Speak's Part I on Music

I'm the type of person who usually hears music -- the notes, harmonies, melodies -- before the words. Other people tend to pick out the lyrics before really hearing the music. What do you do?

I decided that this week's podcast should be devoted to music. Originally, I'd planned on a topic about music groups because of the Punch Brothers visiting Austin on Sunday (and we're going!). But it turned into more of a discussion on why we like the music that we like. And, aside from liking certain genres, I wondered how has that influenced our lives? You'll hear from my friend, Todd, who is an author, college professor, music lover, and really rad dude. I also talked with British composer Tarik O'Regan, who has a new CD out called Threshold of Night. The term "cultural plurality" really stuck out to me during our conversation because his influences came from so many places, and you'd never guess (judging by his work [music for voices and strings]) that classic rock or 80's music went into this collection.