Jack sent me this music meme, so I’ll play along:
1. Total volume of music files on my computer: 13GB
2. Last CD I bought: Green Day, American Idiot. And it effin rocks. It’s the best rock album I’ve heard in years.
3. Song Playing Right Now: “Angels” by Joe Henry.
4. Five Songs (or Albums) I listen to a lot or that move me:
Big Time by Tom Waits
Trace by Son Volt
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
Master of Reality by Black Sabbath
Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Anyone who knows me has had to put up with my Tom Waits fascination. I have thirteen of his albums and they’re all on the iPod. “Train Song” is my favorite of his songs, but like the vast majority of them.
Of all the alt.country bands out there, Son Volt was always my favorite. And though all of their albums are good, this one stands out and I never tire of it.
Miles Davis’ album, which features John Coltrane and Bill Evans in addition to Davis, was the first jazz album that really connected with me. It was the first one I could understand. It opened the door for me.
I grew up on an odd mix of my father’s traditional country music (which I hated at the time but came to appreciate later), radio pop/rock (especially The Police), and, especially as I hit my teenage years, metal and punk. The first song I ever learned byear was “Iron Man.” Master of Reality is Sabbath’s best album and one of the best metal albums. Period.
Finally, I have to admit my debt to Tom Petty, as his consistently good songwriting had a profound influence on me when I was first learning how to write songs. I like all of his early albums and many of his later ones.