Day Top 40/bubblegum stuff to glam to punk to...oh, you know, all kindsa stuff. Current faves: Stereo Total, Super Furry Animals, Clinic, Makeup, White Stripes, Turbonegro. All Time Faves: Kinks, 60s pop Stones, Bowie, George Jones, Love, Ike & Tina, Giorgio Moroder, Roxy, Kraftwerk, Sparks, T. Rex, Birthday Party, Pixies, Marc Almond, French Pop, Sylvester.

Don't post much, but I love reading you all! I wish to broaden my listening tastes and I'm very happy to have discovered this board. I used to work at a gay disco in the late 80s/early 90s but haven't been exposed to much dance music, intelligent or otherwise, since then. So I wanna catch up. It's a drag I came upon ILM (through the Momus website, in case you're interested) just as the Napster filters really kicked in. I want to hear all these records you're recommending!

Currently the things I hate include: Dave Navarro, most queercore, aging LA punkers who won't shut up about their golden era (e.g. Exene "Hey kid's, culture's over, what a drag, let's open up a punk rock museum and knickknack shop and start a band with Rancid" Cervenka), Betty Page 'dos, Laker flags, most sports, that cliched LA vs. NY rivalry... um, um, um, guess I don't really hate that much these days.

Shit, this is longer than I intended. My name is Arthur, I was born on Bloomsday, my father's name is James, my mother's name is Joyce. Bye...

GOD Dave Navarro sucks.

Bare facts, my names Bill (but my family still calls me William). I'm 35 and married with a cracking wee lad who's 6 years old. I'm a Scorpio into supporting deadbeat Scottish 2nd division football teams, wine, beer, curry, food, art (modern or otherwise), pub lunching, more wine and some more beer.

I live in a village in picturesque North Yorkshire, nice but it can be boring as fuck sometimes. Needless to say don't get many top bands playing locally.

I got into music as a 14 year old, my first record was Angel Eyes by Roxy Music from Woolies in Berwick on Tweed. Since then I've never looked back. I went through a phase as a heavy metal freak for a couple of years then heard Love Action by the Human League and then opened my ears to pretty much anything, no preconditions or rules. It's lead me up a few blind alleys but i'm probably more enthused now then I ever have been.

Currently grooving to Bonnie Prince Billy, Curtis Mayfield, AC/DC, Johnny Cash, Auteurs, Jackie Leven, Radiohead and Basement Jaxx and Sir John Peel.

Arthur: love the amazing litterary facts.

I'm 18, originally from Aberystwyth, Wales; Mostly from Somerset; currently from Rye, Sussex and soon to be from either Salford or Oxford Brookes university, doing Media Technology, depending on how much time I wasted on ILM during my exams. My eccentric-to-everyone-I-know but horribly-boring-and-predictable-to-everyone-here favourite bands: The almighty Helen Love, Drugstore, Kenickie/Lauren Laverne, Angelica, Belle and Sebastian, Beth Orton, Catatonia, Air, Saint Etienne, Blondie, Hefner, etc. etc. Randomly chosen songs that I like by other bands: "Bring It On" Mekon ft Roxanne Shante, "The Light 3000" Schneider TM ft KPT.michi.gan, "Swefn G Endlar" Sigur Ros, "Goodnight Moon" Shivaree, "Criminal" Fiona Apple, "No Danger" The Delgados, "When I Fall In Love" Ant and Dec. Personal anthem: "Selfish, Lazy and Greedy" Go-kart Mozart. Clearly I'm not going to convince anyone here I'm hip.

I'm not particularly interested in digging through musical history, even if it sounds exactly the same I'd rather have new stuff, sorry. I just bought the Destiny's Child LP and it rocks, and I have an unhealthy obsession with pop videos and adverts, and TV generally.

What else? I could show off about my obscenely expensive inch-thick widescreen titanium supercomputer, but I won't. Damn.

Go to hell. :P

well, that's lovely talk, i must say.

i started my first ever thread on ILM yesterday, but i've been reading and very occasionally posting for a long time. i live in dublin and like this thing we call pop music. i also like folk and trad and a good few other things besides. at the moment i can't get enough of belle and sebastian. i write for a zine called frank's apa that wor tom used to write for. i've just had an interview for a senior position in my workplace. ever notice how you're never quite sure afterwards whether you did well or badly in an interview?

I happened upon this forum and was feeling sort of cut off from the world, so I've decided to try to follow along for a while. So far I've noticed one poster I know; many many bands I don't know; a topic about my best friend; and a lot of raves about the music my 6-year-old son listens to. Mostly I listen to jamaican roots reggae, dub, bluegrass, and old-time music. My own rock and pop tastes are sort of skewed by my aforementioned cut-off-from-the-worldness: love lots of relatively unhip obscure stuff (FSK, Jeb Loy Nichols, Califone, Souled American).

I'm 37 years old and live in New York City with my wife and kids. I'm a graphic designer and musician. I look forward to learning lots from you all.

NYC graphic designer and musician who's spotted a topic about his best friend? Are you sure you're not really ld beghtol, and just making up the 'wife and kids' stuff?

My wife and kids are real! You couldn't make up a family like mine if you tried. My pal is a writer named Camden Joy, whose name came up briefly a ways back.

Hey, Stevie! Quick!! Friend-of-Camden Joy alert!!!

So I have found this website. Its very good to hear peoples commments. I'm Ukrainian studying in LOndon. And I listened to the BBC World service and MTV for my music. I like polka, tangos, folk, usual English pop, and sixties music. Like Nick Cave and Scott Walker and Goldfrapp and Tindersticks. I like French and Russian films, especially comedies. I like the people here, they know a lot, and I am studying so hard now.

My name is Alex. I am a 37 year old from Germany. Now living near and working in Frankfurt (only German town with skyscrapers therefore also called Mainhattan, with Main being the local river). Found ILM via Josh Blog which I somehow must have found via another blog (robotwisdom?). Have been buying 1-2 cd's per week (music is a drug) from 1991 onwards. Just did a count in my Access Database: currently 1178 cd's. I like indie music. My first two records when getting more into this music where "Swagger" by the Blue Aeroplanes (in my memory one of those few perfect albums) and "Bossanova" by the Pixies.

Favourite artists: Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo, Giant Sand, Gun Club, Sonic Youth, Joy Dividion, Swell, Red House Painters, Joni Mitchell (from another life in the 80s), the Smiths, the Cure, Laurie Anderson, Keith Jarrett and Nick Drake (from my first life in the late 70s/early 80s), Cocteau Twins, Cowboy Junkies etc.

26-year-old music critic/journalist, relocated to New York mid-March, still looking for work but (barely) making do with freelancing for the moment. If you want to peg my tastes they're somewhat of a mutant offspring of Robert Christgau's and Simon Reynolds's. I write a lot about postrave dance music and it's probably about 1/3 of what I listen to, the rest being divvied up among a bunch of things. I contribute to a bunch of magazines that don't pay on time and a bunch of alt-weeklies that do. Staying w/girlfriend until relocation in September to a roommate situation. Size 10 1/2 shoe. Recently shaved head. Anything else you wanna know, email me.

Um... 22, just graduated in Popular Culture and Philosophy. Music fan. Zen master. www.lushalcoholsaint.co.uk is my website. I'm a part-time barman for a bit so I can afford to buy records and other assorted crap. My friend Mary showed me here. That's all.

BEWARE SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION If anyone is interested in what I think about alternative music, books, movies, travels, chess etc. you can visit my blog which I started a little more than a month ago. It is aptly titled sex and sunshine as it hardly ever mentions those two necessities of life.

Alex, you ought to put that on the "Your Blog" thread too. Which I can't find.

Tracer Hand - Where is the Your Blog thread? There is something like that down at ILE but here I have not found it. I have not got the time to check all folders!

This place is getting messier and messier. Could someone, I think of you Josh e.g., please install a search like Atomz on this site? It should be possible. I have even succeeded in doing it for my small little blog.

I will look into it in, uh, August. After I get my MS. And move. (Maybe I can leave it for the next moderator, ha.)

I'm 16, live in the middle of nowhere in New York, and love whatever strikes me as unusual and interesting (Latin, glam rock, words, pretentiousness). I'm under strict orders not to tell my name on the Internet (everyone else on there is a pedophiliac, middle aged stalker, you know), so I'm going to use a new one every day and see how long I can keep that up.

Music I love or have loved: Velvet Underground, In Flames, Goo Goo Dolls, Momus, Belle & Sebastian, Nine Inch Nails, some Radiohead, some Bach, some Beethoven, Vince Guaraldi, George Winston

Music I like: Vintersorg, Thyrfing, Therion, David Bowie, Neutral Milk Hotel, some Radiohead, Pedro the Lion, Nirvana, Bush, Iron Maiden, Sex Pistols, the Clash, U2, Dead Kennedys, Iggy Pop, Apocalyptica, Madonna, Fiona Apple, Filter, Olivia Tremor Control, Hum, Neil Young, Matthew Sweet, Pink Floyd, the Who

Music I really can't stand: Beach Boys, Britney Spears, rap in general, blues in which every line must be repeated several times, Creed

Authors I love: Neil Gaiman, Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, Ayn Rand, Phillip Dick

Hello. I'm 20. I'm 5'9". I really like Susan B. Anthony dollars. Here's some musical stuff about me:

The first music I listened to that wasn't baroque classical, when I was nine: The Beatles.
The first music I listened to that made me realize what music was capable of, cartoon-epiphany style, when I was fourteen: Brian Eno (it was Another Green World).
"Older" music I really like: Millennium. (Apparently, these guys have been a recent topic of discussion, and nobody said 'dud,' which is great.)
"Older" music I've recently been interested in: Pharoah Sanders.
"Newer" music I really like: Spiritualized.
"Newer" music I've recently been interested in: Icebreaker [International].
Little-known band I like who I'd like to plug (I don't know them personally): Optigonally Yours.
Music to which I've most recently introduced someone: Eric Dolphy.
Music I enjoy to which I've been most recently introduced: Prefuse 73.
Music of which I am in perpetual awe: Laurie Anderson.
Music I think is staggeringly important: Boards of Canada.
Music I love of which people are frequently skeptical: Merzbow.
Music I formerly maniacally loved to which I have recently been re-awakened: King Crimson.
Music I've most recently acquired: Herbie Hancock's Fat Albert Rotunda.
Music I enjoy that you'd probably find incongruous with how I seem thus far: NON/Boyd Rice.
Music I like that most often gets me into trouble with people who "like music": Marilyn Manson.
Music I hate: I think that idea is sort of ridiculous.
Most recent concert: Add N to (X) at the Grog Shop, in Cleveland, on 18 July.
Currently listening to: Plone's "Plock" single.

I'm always reachable at the given email address, and always enjoy discussion of any kind. That's why I'm here, isn't it?

I have never been implicated in terrorism of any kind.

Didn't realize this was here. So ok:

I'm 33, male, live in San Francisco, Ca., and am a graphic designer.

I don't look much like a young Anthony Perkins, but have been told I do more than once.

I have broad musical tastes, and don't want to blather on about all my faves, but I don't care for dance, techno, and rap. I try to listen primarily to vinyl LPs, and own about 1700.

I'm the best person to ever live .

No offence, Mike, but you can't be. The Greatest Man To Have Ever Lived is David Hirst.

i am ambrose. i live in russia (although only for a week longer). i study russian, obivously at sheffield. my reason for going to sheffield? home of warp....they moved to london a year after i got there. dicks.... so i am into that sort of thing etc etc boring boring. also the usual high llamas stereolab tortoise (everyone hates them here dont they) shit. i like tortoise best though. now i am into garage as it is funkier than anything i have ever heard and i love dancing it makes sense to buy loads of garage tunes. io have a website which is almost defunkt cos i am about to leave russia: it is a sort of blog/journal about living hee, so if you want to read what a bunch of idiot students do in a country where beer costs 25p then go to http://www.geocities.com/ambrose_in_russia/home.html

also there are picutres of some constructivist buildings in moscow, russian graffitti, aforementioned students, other shit there.

i help run a night in sheffield that is called non.sense and is pretty turd. we dont really play any indie , or pop.

Oh sorry, I forgot this one.

Im a 23 year old finishing off a computer science/physics double major from the east coast of Canada. Currently working in Toronto as a programmer which is a nice break from my past incarnations as a midnight shift gas attendant.

Past 5 years I've held down a college radio show and a few years of editting the entertainment section of the student paper till I grew tired of filling at 2am in for contributers who didnt make their contributions so I switched to the radio station staff.

I spend too much time listening to indie music, I have a fear of silence and an extremenly short attention span if Im not wearing headphones. I am currently suffering through this recent trend towards roots/bluegrass in college music cause I tolerated enough celtic music in my life through over exposure due to a close proximity to Cape Breton. Bands I like include Eric's Trip, Sloan, Spiritualized, MBV, BJM, most of the whole postrawk thing and what little I've heard from Puffy In Japan. I dont hate pop music I just have a hard time stomaching commercial radio.

I tend to ramble.

Puffy In Japan = Puffy AmiYumi???

Aw, yeah.

I'm Andrew, I live in Dublin, and I like pop music as filtered into everything, followed shortly by everything (except post-rock). Dublin not being a large town, I know both Ian Moore and Irene O'Dowd. I don't post as much as I'd like, because ILM's download-read-reply- submit cycle isn't well suited to pay-per-minute internet connections like what I'm on now. Maybe I'll sort that out.

Everyone knows David Hirst comes second to me.

I'm 21. New River Valley/Southwest Virgina. Might hang around after I finish being a Va Tech Stud(ent). Self-amusing, obviously. I like to fish or pretend to socialize when not listening to, reading about, downloading, or buying music - in that order, simultaneously. I'll listen to anything once... or twice. Most of the time I keep quiet on ILM, but I'm paying attention. Been lurking since the begining, seems like. The nick came from "What color does a smurf turn when you freeze him?", but it doesn't go anywhere from there... it's a coincidence that my first post to ILM was in a blues-related thread. The nick's been around lots longer than that, though. I love you people. Later.

19 year old Japanese/Korean UC Berkeley Student. Grew up in 2story glass house in forest-like suburbs. Raised on and improper diet of undie hip hop, techstep (yes that dark putrid shit), assorted dance/IDM type things, and Japanese visual gender-bender glam rockers. As you can see I know nothing about music but.... I still love it......Oh yeah, to make matters worse I make music too.

OK, it took me two months to find this.

21, Montreal, Vietnamese, computer engineer 3rd year, Velvet Underground, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, procrastination, highway sightseeing, old decrepit buildings, painting landscapes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, misanthropy, 69 Love Songs, Old Port, Kids in the Hall, bored, bowling bag, immaculate freshly cut grass, mountain, Soft Bulletin, drugs, Japanese wrestling, Emergency & I, biking, $1 plastic guns, David Bowie, T-Rex, Trainspotting (the book), cubicle fever, Brian Eno, water fountains, Nirvana and the grunge era, white velcro shoes, night driving, waterfronts, High Fidelity (the book), the Beatles, Calvin & Hobbes, you.

My name's Greg. Do you mean David Hirst that used to play for Wednesday?

Me: 19 Yr old artist/ennui avoidance technician. Currently residing in Santa Fe, new Mexico. Going to ahrt skoo in Chicago Ill. Don't really know that much about music or anything else but a guy can DREAM right?

You: SWF, 5'6" 140-180 Lbs, Green Eyes, Dark Hair, Sense of humor a must.

Oh-wait-I'm on ILM.

My, this is a big thread. Does anybody even read the new posts?

Yes.

Age 47. In 1964 was a folk music fan hence the only person in Mr. Nielson's 4th grade homeroom not to watch the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Took me two years to realize this was a mistake. Been trying to catch up ever since. Am 20 to 30 years older than most of you. Am impressed by the fact that each of you has listened to more music than I have, more attentively. Can say with confidence, however, that I've read nearly half as many books as any of you has.

What I do with my time: There was a period of several months in the mid-'90s when I would get a word in my mind and just have to fit it into that awful Joyce Kilmer "tree" poem ("I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree" - except that, being a doubter more than a thinker, I misremembered it as "I doubt that I shall ever see/A poem lovely as a tree"). So one day my friend Elizabeth and I go to the tidal pool down on Half Moon Bay, and the phrase that embeds itself in my mind is "sea anemone." For three days I can think of nothing but how to fit "sea anemone" into the Joyce Kilmer format. Finally I come up with this:

I doubt that RuPaul, tall and feminy Has lips as gay as sea anemone.

The accents don't quite scan on "RuPaul," but it was the best I could do.

Grrr. HTML "corrected" my poem. How about this: I doubt that RuPaul, tall and feminy
Has lips as gay as sea anemone.

Or this:
I doubt that RuPaul, tall and feminy
Has lips as gay as sea anemone.

I feel kinda like a cad posting this after the poem...I also feel stupid for not posting here first, but hey, I never did read packaged directions anyway...

Jess, 23, live outside Philadelphia, currently unemployed and aimless (a catch, ain't I?), amateur writer but professional procrastinator, NOT a musician (I just can't bear to add more mediocre crap to the mountain) but I AM a critic (why else would I be posting here if I didn't think my opinion was god-like and unimpeachible), I likes...well, I likes what I likes, and there ain't a single genre I can think of (outside new age) that I don't likes somethin' from...but I've been an inveterate hiphop junkie since I was a wee lad and currently a recovering indie rock kid (who's finally almost worked through the alt-rock crock handed to me by the mass media *and* fanzine cartels while growing up in the 90s.)

Hello I'm 18 and I live in Arkansas (so you can imagine the boat loads of interesting music that never makes it over here). I'm studying anthropology. That's it.

Not sure if my email address is working. However, I'm a grad student in Broadcasting at San Francisco State, former college radio D.J. and avid purchaser of covers (obviously). If you know of any cool ones, let me know -- cover-versions.com

I want THE OTHER KOGAN to post. Or did Frank just make him up?

Meta-question (can't find apter thread):

??? Where is Dr C ???

almost-thirty mostly-online journo-editor type who likes to use dashes. proud of writing for respected underground magazines in multiple genres, but none lately. ex-pat american living in london, for now. my favourite album today is his name is alive's 'someday my blues will cover the earth', but the most recently listened to is the richard pryor box set.

embarassing firsts: show - billy joel album i made mom buy for me - 'hot trax' tv compilation featuring styx. album bought on my own - neil young, which wouldn't be too bad, except that it was the NY & the bluenotes album.

HOWDY!
I'm David (30) from the UK!!

Been here ages but no matter what they put me through I'll STILL believe in love.

Jay 30 lawyer Columbus, Ohio USA obsessed with Captain Beefheart lacking in fashion sense appreciative of taste waiting for the love of a good woman currently reminiscing with Eric B & Rakim

Some kinds of ice cream taste really good.

[my conscience: "don't waste your one shot at glory on the 'introduce yourselves' thread talking about ice cream! there will be other opportunities to talk about ice cream! say something about music!"]

I'm 20 yrs old, quite fond but not in love with [band I: a 5-piece from Glasgow] and [band II: a 2-piece from Paris], in love with [band III: a defunct 5 (not 6!)-piece from Stockton] and brackets, not naming the bands because they're pretty much interchangeable with a bunch of other bands, into old movies, a lapsed anarcho-socialist, a (slowly) recovering cool junkie, shy, too eager for value commitment, thirsty, I'll stop now.

Oh, shit, I just found this thread. Right after discovering the 'Recent Answers' button.

I'm Curt, 48, but I'm still prettier than any of you. I'm a graphic designer living in Michigan. I remember when Elvis was new. Not that I thought at age 3, "This means a big change for pop music," or anything, but I remember the commotion around the house. My older brothers were entering their teens. One was a huge Jerry Lee Lewis fan with a big rebel DA. I grew up on my brothers' singles and their box record players like every kid in America had at the time. Elvis, Jerry Lee, Everlys, Chuck Berry - I get a rush seeing the sleeves now. My first records, and my first fave, was Ricky Nelson. Lonesome Town. Because he was on TV, I guess.

I remember the 60s, of course, but I don't have anything new to say about it.

I stopped listening to pop records for about two years in the mid-70s. I got into classical. Nothing weird, just Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and those boys. In '77, punk called me back. Actually, it was Cheap Trick that first made me want to listen again. The next few years were a third golden era.

I sat out another stretch later, roughly 1989 to 1997, when I bought next to nothing that was current. The ony contemporary pop CDs I recall getting were:

Charlatans Some Friendly (my 1st CD purchase)

Monie Love Down to Earth

Talk Talk Laughing Stock

Concrete Blonde Bloodletting WHY??

Breeders Last Splash

Morphine Cure for Pain

Until the End of the World Soundtrack

Crime and the City Solution Paradise Discotheque

It started when I quit buying new vinyl before i even had a CD player. Then, with the price of CDs, I spent my money on sure things, old rootsy catalog releases that had never been available before. Lots of old jazz, blues, 60s ska boxes, pre-rock adult pop, as well as pre-'89 rock. So I missed out on grunge. More like, grunge came knocking and I said go fuck yourself, dude, I'll take Count Basie. I felt like the culture of youth rebellion was hopelessly beyond played out, and I wanted no part of its attitude in music, art, fashion, anything.

Eventually, I felt like I'd go insane if I heard another saxaphone solo. Some other factors came together, too. Different friends with different interests, one with a record store. More interesting new music - electronic, ambient, all variety of stuff with more pop input. Record guides, especially All Music, the Internet, used CD stores, CD burners., oh, my head!

I dropped in on ama from time to time but always found it hard to follow. Now, I've read all of the ilm archives, and I wish you'd all wrap up your ile hippie chitchat and get your sorry asses back over here.

Damian,going on 23.Fresh out of University of Auckland,NZ.Likes and loves - Radiohead,2001 - A Space Odyssey,Stereolab,Idaho (the band,not the state),Faust,Brian Eno (singing and non-singing),Joy Division,MBV,Kraftwerk,Neu!,some prog.Will never succeed in hating Pink Floyd again.

"I've read all of the ilm archives" = Purple Heart.

27, in Dallas. I won't waste any time: I need a band. Reference points would be Ruins, Debussy, Beach Boys. Anyways, I've already noticed people I know in this thread, but if you're near me and want to play, sign up today!

Re:ILM, I too made the mistake of discovering this thread after I'd already posted a few. How's that for a first impression?

is it rude of me to introduce myself now when i've been posting here for months?

i'm di. i am 22. i love music. some current faves are bikini kill, sleater-kinney, bratmobile, king loser, the kinks, the rolling stones, the aesthetics, now i'm getting stuck and i wish i had my record collection with me so i could remember what bands i like but you know, there's heaps and i guess you guys will probably find out while i am posting. i play guitar and sing in a band called LD50 in Dunedin, NZ , and in the daytime i am an assistant in the Music Department at a local high school. and yes, my nickname is a dumb joke about a certain dead princess. whaddaya gunna do?

My name is Ronan, at the time I was born (1983) this name was blissfully unknown in the world of pop. I live in Dublin. My favourite bands are(to name a few) Mogwai Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, Ryan Adams, Whiskeytown, Will Oldham, Jim White, Chemical Brothers, Beastie Boys, Primal Scream, Doves, and many many more...........oh yeah and I fucking hate Aphex Twin. Sorry I had to get that in there

i'm young, but i feel old i'm grey, but i dye my hair red

i find it almost impossible to list what kind of music i like - bjork, kylie, old manics, showtunes (not lloyd webber), punk where you can hear the words, singer songwrittery stuff that is not too general (read Blood On The Tracks rather than Tapestry), pop!, tv themetunes, george formby, old skool hip-hop, nasty electro beeps music, anything(almost) not in english...

whatever

I think you've got an alarming amount in common with me, Bounder ...

Hey all. I'm Justyn, from Tucson, Arizona, the most boring city this side of Aberdeen. I'm a hopeless guitar player along the lines of Richey Manic. A would-be poet who thinks most poetry written today is crap, including my own. I'm madly in love with Winona Ryder. I'm 19 and a college student. I lead a very boring life matched only by the hero of Sartre's "Nausea."

Favorite artists include Billie Holiday, Syd Barrett, The Beatles, Le Tigre, The Clash, Bikini Kill, Manic Street Preachers (up till 95), McCarthy, X-Ray Spex, Public Enemy, Sex Pistols, Marvin Gaye, Stone Roses, Pulp, Suede, the Pixies, Sleater-Kinney, Kenickie, the Ronettes, and Subway Sect. My favorite single of all time is "One Chord Wonders" by the Adverts.

Favorite writers - Salinger, Philip Larkin, Ballard, Burroughs, Greil Marcus, Allen Ginsberg, Albert Camus, and Gore Vidal. My favorite film is "Taxi Driver." The two books that changed my life, when I was 15, were Catcher In The Rye and Nik Cohn's Rock From The Beginning. I've spent much of the following four years obsessively reading the rock press - Christgau and Bangs and the rest are like old friends to me, but I've recently gotten into the U.K. crowd like Reynolds and Roberts and Penman, who are pretty hard to find here outside of the pages of UNCUT. My favorite magazine, although I recognize its mediocrity compared to the greatness of NME and Melody Maker in the Eighties. I've been reading this forum for months and it only recently occured to me to post anything. Hope to get to know you all soon enough...

For some reason I considered reading the entirety of this thread (in one sitting, no less) an absolute pre-requisite to posting about myself. About 1/4th of the way through, someone already wrote that he thought it unlikely that anyone would read his introduction given the already enormous number of posts. Where does that leave me? I'm hoping that the fact that I most definitely read your introduction will be enough to motivate you to read mine. This is, by the way, my first post.

I used to tell people that I listened to every kind of music, except the kind that "they" play on the radio. Then, and perhaps eternal favorites would probably be Joy Division, PIL, Gang of Four, and Pere Ubu (which probably makes me sounds like some boring, self-absorbed asshole, who wears black, goes on at length about "transgressive culture" and Marxist politics, and does whatever it is that Pere Ubu fans do... which isn't [entirely] the truth) Then I joined the Peace Corps and moved to Kazakhstan (which will be my home for another year, unless events occurring a couple hundred miles south of here get hot enough to require Peace Corps's withdrawal from Central Asia). Whoever has previously claimed to be living in the middle of nowhere has obviously never been to Kazakhstan. This move basically cut off any connection I once had to all of the realities I once enjoyed, including the resources that allowed me to listen to music other than what "they" play on the radio. By resources, I mean not only access to stores that sell non-commercial music, but the money with which to buy it (those of you who already find it hard to scrape together enough money to "feed your addiction" should try living on 100 dollars a month).

I mention this because I think I have a slightly different history than most of you when it comes to a personal relationship with mainstream, "pop music." Which is to say, I started listening to it not out of a) dissatisfaction/frustration with the underground/non- Top 40/indie music scene or b) my own self-willed recognition/revelation that mainstream music is not necessarily absolute crap. No. I started listening to mainstream music because I had no choice. I could either resign myself to the retro-hell of listening incessently to the same CDs from the (admittedly large) cache I lugged here from America (a fate which I know that those of you who share my sickness, ie probably all of you, would never willfully endure) and hope for the kindness of mix-tape making friends (In the year I've been here, I've recieved exactly one package from America containing mix-tapes. There were, admittedly, seven tapes, but that was over 9 months ago...) - OR - I could suck it up and start listening to what is available here. I should mention, just in case anyone thinks I'm actually complaining here, that I am glad that circumstances forced to me broaden my horizons a bit - in hindsight, I was starting to slip into a rather predictable funk. But I think this gives me a slightly warped perspective on things - I am an avid listener of pop music who has yet to be entirely sold on the pop aesthetic. At least, it feels warped.

So my current batch of favorites include, in addition to the Russian pop music that is played incessently over here (and was I hallucinating, or did someone on ILM mention Tattoo and Detsl?!), Aaliyah, Missy E, Nelly, Outkast, Radiohead, Eve, DMX, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx... And after consuming a large ammount alcohol, I've been known to admit to liking some Britney. All of these are available (in bootleg format, of course) at the local kiosk for the cost of a bottle of vodka. I should mention that the only two from this list that I would have bought had I been living in America this last year are Outkast and Radiohead.

The seven mix-tapes I mentioned above were all death metal/harcore/out-of-controlcore like At the Gates, Refused, Cave-In, Dillinger Escape Plan, Today is the Day, Converge, Coalesce, Deadguy, Cavity. This has been another recent revelation - metal does not always suck.

Guess I should include... Name: Matthew Cohen. Age: 24. Graduated from a small liberal arts college with a BA in Political Science. Planning on going back to school for a PhD in same. Speak Russian, but not fluently (what does "fluent" mean, really?)...

I should also mention my propensity to go on and on at length (interspersing my writing with parenthetical remarks that are often longer than the senteces they are intended to supplement).

My name is Dickon Edwards. I was reluctantly born in Ipswich, Suffolk shortly after they outlawed shillings, two events from which I still have not fully recovered. I share my birthday with the anniversay of the outbreak of World War Two. I have tried, at various points over the last six years, to be anyone other than myself in a vain attempt to understand Other People, but no one was convinced and I just ended up making even more enemies than when I was actually being myself. So now I am resigned to waltzing around North London with an air of fatuous affability, baiting schoolboys, and maintaining my appearance so that my friends can spot me in a crowd and my enemies can see me coming. www.fosca.com

Idea for a thread (though I'm too busy to start one): "What is it that Pere Ubu fans do?" Here's an answer: They (well, one of them, at any rate) think, the first time they hear it, that there's a line in "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" that goes "Intellectual dragon locked in time."

"So, Frank, how would you describe yourself?"

"I'm an intellectual dragon, locked in time."

(Pause). "Oh."

Never got around to actually doing this, so I guess it's about time I do. Real name's Vinnie Prabhu but I go by Palpable for just about everything online. I'm a 19 year-old student at Virginia Tech studying computer engineering. Some of my favorite artists: XTC, Bjork, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Orb, Orbital, Barenaked Ladies, New Order, Cure, Smiths, Underworld. Outkast and Blur are also moving quickly up in the ranks. I also have a crappy website (http://palpable.dhs.org) with album reviews, movie reviews, and my journal.

Me Brian. Me 29. Me almost 30.

I used to be now FT editor Ned Raggett's roommate, until I moved here to Seattle in February 2001. Like Ned, I was a college radio DJ at KUCI in Orange County for several years. Occupation: video game programmer. Favorite bands of the moment: Pinback, Hochenkeit, Buckfunk 3000, Pell Mell...

Side interests: Making music... indie/droney stuff and electronic stuff. Also DJing all sorts of dance music.. hip hop/experimental/weirder techy house/80s/whatevah

No personal home page... but here's a recent mix CD I made, as well as a couple of electronic tracks I did for some tributes. And here's what I look like...

I should have done this a long time ago. Sorry.

..and just so other IL*'ers won't give me grief about it. Yes... the goatee is now gone.

I've made a few contributions in the last couple of months but only just discovered this thread. I'm 30 years old and living in Amsterdam. Happily married since last May. I am what's possibly called a contributing editor at OOR, which is a bimonthly music magazine here in the Netherlands. I cover mainly hip-hop and dance music. My other job (I have two) is doing a weekly two-hour radio show on VPRO Radio 3FM late on Saturday nights. It's called Elementaal and I'm very proud of it. It is archived in Real Audio here. If you look around on the site, you'll see I also do three different, weekly one-hour internet-only shows.

im boring. and i make mix tapes. A picture of little ol me question the existential nature of life. ~chameleon

oh yah. im 18 and a painter/photographer, and i love cats. hemingway, london, yolen, piers anthony, old mccaffery, and eliot rock my world.

38, SWF from Brooklyn, now living in Hoboken NJ. Grew up reading NME, listening to punk/post-punk stuff, going to clubs Hurrah, Mudd Club, Peppermint Lounge, the Ritz. I read and enjoy ILM and ILE everyday! St. Etienne, Teenage Fanclub and the Kinks I've liked the most for the longest stretch of time. Recent listening: Le Tigre, Clinic, Tuesday Weld, King Tubby, John Cooper Clarke, Goldfrapp, Francoise Hardy, Mary J. Recent reading: Sarah by J.T. LeRoy.

Wow, Lesley. Let me know if you ever want to go to a show in the city. We could get Arthur to come!

Unfortunately, Tracer, I live in Los Angeles. But I hope to be back in NYC for good next summer. And I'd love to tag along--sounds like Lesley and I have a lot in common. Isn't Sarah great?

Tracer- There's great stuff at the Knitting Factory soon, and Ludacris at S.O.B.'s! I saw him last winter, he was fun.

Arthur-I love Sarah's solo work as well as St. Etienne. Hope to meet you when you get back to NYC

I'm 27, about to start on masters program, FL International Univ, Miami, FL. I like pretty much everything....as long as you don't bother me with a lot of stupid show-off rap like Jay-Z. I'm mostly into dance music, though I still proudly display everything I was into in years past. but now.....right off the top of my head I'm spinning: Orbital, New Order, Placebo, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Deep Dish, Danny Howells, Steve Lawler, or any other Global Underground DJ......along with a lot of other stuff I can't be bothered to list right now

I suppose, given that I've posted a bit, that I should contribute to this thread:

Charles, 19, Sydney, Australia. Media student (wanker). Longtime lurker. Comm. radio host (2ser.com; Osmosis). Occasional writer. Bands: fixation with Austin (Bedhead, American Analog Set, Super XX Man, Trail of Dead). Usual indie blah (twee as well). Destiny's Child. Auselectronica (Pilfernators, Bloody Fist label). People Under The Stairs. I heart Freaky Trigger, and the boards; they've changed how I listen to music...

Interesting selection of bands, Charles. I'm intrigued to know what you think of ILM Listening Chamber No.10

Oh, me? Jeff. 36. Currently living and working in Brussels, Belgium, but originally from England (London/Home Counties). Found IL* through Ned and Brian's advertising it on a Stereolab e-mail list to which I belong. So it's all their fault.

What I like:

"Classical" - JS Bach motets, Beethoven late string quartets and Symphony No.9, Schubert songs and late works, Tchaikovsky orchestral works, Debussy piano préludes, Bartok "Music For Strings Percussion and Celeste", Shostakovich symphonies, Herbert Howells church music, most any Berio, Feldman, George Crumb or Steve Reich

"Popular" - among my faves are records by Throwing Muses, Bernie Green and his orchestra, Public Enemy, A Certain Ratio, Orbital, Yes, Saint Etienne, Aphex Twin, Sister Sledge, The Waitresses, Beach Boys, Talking Heads, Marvin Gaye, Huggy Bear, Marumari, Kate Bush, Low, France Gall, Pink Floyd and Scritti Politti.

Since I've been posting here and there lately, thought this was appropriate. Not sure how I came upon ILM .. possibly through Bitchpork, that unofficial, dark-mirror-reflection of the Pitchfork web-board .. but it has already enriched my workdays quite a bit. To find a place where music in general is treated seriously, rather than canonically or callously ... I feel at home.

my tastes evolve through the diurnal and seasonal cycles .. in the morning, on the way to work, I'll want something hushed like Songs: Ohia or Aixx Em Klemm .. in the afternoon, when the sun is bright, I want liveliness .. some John Coltrane or the Clash, some Miles Davis Quintet or Pavement, Led Zep or Jethro Tull .. in the evening, I need dark, lush sounds, preferably with deep bass or intricate electronic textures. Likewise, in the spring I find myself more in the mood for upbeat pop, in the summer -- aggressive rawk .. now that it's the fall I'm digging out my old Cure and Depeche Mode tapes for driving, the Smiths, Joy Division, etc ... and in the winter I expect to be listening to polarities, both minimalist ambient and experimental noize, romantic-period 'classical' and industrial/synthpop ..

like the forum, I love music. Unfortunately, I don't play any instruments, though I entertain this mild fantasy of buying a dual-cd mixer and DJ'ing indie/electronica dance tunes sometime in the future. But I do enjoy writing music reviews for a site you may have heard of, Pitchforkmedia.com. Otherwise, I'm 24 as of autumn 2001, and live in a little basement apartment in Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside of D.C. I work in the city just two blocks from the White House, and have been making great efforts to restrain my paranoia and avoid holding my breath as I walk the streets and commute from the metro cars. Moving here from Florida seemed like such a great idea, two years ago..

Other interests include film, literature, politics, foreign policy, liberalism, comic books, nightclubbing, video games, and attempts to reconcile the communitarian/lefty/activist/ascetic side of my nature with the decadent, narcissistic pleasure-seeking devil on my other shoulder. The devil wins, more often than not. Can't quite blame it on me being a Gemini.

If you live in the area, or just want to reply to some obnoxious thing I've said in the forums, don't hesitate to comment. I love meeting new people, conversations, writing, etc.

cheers. chris.

I am Lord Custos. You are not "cleared" to know more than that.

oh here it is. i should have posted here before but couldnt find it

ok i should be working on a take-home midterm...how am i always online here when i have work to do? so to make this short, i am 21 and am in los angeles enduring college but am not from here. i am a cliche since i am a "film student." i like lots of things but my favorites are tricky, (pre-2000)pj harvey and madonna. i am always reading music criticism of bands i have never heard in real life before, i really han't heard many of the things often talked about here. i am not an indie kid. i am into astrology. i know ally from before somewhere online, but i think she'll deny knowing me around here..

in other words, i am pretty pathetic, but i guess you figured that already.

i am uncircumcised

oh yeah, as if you couldn't tell, i am extremely isolated and my life reads like an unlyrical and chaotic textbook-picture -snapshot on alienation, i am totally clining to the last vestiges of hope at this moment and i am addicted to the internet even though it has perpetually let me down in its function as a "lifeline," ..

as if you "couldn't" tell, ha.

"oh yeah, as if you couldn't tell, i am extremely isolated and my life reads like an unlyrical and chaotic textbook-picture -snapshot on alienation, i am totally clining to the last vestiges of hope at this moment and i am addicted to the internet even though it has perpetually let me down in its function as a "lifeline," ..

you record emo music, right?

A portable model of,

Well, then you certainly picked the right town to live in, Vic!

I don't know who is actually going to read through all these responses. I started, but even I am not that committed to wasting time online. However, I will still introduce myself, or my musical self.

I'm from the U.S. Grew up listening to what was on the radio and whatever records we had at home: mostly rock, R&B, soul, disco. Sesame Street songs. Church music. In 6th or 7th grade I dabbled with listening to jazz on the radio. Also around this (77/78) time I used to go to the rehearsals for a "punk" (using the word pretty loosely--some of what they covered was not punk at all, but they did play some Ramones and Clash songs, as well as early Elvis Costello "I'm Not Angry", but even that is stretching it) cover band whose leader was one of my brother's friends.

Around this time, my family moved and I discovered a college radio station I had never listened to before, and suddenly I was exposed to all sorts of music that was totally new to me: punk/new wave/industrial, reggae, free jazz, avant-garde/modern classical/experimental, electronic music, unfamiliar progressive bands (mostly European), traditional music from around the world, Medieval music, and perhaps a few things that don't fit into any of those categories. It was an education. (Around this time I was also very rapidly discovering modern poetry, something very exciting to me for several years after, but not, for the most part, something I enjoy currently.) The station became much less eclectic around 1990 (and I was listening to it less by then anyway), but by that point I already had been made aware of these sometimes invisible forms of music, so I knew what names to try to keep track of.

I was initially intrigued by acid house/techno (etc.) after becoming aware of it via Psychic TV around 1988. (I remember looking at a PTV disc with the words "Turn on/Tune in/The Acid House" with a friend, and both of us debating about whether it meant anything, and if so what.) Saw them eight times and don't regret it, although 99% of the recordings they released are crap. Psychic TV was kind of a 20's thing for me, and I am very ambivalent about how wrapped up I was in their work at the time. (Maybe I was really the victim of subliminal messages in their recordings?) I ended up becoming very turned off by most techno, and the various, related, mutating forms of electronic dance music (but I admit that there must be a lot of it I have not heard). Maybe if I had tried E, but I'm not interested in that now. (I have only one psychedelic experience to my credit, and it was not at a rave.) I also listened to a lot of hip-hop between 1988 and about 1992/93, but I got a bit tired of the homophobia, misogyny, anti-semitism, anti-white, pro-random-violence themes in much of the music. I still check in with it now and then, however.

Around 1993 I "discovered" Arabic music, which is not something I remember hearing on the radio (at least not the classically based popular music I have in mind). This has become some of my very music. I am thinking of individuals such as Oum Kalthoum, Riad el-Sonbatti (mostly known as a composer), Asmahan, Farid el Atrash, Fairouz, Said Mekawy, Mohammed Abdo, plus lesser lights such as Samira Tewfic, Milhem Barakat, Saleh Abdel Gafor, etc. I love this music for its expressiveness; its modal/microtonal approach; its complex rhythms; its often brilliant vocal technique; the color and texture of traditional instruments such as the oud, the ney, and the kanun; the emphasis on improvisation in much of it; and the fact that I can listen to the same piece repeatedly, but still hear something new.

And for the last four years I've been salsa dancing, with increasing seriousness (though I have been out for a while with a knee injury and am currently recovering from minor knee surgery), which has turned me on to salsa, and led me to discover some other Latin musical forms.

Listening to Arabic and Latin music intensively has altered my taste a lot, to the point where it's very hard for me to find new things closer to home, culturally speaking, that I really enjoy. I have more trouble making allowances for singers who can't sing, for one thing. I _have_ been listening to increasing amounts of Sun Ra over the past couple years, too, and he has gone from being just one eccentric artist I was aware of, to being one of my favorites.

I will never have enough money to buy all the CDs I want. Oum Kalthoum alone recorded hundreds of songs, many of them stretching out for a half hour to seventy-five minutes in live performances.

np: Kirsty MacColl "Tropical Brainstorm" (Nice bonus tracks only available on the U.S. release--ha!)

"Well, then you certainly picked the right town to live in, Vic! "

to be uncircumcised in? hehe LA is such a wasteland. how long have you been here?

no i don't record any music, except i'm so graceful when i walk that the angels look down below make music when they see me coming

i am bob and i'm new - Hi! i'm 29 i live in london and make peanuts co-managing a couple of guitar shops. you may notice my postings as either very vague (ie no point) or flippant or inflammatory (no, actually not inflammatory at all). i like annoying asthma inhaler style music of all styles & am eqully at home with art gallery sound installion up its own arse music as i am with cheese pop i still race home for Top Of The Pops on friday night. I have a nasty exzema problem at the moment. I like pokemon. I like W S Burroughs, Haruki Murakami, PK Dick, gore vidal, ben marcus, will self etc book wise. film wise - well i used to have a major david lynch fixation but these days i really don't think he cuts it when compared to power rangers lost galaxy return of the magna defender for instance. i have a musical appreciation history of (roughly chronological) elo, jeff wayne's war of the worlds, jean michel jarre & vangelis, level 42 (yes, sorry), metallica, various metal & uk / us punk & "hard core" , industrial goth/ metal,butthole surfers & sonic youth & big black etc, free jazz, techno, experimental shit & daphne & celeste. is it that simple? what else do you need to know???

My actual first name is Julia. I'm not admitting my age because I'm in a certain amount of denial, but every once I while I get carded buying alcohol. I'm a copyeditor and associate producer for music at the dot-com wing of a fairly well-known newspaper conglomerate.

Last CD acquired: The Dismemberment Plan, "Change" (but I'm underwhelmed with what I've heard so far). Favorite artists (active division): Firewater, Girls Against Boys, Mike Doughty. Favorites (RIP division): Afghan Whigs, Soul Coughing, Scarce, Jawbox, Long Fin Killie (rather disappointed with Bows). Rather curious about: Q and Not U, older D-Plan, the Standard. Loathe: nu-metal, female singers who are more about T&A and studio effects than vocal technique, bling-bling hip-hop. Suspect that bluegrass and alt-country and its offshoots are better than I'm willing to credit, but haven't taken the time to explore either.

I live in Washington, DC; I'm not attached and can't seem to attract any man's eye right now. Between this and people not following up to my posts in this and other forums, I sometimes wonder whether I really exist. If I truly have no existence outside of some fantasist's mind, I hope he or she enjoys my life a lot more than I do.

I was born somewhere in the lower right-hand corner of Michigan and have lived within that region since my birth in 1976. Apart from getting married in 2000, I have skillfully avoided most things. Occupationally, I divide my time between sorting things, correcting things, adding things, and making things up. I enjoy making things up so much that I occasionally do it in my spare time. The it in this case is Permafrost.

allmusic.com,hm

are you an amg writer ? who

Di Ray Mi,

I've wanted to listen to more arabic music. Where would you recommend starting and where are the best sources? I've found a couple of websites dealing with but they seem to be a bit more on the 'poppier side' than I might like.

[quote]"Between this and people not following up to my posts in this and other forums, I sometimes wonder whether I really exist. If I truly have no existence outside of some fantasist's mind, I hope he or she enjoys my life a lot more than I do." Julia[/quote]

Whoah. Even scarier that I relate immediately to what your saying...

Myself, I'm mainly a lurker, coming here to find recommendations for music that I can (in theory) download off of the net. I have gone through periods of my life when I spent waayy too much on music, and, can't realistically keep that up. I would love CD prices to drop. Listening to music either seems to consume my life or be in it very little at all. I'm in the latter stage at the moment, no music at work, no time at home, it's beginning to piss me off. To console myself I need I think of the thousands upon thousands of years we humans didn't have any recorded music at all. What would they have had to speak to people about on message boards?

I love these 'intro' things. So many people willing to offer up snippets of there lives, so trustingly...(that came off sounding slightly psychopathic for some reason) Myself, I'm a cartoonist, making a living working at an ISP in rural Ontario. Actually in the town that is "the most perfect example of suburban/rural community in Canada" (I still remember this from school.) Have a fantasy that I one day lose my sight and have to discover my hidden musical talent that I've been to lazy to cultivate for the last 29 years. Constantly aspire to the level of confidence and happiness I felt when I was 10. Have also had a disturbing ongoing 'fantasy' (or nightmare I guess) that our entire civilization is on the verge of being destroyed by some terrible disaster. I suspect this has something to do with sept 11th, but also suspect that it's a very real possiblity.

Currently listening to a mixed bag of stuff that I've downloaded, including Wire, Nina Simone, Jackie Wilson, Tim Buckley, Air, Rufus Wainwright and I actually quite enjoy the new Depeche Mode, which I downloaded for my sister. Favourite album? Maybe "Here My Dear" mainly for the first 5 minutes, which always, without fail, makes me cry. I think it's a deeply profound album. When I do I get a chance to put on music I often listen to Cosmic Slop online, which has just the right mix of funkiness, obscurity and wierdness on which I thrive.

Okay, enuf sharing.

having read every posting on this thread in one sitting, kicked offline 3 times in the process, I am the WINNER of internet time-wasting!

Male, first-year law student with art history degree(?), I worship music. been a musician for about 15 years and have managed to craft about 3-4 songs that are not complete shite. it's nice to see such a diversity of input on this board.

my music: Sloan, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Detroit Cobras, Afghan Whigs, Dag Nasty, the Make-Up, Curtis Mayfield, Big Star, Beth Orton, Beta Band, James Brown, Doves, St. Germain, Mellow, Sea and Cake, Miles, Ivy.

Most recent disc purchased: Sloan-Pretty Together (rocks) Most recently wished I hadn't purchased: Arab Strap-red thread (pap)

Found this board through Momus. Probably underqualified to converse with some of you existentialist-philosopher types but too impatient not to post. If anyone knows of a good online mixtape exchange please point me in the right direction--I thirst for undiscovered music with an unholy burning lust.

Living in London via most my life in Manchester.

Got too many Lou Barlow, Sonic youth, Ween and The Frogs records. I like Slayer and I like Lambchop.

I am excited by Boedekka, The Coral and the Moldy Peaches

Never really got into hip hop, but my first ever gig was LL Cool J... my second was The Macc Lads

hi, my name is todd burns and i run a website at http://www.o-h-j.com

i like nearly all kinds of music, but focus in on IDM, indie, and classical, for the most part.

feel free to email me if you're interested in writing music reviews for the website that i run, we're always "hiring" for volunteers.

hi, i like this forum a lot. music: i like a lot of sparkly disco, nu- dancehall, glitch dub, dirty south electro crunk funk, cyborg-soul, machine warrior pop, and raging speedhorn. this be the website that i co- author. peace.

HelenFordsdale: As most musicians, I steal from the best and then mix up those elements to come up with a strange derivative hybrid. I hide under the rubble, sniff out Richard Hell bootlegs while trying to cover up my scratchy Wham! records. The no wave screetching guitars send me up the walls.

I am obsessed with music, that should be all you need to know.

I'm sorry, that was a bit terse. I love Abba, the Beatles, Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, Alice Coltrane, Parliament and I really could go on an on and I did at first but I don't want to bore y'all. I genuinely think this forum is the best I've come across in YEARS of searching the web. Keep it real guys and gals. :) p.s. I'm 24, English and Simon Reynolds rules music writing.

johnny dbini, 32, scorpio. artist, dj and theatre techy. living in southwest england, originally a midlander. i work too hard. vinylist; lots of styles. favourites: beastie boys, rancid, nina simone, lard, isan, jimmy smith, wu, plastyc buddha. currently on heavy rotation: ruby, michael jackson (thriller), chilly g. i like ILM because the corners of my head are filled with trivia about music that is completely irrelevant elsewhere.

One time this guy at school started talking bad about the Geto Boys so I sort of had to chop his fucking head off and spin it like a basketball on my index finger.

And I'd like to add that the Beatles are my favorite rock band, and among my favorite artists, and it baffles me that so many people who post here can be deaf to what makes their music great, and that so many of you actually think that their perceived greatness is the result of their having become canonical. I've listened to all sorts of pop and weird obscure shit over the years, and I don't think I love the music of the Beatles merely because I have been well brain-washed.

No, I will not try to say something about them that will interest you scoundrels. I don't value music more if it generates something clever to say than I do for the experience of listening to it.

I'm 26, from Edinburgh and am a civil servant which is compensated for by the fact it gives me unlimited internet access 8 hours a day.

music i like includes Fugazi, my bloody valentine, radiohead, GVSB, Peaches, the pop group, PIL, big black, serge gainsbourg, scott walker, richard hell & the voidoids, television, new york doll, sonic youth, madredeus, suicide, boards of canada, lots of 60s garage bands and many more.

If you're in Edinburgh on a Saturday night be sure and pay a visit to Extra Width at the Gilded Balloon Saloon in the Cowgate - lots of the above and many more

I could do this too.

my name is richard john gillanders. I'm twenty years old. I live in glasgow. I study architecture. I like the music of a lot of the musicians and bands listed previously. but not all of them.

i work in publishing and i also teach lit at a college. i'm not going to name the bands i like to listen to, but the last 3 albums i bought were american analog set, riddim driver: gideon war, and international noise conspiracy. i refuse to buy music on cd. sometimes i like to play certain songs over and over and over. i used to have a radio show (for 4 years) and this aspect of my personality was not necessarily appreciated by all my listeners.

My real name is Joe but I made up the name PappaWheelie because I thought it was funny...now I fear all the people I've formed internet relationships with think I'm fat as they call me nicknames such as "Big Pappa" or "Big Daddy". I constantly find myself surrounded by people who are cool enough not to take themselves seriously while I throw all of my cards on the table. I love chasing things. I spent 2 years chasing down all of the info & bootlegs connected with The Beach Boys unfinished follow-up to Pet Sounds. I chased all of Edd Kalehoff's "prize music" recorded for The Price is Right for a while, but since I didn't finish that one, I'll pick it up again soon. To throw another strange thing in the mix, I am a historian of Miami Bass music who hosts a online forum with many of the old late 80's/early 90's artists. I produced bass music back then, and left it to go on this idiosyncratic path: Philisophical Hip-Hop, Vintage Jazz ('45-'65), Electronic music in general, Space Age Pop, Bossa Nova, Tropicalia, Indie Pop, Nu-Electro, and currently find myself knee deep in so called "Electro-Clash" (Miss Kittin, Fischerspooner, etc), Gutter Rock ala BRMC/V-Twin/Strokes/The White Stripes, and proto- punk. I recently spent 2 days chasing all of the recordings by the 60's "Overbeat" band "The Monks". I also write reviews, mix CD's for boutiques locally, do Electro A&R for BassMekanik.com, and produce junk on my MPC 2000 & PC software. My next goal is to get my mixed CD's on the fashion runways, move to NYC, and start my own record label. I also like to do Indian-Mod interiors and graphic designs. I would throw the rest of my cards down but I can't find them right now.

32, Bangalore, India. Into marketing technology.
After following this forum for two months started listening to Boney M and other disco which I loved when I was 9-10. Getting interested in disco, hip-hop, post-punk, contemporary dance but constrained due to availablility of albums in India.
Love writing. Will start experimenting writing about my first love, music.

I live in a tourist town in the US. A couple all-time favorites: The Smiths - Kitchens of Distinction - My Bloody Valentine - Killing Joke - Dead Can Dance. I claim to be a writer.

I'm Tav, 32, living in Surrey, just SW of London. I work as a Test Engineer for a 3G operator. I love music, all sorts, although the wide range of my CD collection tends to mask my lack of knowledge in this area. People always assume I'll know who "Dr Vas and his Vacillating He-men" are, and I don't. I play the guitar badly.

CHris, 27 years old, engaged and living in Worcester Massachusetts. Computer geek by day, couch potato by night. I hate bars, prefer to drink in my living room where I control the music. Hence the extra thirty pounds I've put on in the past year. Current playlist, Sigur Ros, Royskopp, Elbow, Kings of Convenience, Avalanches, Dr Buzzards Original Savannah Band, The PRayerBoat, Stevie Wonder, Marvin gaye, The Beach Boys, yes I know THE Strokes. Currently trying to create my own AValanches type thing using simply my PC. Not working too well. Typing this at work when I should be writing HTML, but feel like smoking and doing nothing today.

feel like smoking and doing nothing today

You have achieved a state of bliss we all desire. And to all the new people I haven't said hi to yet, welcome.

hi. i'm minna, 21, from melbourne, australia, doing arts/science @ melbourne uni.

forewarning: i'm an unabashed avalanches fangirl and i will defend them to the death. i might also bore you with my slavish-adoration-of- the-avalanches babble. if i'm doing that, just tell me and i'll stop.

i like pop: the good bits. especially hip-hop. my definition of pop is very broad. for me these days, the good bits include a lot of what happened between 1976 and 1983, 60s garage rock, disco new and old, timbaland etc.

i tend not to listen to "IDM" but that doesn't mean i think it's terrible. on the other hand, that's the very reason i don't listen to post-rock. i'm sick of indie because that's mostly what we're served here in melbourne, but i have to admit that it's good, in small, easy to swallow doses. names like grandaddy, belle and sebastian and low fail to excite me these days. i can't explain exactly why not.

i intend to start a big argument here about 'retro' in the not too distant future (unless you've already done that and can point me to the link...)

and finally, sorry, but i don't like britney, not even when she got the neptunes in.

Yay, somebody else from Melbourne! Hi, Minna!

hi electric sound of jim :) who are the other melbournians?.. c'mon, own up.

heh heh, an ILM Search using search term 'retro' gives you THREE Strokes threads in the top 5. But this thread might be what you want, minna. Or you could just start a new one, everyone else does.

haha, yes, that is what i was after, thanks. i suspected that the retro w/ respect to the strokes thing might have been done to death, so i stood back and took a deep breath. glad i did :)

24, from Norwich and so revile the rest of the (musical) world for putting down Norfolk whenever given the chance. There's some really good stuff up here, y'know. When I'm not watching chickens revolving on a rotisserie I pretend to do a fanzine, mangle the bass and think about doing something constructive with my life. I love Come.

I like the No-Man/Tim Bowness circle of bands, does that help?

hi. petra jane. eleventeen. new zealand. doing my bit to destore the gender-balance of Nerddom. make tapes. wear badges. collect 'japanese tack'. alphabetise my records. love love, wire, neil young, the zombies, nerd-ass NZ stuff, surf, joy division, stereolab, warp rekkids, drag city, bizet. etc etc. wear argyle socks. don't like the english language much. think punctuation is overrated. speak [type?] before i think. need coffee.

It's all good. I'll be visiting NZ in September, so I'll meet you then and we can talk Wire and such goodness.

I've been meaning to go legit here...

Hello, I'm Ron, 29 from Seattle, WA. I build custom furniture for a living, mostly modern-ish pieces, some steel work. For a few years after HS I produced beats for a local hiphop outfit, but now only occasionally dabble in music making. I'm hoping to get more into it again, but another style of music. In terms of listening habits, I'd like to think I have broad tastes, but mainly I'm into indie rock, soul jazz a la 60's/70's, rap and some soul but more limited knowledge there. I would like to learn more about drum & bass types of music but find it a bit intimidating to get started. Don't really know where to begin. Oh yeah, I also watch a fair number of movies, mostly newer ones. OK, bye!

Yay.. another Northwest hip-hop/beats Dj! welcome, Ron!

Hmmm, I suppose I'll do this finally. I'm 21, I live in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. I go to school here and I'm an English major, though I spent the vast majority of my time taking music classes and playing and generally not doing English major-y things.

I play drums, probably most significantly in the Ryan Meisel Quartet at the moment (jazz group, should be coming out with an album in a couple of months). I started off my musical life (at least in the teenaged obsessive sense) with metal and prog-rock, but after high school it's all been about the jazz and the hip-hop and that sort of fun stuff.

I'm 26. Born and bred San Franciscan. I work the nightshift as a software guy for a pretty large company and I have way way too much time on my hands between the hours of 10pm and 7am. I'm also going (maybe, sorta, kinda, in a way) to grad school at SFSU and thus use my time here to procrastinate on writing papers on William Faulkner novels. I don't have a website. I don't write for an online magazine. I don't really like computers very much actually. I don't know how I ended up sitting in front of one for 8+ hours a day (actually I do).

As far as music goes, I like Can, the Fall, Slayer, Cluster, Shirley Collins, the Kinks, Panacea, Lee Perry, Dock Boggs, Goblin and some other stuff which is not in my bag today.

HELLLLOOOOOOOO.......

Isn't there anybody from Cornwall on the internet, i can't find anybody.

I am a jeff. I am 45. I am married. Live near Detroit and always have. Here are some of the non-sequitors which make up the seething ball of complexities I consider "me". Been working for GM almost 26 years (on an assembly line - the worst) and hate it with an existential passion. I have a BA, a Th.B, almost done with my MA and will try to do a Ph.D next, so that I can retire and teach. Or something. Have a big sister 14 years older and a brother 7 years my senior; cut my teeth on Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, Elvis, Buddy, The Everlys - Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline from my dad (knew the music by the labels before I could read). Doo wop, Motown, Brits, Folkies/Zimmerman, AM punk, Hendrix, Stax, James, Heavy Metal, Glam (RoxyBowie, etc), Iggy, Kraftwerk...jazz (fusion, then backwards to bop and mainstream), weird stuff (concrete, Stockhausen,)Lothar & the Hand People, Harry Partch, residents, Shaggs, PUNK! (not the 90s versions), postpunk, new (hate that nomenclature) wave and that whole Mute synth thing, proto electro (Baambata, John Robie, etc) TG CV and all things industrial, disco, alternative,house, techno, 313, lots of indie. Used to moonlight as a record store guy in the late 70s/early 80s. Saw tons of bands as soon as I was old enough. Owned 70 crates of vinyl, dumped it in the 80s (sob), now own prolly 7000 CDs and, yes, some vinyl. Live in apartment because I spend too much on music :-) (ask my wife). I love coffee, dry red wine, the color purple, animals, my wife (Ann). I run and lift weights. Into Philosophy and the arts in general. Been a drummer for 35 years off and on - off lately (not good in apartments). Played on a few records which went nowhere. Used to jam with Chris Ewen who works with Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields) in Future Bible Heroes. Love the DEMF. Love Detroit Contemporary as a venue (Lambchop was superb there last week). I have a sleeping disorder. I was a minister for 12 years - still active in my church. I'm a professing Christian with very low cultural fences and probably would shatter many stereotypical notions (as you might have already guessed). I collect lots of J-Pop (all things YMO, Sandii, Tsuchiya, etc.). Been to Japan once to propose to my wife while she was teaching Engrish there - I loved it and want to go back. I cook. I write poetry (won a scholarship for it once). I read. I will not go gently into that good night. I will not go gently into much of anything. I hope this post takes as it's the second one I've done and will not try again. Too much info, I know. You asked for it. -jeff ps yes. Mxyzptlk is the magical imp from the 5th dimension from Superman. I collected comics before I got onto music.

Man, I never did this.

PROFILE:

Call me Dave (or Daver, if you don't lay into the R like a hillbilly). I'm 27. Thanks to the Freaky Trigger Family, I like a lot more music than I used to; specifically, Tom & Co. have shown me that my childhood love of Top 40 muzak CAN happily co-exist with indiephilia. Unfortunately, I live a fair ways away (1.5 hours) from places where my thirst for LIVE INDIE can be slaked. I play guitar; I want to buy a piano of some sort (preferably one that makes neat sounds); I write stuff about music on a pro-bono basis (though my amateur status has been tainted); I have a website (where most of my pro-bono work can be found); I take computer classes (from which a job will be secured to allow my pro-bono antics to continue unfettered); I have been spammed a lot since I first posted on this board.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:

Well, the ideal bandmates would be open-minded, open to different influences, open to trying new things, open to failure. If they can stand a diehard post-punk guy smacking out bits of pseudo-literate wussy pop songs on his acoustic guitar, that's a bonus. Fans of the Beatles, This Heat, Franklin Bruno, Big Flame, and the Game Theory / Loud Family nexus get 1st priority. (List subject to change.) I'm specifically looking for someone with either a Jew's Harp, a didgeriedoo (sic), a rain stick, or a set of spoons. Anyone w/ recording equipment can join. The name of the band will NOT be Nixon Liddy Codpiece; that's my only demand.

Jeff clearly is The Man. We need more like you in the world!

I second Ned's ruling. Jeff is super cool.

ok then....my name is william[friends call me bill]. live in delta b.c.,a suburb of vancouver. gonna be 45 next month. married 22 years,2 kids[boy 20yrs.,girl 17 yrs] and a dog. worked the past 21 years at safeway-sucks ,but has allowed me to spend way to much on music.been listening to music for as long as i can remember. used to think that i was fairly knowledgeable about until i met jeff k. online ;) about 4 years ago.
really isn't a whole lot that i don't enjoy other than some country and sorry jeff,opera. been hanging around the idm lists for a the last four years but find my tastes leaning back towards the indie kids of late. of course this will surely change by next week.used to read all the time about music out of various mags,creem,trouser press,spin,crawdaddy,ect. now with the internet my eyes ....erm, ears have been wide opened.i still try to go out to the clubs ,though i do tend to feel a little awkward as my hair is quite white and i definately look my age. once the music starts though,it's all good.actually going to catch both the fridge/explosions in the sky date as well as the loscil/keith fullerton whitman shows here next month.that's about it,thanks.

hey kewl the grey panthorZoR fraktion iz taking ovah

Jeff sez: AM punk

??????????

Hey Minna, I'm another Melburnian (and pop fan). Nice to see more of us.

OK, probably shouldn't pretend not to know about this thread any longer, so here goes.

Norwegian male, born 16.5 hours into 1969. First musical love that was all my own: Madness, after seeing them do "Cardiac Arrest" on The Kenny Everett Show.

Discovered, when enrolling in a new school (roughly high school equivalent) in Oslo in 1984, that record shops could be more than I had thitherto discovered, and with what still remains my best friend started scouring 2nd hand shops, learning along the way to love Kate Bush and Propaganda. Got a Bryan Adams album as a birthday present from my uncle, sensed that it wasn't really my cup of tea and exchanged it for...Marillion's Misplaced Childhood.

Took up the NME in '86 (starting with the WOULD YOU PAY £4M FOR THIS CRAP issue), and, after reading that Morrissey interview two weeks later, got more into The Smiths. Turning a bit indie-kid the following years, without forsaking pop like Depeche and PSBs or weirder stuff like Coil.

New university-type place of study 1990. Met other new still current friends with interest in classical music, who tried to turn me on to Stravinsky and Webern (successfully) and Mozart (less successfully). I played them Stump and Momus in return. And The Shangri-Las.

All CDs stolen in burglary early 91. Thankfully they left the vinyl.

Didn't really get Ride, shoegazing and so on, and am still reluctant to place MBV or Lush, whom I like, into that genre. Sucker for shameless punnery, so listened a lot to Carter USM. Reading Festival 1989, 90, 91, 92, 93 and 95 (IIRC), by the way. Wrote to Billy Bragg to ask whether I could have copies of the photos he took when coming onstage during The Pogues' set at one of this.

Got a bit bored with the indie stuff about at that time, so welcomed the assertiveness of Suede -- being a professed cultural anglophile played a part as well, of course, and the US stuff popular in student circles at the time (Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr etc) didn't exactly change my mind. Heard Foxbase Alpha a sunny hungover indoor morning, and wuvved it. Had token hip-hop albums (PE, DLS).

Took the stance of Douglas Coupland in the Blur vs Oasis wars, although I preferred the former.

Had a hiatus from about 97-01 when little music was read about or bought. Sensing a loss, and learning about mp3s, started using that there Interweb to catch up a bit. Discovered that the once fine (to my mind) notion of Britpop (catchy, poppy, irreverent) had been usurped by post-Oasis bores. Found ILM late 2001; love it.

There. Now go and reply to my Band of Holy Joy thread already.

I guess I should finally do this. hi, i'm geeta. I'm 22. a film/ videomaking geek. i live in the general boston area. my college work was in science and engineering subjects, mostly, though now i might be heading to grad school in media studies (and moving to london in the process.) i'm employed in the documentary filmmaking biz, for PBS. you know those screwy documentaries on TV about robots or the mysteries of the brain or whatever? that's the stuff i work on. I've worked on a bunch of different zines in the past---my current project is to resuscitate an old zine of mine, the original soundtrack, which last existed in 1998. hopefully the comeback issue will finally go up in april. i am obsessed with 8- bit nintendo games. i own a devo suit.

I've just written one of these but the computer crashed. I go to Goldsmiths College, i'm 20, from Southampton, was raised by a member of the Militant Tendency and am currently employed in the New Pancake chinese takeaway in Stockwell as a typist for its blind and extremely paranoid owner. I help put on gigs by the Totally Bored collective in New Cross, which range from the depressingly scmindie to the actually quite good. I was destined for a life of computer geekhood, but for my Kate Bush and New Order fixated father forcing me to read the NME until I ceased reading Manga Mania. I, like many others on ILM was a teenage manics fan, though its far cooler to be so in Southampton than North London. Mainly at the mo I like Gold Chains, Nite Flights by the Walker Brothers, World Destruction by Time Zone, Laundrette by Vivian Goldman, Smooth Chick by Missy Elliott and No Time by Beenie Man, and I originally intended to grow up to be a music journalist but have come to believe that this may now be the preserve of people who dont actually like music. Accidentally finding this site a month ago did make me revise that opinion a bit.

for nathalie : AM Punk is the nomenclature I am giving to 60s era stuff in the proto psychedelic vein...quite possibly an Anmerican phenomenon. Think "The Seeds", "Professor Morrison's Lollipop", "Count Five", "Standells", etc., etc. Stuff which got AM radio airplay in the mid-late 60s in my area. -jeff

OleM: so did you get the photos??

Hi folks, Im Courtenay, 26 years old from Gisborne, New Zealand. ILV has surprised me and has really eaten into my porn quota. Enjoy all sorts of music but have a soft spot for tales of broken hearts on the mend. Have to admit to Pearl Jam being the cataylst for a musical awakning,though with the Bart Simpsons tune "Im dammed if I do..." being the previous high point I guess Im progressing. Try to keep my head above water as a high school history teacher and studying part time to finish a Masters in Envronmental Planning. Lived in Aussie for a while, exploration gold minning in WA and did the usual Kiwi/Aussie/SA OE thing in Asia and Europe for a few years- ie backpacking bum. Gotta go and play "Im begining to see the light" by Mr Reed as it never fails to please. Ned see u over here in NZ!

Ron: Actually I did -- a sheet of paper with colour photocopies of four of them. Have regarded BB as top bloke ever since for this alone. :-)

My name is Tyler Martin. I live on the west coast of the U S of A. I am currently attending college, in hopes (the familys) of making something of myself. I listen to music obsessively, all kinds. I make music, but mostly like making fun of it.

I am not the 1980s Brat Pack star Judd Nelson. My name is actually Dom, I'm an Anglo-Italian indiekid from Northampton England, studying in Lancaster. My interests are lesbian pornography and teen angst. Musically, I'm obsessive to the point of banality, especially with indie, alt.rock, and consciencious hip hop.

I live in NYC. 29 yrs old (on the cusp of geezerhood). Usually post from work, when I'm not hacking dreadful java code. Listen to lots of different kinds of music. Why? Because I LOVE MUSIC!

All right, yer in!

Gosh. Steven, from Dunedin, NZ - scarfie student artfag munter stylez. Last five things I listened to were Pere Ubu, Deltron 3030, the Clean, Long Fin Killie & MBV. Will listen to anything if you talk it up enough. Me=sucker . . .
. . . also manage to be a lurker both on messageboards & at various Dunedin gigs. Addicted to ellipses, ampersands & semicolons. Adore the way the word "shoegazer" sounds. & most of that sort of music, too.

hello. 24 yr old, toronto born and raised, graphic designer. i work on what i guess would be considered jungle with my spare time.

We really need to do a Toronto pub meet some day.

i think could do that. i tend to have alot of meetings in toronto pubs ;) .

i'm david. i don't really like people very much.

dan, London, tv writer.

Loves/has loved: Who/Beatles/Stones/VU/13th Floor Elevators/Seeds/Buckley T/Buckley J/Big Star/Smiths/REM/Julian Cope- Teardrops/OMD/House of Love/Fall/Pixies/Pavement/Teenage Fanclub...and many many more.

Alright, I only do this cause Jess has asked for it, otherwise I find it excruciatingly painful. I'm Tom, I'm 34, I live in Colorado. I don't write about music, but I like learning about it, particularly from articulate people who obv. care. I am so impressed by the highly developed opinions on music that many of you have. It makes me realize that I don't attempt to analyze and express my reactions to music enough. The only music sources I check out are IL*, Pitchfork and FT. I mostly lurk here and take recommendations from you all and check stuff out. I don't invest a lot of money in music, and I don't spend time downloading files as my connection is so slow, so my collection grows very very slowly. In fact, after lurking around here I feel like I spend more time reading about music than I do listening to it. I think the last five discs I bought are Orchestre Baobab, Summerteeth, 200%Dynamite, This Years Model, and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. There are many albums I used to have that seem to have gone missing or were in obsolete formats that I'm gradually collecting from used CD bins. I temper this practice with an inherent distrust of nostalgia. Which means I can't explain the copy of Underwater Moonlight now playing. I don't hang out with people who listen to much music, so I don't have to feel judged by _anyone_, which is nice. My music is for me. And when I do get to speak with someone who is into music, my enthusiasm is real. Outside of music, I'm job hunting (again), applying to schools for my next career, and riding my bike a lot. Actually, "my next career" makes it sound like my last career was something more than a string of jobs, which it was not.

G'night

ok, to be polite.

i'm stirmonster but you can call me twitch if you like. i'm a dj but please, please don't call me dj twitch - yuk. my real name is keith and i'm 34 and live in glasgow. i've been playing records for a living for 15 years and started scotland's first techno club - pure. it was the first place in the uk ever to book richie hawtin, jeff mills and a host of other techno legends. i also ran a label that released the first music in the uk from panasonic and jimi tenor. pure lasted for ten years but by then i'd had enough of all night house and techno and wanted to do something else - so i did.

so i started a club called optimo (espacio) where i could indulge my love for all sorts of music from no wave to garage rock to electro to dub to dub disco to.... just about anything really. it's the joy of my life and is possibly the most deranged club out there. no, really it is! you can check out what gets played and a whole host of other stuff