Music, and not of the protest variety

In light of last nights multiple presentations on protest music, I am going to pass on that topic (despite the fact that I was part of one of those presentations). Instead I am going to talk about my musical obsessions of past and present.

To begin my musical journey I must first mention Ben Folds Five, for it is this band that I credit with saving my musical soul. When I was in high school I was very much a fan of Top 40s and Pop music. Now, there is nothing wrong with these genres of music, but they lack the depth that I so greatly enjoy in the music that I listen to today. So, I was a big fan of KDWB and KS95, until my brother bought the Ben Folds Five CD Whatever and Ever Amen. I heard him listening to it and immediately fell in love. I walked the mile plus to Cheapo Records in Uptown and bought my own copy of the disk. I listened to it over and over and over. Ben Folds Five opened new musical doors to me. Ben, and Darrin, and Jesse taught me what real music was. And then they broke up before I ever had a chance to see them live. I remember when I heard the news, I was in detention and my history teacher told me. My little musical heart was crushed. But, I moved on and found many other artists just as awesome.

The band that I am most recently obsessed with is Cloud Cult. Hailing from around Minnesota (now mostly living in Duluth) Cloud Cult is an eclectic band. Their music encompasses electronic, alternative, folk, and more. Each song has a different and catchy sound. I first heard them on the Current. They were covering Mr. Tambourine Man. The song sound so surreal and calming that I immediately logged onto the Currents website to check the playlist. Lo and behold it was Cloud Cult. That night I downloaded the CD the Meaning 8. After listening to CD once it was clear that I was in love.

I recently got to see Cloud Cult in concert and it was awesome. Not only does their music sound better in person, but they also put on a great show. During the concert there were two artists on stage painting. They each had a blank canvass at the beginning of the show, and a work of art by the end. It was neat to see how the music influenced the art.