My favorite music, running on decades now, has been instrumental music — electric guitar by Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc., — or at least vocal music in non-English like hippy hare krishna music by Rasa, or new age music by Kevin Wood. I’d prefer to listen to the music without being distracted by the words. However, I have an eMusic subscription and decided to check out the alternative world, with real live English lyrics.
A lot of it sucks; some of it doesn’t. My favorite musician now is Andrew Bird; “Armchair Apocrypha” is beautiful. “Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs” is worth your time. I like Arcade Fire; “Funeral” is a very hummable album. “Neon Bible” has a few I like (like “Keep the Car Running”), but “Funeral” is better. Okkervil River (”The Stage Names”) took a few minutes to get used to, but the songs stick in your craw.