i|heart|tunes

The arrival of a new band is kind of a scary one because I have a hard time leaving my "safe" musicians. It's not that I don't like to find new music, it's just easy to become comfortable in your listening habits. New music in itself is always hard, primarily because of the expense, but even more daunting is coming into a musical institution that's been around for a few albums. My insomnia as of late has given me a little extra breathing room and quite obviously a lot more time to listen.

Yesterday I managed to acquire about 650 new songs from some bands I've been mildly interested in but didn't really know where to begin. As my little survey showed, I have much more music than I know what to do with and obviously most of it goes unnoticed, except in a few novel situations. Scared my new music was going to fade into obscurity within my iTunes folder, I decided to just PICK ONE.

The complete catalogues I received: The Arcade Fire, The Cure, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Kings of Convenience, LED ZEPPELIN (AH), Mae, Modest Mouse, Muse, Ozma, Pedro the Lion, The Postal Service, Radiohead's new album (I have everything else already), The Rentals, The Shins, Superdrag, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

See what I mean?

Daunting.

Which would I choose? The potentially over-hyped (Mae, The Shins), the most critically acclaimed of 07 (Arcade Fire), quite possibly the greatest band in history (Led Zeppelin)?? I knew little bits of just about everything, but I realized the one band I was completely and totally unfamiliar with: Muse.

Discovering new music is a delicate art. I know I'm a bit obsessive about this, but my life has a soundtrack and to ruin a potentially great addition to that soundtrack would be frustrating at best. The love for Coldplay was cultivated without pressure and in pure ignorance, but that was only one album and Muse has several. It must be done right. A trip to the group or person's wikipedia page (as Michael Scott would say, it's the greatest thing in the world) is essential, I read up on history, influences, album order, and little snippets of reviews. Enough information to formulate a slight opinion so as to find a starting point, but not enough to really bias my opinion. After reading their page, I knew I was going to stay away from their most critically acclaimed album, Black Holes & Revelations until a good sense of their sound had been established. Instead, I start with their second album, Origin of Symmetry.

My first impression is intrigue. Then I recognize the Radiohead comparisons. But there is something a little bit different. Now genuinely curious, I listen in a way I haven't for quite a while. And then it comes. The song Space Dementia opens with classical piano played surprisingly well, leading to the swelling of the bass and drums. I am no longer listening for sappy, love struck lyrics, or melodies that remind me of a boy. Song after song keeps my interest, including the unique vibe of Screenager. What in the world is this band? How have I not heard them before?

3:40 a.m. hit, sleep still far away, and while re-reading their wiki page a slightly familiar song comes out of my little powerbook's speakers.

Feeling Good? Really?! Buble's version is a favorite, but is in danger of losing to this unique twist.



The album ends with the hauntingly stunning Megalomania and I can't wait for the next one.

Absolution, their third album begins powerfully and rather than browse the internet, I choose to read the lyrics alongside the album. This is definitely an apocalyptic album, but it's stunning! Stockholm Syndrome is nice, but doesn't compare to the one that follows it, Falling Away With You, with its lush chord progressions and Blackout proves a nice respite from the album's intensity.

And then, in an instant, everything changed.

This all seems so dramatic and far too complicated for something as easy as a few songs, and ordinarily I would say you're right, but every once in a while something hits you and leaves a mark. In Repair by John Mayer is one. Coldplay's Parachutes in 2002, another. The discovery of the incomparable Joshua Bell.

The song Butterflies and Hurricanes drew me into Muse's spell and the interlude solidified what I had suspected: at this moment I don't care what they sing about. I don't care who they are. The power is in the notes and the brilliance with which they have been crafted and the beauty is in the sheer artistic talent Muse has proven to be. Matthew Bellamy's phenomenal technique on the classically driven piano interlude not only caught me off guard, but sealed the deal. It's obvious he took a few cues from Rachmaninoff.

Please forgive my gushing. I know they've been around for 9 years and that I'm one of the last to "discover" their music. You probably don't even like them. But for the first time in years, I have been inspired by sound.

I later listened to their first album, Showbiz, and while good, it didn't have the strength of the other two. Give me another week and I'll work up the courage to listen to their latest. If I'm already in awe, I can't wait to see what else there is.

This is a youtube clip of their live performance of Butterflies and Hurricanes. I highly recommend listening, but if you can only spare a few seconds, then start the clip at 3:30 to hear the romantic era-inspired piano interlude before they return to their roots of prog rock.



Most of all, if this is only the first band, how many more entries am I going to be inspired to write?

What in the world would I do without music????