HaaaRoooowwwOOOOoooooohhhhh!!!

Hey! It's ol' Howlin' Wolf Tal here, tunin' up the axe, rockin' with the sounds of 42 FM

This is h2g2 Radio. until the techies get us wired for sound, y'all just have to imagine the music!

But until then, we can rap. Trade tall tales. Crack a few jokes, and philosophise 'bout stuff

This ol' blues boy enjoys rappin' on music. I dig them Blues, (natch!), but I'm into all kinds of music, 'cept maybe most of that stuff called 'pop' and I dislike hateful, negative vibes stuff... and I have to admit I'm not terribly fond of bagpipes!!!

So I've been pickin' and strummin' for a while now, and I started wonderin' about how certain sounds seem to elicit different moods and feelings:: happy sad really sad angry cheerful and even romantic

Some say that music is the food of love!

So, would that be the , or the --

And most people seem to recognise a sour note

But why do tunes played in minor keys generally sound sad?

For example, 'St. James Infirmary' is a downer, even without the lyrics..

Where 'Midnight Special' just sounds sort of wry..

So here's a question for all you researchers out there. At least those of you who have tuned in...

Think of a song that always makes you feel a certain way. Is it because of the lyrics? The melody? Or is it a 'special' song for some nostalgic reason?

It doesn't even have to be a song that you like, I guess. But since we all have certain tunes and performers on our personal musical blacklists, it would be more interesting to find out what songs/genres you do like, and just why you like 'em.


And we want to keep the rants down to a minimum, unless you're feeling particularly incensed about some song or performer

So if you know of any songs in minor keys that don't sound sad, please share...


I'm also interested in the feelings and moods evoked by non-western music, in both 'native' and non-native listeners

One of my favourite non-blues cds is, 'Heat of The Sun', featuring two of the world's finest guitarists, Jorge Strunz from Costa Rica, and Ardeshir Farah from Iran. The tunes on this album help me feel positive, calm, and cheerful.


Their music is difficult to pigeonhole into any particular genre, and has been called, 'global' or 'international'

It's darn good, even if I can't quite make out the background vocals on the final track, 'Terremoto'