Introductions

Greetings one and all. I thought I'd kick things off with a little background on my musical history.

>>Raised on Classics
I grew up surrounded by music. My dad and his brothers were all amateur musicians, though his brothers went on to play in a few bar bands while in their 20s. By the time I was born my dad just played guitar as a hobby. He (and my mom) also played a lot of old records by the Beatles, CCR, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and The Who. Classic rock radio was the soundtrack to most trips in the car with my dad through most of my childhood.
>>The Unfortunate Wigger Phase
In elementary school, I was obsessed with Elvis. I even got my mom to do my hair in a pompadour a couple of times. Some time around 4th grade I started to listen to rap and hip hop, like a lot of clueless white kids my age. This lasted until about 6th grade. Parts of that phase were regrettable (particularly the backward baseball caps and oversized JNCO jeans), but led me to some good stuff and oddly enough got me interested in punk.
>>Anarchy in the 7th Grade
Rage Against the Machine actually led me to discovering punk. Basically, my affair with hip-hop was ending, and in the seek for ever more dangerous and edgy tunes I stumbled on something that felt edgy and politically charged (even if they were still just another corporate rock band).
Anyway, my obsession with Rage led me to scribble the Anarchist "A" on all of my notebooks and even some of my clothing, though I probably looked pretty stupid for doing so, it got me in with a couple of the punk kids, who introduced me to NOFX, Green Day, the Exploited and Agent Orange. From there I wanted to learn as much as I could about punk and it's history. That's when I discovered the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and the Damned. Hearing them was like losing my virginity, and from there I decided to widen my horizons to punk's surly cousins; grunge and metal.
>>ANGST, ANGST, ANGST!!
As I entered the 8th grade, I had transitioned from punk, ska and grunge into darker territory. While I still listened to some of those groups, I had now discovered the joys of goth. It started with NIN and Manson, but I quickly stumbled upon The Cure, Siouxie and the Banshees, The Cramps, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and Joy Division.
At this time I was also listening to techno, electroclash and some straight garbage like Korn, Limp Bizkit and (shudder) Creed. Don't ask me how I reconciled the two, I honestly think puberty makes it hard to discern what's good and what's crap.
>>Birth of a Starman
High School was when I first started to dream about being in a band. It's also when I rediscovered my dad's music. Garage rock was just becoming popular again about that time, and rap-rock was gasping it's dying breath. I started learning guitar.
Even with the garage rock revival happening, emotive Pop-punk was the reigning soundtrack of mainstream radio, and bands like Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eat World and Finch where pretty popular at my school. Even though I recognized how incredibly different these bands were from the punk bands of the 70's and even those of the 90's, I still loved the seemingly raw and earnest emotion paired with poppy melodies and crunchy guitars.
Simultaneously, I started really enjoying the big, glammy sounds of T-Rex, David Bowie and Queen. The makeup, androgyny and subtle raunchiness were a welcome shock to my still-developing id.
I should mention that somewhere between my punk and goth phases (neither of which have completely left my system) I discovered a dark hardcore bad called AFI, who became one of my favorite bands and showed me you could wear black eyeshadow and still go insane in the pit.
So, somewhat in secret I started indulging my glam/goth side. Still, the spectre of columbine and the prejudice against goths was still hanging int he air, and I wasn't sure if my friends or parents would understand how I was expressing myself.
>>College Rock
Like everyone in college, I listened to plenty of Indie rock, however, I found I was now a lot more comfortable with how divergent my tastes where from each other. I liked Manic Street Preachers as much as I liked My Chemical Romance, I loved The JAMC, but I was addicted to Kylie Minogue's dance pop. I became a walking contradiction. In short, a fairly well rounded music listener.

These days, I'll pretty much listen to anything that Isn't generic top 40 pop or boring adult contemporary. I have even warmed to country, excluding some of the awful poppy crap that passes for country these days. I'll take Johnny Cash, Nick Cave and hell, even the Dixie Chicks aren't that bad.

So I hope that gives you an idea what to expect. I will try to update every week on Thrusdays with a piece of music news, an opinion on said news and a review of an album or song I'm currently listening to. Which means you may see reviews for brand new albums and songs, or you'll see a review of something from a few weeks, months, years or even decades back.

Ciao,
Skully