The Lone Gay Pop Post...You Discriminators

Sept 2011

Music Club

Bap Kennedy-Domestic Blues

Basement Tapes Dylan and a less sardonic Todd Snider. I found that I liked songs separately but when played in one listen there was little differentiation. None the less it was a nice listen that could have used a little more edge and roughness. (2.5)

Buddy Guy- Damn Right I Got the Blues

There is something about a man singing his guts out and tearing up a guitar that whomps me upside the head and pay attention. Buddy hits the whole spectrum from powerfully rocked up blues to tender down and out blues. The pacing is good and doesn’t become mundane like some blues recordings. Except for the overdrawn “Black Night” this is a must have for blues. (4.0)

Scissor Sisters- Magic Hour

SS are a guilty pleasure of mine. Their music is sugary fun, gay dance pop, but there is an edge and creativity in their lyrics- if one actually listens to them. Magic Hour starts slow for a SS release being at times too radio friendly but at song 4 they start showing the fun edge that gets my gay dance freak on.  Whether you like this or disdain it I bet there is at least one song that will stick with you. (3.5)

Shearwater- Animal Joy

There is simplicity about the songs and how they naturally build to sound important that I really like. They start very minimalistic and before you know it there is a wall of sound. The vocalist adds to this with a Shakespearean delivery. The songs sound urgent. Still I felt the release was like bookends. It started strong and ended strong with the middle being propped up. (3)

John Hiatt

I am a big John Hiatt fan but primarily from Bring the Family on. His early work was all over the place with each release having some good cuts but generally not strong from beginning to end. Maybe it’s the family man in me but I revel in his family based tunes that I think hit at how we all think as we get older and our families grow or shrink. The early songs selected are a decent representation of Hiatt in his early career but if I were to make this mix it would lean on his Americana rockers. The latter songs selected I have no issue with.

Topic

Do you have any friends who don’t share your taste in music, or don’t even have any musical common ground?  If so, do you discuss music with them?  Can you be friends with someone who is not "into" music?  Also, have you ever walked from a friendship or a potential friendship because of someone else’s musical tastes?

I have never ended friendship or eluded a possible friendship based on music. Haven’t in regards to politics either. I have accepted the fact that I am in the minority in being a music geek and that most people, many friends included, don’t get it and have no clue what I am talking about. I have nurtured friendships based on a common interest in music where that is the only bond but never the other way around. I do have a tough time discussing music with my philistine friends who think the only good artists are Bruce, Train and Maroon 5 and anything released in 1985 because I have to get off my high horse and fight the urge to prove them shamefully wrong and shun them into embarrassment. So basically I can separate music from my friend equation though it’s hard to bite my tongue and manage my ire on occasion.