To the very limited extent that I listen to any new (or at least unfamiliar) music these days, I'm entirely dependent on bloggers whose feeds I follow, people in the fediverse, and randos scattered around other websites I occasionally visit posting links to YouTube (other content hosting options are available, but nobody uses them).
I wish I knew of a better way of finding interesting music. The music press outlets of my youth are either dead or in a Netscape-style corporate zombie state, "Rip. Mix. Burn." evolved into 99c per track, "free culture" got monetised into dinky little businesses selling CC-BY-NC license exemptions for cafe musak and corporate events, and John Peel is currently broadcasting from too far outside the five mile limit for my receiver.
I'd like to think that I've not yet heard most of the songs on my funeral setlist, but I very much fear that may not be the case, even if I live another fifty years.
Joking apart, I lost a long-standing school friend four years ago to leukaemia. He suffered a lot towards the end but asked us to nominate a song for his 'Memorial/Wake set list'.
I chose 'Eat Yerself Fitter' by The Mighty Fall. I wasn't trying to be clever of funny. When we were at school, we constantly obsessed about the band and delighted in 'Name this obscure Fall lyric' quizzes and I spent many happy hours round his house listening to all kinds of music. We both loved that song and he would often snarl the title if someone was eating some junk food.
I was in absolute pieces when I submitted my nomination. I didn't attend his funeral (racked by guilt for not seeing him when was actually alive) but his sister later told me - 'That was a fantastic choice and Mark would have just loved the irony'.
Apparently Peter Sellers chose Glenn Miller's "In the mood" mainly because he knew Spike Milligan hated it. (possibly apocryphal) I was tasked with this for my Father in law's funeral. It was a humanist officiant. Music was "Nessen Dorma" and a reading of Rabbi Burns poem "Ay fond kiss". Personally I would like some New Orleans jazz, but as I won't be there, it doesn't really matter to me. Maybe "unrequited to the nth degree" by LWIII.
To be fair, I'm also planning a more uplifting, happy, 'Memorial, wake setlist' for when all the tears are spent and people adjourn to a dingy function room and exclaim 'Thank fuck that's over. Has he left enough money for a free bar ?'
