I visited my buddy and former shipmate Matt this week. When Matt first met me, I had terrible taste in music. Hair bands and the like. Matt turned me on to the world of music not available on those shitty AOR (album-oriented rock) stations I’d been listening to up to that time.

After seeing him for the first time in years, the topic of music naturally came up. Matt bemoaned the fact that he’d not seen many good bands in his new home of Palm Desert. At this point in the conversation, I wanted to mention some of the good music I’d heard lately. The funny thing is, though, I didn’t have much to say. It’s been months since I heard a band that really thrilled me.

Part of the reason for that is that most radio stations in this area are run by the the devil. The other issue is that most music is produced by the devil. Both devils have done nearly everything they can to piss me off and make me never want to be their customer again.

So what’s the alternative? There are still some local stations which care about music. Then there are some great college radio stations here. I’m still considering a subscription to Music Choice, if I can get it without putting money into Time-Warner‘s pockets.

As for what the record industry calls “product,” and I call “compact discs,” there is some hope. I found a search engine today which can tell you if the CD you’re thinking of buying is part of the evil empire which is trying to oppress you, or if it is from a customer-friendly independent label.

Give a visit to the RIAA Radar page. And, please: support independent labels whenever you can. Together, we can make music fun again.