What are you listening to at the present? (genres helpful)

[Soldier Blue]

Really like this electronic compilation. Good for work or studying.

[noiseredux]

Phillip Glass. You've heard his music even if you have no clue who he is.

Candyman.

[SNESdrunk]

Faith No More, Sol Invictus

Surprisingly their best stuff since Angel Dust. "Superhero," "Matador" and "From the Dead" are all great and rank among their best work

[darsparx]

The Hero of Time: Soundtrack

Apparently that fan movie put out a soundtrack and it's still on their website under epic music(the site was never taken down and the movie is still floating around for those that know how to get it still). This thing is amazing, for a indie movie it's great, and the soundtrack is pretty good too(pretty good doesn't really describe it well because I'm kinda getting goosebumps right now...)

[REPO Man]

Bootlegged performance of "Dracula" by Sharon Needles, from Needles' forthcoming album Taxidermy.

This particular bootleg is one of the better sounding of the ones out there.

Also, the song has sort of a Castlevania-meets-Marilyn-Manson's-"The Beautiful People" sound. If I could direct the video, I'd make the video as a love letter to various vampire fiction, mostly Castlevania, with references to the 1986 film "Vamp" and the Darkstalkers games.

[Luke]

Phillip Glass. You've heard his music even if you have no clue who he is.

Candyman.

Hell's yeah.

Lots of Scott Joplin for me lately.

I beg you to listen

Beautiful, no?

Some music takes you to a "place". Some music takes you to an exact point of time. That's not easy and also very rare. Joplin definitely takes you both to a place and to an exact point of time.

[Luke]

Kacey Musgraves

I do not like "Country Pop".

Or maybe I do as I don't know how to define Kacey Musgraves's music. It's definitely "Country", and it's definitely "Popular", and it is on the radio a lot, but it doesn't sound like any Country Pop I've ever heard.

She's absolutely stunning, and her lyrics even more. Most reviewers of her music say Kacey is a mix of Dolly and Willie, which is pretty spot on. Kacey's music is very upbeat but her lyrics are more than often riddled with "fuck you"s. And what is great is that she doesn't directly tell you to fuck off, but if you listen to her you "get it".

A few days ago I played "Biscuits" for my parents, and my Father said "She's the new Dolly" and my Mother asked "Did she just say what I think she said?". Like Sarah Silverman, Kacey is so cute that you don't expect what words come out of her mouth.

If you haven't heard her music, I would suggest "Follow your arrow" and "Biscuits" to start off with. "Merry Go Round" isn't shabby either.

[Forlorn Drifter]

"Merry Go Round" is my personal favorite from her.

Musgraves is an interesting case. She can fit the "pop country" label under the idealism that she does country with a pop-song structure and pop sensibilities, but she does not fit in with anything that has been referred to as "pop country" in... a long ass time. I wouldn't be willing to label her "pop country" though, because if we go by the criteria I first listed, then Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and (just as arguably as any of them) Townes Van Zandt would be "pop country".

Everything I've heard from her I've liked, although I question where she might go in the future, due to a couple of things. The main thing that concerns me, and I've seen pointed out elsewhere, is the amount of similarity in what she covers in her songs. Although there are many exceptions, a lot of her songs tread very similar ground. I'm thinking along the lines of showing "Biscuits" in comparison to "Follow Your Arrow" and "Family is Family". Similar ideas, although they do cover slightly different ground. As pointed out on a blog I follow, it seems almost like trying to find the balance. "Biscuits" seems a bit too thin, "Follow Your Arrow" is a bit preachy, and "Family is Family" finds a good balance.

But, while it might seem I'm ripping on her, I do like her music, and how she's pulling off non-pop country while still getting radio play. Its magical really. I'm just not sure if she can keep the steam going, although if pop country is anything to go by, it doesn't take much...

[Luke]

But, while it might seem I'm ripping on her...

Not at all, and I get your assessment.

Kacey could be Taylor Swift if she wanted to be, and she might, but so far she's bopping to her own beat.

I love Jay-z's "99 problems", but it sounds like a child wrote it*. And Jay-z is old enough to write better lyrics. Kacey's lyrics seem beyond her age and are plucky and easy to relate to. I'm just getting into her music, so I am naive, but so far she seems like no one we've seen in the country scene in a while.

*Dammit Jay-z, no street has a 54 MPH zone.
If you had raw coke in your car the canine would sniff it out.
Rick isn't crazy.
Motor bike? You mean motorcycle?
Bust a grape in a fruit fight? Really?

[Forlorn Drifter]

I'm just getting into her music, so I am naive, but so far she seems like no one we've seen in the country scene in a while.

It depends a bit on what elements you are using to create this assessment. In the mainstream scene, I would agree with you. In the rest of country? Its arguable. Some of the alt country guys bust out some pretty good wordplay, as do some of the other varieties of country.