Tuesday, August 16, 2011

my favorite names

(in recent memory - subject to change):

Nico Muhly

Coincidence that he's also one of my favorite musicians/composers? Probably not.

Which leads me to a rather perplexing and consistent occurrence: Why do all the incredible musicians have absolutely eye(ear)-catching names?

Case in point:
-Kate Bush
-Fiona Apple
-Jeremy Enigk
-Johann Johannson
-Frederic Chopin
-Christian Fennesz
-Olivia Lufkin
-Brian Eno
-Philip Glass
-Steve Swallow
-Carla Bley
-Scoutt Niblett
-Maurice Ravel
-Philip Larkin (ok, poet - no need to nitpick)
-Jozef van Wissem
-Meredith Monk
-Modest Mussorgsky
-Randy Greif
-more I can't think of at the moment

Ok, so most of these people A) are foreign, B) have been dead for several centuries, or C) have pseudonyms. But still. I sometimes wonder if they just woke up one day and -- feeling the crushing weight of their designated monikers-- said to themselves, "I must live up to my name!"

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