The Weaver Family

I didn’t get to go to the 2009 South by Southwest Music and Film Festival.  But thanks to the organizers and the musicians who publicly posted on the SXSW website, you can get a taste of what the music that was there.

Someone took all those music files and put together three torrent files containing 6 GB worth of free music.  I’m not endorsing all the musicians or music.  Some of it I think is just plain junk.  But there are some real gems to be had within that 6 GB worth of music.  I leave it up to you to decide what’s junk and what isn’t.  Everyone has their own taste in music.  Myself, I have an eclectic taste in music.  I like a bit of just about everything.

The torrent files are:

2009 SXSW Showcasing Artist Part 1

2009 SXSW Showcasing Artist Part 2

2009 SXSW Showcasing Artist Part 3

To tell the truth I’m still going through the music.  It’s an extensive collection.  iTunes puts it at over 3 days worth of music.  And frankly I can’t listen to music end on end like that.  But even the songs that I listened to and didn’t like and, hence, deleted, the quality of the recording was good.  So if you’re into the independent music scene, this music deserves at least a scan.

If you want to check out the previous years’ offerings, this website has music torrents for 2005 through 2008.

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I will readily admit that I am 35 and a parent.  But has anyone recognized that new music has taken a turn for the creative worse?

Modern music has for the most part come from the roots of Jazz and Rhythm & Blues.  This includes rock, country, gospel, Christian contemporary (all forms) pop, and rap.

When I was growing up my parents listen to a lot of religious music and few secular songs.  I wasn’t so limited.  There was a separation of musical styles and it’s intended audience.  For the most part, R&B and country were focused on the blue collar worker and his problems.  Rap represented the inner city and a cutting edge musical style.  Rock-n-roll represented the angst and problems of the teenage and 20-somethings (for the most part).  Pop was pop and was mainly sugar coated music aimed at anyone who would listen.

The artist all had a message they wanted to get across, either explaining situations or trying to make a difference.   You didn’t always agree with the message, but at least they were expressing themselves about something that meant something to them.

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