Musical Influences – Part 5 – Library A/V Discoveries

This is part of a series of blog posts written to share songs, bands and musical experiences that have shaped me as a musician and artist.

It seems like during my childhood, I was at the library at least once a month.  It was at the library that I would browse through the cassette tape racks and CD shelves looking for new music to discover.  I even would look through the records (vinyl).  I came across music that I immediately thought “not for me.”  But in the process, I discovered some of the most interesting and brilliant artists.  I’d like to highlight 2 of the best discoveries I made at the library.  Besides the following bands, I also discovered many interesting soundtracks, sound and special effects CDs and some other oddities.

They Might Be Giants

I must have been pretty young but my introduction to They Might Be Giants was on MTV or VH1 (can’t remember) when I saw their music video “Don’t Let’s Start”.  It was a catchy tune but didn’t grab me at first.  Not long after that, my brother’s friend was somewhat of a fan of this group and through his encouragement, I checked out 2 of their albums from our library on cassette – Lincoln and Flood.  This became a favorite of my siblings and I and we would then check these cassettes out over and over.  I was a big fan and followed them all the way through High School,  purchasing a few of their albums (on CD, by then!) and seeing them in concert.  Though they are unconventional, I still maintain they are brilliant in their artistry.  TMBG (real fans call them that!) is made up of 2 guys both named John.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvOVMxOTwqw]

Moxy Fruvous

Moxy Fruvous was a complete random grab off the cassette shelf.  The album was “Bargainville” and I immediately was a fan.  Moxy Fruvous was four culturally aware, mulit-musically talented Canadiens.  The unconventional band combined intelligent lyrics with heavy vocals set in rock/folk styles.  I would go on to purchase a few of their albums and see the in concert twice – they were awesome live.  They have so many good songs but below is one of my favorites.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/KoiY-ottNPs]