He Is We is Fine with Me

He is We is Rachel Taylor and Trevor Kelly of Tacoma, Washington. Their song, Happily Ever After, jumped out at me on SiriusXM's The Pulse, newly relocated at the number 10 spot on both Sirius and XM.

It's just another reason to listen to today's music. Rachel is the wordsmith while Trevor puts it to music.

Which brings up the question for a baby boomer of a certain age. Would I rather listen to oldies and remember the energy and excitement of youth or experience that feeling listening to today's new music? I'm finding it's more and more the latter. I end up happy (to quote from the song).

Music from This Century

I think it's important to stay abreast of the music scene--or at least have some familiarity with it--to avoid terminal old fogeydom. As delightful as a stroll down 1960's memory lane can be, at some point one has to escape from the museum and live today.

So--I spent some quality ear time on The Pulse--SiriusXM bills it as "The 2000's and Today." That seems about right. It doesn't play hip hop or anthing too intense but you do get a nice sampling of today's artists. On The Pulse, an "oldie" is from 2002.

Appealing songs by female singers included Michelle Branch's Are You Happy Now, Sara Bareilles' Uncharted, and Pink's F'n Perfect.

Groups of guys entertained me: Switchfoot's Your Love is a Song, The Fray's Syndicate, Maroon 5's Misery and the amusingly named Fitz and the Tantrums, with MoneyGrabber--which sounded like an old Hall and Oates song.

After my sampling, I think the retro period of choice now has become the 1980's. For pure '80's, you can visit Channel 8 on Sirius or XM, of course, too.

Uncharted is my top pick, and I got a nice "Cold Play" feeling from the Switchfoot song, but I liked them all. Makes me feel young.

Christina Perri--Jar of Hearts

I was listening to the oldies channel on Sirius today and got bored so I switched over to The Pulse--"Two Thousands and Today." I listened to a few fine tracks by recent artists and then Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts came on. What a song! Despite its mood, it has a freshness that's at once familiar but also new--certainly to me.

It turns out that 23-year-old Christina is just getting started. Jar of Hearts, a beautiful but bitter song about her ex-husband, is her first "hit."

I think I'll leave it on The Pulse for a while longer--maybe catch some more exciting new artists like Christina.