Searching For A Future Clarity

I like music. I like it very much. I listen to music of my choosing every day. This is not a passive, I like what I hear when I hear it type of music listening. This is a decision to choose music that appeals to me every day.

Several years ago, I had a conversation with an acquaintance about the music I listened to. He could tell, from hearing what I listened to that I was passionate about my choices, and that I listened to music that was important to me. He said that he used to feel the way that he imagined that I felt, and that I would see, one day I would grow out of it. One day it just wouldn't be so important. I couldn't see that day, but I didn't discount the idea that when he felt passionate about music, he wouldn't have been able to see the day that the passion would fade.

The point of this anecdote is that my passion for many things has faded. I don't experiment with music as much as I used to. My money and time has been diverted towards other concerns. I don't read about unfamiliar musicians or groups as much as I used to, I have limited this significantly. I care much, much less about live performance then I used to. I do feel, however, that listening to music is a constant in my life, and that I care for the music in a significant way.

All of this brings me to my point. That I am still able to find bands that I connect with. Not through nostalgia, or desire to fit an image, but through a desire to connect with the art of making music that I can relate to. The band I wanted to share today is Against Me! Their newest CD is pictured here. It is energetic, intelligent, literate, aurally appealing, and passionate. It is not their best, but I do think it is the best to recommend to a new listener, mainly because I think it is the most accessible choice (out of three and a half albums). It is well-produced and I think that anyone that enjoys music created with guitar, bass, drums, and voice should hear it. I think it's important that many, many people hear it. Some other time, I will write about why it's not as good as the others, and why it is a perfect example of the difference between "art" and "Art." But not today.