Music

Last updated on August 3, 2009

I enjoy most types of music. Below are my favorite genres and the artists in those genres.

Check out my Pandora profile to see my stations and recent bookmarked songs and artists.

Alternative

	Ben Harper - benharper.com
	Favorite Song: "Woman in You" Ben Harper is an extremely talented singer/songwriter. I love how his music manages to beautifully mix a bunch of different genres including alternative rock, blues, folk and reggae among others. I'm also a big fan of acoustic music which is also why I enjoy Harper's sound.
	Coldplay - coldplay.com
	Favorite Song: "Lost!" I really enjoy Coldplay's music because they are constantly changing it up and evolving their sound. The lyrics to their songs are also very powerful and many convey emotions and feelings that I can certainly relate to.
	Death Cab for Cutie - deathcabforcutie.com
	Favorite Song: "Brothers On A Hotel Bed" I love this indie rock band for its mellow sounds and powerful lyrics. It's one of those bands where I absolutely love every track of every album. Their 2005 album Plans is definitely my favorite.
	Dispatch - dispatchmusic.com
	Favorite Song: "Headlights" I love this jam band because of their diverse sounds and great lyrics. It's very chill music that's perfect for a weekend barbeque. The band was also formed in New England and near where I grew up.
	Elliot Smith - sweetadeline.net
	Favorite Song: "Between The Bars" I first discovered Elliot Smith after hearing his music all over the soundtrack of one of my all-time favorite movies Good Will Hunting in 1997 (Smith had 6 songs on the soundtrack). Ever since then, he has been one of my favorite artists. I love his mellow sounds and beautiful lyrics. It's a shame that Smith died so young.
	Jack Johnson - jackjohnsonmusic.com
	Favorite Song: "Fortunate Fool" When I think of Jack Johnson I think of hanging out on a hot summer day at the beach. His mellow acoustic sound certainly lends itself to that scene. Johnson was born and raised in Hawaii and his music reflects the laid back mentality which I love.
	John Mayer - johnmayer.com
	Favorite Song: "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" Mayer is an extremely talented singer/songwriter who is another one of those artists where I pretty much enjoy every song that he puts out. His vocals are hard to beat and he combines it with great songwriting.
	Our Lady Peace - ourladypeace.com
	Favorite Song: "All For You" I'm a huge fan of this Canadian based band. Their music is sometimes angry, sometimes mellow but always powerful lyrically. It's a very unique sound that some people love and others just don't get. I happen to be one of those that loves it.
	Radiohead - radiohead.com
	Favorite Song: "Idioteque" Radiohead's mix of alternative and electronic sounds has always been very compelling to me. Their music never disappoints and I love the fact that they are constantly evolving and experimenting with new directions and styles.
	Ray LaMontagne - raylamontagne.com
	Favorite Song: "Shelter" Ray has a unique raspy voice and combines it with great songwriting. I find his songs very moving and it's hard not to hear Ray's personal experience come through in his songs.
	Red House Painters - sunkilmoon.com
	Favorite Song: "Have You Forgotten" I first discovered them from the Vanilla Sky soundrack in 2001 (one of my favorite movies). I really enjoy the depressing and sadness that's in their music. For some reason, it's inspiring to me and it's kind of difficult to articulate why.
	Other Alternative Favorites: The Arcade Fire, Augustana, Badly Drawn Boy, Blue Merle, Candlebox, The Cranberries, Damien Rice, Dido, Eels, Incubus, Josh Rouse, Live, Lifehouse, Modest Mouse, The Notwist, Pearl Jam, Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Renata, The Shins, Sigur Ros, Train, Tantric.

Rock

	3 Doors Down - 3doorsdown.com
	Favorite Song: "It's The Only One You've Got" I've loved their stuff since they broke onto the scene in 2000. It's hard for me to find a song of theirs I don't like. Their most recent self titled album has been my favorite so far.
	Alter Bridge - alterbridge.com
	Favorite Song: "Brand New Start" This is a great band that I have seen a couple of times in concert. It's pretty much Creed with a different lead singer. I'm a huge fan of their sound combined with their powerful lyrics.
	Breaking Benjamin - shallowbay.com
	Favorite Song: "Home" A great Rock/Metal band. I actually only discovered them in 2008 but bought their entire catalogue soon after I started listening to them. Another one of those bands where I'm hard pressed to find a single song I dislike.
	Cold - coldarmy.com
	Favorite Song: "Gone Away (A Song for Starr)" The music these guys put out rocks. The lead vocalist Scooter Ward is has a great voice and the lyrics to their songs are powerful.
	Theory of a Deadman - theoryofadeadman.com
	Favorite Song: "The Last Song" A great rock band that has a very similar sound to some of my other favorite rock groups. Their second album, Gasoline, which was released in 2005, is by far my favorite album.
	Dave Matthews Band - davematthewsband.com
	Favorite Song: "Let You Down" DMB is one of my all-time favorite bands. They have continued to crank out great music for many years. They are one of my top artists in my iTunes library in terms of number of tracks. I especially enjoy their live acoustic stuff.
	David Gray - davidgray.com
	Favorite Song: "This Year's Love" He is probably one of my top five favorite artists and number one on my must see live list. His folk rock sound and great vocals definitely make him stand out from the crowd.
	The Fray - thefray.net
	Favorite Song: "Happiness" Although they have only released two albums, they have quickly become one of my favorite rock bands. Their lyrics and songs are always full of passion.
	Phil Collins
	Favorite Song: "I Wish It Would Rain Down" I don't know how you can't like Phil Collins. Everything from his time with Genesis to his solo career I've enjoyed. Although his last major release was in 2002, he definitely has a lot of music in his catalogue that will never get old.
	Other Rock Favorites: AC/DC, Augustana, Band of Horses, Ben Folds, Bon Jovi, Breaking Benjamin, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Bush, Carolina Liar, Chevelle, Chris Cornell, Creed, Disturbed, The Doors, Drowning Pool, Van Morrison, U2, Melissa Etheridge, Metallica, Natalie Merchant, O.A.R., Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffett, A Perfect Circle, Ra, Revis, Ricky Nelson, Seether, Shinedown, Smile Emtpy Soul, Three Days Grace and Trapt.

Hip Hop/Rap

	Akon - akononline.com
	Favorite Song: "Over the Edge" If I'm in the mood for hip hop but want something a little less angry than I turn to Akon. While many hip hop artists are hit or miss with every other track on their album, Akon's albums are usually filled with quality stuff from top to bottom.
	Lil Jon
	Favorite Song: "What U Gon' Do" Crunk, dirty south or whatever you want to call it is my favorite style of Hip Hop. Lil Jon certainly personifies that style being from the ATL. He is probably my favorite hip hop artist right now.
	T.I. - trapmuzik.com
	Favorite Song: "Live Your Life" T.I. is another southern artist that I really enjoy. His latest album Paper Trail is my favorite album of his so far. I really look forward to seeing what he comes up with.
	Timbaland - timbalandmusic.com
	Favorite Song: "Apologize" I've been a huge fan of Timbaland as a producer for a while. He's put together some great albums for a bunch of different artists across a variety of genres. His Shock Value album didn't disappoint and featured the great beats that Timbaland is known for.
	Young Jeezy - defjam.com
	Favorite Song: "I Luv It" Young Jeezy is another one of my favorite hip hop artist that is from Atlanta. His 2006 album The Inspiration is my favorite. He also seems to always make good decisions on the artists he features on his albums.
	Other Hip Hop/Rap Favorites: 2Pac, Anthony Hamilton, B.G., Big Boi, Dr. Dre, Fabolous, Jay-Z , Kanye West, Lil' Flip, Lupe Fiasco, Petey Pablo, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Three 6 Mafia, Warren G and Wyclef Jean.

Soundtrack (Film Scores)

	A Beautiful Mind
	Composer: James Horner Horner is one of the most prolific film composers out there. His 16 track effort on this soundtrack was pure genius. The way he was able to create music that so closely reflected the beautiful yet chaotic mind of John Nash was amazing. You won't find too many soundtracks out there where the score so perfectly matches the character and their arc in the movie.
	Braveheart
	Composer: James Horner Another great score by Horner along with the London Symphony Orchestra. It is a great soundtrack top to bottom. I don't think their is anyone else in the business that can capture the emotion and mood of a scene like Horner can.
	Cinderella Man
	Composer: Thomas Newman The short but great song "Inside Out" from this soundtrack is in my top 10 film tracks of all-time. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it so perfeclty matched the scene from Cinderella Man. I definitely think that this film is severely under appreciated. It is one of my all-time favorites but I do admit that am a sucker for "rising against the odds/overcoming adversity" movies.
	Dances with Wolves
	Composer: John Barry Barry has scored some great movies over the years but the work he did for Dances with Wolves is bar far my favorite. "The John Dunbar Theme" song from this soundtrack is one of my favorites and has a ridiculous high play count in my iTunes library.
	Field of Dreams
	Composer: James Horner Field of Dreams is one of my top three movies of all-time so I probably would have loved the soundtrack to this film regardless of its merit. However, once again Horner delivers some amazing work. Out of all Horner's scores throughout the years, this is my favorite.
	Into the Wild
	Composer: Eddie Vedder Into the Wild doesn't really fit in here as a film score but the music was written and produced by Vedder specifically for this movie. The lyrics of all of the songs are perfect compliments to the story of Christopher McCandless.
	Legends of the Fall
	Composer: James Horner A great 1994 film that includes another great Horner score. The first track of the soundtrack entitled "Legends of the Fall" is a tremendously inspiring song. Like Horner did with Braveheart and some of his other movies, he partnered up with London Symphony Orchestra for this movie.
	Rudy
	Composer: Jerry Goldsmith Perhaps my favorite score of all-time. It's a toss up for me between Rudy, Field of Dreams and Shawshack Redemption. It's hard for me to separate out my love for this film from love for the score but I think Goldsmith's work on this film definitely has the legs to stand alone. His music perfectly matches the ups and downs and eventually triumph that Rudy Ruettiger goes through in the movie.
	Shawshank Redemption
	Composer: Thomas Newman As I mentioned above, Shawshank Redemption is in my top three for all-time favorite movie scores along with Rudy and Field of Dreams. I'm a huge fan of Thomas Newman and love his work on Cinderella Man, Meet Joe Black, Road to Perdition and others.
	Other Soundtrack Favorites: The Perfect Storm, Seabiscuit, Saving Private Ryan, Million Dollar Baby, Lonesome Dove, Last of the Mohicans, I Am Legend, Gladiator, Friday Night Lights, Dying Young and Road to Perdition.

Pop/Jazz/Vocalist

	Frank Sinatra - sinatra.com
	Favorite Song: "I Have Dreamed" Sinatra is one of my all-time favorite artists. His music is truly timeless. I have about 200 songs of his in my iTunes library which is probably more than I have for any other artists.
	Sarah McLachlan - sarahmclachlan.com
	Favorite Song: "Witness" She has one of the better voices of any female artist out there today. Her music is filled with emotion and combined with beautiful lyrics. Her 1997 album Surfacing is my favorite with her 2003 Afterglow coming in for a close second.
	Tony Bennett - tonybennett.net
	Favorite Song: "Someday" Another timeless artist like Sinatra whose music will be loved for decades to come. You also can't beat the combo of Sinatra and Bennett for the Christmas tunes during the holidays.
	Tracy Chapman - tracychapman.com
	Favorite Song: "For My Lover" She is an extremely talented singer/songwriter. I've always really enjoyed her music because of the lyrics and Chapman's ability to so powerfully convey the emotion in her songs.