I also am beginning to think you're both instrumental enthusiasts, you appear to prefer the instrumental or orchestration to lyrics in music, or are more interested in the sound.
There may be some degree of truth to that observation, although if you saw my music collection, you would not lack for vocal material being well represented. I enjoy lyrics, and the vocalist who sing them well, but I don't miss them if they aren't there. I spend much of my day listening to WRTI-FM, the Temple University (Philadelphia) classical and jazz NPR station, and the rest of the time with WXPN-FM, the U-Penn NPR adult album alternative station (what we called "progressive" radio in olden days).
If you like ambient music, you might wish to check out this site:
Anyway, as to lyrics, I prefer those that are more story-telling, as it were. While Dylan is an obvious example, I greatly prefer Paul Simon to Dylan, or a number of folk / country artists, or my all-time favorite female vocalist, Sandy Denny, who wrote some truly wonderful songs, with excellent lyrics to go with her instrumental chops.
An interesting quirk I know I have is that if the instrumental efforts are working for me, I tend to be more forgiving of so-so or merely interesting lyrical work. That does tend to support your conjecture above, I have to say.
Here's an example that quickly comes to mind. This is actually one of the few bands native to Lancaster that ever got to be known at least a little bit outside of the local area, with two albums being released nationally before the bandmembers finally went their separate ways.
The woman who plays that astonishing piano work in this and other tunes-- yes, it's a piano-driven band, not a guitar one! -- freely admits that their lyrics "tend to go around a bit". Yes, they do, but I totally love this group, and I don't care about the lyrics. They are very clever and talented in their own, very unique way, and that's what grabs me.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2020-08-17 06:22 am (UTC)There may be some degree of truth to that observation, although if you saw my music collection, you would not lack for vocal material being well represented. I enjoy lyrics, and the vocalist who sing them well, but I don't miss them if they aren't there. I spend much of my day listening to WRTI-FM, the Temple University (Philadelphia) classical and jazz NPR station, and the rest of the time with WXPN-FM, the U-Penn NPR adult album alternative station (what we called "progressive" radio in olden days).
If you like ambient music, you might wish to check out this site:
https://echoes.org/
Besides a list of broadcast stations carrying this very long-running program, they also have podcasts now, so that another venue.
If you have an interest in what was most commonly referred to as "space music", this is the show I usually fall asleep to after 1 AM Sunday.
http://www.starsend.org/
Anyway, as to lyrics, I prefer those that are more story-telling, as it were. While Dylan is an obvious example, I greatly prefer Paul Simon to Dylan, or a number of folk / country artists, or my all-time favorite female vocalist, Sandy Denny, who wrote some truly wonderful songs, with excellent lyrics to go with her instrumental chops.
An interesting quirk I know I have is that if the instrumental efforts are working for me, I tend to be more forgiving of so-so or merely interesting lyrical work. That does tend to support your conjecture above, I have to say.
Here's an example that quickly comes to mind. This is actually one of the few bands native to Lancaster that ever got to be known at least a little bit outside of the local area, with two albums being released nationally before the bandmembers finally went their separate ways.
The woman who plays that astonishing piano work in this and other tunes-- yes, it's a piano-driven band, not a guitar one! -- freely admits that their lyrics "tend to go around a bit". Yes, they do, but I totally love this group, and I don't care about the lyrics. They are very clever and talented in their own, very unique way, and that's what grabs me.
Suddenly Tammy - Hard Lesson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3_4ipEvE_I
Gotta say I'm really liking this music meme! :-)