Or at least TV shows and bands and musicans I like.
Battlestar Galactica (SciFi Fridays at 10pm)
When you walk away from a SciFi show with thoughts on why the people who fear technology have a mystical religion, while the robots with AI have a One True God, you know that the show is more than ‘just’ a SciFi show. Unlike *ahem* Star Trek, BSG5 is a drama that happens to be in space. They tell a tale of humanity that any show set in today could do. It’s political, religious, sexy, controversial, and insane. The characters have flaws, neuroses and angst, and rarely is it overplayed.
Veronica Mars (UPN Tuesdays at 9pm)
So it’s a show about a girl who’s a PI and has to solve the mystery of her best friend’s death and her own rape. Nancy Drew this is not. If you’re still not watching, go find a friend who has a tape and watch this shit. Also, go to SaveVeronicaMars.com and help out. Send in a letter (a real letter, not an email) and save this show! Veronica Mars has a crazy cool theme song done by the Dandy Warhols, called ‘We Used to be Friends’ that I went ape over.
The Dandy Warhols
I already liked them from their stint on Buffy, but now I’m obsessive over them. I spent most of December listening to their album, Welcome to the Monkey House and be-bopping down the street.
Joss Stone
January was Joss Stone. She of the ‘Fucking hell! No way she’s really 16! Shit she is!’ Two albums, but I love them to death. She did a kick ass song with Melissa Etheridge at the Grammys, which you can buy (and give money to Breast Cancer Research) on iTunes.
Johnny Lang
Speaking of prodigies, I saw this kid at the House of Blues in the late 90s and I was blown away by how well a kid felt the blues. Four albums from him, and he’s managed to not become an Eddie Furlong. I picked up his discography and spent February listening to him.
Green Day
I’ve spent March with American Idiot and even recorded myself playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” on GarageBand for my love. Holy fuck. The last rock album that screwed with my head (in such a good way) was when I heard Queen’s A Night at the Opera and met the glory that rock could be in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” American Idiot is a ‘rock opera’ by which I mean the songs, in order, tell a story. My only wish was that the album was 6 minutes shorter … or my commute to work was six minutes longer. So I could hear all the songs, every day, both ways to and from work.