As the year draws to a close, I felt inspired to share some thoughts I've had relating to music and its place in our lives. Throughout the year, I've had ideas on possible entries to this seldom-used journal, but I think it's taken until now for viewpoints to coalesce and for themes therein to become apparent, and the end of the year is always a good time to reflect.

At the top of 2013, I found my listening habits in a state of flux from my once comfortable routine. I was a part of an amazing online social group listening…

Coming off a nearly decade-long self-imposed exile from rock radio, I've found myself a fan of modern/hard rock radio hits "Blurry" by Puddle Of Mudd and "Forever" by Papa Roach. I've come to appreciate each on its own terms, but my "in" with these songs, neither of which is by a band I am a fan, is how similar they are to other music I already liked.

"Blurry" (2001) reminds me a lot of "Dark River" by Coil, specifically Puddle Of Mudd's porcelain verse guitars. That's what hooked me, hearing…

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1. Radiohead - Kid A (2000)
It's been over nine years. Frankly, I'm all talked out and have been for some time. I didn't even put up a fight when my cousin dismissed it out of hand recently, having only heard it once, years ago. However, anyone reading this has probably heard Kid A already and formed their own opinion long ago, so what more could I add that hasn't been said too many times before?

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2. Björk - Vespertine (2001)
It's her IDM album, but it's also her songwriting album. Vespertine showed me how glitchy electronics could…

Tim Exile's Listening Tree

Coreleased by my all-time favorite record label and one of my other favorite electronic music labels, this album, for the most part, sounds like a goofy British guy singing over Plaid's greatest hits. That's not a bad thing in these times. The music also harkens back to LFO (Advance and Sheath) and what may be my personal favorite era of Warp and what I consider the last hurrah for IDM overall before its key figures went dormant or shifted their focus to electro, acid, or breakcore and before dubstep usurped the throne…

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http://stas.sh/lastfm/pic.php?username=howisya

Take your top 20 artists. For each of these artists, collect the top 5 similar artists. The resulting number of unique artists is your eclectic score. If the score is small (extreme = 5) your musical preferences are very limited, and if it is large (larger than 80, extreme = 100), then you have an eclectic musical preference. You can compute your own score at http://anthony.liekens.net/pub/scripts/last.fm/eclectic.php

My eclectic score is currently (outdated)

91/100

The 91 related artists for my profile are AFX (2), Alanis Morissette, Amorphous Androgynous, Aphex Twin (2), Autechre (2), Bark Psychosis, Beanie Sigel, Beck,…

I may not listen to her all the time, but Tori Amos has been one of my favorite artists for most of my life. Not only is she an amazing songwriter, but also she does the best covers and often of songs written by some of my other favorite artists.

If you're a fan of hers or of songs like
Famous Blue Raincoat
Lovesong
Killing Me Softly With His Song
After The Gold Rush
Can't Get You Out Of My Head
After All
Angie
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Do It Again
Philadelphia
Why not give this a listen?
http://sharebee.com/dd233823

These…

Despite the music I scrobble, the following are my top 25 all-time favorite albums. I mostly listen to them on stereo systems. When I do this list, I often restrict myself to one album per artist, and now you will see why.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer (1997). Play Climbing Up the Walls.
2. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994). Watch the uncensored video for Closer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLq_wie8CRc
3. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (1999). Play The Great Below.
4. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing..... (1996). Play Midnight in a Perfect World.
5. Massive Attack…