Who and what brought me to the music, 2009

[koganbot]

Over on his own Pazz & Jop ballot, Josh Langhoff recommends that we list the "gatekeepers" who introduced us to our favorite music. Someone named "Chuck Eddy" recurs on his list. In any event, here's my P&J ballot again, this time with the added info of who or what first led me to the music. (I don't think "gatekeeper" is the right term, really.)

Singles 2009

1. Shystie ft. DJ Deekline "New Style" - Kat Stevens on poptimists
2. The Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" - Lex Macpherson on his lj
3. Love And Theft "Runaway" - Chuck Eddy on the ilX Rolling Country 2009 thread
4. MC Lars ft. Brett Anderson & Gabe Saporta "Hey There Ophelia" - Moggy on her lj
5. Timberlee ft. Tosh "Heels" - Lex on his lj
6. The Lonely Island "I'm On A Boat" - Dave Moore, either on his Cure For Bedbugs blog or his Tumblr or his lj or by email
7. Das Racist "Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell (Wallpaper Remix)" - Kat Stevens, either on her lj or on poptimists
8. Rich Boy "Drop" - MySpace music front page (and my previous fandom of artist, whom I'd first heard back in '05 on Denver's reggaeton station when it was playing the shit out of the remix of "Get To Poppin'" featuring Pitbull)
9. Girls Aloud "Untouchable" - ?? I think it was through the Singles Jukebox
10. Röyksopp ft. Robyn "The Girl And The Robot" - Dave Moore by email, but I didn't start liking the song until it came up for review on the Jukebox and I revisited it

Albums 2009

1. Taylor Swift Fearless - My own vast insane fandom brought me to this one, with the help of Big Machine Records and various radio stations and other outlets (first heard Taylor on the radio in summer '06 but it was Jimmy Draper who insisted later in the year that I listen to her first album)
2. The-Dream Love Vs. Money - I think it was Lex who was talking this up first, but it might have been Dave. My interest already existed because of "Ditch That" (recommended by Luc Sante) and "Umbrella"
3. Ashley Monroe Satisfied - A Columbia publicist sent me the promo back in early 2006, probably at the instigation of Chuck Eddy, who was still music editor at the Voice (alb was shelved, finally released on iTunes this year)
4. Rihanna Rated R - The world at large
5. Scooter Under the Radar Over the Top (The Dark Side Edition) - Chuck Eddy, on my own lj (but I'd gotten him interested in Scooter in the first place, and I think it was Jeff Worrell who'd gotten me interested in Scooter)
6. Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You - The world, again, with special input from Erika Villani; but it was Mitya who first talked up Lily to me in March '06 on Rolling Teenpop, with enthusiastic support from David Orton and William Bloody Swygart; Mitya'd heard about her from Popjustice
7. Martina McBride Shine - The Ross-Broadway branch of the Denver Public Library (but it was Chuck Eddy who got me interested in McBride back in '99 or so)
8. Electrik Red How To Be A Lady: Volume 1 - This must have been Lex, again, on lj, with Dave right on his heels
9. K'naan Troubadour - Heard "ABC's" by accident when the record company was promoting it as its single of the week on its YouTube site which I was visiting for some other artist's track; finally got back to the album because Chuck and Xgau had praised it
10. Brad Paisley American Saturday Night - Chuck Eddy on ilX's Rolling Country 2009 thread

Comments

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, I love this thread!

Anyway, here is my (incorrectly named) gatekeeper list for this year:

Benny – Amigo Charly Brown: Die Hits Von Gestern Und Auch Heut (Found out about Benny on a bunch of used German K-Tel-style '70s and '80s compilations that Metal Mike Saunders mailed me about a year ago. Once I noticed I loved all the songs by him on those, I googled him, and found out this album was on Rhapsody.)
Scooter – Under The Radar Over The Top – The Dark Side Edition (Right, Frank got me interested in them last year -- I edited a piece at the Voice several years ago where Barry Walters had talked about them, but for some reason that didn't spur my interest; maybe the time wasn't right. Anyway, toward the end of 2009 I somehow wound up on their Rhapsody page, noticed they had a new album - in two different versions - and listened to it.)
Collin Raye – Never Going Back (Time Life) (Got this in the mail as a promo, and it pretty much blew me away on the spot; had never given him any thought before.)
Uz Jsme Doma – Cod-Liver Oil (I have a few of their early CDs -- Don Allred had written about them in the Voice in the early '00s, I think, so either I found out about them through him or I alreay knew about them from promos, I'm not sure which. This year, Spin asked for some pitches for their 100 Best Bands Of The Past 30 Years You Never Heard Of Issue, and I pitched Uz Jsme Doma among many other bands, and they went for it. In researching my blurb for the issue, I'd noticed they'd put out a new album in the past couple years, which I also noticed was selling for cheap on Amazon, so I ordered a copy.)
Jono El Grande – Neo Dada (Got an email from Forced Exposure which listed this CD, and it sounded interesting, so I asked for one.)
Lady GaGa – The Fame Monster (Deluxe Edition)(First heard her while doing a column on new Billboard chart entries called "Next Little Things" for Idolator in 2008; didn't like what I heard at the time. But the car radio, assisted by several emails from Metal Mike Saunders, convinced me I'd been missing something, which I had.)
K’Naan – Troubador (Had received, and kind of liked, a promo CD of his previous album a year or two back, so I was ready for this one when it came in the mail.)
Death – …For The Whole World To See (Read about them on an ILM reissue thread -- Andy Beta, I think, had suggested I'd like them. Asked Drag City for a copy of the CD, which they sent me.)
Kid Sister – Ultraviolet (Read about her "Pro Nails" single somewhere back in mid '08 I guess, probably in an article about jerking music or Chicago hipster rap; checked it out on youtube; got an earlier version of this album in the mail later that year; got this one this year.)
Brad Paisley – American Saturday Night (A couple people -- Anthony Easton was one -- had asked me what I thought of this album, on the Singles Jukebox and ILM Rolling Country, before I heard it. Was kind of meh about the prospect, since I've never been a particularly huge fan of the guy. Eventually asked the label for a copy, but I'm not sure what the final catalyst was.)