I Eat Music

Because I hate trying to answer the question “So, what kind of music are you into?” (and because I am horrifically anal about these things), I have spent much of the last ten years trying to condense my entire musical taste down to one word.

For a while I toyed with borrowing an idea from a friend, who just tells everyone she likes ‘good music.’ But the problem is that it wouldn’t be true. I like quite a lot of really awful music. And what constitutes ‘good,’ anyway? If I say that to a lot of people they’ll automatically have me down as a fan of U2. And I can’t have people thinking that.

I’ve actually adopted the phrase, “I like pretty much anything from music hall to white noise,” in the last year or so. I think it covers most bases, despite sounding quite pretentious. But a while ago I thought I might have actually stumbled across that one killer word that would sum everything up. That word, as you’ve probably already guessed, is ‘dramatic.’

Until I collected my last Twitter-recommended playlist, I hadn’t managed to come up with a way of testing this theory (okay, I hadn’t actually given it much thought at all, but stick with me). But as all those suggestions of ’achingly beautiful’ music came flooding in, I suddenly thought maybe I could use the same method to find out if ‘dramatic’ really is the catch all word for the music I like.

Now, there are all sorts of reasons why it can’t be, not least because there is a lot of completely undramatic music out there that I love. Also, there’s plenty of dramatic music around that I don’t like – Celine Dion does drama well, but I’m never going to start liking what she does and, apologies everyone, I’m not a massive fan of Queen either. Then there’s the fact that my definition of dramatic doesn’t always line up with other people’s.

That actually makes things a lot more interesting. This could have just been a list of power ballads, but because the theme means different things to different people we’ve got a massive variety of songs. There are tracks where the drama builds through the music and/or vocals in a wide variety of ways, while in others it comes through the lyrics, like on R Kelly’s hilarious musical soap opera, Trapped In The Closet. Sometimes it’s just a general vibe. And then, just to prove that we don’t all find the same things dramatic, there are songs on this playlist, admittedly only a very small number, in which I can’t hear any drama at all.

But at the same time, a lot of my favourite songs were suggested. She Spider by Mew, Bachelorette by Björk, Après Moi by Regina Spektor, Skream’s remix of La Roux’s In For The Kill, Passenger by Deftones, Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, and Touched by Vast are all songs I know and love and would probably have suggested myself. And listening to many of the songs I didn’t already know, I had a feeling I was listening to a lot of future favourites too. So maybe there is something in this after all.

There are artists who came up repeatedly; mostly Björk and Kate Bush, who I had expected, and The Chemical Brothers, who I hadn’t. I was also surprised that only one post-rock track came up, The Birth And Death Of The Day by Explosions In The Sky. Only three songs were named more than once: Jóga by Björk, Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush and Deftones’ aforementioned collaboration with Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman, Maynard James Keenan, Passenger. A Perfect Circle, incidentally, were another band who popped up several times, getting one song from each of their three albums included. And if someone hadn’t suggested Total Eclipse Of The Heart, I think I might have had to slip it in myself.

I wasn’t put in that position, though. So my contribution is the playlist’s opening track, the stripped back version of Something I Can Never Have by Nine Inch Nails from Still. I considered going in with a torrent of hardcore, but went with this because it manages to built drama and tension with just piano, guitar and voice and gets things off to a more gentle start. Also, as Mr Reznor stormed off Twitter in a huff this week, I thought it was somehow fitting.

Going back to my original question, I think it’s fairly safe to say that it’s not possible to condense my entire musical taste down into one word. So unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to continue offering slightly confused and confusing explanations. But that’s probably a good thing. Anyone who asks you what music you like expecting to get a simple answer probably doesn’t deserve an answer at all.

You can listen to almost all of the songs listed here in this handy Spotify playlist.

Nine Inch Nails – Something I Can Never Have (Still version) (Spotify|Last.fm)
Mew – She Spider (Spotify|Last.fm)
Divine Comedy – Through A Long And Sleepless Night (Spotify)
Beyoncé – Ring The Alarm (Spotify|Last.fm)
Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short (Spotify|Last.fm)
Celine Dion – It’s All Coming Back To Me Now (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Veronicas – Untouched (Spotify)
Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Chameleons – A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days (Spotify|Last.fm)
Magazine – Motorcade (Spotify|Last.fm)
My Life Story – 12 Reasons Why I Love Her (Spotify|Last.fm)
Björk – Jóga (Spotify)
Bauhaus – She’s In Parties (Spotify)
Bright Eyes – Arienette
Deftones – Passenger (Spotify|Last.fm)
Devotchka – Comrade Z (Spotify)
Final Fantasy – Please Please Please (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Germs – Media Blitz (Spotify|Last.fm)
Heart – Alone (Spotify|Last.fm)
Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights (Spotify)
Clint Mansell – Death Is The Road To Awe (Spotify)
The One AM Radio – Fires
Patrick Wolf – This Weather (Last.fm)
A Perfect Circle – Magdalena (Spotify|Last.fm)
Björk – Bachelorette (Spotify)
Fat Boy Slim – Right Here Right Now
Fionn Regan – Snowy Atlas Mountains (Spotify|Last.fm)
Andrew Bird – Fake Palindromes (Spotify|Last.fm)
Andrew Bird – Imitosis (Spotify|Last.fm)
Regina Spektor – Après Moi (Spotify|Last.fm)
Elbow – The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver (Spotify|Last.fm)
Biffy Clyro – Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies (Spotify)
A-ha – The Sun Always Shines On TV (Spotify|Last.fm)
Arctic Monkeys – The View From The Afternoon (Spotify)
Bloc Party – Helicopter (Spotify)
Cake – The Distance (Spotify)
The Chemical Brothers – Leave Home (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Chemical Brothers – Setting Sun (feat. Noel Gallagher) (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Chemical Brothers – The Test (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Diamonds – The Stroll (Spotify|Last.fm)
Eels – Souljacker Part 1 (Spotify)
La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix) (Spotify|Last.fm)
Johnny Foreigner – Salt, Pepa And Spindarella (Spotify|Last.fm)
Besnard Lakes – And You Lied To Me (Spotify|Last.fm)
Led Zeppelin – Since I’ve Been Loving You
Sparks – This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us (Spotify|Last.fm)
Kate Bush – Babooshka (Spotify|Last.fm
Explosions In The Sky – The Birth And Death Of The Day (Spotify|Last.fm)
Reparata & The Delrons – I’m Nobody’s Baby Now
Glenda Collins – Something I’ve Got To Tell You
Puccini – Nessum Dorma (Spotify)
Puccini – O Mio Bambino Caro (Spotify)
Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms (Spotify|Last.fm)
Queen – Innuendo (Spotify|Last.fm)
Alanis Morissette – Uninvited (Spotify)
Sub6 – 7th Son (Ticon Remix) (Spotify)
Deftones – Minerva (Spotify)
A Perfect Circle – Imagine (Spotify)
The Pink Mountaintops – Vampire (Spotify)
Fever Ray – Concrete Walls (Spotify|Last.fm)
Xiu Xiu – I Luv The Valley, OH! (Last.fm)
Foals – Titan Arum (Spotify)
Modest Mouse – Satin In A Coffin (Spotify|Last.fm)
Radiohead – Exit Music (For A Film) (Spotify|Last.fm)
Elbow – Mexican Standoff (Spotify|Last.fm)
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Waiting For The Beat To Kick In (Spotify|Last.fm)
R Kelly – Trapped In The Closet 1-13 (Spotify)
The Chemical Brothers – Saturate (Spotify|Last.fm)
Sia – Breathe Me (Spotify)
Lorraine Ellison – Stay With Me (Baby) (Spotify|Last.fm)
Scott Walker – The Cockfighter (Spotify|Last.fm)
The Monkees – Porpoise Song (Spotify|Last.fm)
Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart (Spotify|Last.fm)
Nine Inch Nails – Hurt (Spotify|Last.fm)
My Dying Bride – The Cry Of Mankind (Spotify|Last.fm)
Faith No More – Caffeine (Spotify)
A Perfect Circle – Pet (Spotify)
Vast – Touched (Spotify|Last.fm)

Thanks to all of the following, who recommended the music on this playlist and all have impeccable taste: @radioedit, @trixie, @nickpeters, @MyChemToilet, @mrstealeaves, @marshamusic, @jaimemcc, @sesp, @CaroUnLimited, @davidriley, @DanReballato, @mariusvandyk, @sus_ond, @benedit, @rebekahwalker, @KRamness, @beristwicke, @joeparry, @venpedro

This week I found myself with five tracks available in my monthly allowance on eMusic and no idea what to download. This is something that happens a lot. Under pressure to choose something, I experience the same thing that generally happens when I walk into a record shop, where I forget the name of every band I’ve ever heard of and just start flicking aimlessly through the shelves in the vague hope that something might trigger a memory.

The other option, of course, is to ask someone else what I should be listening to. So, I fired up Twitter and posted this message: “I have five eMusic tracks that I don’t know what to do with. Everyone name one achingly beautiful song. Please. Thank you.” Simple but, as it turned out, very effective.

There are plenty of new ways to get automated musical recommendations, on sites such as Last.fm, or Pandora, or iTunes’ Genius function. But these all have their faults. They’ll never quite match up to real human recommendations, because a computer will never say to you “I want it played at my funeral, but only as a way of forcing people to listen to and remember it,” as @marshamusic did when recommending Bread by Clem Snide. Plus a computer’s recommendation is all too easy to dismiss. But when someone’s told you that they find something achingly beautiful, you feel some kind of duty to listen to it. You can’t just click delete and forget about it.

For example, I’ve never had much time for Sigur Rós, but as you might expect, there were a number of their songs recommended. Normally I’d avoid them but today I’ve sat down and given them proper time and attention and discovered Sæglópur, which left me gasping for air when it kicked in. I also have to admit that Svefn-G-Englar was a pretty impressive track to end on.

For the most part, people recommended the kind of gentle music that would initially spring to mind when you mention beautiful music. But then there’s Thinktank by Airiel, a fast-paced rock track with shoegazer-y vocals that builds and almost runs out of control across four minutes. It’s not an obvious contender, but you can see why @_joshhall_ thinks it’s beautiful. It is beautiful. The way the guitar and vocal melodies play against each other is really lovely and there’s an upbeat feel that is completely infectious. The same could be said for Teen Angst by M83, which rushes at you and envelops you, rather than soothing you from a distance. Or even Dilaudid by Mountain Goats, which you could argue is a bit confrontational but is so simple and compelling that I had to listen to it four times in a row.

It’s also interesting to see which songs by bands whose music I know well other people rate. For all the Elbow songs that came through, no one mentioned Switching Off, which for me is their finest moment and finds them at their most beautiful. Also, the one Cure song that was recommended was A Night Like This. Not a bad choice by any means, but on the very same album (Head On The Door) you’ve got Push. And while Samson by Regina Spektor is definitely beautiful, what about Us?

But if I wanted to write a list of all the songs I think are achingly beautiful, I would. That’s not what this is about. This is much better than that. It’s been an opportunity for me to discover new music, as well as re-discovering some old things as well. If I was to write my own list now, there are some things I’ve just heard that would now appear on it, which I suppose is the point.

So, after that very long introduction, here is the playlist. We kick off with my own choice, An Ending (Ascent) by Brian Eno, before moving onto what my followers on Twitter decided was the most achingly beautiful music out there in the order it was recommended to me. If you want to contribute to my next playlist, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/andymalt.

You can listen to all the tracks that are available on Spotify (sadly not everything at the moment) all together here.

Brian Eno – An Ending (Ascent) (Spotify | Last.fm)
TV On The Radio – Family Tree (Spotify | Last.fm)
Catherine AD – Carry Your Heart (Last.fm)
Sigur Rós – Vaka (Spotify | Last.fm)
Clem Snide – Bread (Spotify | Last.fm)
Andrew Bird – Masterfade (Last.fm)
The Reindeer Section – Where I Fall (Spotify | Last.fm)
Elbow – Scattered Black And Whites (Spotify)
Elbow – Great Expectations ( Spotify | Last.fm)
Fionn Regan – Snow Atlas Mountains (Spotify)
Death Cab For Cutie – Brothers On A Hotel Bed (Spotify)
Regina Spektor – Samson (Spotify | Last.fm)
Sufjan Stevens – Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois (Spotify)
David Berkeley – The Blood And The Wine (MySpace)
Richard Buckner – Lil Wallet Picture (Last.fm)
King Creosote – Admiral (Spotify)
Jenniferever – From Across The Sea (Spotify | Last.fm)
Airiel – Thinktank (Last.fm)
M83 – Teen Angst (Spotify | Last.fm)
Mew – White Lips Kissed (Last.fm)
Oceansize – Music For A Nurse (Spotify)
M. Ward – Post War (Spotify)
Elliott Smith – Whatever (Folk Song In C) (Spotify)
Great Lake Swimmers – Your Rocky Spine (Spotify | Last.fm)
Tunng – Bullets (Hot Chip Remix)
The Mountain Goats – Dilaudid (Spotify)
Joanna Newsom – This Side Of The Blue (Last.fm)
Nick Drake – Northern Lights
Bonnie Raitt – I Ain’t Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again (Spotify | Last.fm)
The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build A Home (Spotify)
Joseph Arthur – Honey And The Moon (Spotify | Last.fm)
Jacques Brel – Ne Me Quitte Pas (Spotify | Last.fm)
Doves – The Cedar Room (Spotify | Last.fm)
Elbow – Starlings (Spotify)
Bette Middler – The Rose (Spotify)
Coldplay – Yellow (Spotify | Last.fm)
The Cure – A Night Like This (Spotify | Last.fm)
Beck – Lonesome Tears (Spotify | Last.fm)
Nick Drake – Way To Blue (Spotify | Last.fm)
The Beatles – She’s Leaving Home
The Postal Service – Nothing Better (Last.fm)
Joni Mitchell – Blue (Spotify | Last.fm)
Sigur Rós – Sæglópur (Spotify | Last.fm)
Alison Krauss and Union Station – Ghost In This House
Wolfman feat. Pete Doherty – For Lovers (Spotify)
M83 – Unrecorded (Spotify | Last.fm)
Sigur Rós – Hoppípolla (Spotify | Last.fm)
Sigur Rós – Glósóli (Spotify | Last.fm)
Manchester Orchestra – Sleeper 1972 (Spotify | Last.fm)
Nine Black Alps – Intermission (Spotify | Last.fm)
Interpol – Untitled (Spotify)
Radiohead – All I Need (Last.fm)
Maria Mena – It Must Have Been Love (Last.fm)
Des’Ree – Kissing You (Spotify | Last.fm)
Smashing Pumpkins – …Said Sadly (Spotify)
Iron & Wine – Upwards Over The Mountain
Michel Polnareff – Lettre À France (Last.fm)
Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road (‘Live 75-85’ version) (Spotify | Last.fm)
The Magnetic Fields – All My Little Words (Spotify)
Sigur Rós – Svefn-G-Englar (Spotify | Last.fm)

Thanks to @MyChemToilet, @CatherineAD, @luke_is_best, @marshamusic, @adamkillip, @sesp, @_joshhall_, @mrstealeaves, @katbrightlights, @SongHooks, @charliemoo, @CaroUnLimited, @radioedit, @agoss, @Astrild, @winstonszen, @JonathanDeamer, @ianshepherd, @lsutherland, @Quiverdisc, @JackMarshall, @myrrhlarsen, @James1am, @samovarious, @JeremyMeyers, @smkng, @Mark_Mulligan, @frani_lieberman, @Jeremiah_James, @tomgillet, @tamipants