That's the way it spreads, LT... virally. And no amount of hand sanitizer can stop it.

Are you calling me a virus, Wendell? NEMESIS!

Yeah, LT. I was thinking about how you were initially bummed about their reactions, and I realised that I am completely like your cow-orkers. I mean, I think I'm pretty open to new music, but I really hate just sitting down and listening to it. (I was yammering about this to Hugh Janus last week.) My M.O. now is put new music on in the background 4 or 5 times, without really listening to it, so it just kind of seeps into my unconscious. Then when I sit down to listen to it, it feels familiar and I'm more predisposed to liking it.

I am going to bear Brandi Carlile's precious little babies.

I am going to bear Brandi Carlile's precious little babies.

Well, I won't go that far, but anytime somebody is a step closer to adoring the Go-Go's, it's a good thing, in my book.

BP is joking, right? Right?

He's either having us on, or confusing Brandi with Belinda Carlisle.

That reminds me of this party I was at once....

I got the reference, but I didn't see his tongue in his cheek.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Go-Gos, but I'm not offering to get knocked up by one....

Not even Jane Wiedlin?

She's maybe 6th on the list of Female Rockers Whose Children I'm Willing to Bear. I'll let her know if the others don't work out.

Dude, Jane Wiedlin is way hot, and her solo music is way way better than anything the Go-Go's ever did. Even though she wrote a lot of their songs. Kissproof World is a fine, fine album.

TV on the Radio is the best band of the new century.

I'm not going to defend that shit, I'm just laying it out.

you don't have to. Although, for my money, I don't get what the hype is about with that band.

I just dl'ed Return to Cookie Mountain a few weeks back, and don't feel there's a lot there to grab on to. But TVOTR is pretty far away from what I would normally gravitate to in the first place.

This is because I listen to shit like compilation CD's from Sing Out! magazine now, and 70's singer-songwriter stuff a lot lately.

TVOTR still hasn't lived up to the Young Liars EP.

That is all.

Yeah, I had the same reaction to Cookie Mountain. I like it, but it doesn't reach out and grab me. I don't know why. Maybe I'll listen a few more times and see if my opinion improves. Or I'll go get the EP kyleg suggests, haven't heard that.

I'm going through a metal phase. Neurosis, High On Fire, and Pelican are my current soundtrack.

Last week was country: Robbie Fulks, Doc Watson, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Circle" albums were on top of the playlist.

Next week, I'm thinking Sinatra, Chet Baker, and some old New Orleans jazz compilations a buddy just sent me.

i like TVOTR a lot and Boards of Canada... well let's just say I have all their albums plus their EPs.

as far as singer-songwriter stuff, i am liking Gravenhurst and Midlake a ton right now. Gravenhurst, especially now that their brand-spanking-new album is a tad less with the solo acoustic weepyness and a touch more plugged in prog-rock-y stuff in the veins of ILYBICD and/or ELP, with a smattering of plain ol' dusty-boots cowboy geetar twang tossed in for good measure (as all nice Bristol lads should do...).

Great Lake Swimmers is the best "new" thing I've heard recently, tho they're not really all that "new".

see these posts of yours just prove to me that The Good Shit is truly inexorably and virally addictive. even to such blathering heathens as the cow-irkers.

of course, there is the part where my cow-irkers do shit like have the temerity to come rave at me today about how ASTONISHING the Neko Case show was last night and omyfuckingGOD why weren't you THERE?!

...

There is a moment during Brandi Carlisle's song "The Story" which sort of defines rock 'n roll singing. It's just about the coolest thing I've heard all year.

My M.O. now is put new music on in the background 4 or 5 times, without really listening to it, so it just kind of seeps into my unconscious.

I do this too. When LT put up his original post about the coworker's response, I had an urge to stick up for them. One thing I learned in music theory classes is that human beings are actually hardwired to like the familiar. That's why music repeats itself -- why we like motifs and verse/chorus structures rather than a constantly shifting array of unorganized sound that goes on for several minutes (though I'm aware of the composers who have tried that, I also note that they're not widely listened to for pleasure - more for intellectual interest). A great guitar player I know had a mantra about rock solos: "If it sounds good, repeat it." The more music you listen to, the more you realize that repetition is essential to Western music, and without the familiarity of going down the slide over and over, music is less enjoyable.

All this means for new music is that it takes more than one exposure to know whether you like it or not. You can often get an inkling on the first listen, especially if you listen to a lot of music, but it takes that 4 or 5 plays to know whether you'll find something to like, whether you're still interested. You have to make it a bit familiar and prime yourself for listening. Once you've done that, you can actually stop focusing on the newness and discomfort and start hearing and appreciating more subtle elements of the songs.

This is no secret to major labels and mass media. Their business models show a deep, simple understanding of this fact of human psychology - the more people hear something, the more likeable it becomes. It's for this reason that labels give payola to radio stations and free copies to record stores, and for this reason that they track spins reported back to CMJ and Billboard -- because they know that the more ear-hits they get from a song, the more likely that song is to sell. I mean, I never liked "Man, I Feel Like a Woman," but it was on in every freaking retail store I went to while it was out, and it became a huge hit. Driving a repetitive set of sounds into the ears works on enough people to make it the basis of a multi-gajillion-dollar industry.

So it's no surprise when you give a friend your music and they don't love it on first listen. You've always got to give it a few tries before saying "love it" or "it's just not for me."

TVOTR is a band that must be seen live. I hate when people say that, but once again, here we are.