Do you consider yourself a sheep or a pioneer?
 

I like to think of myself as being pretty hip to new music. I don't really follow the herd, but instead have a good sense of my own individual tastes. In fact, I rarely listen to the radio anymore and I usually have a few new favorite artists every couple of months or so that most people don't even know about yet. I'm not saying that makes me better than other people, just more picky about what I listen to. Do you think you're more of a pioneer of music taste? If so, what are some of the bands or artists you "discovered" on your own? These are a few of the most recent singers that I got into months ago that are now getting noticed by everyone else:
Rhett Miller (http://rhettmiller.com)
Joe Firstman (New guy http://joefirstman.com/ opening for Sheryl Crow. AMAZING)
Lucinda Williams (http://www.lucindawilliams.com/home.html )

Well, not to burst your bubble or anything, but Rhett Miller has been around for years in the Ol' 57s. He was Neil Finn's opening act for Neil's last US tour. Lucinda Williams has been around a long time, too. I bought the Lucinda Williams album everyone that's heard of her bought - "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" - when it came out.

So what's this about "pioneer" vs "sheep?"

How about some real (very talented) nobodies?

Michael Miller Crusade or Joe Ongie

I have spent the entire summer digesting Saint Etienne's 6 major albums, and I'm scouring eBay and WinMX and Kazaa for the rare stuff. If I was in England, I would be a sheep. But I'm in the US where Saint Etienne is completely unknown, so I'm a pioneer.

I'm also a woman. I am currently looking for something a little harder so I can reassure myself that I'm a red-blooded American male. Does anyone have that latest Rush album? Does it rock out, like the others?

I'm a sheep, but black and in a time warp.

Juju would probably know best, but if you want something that will assert your manliness, I'd go with Ministry's Animositisomina.

I'd say I'm a bit sheep and a bit pioneer: I just buy stuff that sounds good, though I'm always up for checking out new artists.

In high school, we were discovering new shit all the time: I think of all the bands we listened to that either never got really big or that wound up going big: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Wax, Machines of Loving Grace, 24-7 Spyz...the list goes on and on.

I'm kinda in the boat with UT too...some of what I like is/was very popular in Europe but not as popular in the US, like Jamiroquai and Blur.

I already know that a lot of people are going to go out and buy the new OutKast and Seal CDs...and I don't care. They're good artists that put out good work...it's that simple.

In the end, I try not to limit myself just b/c something is popular to the masses or is so "unknown."

I really like Symphony X's "The Odyssey".

Rush's latest album is "Vapor Trails'. They're using less keyboards now, so it does have a much harder sound than some of their 80's stuff. But it's a far cry from some new music as far as "manliness" is concerned.

For the most part, I'm a sheep. This is mostly because I never have the radio on, and rarely watch TV, so I don't get exposed to new stuff unless it's huge and media over-hyped.

I never watched American Idol, but some Clay Aiken guy is from Raleigh, so the radio station that wakes me in the morning absolutely fawns over his stuff. He has a nice voice, and I might Kazaa a bit of it and check it out, but I doubt I'll actually buy it.

Normally my acquaintences tell me about what they're listening to. Steve has introduced me to Dream Theater (who do a KILLER cover of Elton John's Funeral for a Friend) and Third Day, so I'm listening to some of that, and there's a group called EastWest he's shown me yesterday that I think I could get into.

Mostly though, I just listen to 70's rock (BTO, Boston, Ted Nugent), 80's stuff (Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Prince), 90's stuff (which includes the British stuff like M people, Oasis, Ant & Dec) and the really big stuff of the 2000's.

And of course, from the 60's to the present has been my all time favorite in the WORLD, Neil Diamond. I love that man. I guess that makes me a black sheep, eh? :rolleyes:

I love Dream Theater. Their "Scenes From a Memory" album, which is about past life regression and murder, is really, really amazing.

Hmmmm... suddenly I feel like a big, fat "L" just formed itself on the skin of my forehead... :blush: Well, I can confidently say that at least Joe Firstman is brand-new on the scene. Have you heard his stuff yet?

Just because someone is "known" doesn't make him/her a lame-assed, no-talent sell-out loser, either, you know. Rhett is great. So's Neil.

All I have to say is...

move in, now move out
hands up, now hands down
back up, back up!
show me whatchoo gonna do now!
breathe in, now breathe out
hands up, now hands down
back up, back up!
show me whatchoo gonna do now!

KEEP ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN' (come on!)
KEEP ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN' (what?)
KEEP ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN' (yeah!)
KEEP ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN', ROLLIN'

Now I know y'all be lovin' this shit right here...

Okay, time to put a stop to the quoting before it gets out of hand...

I rely on my brother and one of my best friends for my underground stuff - my brother keeps his ear out for rock and hip-hop bands, and my friend has strong connections to the local punk scene (Pittsburgh is one of the most Protestant cities in the U.S., hence, when kids want to rebel against the parents, they take up punk rock)

Some of the stuff I've gotten from the two: Kottonmouth Kings (came into them between their second and third album), Darwin's Waiting Room (think a blend of Korn and Linkin Park - a vocalist, an emcee, a band, but darker than LP. They got an album out, real good stuff), Strict Flow (just came out, hip-hop quartet from Pittsburgh...who knew?), and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (great cover band - they've just started getting radio play)

Philadelphia's music scene (at least the R&B/hip-hop side) blew up again a few years ago. Some of it is great (Musiq, the Roots), some of it not so great (Beanie Sigel, Freeway).

St. Louis had a minor blow-up in the mid to late 90s rock-wise, though all the bands are now by the wayside more or less: The Urge, Poster Children, Radio Iodine, Pale Divine, Stir. Now, it's a hip-hop thing: Nelly (great) and Chingy (whack).