Music Central Hall Of Fame
I got Viva Voce’s debut album, Hooray For Now, in 1998. Ten years later, I still enjoy it thoroughly. Though their subsequent three albums have never done for me what their debut has, there’s still something magical about their sound that makes them worthy of the honor of being in Music Central’s Hall Of Fame.
I have established this Music Central Hall Of Fame to recognize some of my favorite musicians of all time. To be eligible, I must have at least two albums from the artist. Then, these must be artists whose music I listen to year after year. Because they have made music I never get tired of, I want to give them special recognition in J Lee’s Music Central HALL OF FAME!!!
Miss Angie only made two albums and then vanished for ten years, but I never stopped listening to her music. Now she’s back! Her personality shines through every song, and many of her songs have intimate vertically-focused lyrics.
Bon Voyage is a side project of Starflyer 59, where Jason Martin has his wife Julie Martin, pictured above, do the vocals. The first album is ten years old and I still get goosebumps every time I hear it. The second album can soothe my soul like no other album. The third album has a very different sound but, like the first two, is sheer perfection.
Aleixa was an awesome Christian industrial band. Like Miss Angie, they only made two albums then disappeared, but their fans sorely miss them. Their debut CD, Honey Lake, was my #1 album of 1997 and I’m still mesmerized by it more than ten years later. They are clearly worthy of making Music Central’s Hall Of Fame.
Broomtree made three albums and every one of them made my top three in my annual music awards. Vibrant music, great lyrics...how I wish they would have stayed together. But even though they’ve moved on to new horizons, their albums continue to give me much pleasure.
Cocteau Twins made eight original full-length albums, ten EPs, plus released recordings on compilations, BBC sessions, etc. I’ve never heard a Cocteau Twins song I didn’t like. Quite the opposite--they never failed to make absolutely flawless music. Many other bands I like display a heritage in their music from the Cocteau Twins. No one makes more beautiful music than this group.
Andy Hunter is an electronic dance music DJ who makes fabulous music that gets me on my feet dancing. What makes his perfect dance music even better is that the lyrics are vertically focused. I have all five of his original albums/EPs plus a remix album and 12”.
Vanessa Mae is one hot violinist. She can play up a storm, bringing more energy to the violin than anyone else I’ve ever heard (although the string quartet Bond comes a close second). I created my first web page back in the 1990s to highlight this musician. I hope to post an updated version of it here soon.
Where was Bond when I was a teenager? I played cello back then, and just might have kept on playing if I knew a string quartet could make music this energetic.
This group made two original albums and a remix album under the name Paradoxx, and have also done a side project of a different style of music under the name Templar. Both original Paradoxx albums were in my top 10 in my annual music awards, and both find their way to my CD player frequently.
Morella’s Forest is one of my favorite groups to listen to in the summer, with their peaceful, carefree sound. I have all four of their albums and all have given me hours of pleasurable listening.
Sarah Masen’s music is different from anyone else’s in this list, being that it’s mostly acoustic. I have three of her albums and listen to them every year in autumn. Her peaceful sounds accompany a peaceful season.
Shonen Knife is the only group who I bought 8 albums from in a single year! There’s no one like Shonen Knife, with their quirky lyrics and tons of fun, fun, fun pop punk!
I have all four of the original studio Michelle Tumes albums, and every one of them is beautiful. She makes smooth, dreamy pop sometimes reminiscent of Enya. Read more about why she’s in my Hall Of Fame.
Music Central is a sub-website of J Lee Harshbarger’s personal website. To visit other sub-websites, click the links below.
Web pages in this section:
More Places To Find Me On The Web
I haven’t written about music at these places, but here are some more web communities where you can find me.
A place for travelers to review hotels, restaurants, and sightseeing attractions. I plan to add my own reviews as I have time.
Currently where I’m most active, since many members of my extended family, my friends from church, and some old college classmates are all on here.
A community for alumni of Anderson University. Includes reminiscing of college days and current discussions.
There’s not much to see here; this is just where I’ve posted my profile at Yahoo.com.
Name: J Lee Harshbarger
Age: 53
Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan
Favorite Types of Music:
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Dance, particularly melodic vocal trance and other electronic styles, such as Eurobeat, dubstep, techno, and synthpop -
Floating, fuzzed-out guitar alternative rock and shoegazer
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Pop punk
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Chill
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Industrial
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Gothic & darkwave
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World Beat, particularly with Middle Eastern and Indian sounds
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Rap
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Indie pop / Dream pop
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Reggaeton (not reggae)
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Modern rock if it’s interesting (too much of it is boring)
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Classical, particularly baroque
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Classical crossover
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Experimental
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Psychedelia
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Funk / r&b
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Zydeco
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...and more
Musicians I never get tired of:
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Bon Voyage
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Paradoxx
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Aleixa
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Broomtree
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Morella’s Forest
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Miss Angie
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Andy Hunter
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Michelle Tumes
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Viva Voce
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Cocteau Twins
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Regenerator
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Sarah Masen
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Shonen Knife
Musicians I’ve been listening to most in 2014:
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Audile
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Bananarama
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Beckah Shae
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Capital Kings
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David Thulin
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DJ Jireh
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Andy Hunter
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Rengerator
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Miss Angie
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Joanna Beasley
My DJ Experience
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Rick Juler Systems, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1989 & 1991: Live DJing at various locations, including dance clubs, a roller skating rink, a waterpark, and special events.
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United Skates Of America, Springfield, Ohio, 1979 & 1989.
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Various college and school dances
J Lee’s Annual Music Awards
Every year I list my favorite albums of that year, ranked in order. See what I think are the greatest albums of each year!
(Sorry, 2000-2006 were published on my blog, which was killed by Apple. I will put them up with my website rebuild, which will probably be done in 2015.)
Greatest Christian Albums Of The 1980s Lists
J Lee’s Soapbox is my “official” blog, where I post my latest thoughts on various topics. This includes my current thoughts on music.
I started a blog on Blogger to be specifically about music. I haven’t been active on it yet (only a few entries), but maybe someday...
Web Communities
At the web communities below, I have written about music. If you are a part of any of these communities, please let me know.
My Twitter ID is “songsequencer.” I only tweet about music, mostly what I’m listening to at the moment.
I have written reviews for over 100 CDs and books at Amazon. You can find these plus my Listmania lists and Wish Lists at this page.
I don’t writ
e any blog material on this site, but I have added some musicians and music-oriented Groups to my list of Friends.
A place for customer reviews of all kinds of products. I have some reviews of stereo equipment here.
This has been my major blogging community since October 2004. Most of my online-only friends are here.
Web pages in this section:
This page was first posted in 2008 and last modified on March 30, 2014
