I don’t listen to the radio much any more, other than NPR. Consequently, I don’t discover new music as easily as I once did. I remember, as recently as 10 years ago, listening to a tune on the truck radio, desparate for the DJ to tell me its name. (So passe in the age of XM, etc.) About that same time, I had a flush of new music when a music video channel appeared on regular broadcast for a few months (The Box). Coincidentally, I saw a lot of Christian music videos then. Now, you gotta pay for JC.TV — word! More recently, there was Caliente, then Pepsi Música.

The Web has been most valuable to me in looking for music *after* I’ve discovered it elsewhere. That’s how I found Julietta Venegas after hearing her perform at the end of Escándalo. They didn’t have to introduce such a famous star, except for the benefit of yet-another ignorant American. I searched through a lot of Web pages for “que lástima” — an understandably common phrase — which was all I could recall from that haunting tune (“Me Voy”).

With this almost random process, it is unusual that I’ve been hooked in rapid succession by two very different tunes of late, both thanks to TV. (Thank you, TV, friend and secret lover.) First, is the tune played behind a commercial you’ve probably seen. The tune is “Stuttering” by Ben’s Brother of the UK. I was HOOKED by the first few seconds of that song. (I also like the animation of the commercial.) I tracked it down at www.myspace.com/bensbrothermusic .

Last night, flipping the channels, I was arrested by the very cool look of Aleks Syntek on Univision. I know, soul patches ain’t what they used to be, but that’s just part of his special amalgam. The tune was “Historias de Danzón y de Arrabal.” www.myspace.com/alekssyntek . mjh

PS: If you’re looking for new music similar to other music you already like, I recommend www.pandora.com. (My selections: http://www.pandora.com/people/info6955 )

PPS: I must be the only person on the planet who spent almost 15 years deeply into HTML and Web design *before* setting up a MySpace page. But, I’ve arrived: http://www.myspace.com/techeditor . (Don’t look for frequent updates, except as I run across other MySpace pages I like.)