Music For Redecorating

Note: This post got away from me in the writing. The management apologizes for any inconvenience.

These songs are moving into my head and measuring the walls for furniture.

Jonathan Coulton. Have you heard of Jonathan Coulton? I tend to assume that any audience containing n unknown readers is n-150 degrees cooler than me (Kelvin), so I feel extra self-conscious when I dare to explain about something that OMG you so knew about since last Easter, when it was broadcast from blimps over 80 cities simultaneously, where was I? For real?

But I'm going try to explain about Jonathan Coulton anyway. See, he's um... this guy who knows some other people... who are sort of obscurely famous? The McSweeney's crowd? John Hodgman? You know him? The PC guy in the PC vs. Mac commercials, who is more enjoyable to watch than the hipster Mac guy who I have the unreasonable fear that you are?

Forget it. Just read Jonathan Coulton's Wikipedia entry. Now, cool and uncool, we're moving at the same speed. Maybe? Sure. Let's say we are.

Okay, these songs. I've been listening to them for most of a week, and I'm a little disturbed by them, right? Because they're not always gentle in content? But they sound very nice.

By now I've watched interviews with this guy, and read up on him, and he seems like a nice guy. But he writes some sad, sometimes uncomfortable* -- yet very listenable and fun -- songs. After listening for a few days, pieces of my conscious and subconscious started introducing themselves, and they're sort of hitting it off.

A nice thing is that most-to-all of his songs are free, and released under Creative Commons, so if you want to screw with them, then rock that particular microphone, friend.

Here is the web site where you can hear and purchase his music: www.jonathancoulton.com/songs

The best ones in my expert opinion are Code Monkey and Re Your Brain. Many people also seem to like Skullcrusher Mountain. I can't say as I blame them.


*In the Info section for Soft Rocked By Me, he starts by saying, "I find this one a bit unsettling."