Jennie's favorite Music
So I'm the type of person who gets stuck in a rut, and this is extremely evident in my music-listening. Basically, I like folk/rock, and much of the random pop that one hears on the radio, and occasionally even classical.
Liz Phair
Liz Phair is probably my all-time favorite artist. Briefly, I think she is one of the most amazing singer/songwriters I've ever had the privlege to listen to. Her songs are blunt, emotional, and truthful. I love her voice--I love that it's rough, that it's not perfect, that she sings like she means it, not like she's just trying to hit the right notes, but that it's really coming from her. I even love her live--I find her self-consciousness, her flirtatious nervousness, extremely endearing, and I just love listening to her live interpretations of her songs. The best concert I've ever been to was hers at Wellesley my junior year--I went with all of my friends, and had my uncle and aunt come down for it--it was he who introduced me to her originally, and he was so excited to actually see her in person. It was just a really great show--I think she was excited to be at Wellesley, and we were so close, and it was just great.
Ani DiFranco
Ani is yet another of my favorite musicians. I've seen her several times in concert and she is even more impressive live than on her albums, which is saying a lot. Her music is just amazing--it's expressive, emotional, varied, incredibly original--really great. I highly recommend catching her in concert if you can, and if not, get an album (though I'd recommend an older one, like Imperfectly.) Her more recent albums haven't been among my most favorite, but I still love seeing her in concert, and do whenever I can--and find that after seeing her in concert, I like her more recent albums more than I thought I did.
Dar Williams
Dar is just the bomb. She's more folky than Liz or Ani, but just as original and emotional. She also played at Wellesley, my sophomore year, and it was a truly great concert. She's really nice to her fans, and we were able to speak with her after the concert. And the coolest thing was that her babysitter, from the song "The Babysitter's Here", apparently went to Wellesley and was at the concert, which was very cool. Her music is great--funny, touching, strong, just wonderful stuff. Her new album, the Beauty of the Rain, is good, but my favorite of her albums is probably still Mortal City, her second album.
Indigo Girls
I also love the Indigo Girls. I first railed against them: my sister liked them a lot when I was in high school, so I refused to listen to them. Going to Wellesley, however, I was totally barraged with them, and ended up loving them. They just sing so well together, and have so many great songs. My favorite songs are probably "Ghost", "Virginia Woolf", "Shame on You", and various others--I like their covers, too, like "Bury my Heart". I've seen them more than I've seen anyone else, and all their concerts have been great. The best, however, was, of course, at Wellesley--they played there my senior year for Spring Weekend, and it was an amazing concert. Because of their popularity, it was strictly limited to Wellesley students, and it was packed. It was a really incredible show--everyone there knew every lyric, and the Girls kept commenting on how it was one of the best audiences to which they had ever played. Lindsay actually got to go up on stage and sing "Least Complicated" with them, of which I was really jealous, but also happy for her--she had always wanted to go up on stage with them. Overall, it was just an incredible concert, and just reaffirmed my love for them. I've seen them several times since graduation, and have loved them every time--but that was the best.
So those are probably my favorite musicians right now, but I also listen to a lot of other artists. Some others I really enjoy are Catie Curtis, Melissa Ferrick, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Paul and Mary, Solas, Cry Cry Cry, Mary Chapin Carpenter, REM, Jess Klein, and Kris Delmhorst.
I'm also generally really into cheezy pop music. My all-time favorites are *NSYNC and Spice Girls. I was able to see both in concert, and they were both incredible. Total show productions--really fun. I love Sporty and Justin. My favorite *NSYNC song is probably "Bye, Bye, Bye" and my favorite Spice Girls is probably "Naked" I also just generally like any poppy songs. I listen to Fly 92 all the time--the radio station to which I was too cool to listen in HS, I've now reverted. It's great fun, really.