College 101

I've been thinking about culture lately, and how your experiences shape the person you are. Seeing as how music is an integral part of all of our lives, I was thinking about how the environment in which we live mediates some form of musical tastes.

Then I started thinking about how a lot of people get into some bands when they go to college (as opposed to bands like Nirvana, The Smiths and The Ramones which people generally start listening to at a younger age). This does NOT mean that you have to go to college to appreciate these bands, just that many people (including yours truly) start appreciating these bands when they are part of the collegiate experience. That is, the majority of people who are NOT part of the blogosphere community, or die hard music lovers.

Anyhow, here is my top 5 list of those types of bands:

5. Bob Dylan
this one is pretty self explanatory, I think.

4. Sigur Ros
the incredible music produced by this Icelandic band has gotten me and many people that I know through finals. thank goodness for Sigur Ros.

3. REM
I've gotten the impression that a lot of people like REM, I just have never met anyone who ADORES them. nonetheless, they put out consistently superb music.

2. Beirut
for me, this was my favourite discovery when I went to college. I was playing Beirut aloud in a friend's dorm's study room a couple of nights ago and this guy across the room recognized that it was Beirut and said that he just got into them and loves them. and yes, he was a freshman, so case and point.

1. Radiohead
I have a confession to make: I never listened to Radiohead (except for being able to identify the obviousness of "Creep" when it came on the radio etc etc) until my first year at uni. One of my friends was actually taking a Radiohead DeCal (student run classes here at UCB) and I accompanied him to class and thereafter got their entire discography from him. good move on my part.
As Cher says while Radiohead played in the background in the movie “Clueless”: “what is it about college and cry-baby music?” That made me laugh so hard after rewatching it last year. Radiohead is very much a band with huge numbers of college student listeners.


Sigur Ros - Untitled #7 [mp3]

Beirut - Forks and Knives (La Fete)[mp3]

Radiohead - Paranoid Android [mp3]

REM - At My Most Beautiful [mp3]

Bob Dylan - Just like a woman [mp3]

thoughts? agree, disagree, want to add to the list?