About
Franky B Rockafeller (Site Owner, Founder)
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Growing up in Edinburgh, Scotland (now living in York, PA) on my parents extensive vinyl collection, I’d spend countless hours studying every aspect of their collection, from the harmonies on “Eight Days A Week” (my Dad’s favourite song by The Beatles), to the guitar solos on Electric Ladyland.
I remember the joy and awe-struck-look on my face when they played Homework by Daft Punk for me and my first listen of Screamadelica by Primal Scream. Their record collection shaped my musical horizon and me as a person.
So now the internet has given me the opportunity to not only find awe-inspiring music just like I did sitting on the carpet back home, but share it with everyone else. If you’d indulge me for the rest of my life I’d like to share with you the music that now touches me, new and old, and if you’d indulge me even further I’d love it if you’d join in and participate, either by commenting on the posts, recommending new music, or reviewing an album.
We’re also regularly hiring new writers.
Randomly Listed Favourite Artists Of Ever:
- Joy Division, The Beatles, A Tribe Called Quest, Oasis, Burial, Bob Dylan, Cat Power, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, Beyonce (#realtalk), The Smiths, Muddy Waters, Beach House, The White Stripes, How To Dress Well, Talking Heads, James Blake, Kris Kross, Death From Above 1979, P.O.S., Otis Redding, Jeff Buckley, Frightened Rabbit, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Wu Tang Clan, Fleetwood Mac, Lead Belly, Sharon Van Etten.
David (Artist Discovery Editor)
From the moment he bought his first album – the seminal Spice – David’s music taste has been on a relentless upwards trajectory. Arguably that was inevitable, given the starting point. Albums that he’s less ashamed of admitting to love range from My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless to Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain; from Paul Simon’s Graceland to Peaches’ The Teaches Of Peaches.
He regards the guitar riff in the chorus of Pavement’s “Grounded” as the finest moment yet in rock, although Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” is also quite good. He has a twenty-five minute talk on how Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” is (unironically) the best song in a decade, which is well worth not listening to.
When he’s not writing about other people’s music, he also has a bash at writing and recording his own. One day, he hopes to be known as the “white Timbaland”, and relentlessly steals riffs from obscure Finnish chip-tune tracks in pursuit of that goal. Not really: he’s an attribution evangelist. He also has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and will argue with you about almost anything.
Jorge (Artist Discovery Editor)
Having lived in three different cities over the course of his life, Jorge is fortunate enough to be fluent in English and Spanish, and has a working (and improving) knowledge of German. Though deadset on leaving when he can, he’s currently finishing his undergraduate studies in Sound and Image Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica in Madrid.
He’s done most of his music discovery autonomously, relatively recently, after spending his childhood exposed to classical music and a few hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Through his discovery, Jorge has realized that he’s very much a fan of pop music, almost always preferring a good hook to obscure instrumentation. Since beginning to write for Listen Before You Buy in October 2011, he’s continued to develop his love of music, and, specifically, discovering new bands to share with friends.
Some favorite bands include:
- the morning benders/POP ETC, The Beach Boys, Phoenix, The Strokes, Fleetwood Mac, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Coldplay, Bon Iver, The Blues Brothers, 60s girl-groups and Phil Spector‘s production techniques (The Crystals, The Ronettes…), The Beatles and Michael Jackson.
Kaelin (Reviews Editor)
A native of the wonderful state of Wisconsin, Kaelin has long been the musical tastemaker among his friends. He presently studies film, radio, and music at UW Oshkosh. He is a producer and recording engineer, and has recorded and performed under multiple monikers, chiefly Mad Atlantic (rock) and DJ Hawken (glitch hop/electronic).
Attracted to rock, pop, and ambitious ideas at an early age, Kaelin has since acquired a taste for every genre of music. He began to write for Listen Before You Buy in January of 2012, and has been eager to share his love and knowledge of music with the Internet at large.
Some of Kaelin’s favorite artists are, (alphabetically, because he’s like that)
- Aphex Twin, BADBADNOTGOOD, Battles, Brian Eno, Burial, Cold War Kids, Collections of Colonies of Bees, The Dead Weather, Death Cab for Cutie, Dinosaur Jr., Dr. Dog, The Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes, The Glitch Mob, Guards, Hanne Hukkelberg, Hospitality, How to Destroy Angels, Liars, Madlib, Madvillain, Modeselektor, Mogwai, Muse, My Morning Jacket, The National, Pepé Deluxé, Portishead, Radiohead, Red Fang, Samples, SBTRKT, Secret Machines, Shabazz Palaces, Sigur Rós, Spoon, Squarepusher, St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens, Tall Tall Trees, Volcano Choir, The Weakerthans, The Weeknd, Wilco, Zero 7, and !!!
Jay (Artist Discovery Editor)
Despite his love for chocolate milk, shitty movies, and pretending to be a ninja Jay is a decent guy. He has been writing for LBYB since July 2011 and has yet to meet a single deadline, usually refers to himself in third person, and probably thinks he is a modern Hunter S. Thompson based solely on his appreciation for being able to write-off partying as a business expense.
He is originally from the Bargersville,IN, a town with one stoplight and not a single other person who respects either The Germs or The Modern Lovers, needless to say due to artistic differences he now lives in Austin,TX.
He knows the words to every Bon Jovi song and still thinks his opinion on The Stooges is relevant. He is a firm believer that the art is more important than the artist who create it and references this Ben Gibbard quote every chance he gets,
“An ex-girlfriend once got upset when I told her that music is the most important thing in my life. It’s more important than anyone else could ever be. I don’t want to be overly dramatic and say it’s the only thing that gets me up and keeps me going. But people in your life come and go. As you go through your life, you make friendships, you break friendships, you have relationships. Music is the one thing I’ve always been able to rely on. So why wouldn’t it be the most important thing in my life?”
