Mood:  lyrical

I have been on a music high for many many months now. Originally starting about four years ago with the introduction of The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Green Day ("American Idiot" specifically) and Snow Patrol to my ears, I have been almost osbessive about the new alternative music of this time frame.

I find it amazing how much great music is out there - and how many avenues there are to finding it all.

For a couple years I was doing some heavy CD trading with a work buddy, which built up my digital library with albums from Death Cab For Cutie, The Strokes, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Keane, Interpol, Kaiser Chiefs, The Postal Service, Modest Mouse, etc. It was a great relationship, because I was listening to Virgin Music (UK) online and the rebirth of WFNX. So I would share tunes I liked or had purchased with my buddy. He did not do much online stuff. So he would end up buying the stuff he liked that I played for him, then I'd borrow it, rip it, and give it back. I would also burn him CDs of older stuff he missed when we were younger, such as Peter Murphy, The Replacements, The Samples, Bauhaus, Bob Mould/Sugar, Joy Division, etc.

Plus, I was adding stuff to my library on my own with Coldplay, The Bravery, The Killers, Snow Patrol, etc.

In the past year I was inspired to go hunting for free downloads online - to which I was told about or discovered some great music-related sites and blogs, including the essential Selective Service, Who Needs Radio?, PopMatters, and more.

I've been an avid iTunes guy for years, but with the addition of an iPod about 18 months ago, I am just always music-centric. Fortunately, I can either plug into the Web or listen to my iPod at work. And thusly, I've gotten two physical CDs in the past 18-24 months (The Bravery "The Sun and the Moon" and The Killers "Sawdust"), whereas I have probably a few dozen digital albums in that same time.

Thanks to those great sites and blogs (and friends, too) I have found The Enemy, The Heavy, Ready Fire Aim, Flight of the Conchords, and more. Plus, I've learned I am LATE to the party regarding mailing lists. It's amazing the stuff one can get from favorite artists when on these lists: such as the latest Nine Inch Nails album "The Slip" in its entirety for free, bonus tracks when pre-ordering whole albums, etc., not to mention the free downloads that some bands offer through their sites once you become a member of their site and/or mailing list. Of course, some bands suck in this regard, but I won't hold it against them. They need to make a living and they can't just give it all away.

What is great though is that so many artists these days are aware of the affect free downloads have in the positive aspects. Example: Because of free downloads of some songs, I've explored the bands, and then later purchased more tunes via iTunes. Otherwise, I may NEVER have heard them at all.

Now, I was just introduced to Pandora.com. WOW. I chose just ONE band for a playlist to be created from, and it is like listening to my iPod. I selected Snow Patrol. They are not my favorite band, but I thought that since they can be emo, rock, pop, orchestral, acoustic, that it might create a broad soundscape. Ironically, the "radio station" created for me has played songs I have from Death Cab, Guster, The Killers, Muse, Coldplay, and more. But also it has played a song I really liked from a band I'd never heard before called The Last Goodnight, plus songs from The Fray and Jimmy Eat World I had not heard before and also liked.... hmmm, I could get pretty darn hooked.

Now, so far this mix has been more on the mellow side, which is fine, but I also like to power up with The Strokes, Shiny Toy Guns, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Cold War Kids, Racoteurs, White Stripes, etc. So I think I will add one of these bands to my "radio station" to see how it affects the mix... how exciting.

Lastly, this is telling: I am EXCITED about pre-ordering the new Keane and Snow Patrol due out this fall. But I am a little apprehensive about the new The Killers and Shiny Toy Guns that are also coming out. The Guns first album blew my mind, but they've changed female singers and the first single from the new album is a definite departure from the band's previous sound.

P.S. Check out The Airborne Toxic Event and Vampire Weekend.