One of the subscriptions I try to read regularly is The Atlanic's culture feed, on which I found this this morning. I had not heard of John Vanderslice previous to today and I have full intentions of making Pixel Revolt my next iTunes purchase. It did get me to thinking, though...how much music do I miss by being SO focused on jazz all of the time. I understand the current trend of jazz musicians taking current material as their source material, but most of my listening remains focused on the perfecters of the art, i.e. Joe Henderson, Trane, Wayne, and Sonny. Additionally, most of the "modern" folks I listen to are steeped in that language as well. The modern guy I'm listening to most these days is Rich Perry.
But, the purpose of this post is not to debate the artistic merit of old vs. new or jazz vs. everything else. My discovery of John Vanderslice today was a joyful one to be sure. It reminded me of how much other music is out there that I love. For instance, REM and U2. I have some stuff from these folks on my workout playlists and every time they come up I remember how much I love that music. The Decemberists are another example.
How about it: what music other than your "favorite" inspires you?
I should read the stuff in my RSS reader more often...
