Music is a personal thing for everybody. And we all have that artist we love that we think no one else has ever heard of - you can say you don't, but you're probably lying, because there's a little music elitist in all of us.
Unfortunately, CDs becoming less popular compared to internet downloads means that our library collection has more often than not been a little disappointing to me in regards of international musicians that aren't so 'mainstream'.
That said, the internet isn't all bad in regards to our CD collection. With how easy it is to find music you wouldn't have heard on the radio (because of, probably, those late night YouTube adventures we all have), people's music tastes are expanding. Those people suggest CDs to the library, and as a result our collection, while 'small', is becoming ever more diverse.
More importantly, it's started including things I like!
And that brings us here - me sharing my musical elitism with you. These artists are favourites of mine. While of course they won't be everyone's cups of tea, we now have the CDs in our collections so that you can try a taste of them anyway and make the choice yourself.
Melanie Martinez
Cry Baby
Martinez got her first foot in the door on the TV show, The Voice, singing Britney Spears. Immediately put off? Shame on you.
This girl has a voice both sultry and sweet, and an unusual one to boot. Of course she didn't win (my favourites never do), but continued making music anyway and just last year, released her first, full and fantastic album, Cry Baby.
Stromae
Racine Carrée
Stromae is a Belgian music artist with music so catchy, you'll forget that you're not fluent in French as you sing along.
You may know one of his singles, Papaoutai, which was nicely covered by Pentatonix - and while I do like Pentatonix, the original is so completely different and much more moving.
Stromae's songs are often influenced by his past or experiences, and thoughts on issues like gender stereotyping (below) and the effect of social media. His latest single and music video, Quand C'est, was an artful yet undoubtedly chilling piece about the effects of cancer (playing on the name 'Quand c'est' ['When is it?'] which sounds like 'cancer' phonetically. If that's not genius, well...).
Mary Lambert
Taking the chorus she wrote for Same Love, she extended it into a full song ('She Keeps Me Warm') and has just kept going. From hard-hitting spoken poetry to upbeat and joyous "confessions", Mary Lambert has been an advocate for positive bodies, positive love and positive attitudes - of all kinds.
And even with all the messages, Lambert's voice is the kind that will sing you to sleep. Relaxing and simply lovely, Mary Lambert's album Heart on My Sleeve is a must to listen to - and hopefully, you'll go looking for her other stuff online.
Mary Lambert
Heart on my Sleeve
If this name sounds a little familiar, you might remember the chorus from 'Same Love' by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, where Mary crooned over her own love.
Taking the chorus she wrote for Same Love, she extended it into a full song ('She Keeps Me Warm') and has just kept going. From hard-hitting spoken poetry to upbeat and joyous "confessions", Mary Lambert has been an advocate for positive bodies, positive love and positive attitudes - of all kinds.
And even with all the messages, Lambert's voice is the kind that will sing you to sleep. Relaxing and simply lovely, Mary Lambert's album Heart on My Sleeve is a must to listen to - and hopefully, you'll go looking for her other stuff online.
What are your favourite albums that the library does, or doesn't have?
Feel free to share your musical elitism with us in the comments below.
And, as always, send us a suggestion for purchase if our collection is missing something awesome.
