No Light at the End

Disclaimer: I'm going to use a lot of general music genres in this post. I know that genres are never very accurate and we're better off just using comparative bands, but generalizations will help cover the wide array of bands I'm thinking in the most concise way. Hopefully you'll generate similar sounds in your head to the one's I have in mine and this crazy communication thing will work out. Thank you.

I've had to explain to a lot of people lately about my love of evil music. I use the term, "evil," in a non-literal sense because most people conjure up the right type of music when I say, "evil," (i.e. most people associate Metal, Industrial, and Noise with evil).

The discussion has been repeated more frequently of late because I know a lot of people who like the light, poppy (for lack of a better term), more... Stereotypical indie-rock music. Which isn't to say those bands are particular bad, but I get a bit miffed when, "alternative," means those types of bands only. That and I don't like a lot of the bands you'll hear on your average Adult Album Alternative (what a horse shit description) station, but stay with me on this.

This trail of endless discussion on what quantifies, "indie," leads me to my main point: metal and industrial are indie genres too, so I can still listen to heavy drop chords, distortion, minor synth, heavy beats, creepy samples, and screamed vocals and still be listening to, "indie," music.

I feel that indie/alternative stations seem to get smashed into a narrow band of what is acceptable to play; there's a lack of breadth. Like most rules, I don't know how it got that way. I don't know why it's okay to play Oukast, but Tool is a no-no because they're too popular. I don't comprehend why you can't play Front Line Assembly, but Nine Inch Nails is okay (even NIN isn't on a lot of the so-called indie stations). Ragga can exist on the station as Bright Eyes in harmony.

Joe Strummer put it best, "Tunnel vision is the enemy of all music."

You probably weren't wondering, but I'll tell you anyway:

I like evil music for a lot of reasons, but, in general, I tend to like heavier, darker sounds; be it an orchestral piece or a folk singer. Don't get me wrong, I adore slow-core too, but overall, I'm more just attracted to the gloomy-vibe stuff.

It isn't an absolute, of course. Mouse on Mars always makes me happy and want to dance, Dosh's latest album is a very happy album and I loved it.

Really, it's all a taste thing; I can't explain it anymore than I can explain why I like chicken and pineapple pizza.

-Thomas