Our love of various musics has been a delicate counterpoint to Solaris, winding in and out of threads ever since Channel One. So here is our own little amphitheatre..
mondrian5, I have to ask how well you know Richard Thompson! (btw, the court order requires me to warn you that beginning a conversation on this topic could be hazardous to your patience and sanity :^D )
When Gryka mentioned both Genesis and Nelson Mandela on the birthday thread, I thought immediately of Peter Gabriel's Biko - an amazing conclusion to a great record.
I'll follow your link when I have more time, a video download will be a slow process... I'm not familiar with Blue Nile, I'll check them out... :>)
I love hearing about the kinds of music you guys like. I've gone through many phases, and now the only music I really don't like is rap, punk, heavy metal, most opera, and the teenie-bopper stuff like Britney Spears.
Gryka, if you like Stacey Kent, you probably are already a Michael Franks fan. That is, if you're into vocal jazz. I'm not a huge vocal jazz fan, but I do like Franks. I'll attempt to post a link here to his latest CD which I plan to order. What do you think?
href=http://www.michaelfranks.com/cd_snow.html
or if that didn't work:
http://www.michaelfranks.com/cd_snow.html
Mondrian / Glimmung, you guys seem to be more into guitar rock. Yes? I'm not much of a fan of Thompson or Peter Gabriel, but I don't dislike them. A little too main stream for my tastes. Do either of you like Gordon Lightfoot, or perhaps Al Stewart? I was into early Jefferson Airplane for a while, but I don't like Jefferson Starship or Starship. I went through a Led Zeppelin phase in high school, (although I didn't drive a beat-up trans am).
No, lateley, I'm mostly into dance music, but I have very specific tastes. There's a lot of crap out there, but once in a while, you find some talent with bands like KOOP, EBTG (Everything But The Girl), or Weekend Players.
What do you listen to, Michael?
--By the way, I lost my instructions for posting website links, so after several tries, I'm giving up, Gryka. What happened to the "A Modest Proposal" thread? I cant seem to find it.
Posted by: | Oct 19, 2003 at 07:47 AM
The above was, of course, posted by me.
Posted by: Yeti | Oct 19, 2003 at 07:48 AM
Yeti,
I like Al Stewart a lot too. His "Best of..." album is one of my favorite travelling records. My favorites songs of his are "Year of the Cat" and "Lord Grenville".
I like Peter Gabriel. Especially his "So" record. His last record is very good too. My favorite song on it is "More than this". I'm a "Dire Straits" fan - their first two records are at the top of my list. "Communique" is supposed to be one of the weakest record they ever made but I like it most. Some J.J. Cale (also early). The song "Everything will be alright" is my favorite with "After Midnight". When I was much younger I was in love with ELO but now I'm less enthusiastic, although I still think "Time" is great and the "Suite for a rainy day" on "Out of the Blue" is wonderful. I'm a big Vangelis fan. His "The City" is great. "Soil Festivities" is beautiful.
I don't like it when he gets too bombastic and operatic (except for parts of "The Mask").
As for the American songbook: I like Rod Stewart's new album. Very nice. I'm not a huge jazz fan but there are a couple of things I like: Keith Jarrett's "My Song", and a strange little record from the Nethrelands by, among others, Palle Mikkelborg titled "Heart to Heart".
Yeti, I think I know something right up your alley: "Gabin". Please listen to their record titled... "Gabin". I'm in love with the first two songs. At the end there's "House trip". A bit of house music of course. Otherwise it is a great mixture of jazzy, world music with a modern, distinct rhythm. I think it is better than KOOP - not that KOOP was bad! I liked the first version of Summer Sun. I sort of began thinking about Astrud Gilberto listening to it. Oh, while I'm writing about beutiful American songs: I love Ella Fitzgerald.
Early Genesis: "Trick of a tail" and "Wind and Wuthering", some later songs too but they turned way too commercial imo. Still "Home by the sea, part two" is great. I never liked "Mama".
"The Police" - "Synchronicity". That record is one of the best albums ever made. I always thought that Andy Summers should play his guitar riffs on the soundtrack for "The Dune". I like Sting solo but not his later records. "Soul Cages" is his most personal and best.
Okay, enough! Uff...
Posted by: michael | Oct 21, 2003 at 06:30 PM
Yeti,
Sorry, I thought I put a brief post up, I guess it didn't go through - we have a problem with our dialup getting disconnected. Anyway, the blog was set to keep 10 posts on the main page, and this new one was # 11. "A Modest Proposal" is still there if you hit the link to the "Whatnot" category, and you can still add comments to it. I reset the page limit to 15 posts as a temp fix. I'm so tired of prefacing statements with "if I had more time"!
I loved your comments, guys. I've already indicated that I think Richard Thompson resides somewhere near the grasping extremity of the deity of your choice, so I'll let that go for now. :^) Suffice to say that he wrote and recorded the perfect song on his CD You? Me? Us? - "The Ghost of You Walks". This CD would not be a bad intro to him - one acoustic disc and one electric disc, with two songs appearing on both discs.
I've lived with his music so long and intimately that it's hard to step outside of it to talk about it. Few guitarists are so instantly recognizable (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Robert Fripp maybe), no one plays like him. Angular, textural electric playing, owing nothing to the blues/R&B tradition that virtually every other rock/pop guitarist dwells in. Muscular and amazingly eloquent and expressive, and the CDs rarely even hint at what he's like live - searing, extended monologues that contain considerable improvisation, making him a favorite among tape-swappers. And yet, when he plays solo acoustic, he creates a cathedral of emotion, whilst you peer about wondering where the other guitarist is because two hands alone couldn't possibly be producing what you're hearing. Separate camps of devotees exist who tolerate the acoustic RT while adoring the electric, and vice versa, but most of us simply marvel - I know of no one who has mastered the two forms so totally and uniquely.
And as if this weren't enough, the songs... oh my. Who has covered his songs? Bonnie Raitt, REM, Los Lobos, David Byrne, Bob Mould, Arlo Guthrie, Marshall Crenshaw, Robyn Hitchcock, Patty Loveless, Blind Boys of Alabama, Elvis Costello, Pointer Sisters, Loudon Wainwright, Beausoleil, Del McCoury Band... a songwriter's songwriter.
And then, as a performer he can deliver both his songs, and other's songs, with complete conviction. His latest project started as a suggestion from Playboy magazine for a survey of "popular music". He took it literally, and lost their limited interest, with a show called 1000 Years of Popular Music! From "Sumer is Icumen In" to, I kid you not, "Oops I Did It Again", with detours through Gilbert & Sullivan, Stephen Foster, Hoagy Carmichel, Prince, and The Who.
After several examples of skewering Christian hypocrisy ("...and god has the sharpest suit and the cleanest chin...") Richard, a Sufi of nearly 30 years' standing, finally turned his pen on the Islamic fundamentalists (and perhaps exorcising the memory of the asceticism which followed his initial conversion). I'm going to set the lyrics of "Outside of the Inside" down for you because, well, because I can! :^)
OK. I'll shut up now. :rolleyes:
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 22, 2003 at 02:23 AM
Yeah, the golden middle or everything in moderation as Burt Wolfe (Wolf?) would say. Balance and harmony, right mondrian? That's what we need. No extermists and goddamn preachers of the "only truth". Ugh.
I love Robert Fripp - with Eno and King Crimson. "Shattering Sky" is my favorite KC work along with "Matte Kudasai" and "The Court of the Crimson King".
Posted by: michael | Oct 22, 2003 at 03:18 AM
To continue my thought about Fripp - do you guys know David Sylvian's "Gone to Earth"? The first half, where Sylvian sings, sucks imo but listen to "Upon this Earth" (with Fripp) at the end of the album! It's one of the most beautiful things you've ever heard.
I like Sylvian's "Flux and Mutability" too.
Posted by: michael | Oct 22, 2003 at 03:27 AM
Michael,
Funny you should mention David Sylvian. After years of meaning to, I just ordered a Sylvian CD, along with a Sylvian/Fripp CD (along, mondrian5, with Blue Nile's Hats :^) ) I don't recall which titles, I'll have to check at home. Amazon's "system" indicated fans of one might like the other. Amazon's "reviewers" are a useful tool, but one must always keep a few grains of salt handy - generally only those who already love an artist bother to post "reviews".
King Crimson has been one of my very favorites ever since In the Court of the Crimson King, their first album - how could a mind-expanding teenager resist that cover? Ah, those were the days, when one could afford to buy albums on a whim, based on the cover art! CDs just aren't the same, from the visual and tactile sense. I definitely hit some clunkers that way, but also some real gems. I stumbled across:
In those days, Columbus had a superb progressive rock FM station, that had an evening show that would play anything you could imagine. Got me into Pink Floyd when they were still quite obscure by playing "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" - I was permanently hooked!
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 22, 2003 at 10:52 AM
Great posts!
Glimmung, you mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughn which made me think of something. (By the way I don't mean this to be offensive, just in case I get accused of dropping bombs again)
I have a friend who only listens to the local "oldies" station, and they play the standard beatles, motown, Phil Spector stuff with some 70's and a couple of 80's songs. Anyway, he's very main stream, and he loves Stevie Ray Vaughn. I, personally, hate Stevie Ray Vaughn, although let me say I've only heard what they play on the radio. My comment to him is always the same, which is "Stevie Ray Vaughn plays the same song over and over and just renames it. In every song he plays "dung---ga'dung----ga'dung----ga'dung" on his guitar while straining at the stool, and vocalizing his pain into the microphone.", to which my friend generally responds, "Yeah, but isn't it GREAT!?" To which I either sigh or roll my eyes and move on.
I should have included Blues, R&B, and Rockabilly in with the genres that I don't generally care for. Reggae too. Which, I suspect, would include many of the artists you mentioned. Of those you mentioned, though, I have never heard of Robert Fripp, Bob Mould, Robyn Hitchcock, Blind Boys of Alabama, Del McCoury Band, David Sylvian, or King Crimson. I know of Loudon Wainwright, primarily from his appearance on M.A.S.H. many years ago, but I've heard a few of his songs, and thought he was ok.
I like Arlo Guthrie for the most part. Who hasn't heard Alice's Restaurant? Although, I'm one of the only people I know who actually saw the movie. Incidentally, I believe Joni Mitchell appears in that movie singing "Songs to Aging Children" which always sends a shiver up my spine.
I'm not anti-guitar, though. I like Harry Chapin. I mentioned Al Stewart, of course, and Gordon Lightfoot. Al Stewart's former guitar player, Peter White, is an awesome guitar player, although since he launched his solo career, he's moved over to "smooth jazz" which doesn't do much for me."
By the way, Michael, my favorite Al Stewart album was "The Early Years". He does a song called "The Ballad of David Foster" which I found very moving. I also enjoyed "In Clifton". Listening to those songs takes me back to my high school days. "Lord Grenville" is a very good song. He has a way of telling an interesting story while making music that's interesting and sometimes a little out of the norm. "Roads to Moscow" and "Where are they Now" are a few of my other favorites.
I once saw Al Stewart in concert at a fairly small venue in Cleveland. (I forget the name, but it's gone now.) He did a cover of that Nirvana tune that you can't understand the words for (I forget the name of it, but it was very popular), but he did it acoustic by himself, and it was absolutely haunting.
As for the pokes at christianity, well, I'm going to refrain from comment. You are all free to believe what you choose. Besides, I thought I was the one who likes to stir things up?
Posted by: Yeti | Oct 22, 2003 at 12:08 PM
Yeti,
I don't believe we were poking Christianity - rather, we were targeting intolerant, hypocritical fundamentalism of any kind. I know you are a self-described Christian, and the very fact that you carry on these conversations with us in the manner you do speaks eloquently of the fact that you are not in that category. I had no intent to cause offense, and if I did I apologize for my clumsiness of expression. : )
Here's a quote I ran across recently:
Those of us who lean away from theism can easily replace these categories with essentially equivalent realms of thought - science and art, logic and intuition (Soderbergh & Tarkovsky? :^) ) harkening back to our earlier discussion of Wittgenstein and the divide between what we can and cannot speak of with meaning or certainty. Not that I believe that we can ever "grasp everything", but we can certainly encompass the false dualities offered by those who attempt to force a narrow world view on others - from Osama ('nuff said) to Pat Robertson (lately seen defending Liberia's Saddam-lite, Charles Taylor, as Pat pursues Mammon in the form of investments in Liberia's diamond industry). Either one of these fine individuals would find me unworthy of inclusion in their vision of god-approved society.
Whereas, Yeti, you seem happy to include me in yours, which honors me... :^)
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 22, 2003 at 12:44 PM
What? No Celine Dion? I'm disappointed guys! ;^)
Another comment I simply can't resist: you guys are white! All of you! Very, very white! Your taste in music betrays you. ;^) (Just joking! Naaahh... ;^) )
Not one is reggae Yeti, not one. (Unless I missed it. I read it twice.)
P.S.: Yeti, I don't like Michael Franks. Know him, and don't like him. At all. Sorry. :^(
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 22, 2003 at 04:33 PM
OK, I read my post again and I noticed that it can be misinterpreted as trolling. Please don't read it as such!
It just dawned on me after reading about all your favorites that you stay within the frame of the acceptable, for the white suburbs that is, genres of music. It may be a complete coincidence. I just needed to make a note of it. It may also be due to your place of work and where you live. Just by walking out my door I find myself immediately submerged in Indian / Pakistani / Jewish / African / Afro-American / Native-American cultures (I live in the most culturally diverse area of the North Side and work in very diverse environment too – IT is like that nowadays – and music is the first thing people bring with them). So imagine my astonishment when I suddenly read pages and pages of raves over ...white music. Culture clash! And it is so funny because I'm white too. ;^)
I hope I made myself clear this time. 8^)
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 22, 2003 at 05:09 PM
But Gryka, if I mention Keith Jarrett, or Vernon Reid, or Art Ensemble of Chicago, or Jaco Pastorius, or Fishbone, or Albert Ayler, or Jimi Hendrix, or Anthony Braxton, or Sheila Chandra, or even Miles Davis, I'll be accused of only liking cerebral musicians of color!
Good thing I didn't mention any of my Nordic folk-rock, like Hedningarna, Hoven Droven, Ranarim, Garmarna, or Annbjorg Lien. Stevie Ray and Richard are positively swarthy by comparison. And Johnny Winter - I won't even go there. :^)
Do I get credit for Buddy Guy, Son House, and Robert Johnson?
I'm with you on Michael Franks though - I had a college roommate who liked him, and I heard "Popsicle Toes" way too many times. Sorry, Yeti.
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 22, 2003 at 05:48 PM
Gryka, All I can say is you're lucky, both for the music and the food!
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 22, 2003 at 05:50 PM
But Glimmung this isn't about the musician's skin! The test is in the music.
You yourself prefer the more angular, textural electric playing, owing nothing to the blues/R&B tradition that virtually every other rock/pop guitarist dwells in. If that isn't an indication of preference for white music, then I don't know what is (I know, you meant, you were tired of the same thing over and over again! ;^) ).
And the music of color today is rap (please, not the commercial rap!), R&B, blues (dying unfortunately), world fusion, Afro-pop (in the widest understanding of the term), Latino music (including Brazilian), Moslem music (especially from all the -stans), Asian music, underground, and all other types you guys seem to dislike.
Actually, the Nordic-folk/rock gives you credit in terms of the music of color. :^) So does Buddy Guy, providing he wants to play – which he refuses to do. :^(
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 22, 2003 at 07:35 PM
I forgot hip-hop! How I don't know! ;^)
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 22, 2003 at 07:44 PM
Yeti,
Glimmung said it all. No offense was meant.
Today at Borders I've heard KOOP on an album titled Jazz Lounge! My significant other asked... "Gabin?"
Glimmung, I've never heard about Consort and Pentangle. I have to check them out. It's funny that you mention "Mahavishnu Orchestra"! I actually wrote a paragraph about those guys that I deleted later. I tried to listen to them lately but I must tell you that I really don't understand their appeal except for a few, quieter pieces.
Gryka,
I understand that Ella Fiztgerald I mentioned before is white. So is Al Jarreau who for many years was one of my favorites (early Jarreau that is. His record "Look to the Rainbow" is great) - the list goes on...
BTW Yeti - I don't care for most reggae either and certainly not for hip-hop or rap. Oh well, I'm not so open-minded after all (rolleyes:). And before I forget - please drop in a bomb any time you please. Keep it real - you're good at it.
Posted by: michael | Oct 23, 2003 at 12:52 AM
Gryka,
You introduced the "color" paradigm, not me! And you better smile when you say "Celine Dion" ;^D
If you check, you'll see I never said that I prefer "...angular, textural electric playing, owing nothing to the blues/R&B tradition..." Several guitarists I really like happen to play that way. but I love bunches of guitarists who play in various styles. (List available upon request :^) )
Richard Thompson is a special case. He's been called "the Coltrane of the electric guitar" (he also has cited Debussy as a strong influence), and I love him in that mode, but as with all the best music it goes far beyond craft. Several of his acoustic pieces are so deeply poignant for me that I cannot sing them because I tear up - and in most cases his guitar accompaniment is rudimentary. The emotional force comes form a bare few intuitively selected notes, the words, and the voice.
I react badly to most "world fusion" music, which seems calculated and simply dilutes what it incorporates. Peter Gabriel and Sting (sort of) get away with a form of it by virtue of their strong personalities. But usually, I find that I prefer my music more or less straight up, and I would say you have the ideal situation in your multicultural environment because these musics are best when you are in the room with the musicians!
I'm prepared to believe that when I react negatively to, say, rap and hip-hop, it's because I only ever hear bad examples. C&W certainly works that way, and heavy metal. But I can't keep up with the music I already know and like, so I admittedly have little impetus to explore these areas. But I like music from the Balkans, Middle East and Asia a lot, Latino music less so.
Yeti, I remember hearing "Roads to Moscow" long ago and being impressed. Glimmette likes Al Stewart, and Gordon Lightfoot too.
Michael, I also liked Genesis up through Wind and Wuthering, and then mostly lost interest. ELO has had good songs, but I especially like the very first ELO album with Roy Wood, and the third album. The Blind Boys of Alabama have been singing gospel-type harmony since before WWII, and have gained a following in the last few years through CDs featuring covers of contemporary songs. Much like with Johnny Cash, songs seem to acquire more weight and meaning in their hands. Another favorite of mine who has that same ability is the Scots folksinger/socialist Dick Gaughan.
Here are a few more personal favorites, just for fun:
Gillian Welch - Time, the Revelator
Boiled in Lead - Orb, Antler Dance
Cordelia's Dad - Comet
John Kirkpatrick - Mazurka Berserker
Robbie Basho - Seal of the Blue Lotus
Hamster Theater - Assault on Hamburger City
Kate Rusby - Hourglass
Milladoiro - Galicia no Tempo
Incredible String Band - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Malicorne - Le Bestiare
It's ironic, Gryka, that you describe my tastes as "white", when most of my white friends and acquaintances think I listen to a lot of weird, abnormal, even disturbing music!
Have I mentioned that I love barbershop quartets?
Posted by: Glimmung | Oct 23, 2003 at 01:43 AM
Gryka,
Do my music preferences preclude me from driving a small japanese car that has been "riced out" with low profile tires, a sissy-bar spoiler, white tail lights, and green fluorescents underneath? Also, I guess I can't put the seat all the way back, lean on the center console with my right elbow and dangle my left hand over the top of the steering wheel so that I am, in effect, steering with my wrist. (not to mention, stroking my chin with the right hand and leaning over so my head is at the actual centroid of the car.) I hope I can still crank the bazookas up, though, so that my trunk-a-thump acts like a sonic defibrulator. ;^?
Notice, guys, that Gryka says, "Just by walking out my door I find myself immediately submerged in Indian / Pakistani / Jewish / African / Afro-American / Native-American cultures ... and music is the first thing people bring with them)." I don't see anywhere where she said she actually likes that type of music, only that she is surrounded by it.
Notice also that she is the one who made note of the fact that we have "white" tastes in music. Let's note that the only artist she has mentioned is a white woman, and the album she is currently listening to in her car is a compilation of jazz standards. ...Seems kind of white-bread to me.
She also says, "It just dawned on me after reading about all your favorites that you stay within the frame of the acceptable, for the white suburbs that is, genres of music." I guess I'm not sure what that means. A lot of people in the "white suburbs" listen to NPR, and they tend to feature diverse music on their shows. Also, there are a lot of upscale white neighborhoods in which teenagers drive around listening to "gangsta" music. I'm not sure I follow what you mean by "acceptable in white suburbs".
Posted by: | Oct 23, 2003 at 12:12 PM
yeah that was me again,
BTW, Michael, I found Gabin's website. I couldn't listen to the first two tunes, but there were a couple songs I was able to hear. You're right. I do like them. They have a cool wallpaper that I put onto someone's computer at work while they weren't looking.
You guys probably think I'm unsophistocated, listening to dance music. Actually, my main reason for listening to it is because it keeps me going through the dreary monotony of work. It has a mechanical quality that serves as a surrogate drum beater on the slave ship that is my job.
Posted by: Yeti | Oct 23, 2003 at 12:52 PM
Firstly, Yeti – that was uncalled for.
My comment was not about your personal likes or dislikes, but what types of music were not in the conversation. And I believe I explained myself well when listed the music I hear discussed all the time by people of color, which were missing here. Like hip-hop, rap, afro-pop, etc. It is not about the color of skin of the performer either. Never was. This is not about racism. So get off your offended horse.
----
My taste in music stands very much apart with your choices. I sought out something that we may have in common and I posted it. Stacey Kent is likeable. Not very innovative but her singing is crisp and that cd was well done.
Yes, all your choices are outside of the main stream and you are to be commended for seeking out rather than within, and wanting more. Glimmung shows most the knowledge and maturity of a listener among you. The selection he presented shows that he really knows what he's looking for and that he's capable of finding it. Not that you can't, it's just that his preferences are a little further out of the beaten track than the rest of you. I loved Mondrian's selection, not that I'm a big fan of Peter Gabriel (he's OK in my book, don't worry! :rolleyes: ) but the videos were very unusual, stimulating visually, and something that confirmed what I believe Mondrian to be – a visual artist.
It is fair, I suppose, that you poke fun at my taste in music so here it goes (although, if you don't like them I won't be jumping up and down to defend them :rolleyes again: ):
I love classical music, especially atonality and serialism from the beginning of the 20th century (Schoenberg, Szymanowski, Webern). I'm partial to polytonality and, like Glimmung, I like Bach's fugues and later on nothing for a long time and then the 20th century music.
I love jazz. I bought The Boy Next Door because of my fascination with female vocalists. And I've listened to them all: Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Cassandra Wilson, Billie Holiday... I like Cassandra a lot. She lacks sentimentalism, which is a big plus for me.
But, I love jazz. All of it, providing it's not smooth jazz. I know many fans of Miles who hate everything beginning with his Bitches Brew and what it did to the music. I don't mind fusion. I understand its logic and I like where it takes me. I grew up on Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Jimmy Hendrix and others (in Poland of the 70s you couldn't escape it – another contextual thing, I suppose) and although I no longer listen to them, fusion is to me in many ways like going back home.
I've been listening recently to Universal Syncopations by Vitous, Garbarek, McLaughlin, Corea and DeJohnette - I really like the comfort these musicians show together (and that McLaughlin doesn't play a lot – big, big relief for me!) About The Art Ensemble of Chicago, I didn't like what they were doing after Lester Bowie died. Their "Tribute to Lester" wasn't bad thou. Of European jazz, a personal surprise, I just got Tomasz Stanko's The Soul of Things - very much like Miles! But well done nonetheless.
I love African-pop (in the widest sense of the word). From South African thru North African, the Caribbean, Brazilian and Cuban tones, I love them all. And I'm grateful to find myself surrounded by it. It's all about the boldness of rhythm (6 and 4 rhythms against one another in the typical North African polyrhythm or the classic 6/8 rhythm). It's about the incredible voice techniques of the Moslem world and South Africa. It's about samba, rumba, marimba, timba, rap, juju, reggae, bossa nova (yep, there are African influences there too), and more. The wealth of the genre is beyond comprehension. Everything else pales by comparison.
I like Ali Farka Toure (incredible guitarist), Salif Keita, Ali Hasan Kuban, Amina, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba (Mama Africa, who must be 70 now...), Hugh Masekela, and many, many more. And these are only the most famous artists from Africa I didn't even get to Caribbean or Brazil yet!
I love Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan who was such a unique artist with a voice which must have been a gift from gods (6-octave range?) but his talent was his own. What he did with his gift – completely unbelievable. And what about Cesaria Evora or Ibrahim Ferrer? And then there is Gilberto Gil. Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, and let's not forget Astrud Gilberto!
I believe that every style of music, with possible exemption of New Age, has something valuable to offer, and if you bother to seek long enough you'll find a musician in that style that is worth listening to.
Oh, Glimmung: Robbie Basho – very nice guitar and that piece also stands out to me. That is very old isn't it? He died in the 80s, right? I think I have his LP somewhere, so it must be old.
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 23, 2003 at 04:44 PM
Well, it was supposed to be "with possible exception of New Age" – emotions run high and words stand confused. It's due to my strong hatred towards the sound that pretends to be music and calls itself New Age. (I really hope there are no Kenny G. fans around here :rolleyes:)
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 23, 2003 at 04:59 PM
Yeti,
Don't worry, I'm not going to label your taste as unsophisticated. I'm not a snob thank goodness.
You know what Gryka? Spare us your judgmental opinions in the future. Glimmungs taste more mature than the rest of us? Who the hell are you to write such stuff? I found that unbelievably snotty and controlling. You, by judging our tastes put yourself in the position of an arbiter and therefore in the position of someone better than us (Glimmung included). Do you consider yourself superior, Gryka? Certainly looks that way.
Posted by: michael | Oct 23, 2003 at 07:13 PM
Yes, Michael that is exactly who I am. Judgmental and controlling and better. And I'm also a little tired of this whole thing, so take care.
Gryka
Posted by: Gryka | Oct 23, 2003 at 09:19 PM
As usual, I find myself in the position of having to apologize for making an Archie Bunker style joke.
If you read my post carefully, all I said was that you never told us what you like. You teased us about being, "very, very white", and I pointed out that you were making a stereotype that no longer has meaning. I never said I was offended, and if you construed my comments to be a "high horse", then I apologize.
I never brought racism into this discussion, and I wasn't making fun of your musical tastes either. You never told us your tastes in music, so how could I be making fun of you?
I was merely pointing out that, just as in our discussion of femenine versus masculine, you never exactly answered the question. You immediately think I'm being racist or women-bashing or bigoted.
If I've offended you once again, Gryka, then I don't know what to tell you. What kind of group are we if we can't tolerate a little good-natured teasing of each other. We're ALL mature individuals here, and I think Glimmung would be a little uncomfortable about being placed on some kind of pedestal.
Let's not play the racist card or the feminist card anymore. Can we all just agree that none of us are racist or anti-femenine here and be done with it?
Posted by: Yeti | Oct 24, 2003 at 07:11 AM
Whoa!
What the heck??!
A guy goes on a trip without his computer and the collective world imitates Beirut!
I'm sending you to
http://www.homestarrunner.com/
Consider it a spa, in which you can take the waters.
You know what's really cool?
Most real musicians talking about real music quickly note its colorlessness.
I love all kinds of music. That sounds about as banal and wimpy as possible, but I do. As a teenager I was in a band in Cincinnati Ohio that covered everything Led Zepplin ever did. Note for note. We rented halls (even churches) because we were too young to play bars, and played to crowds so large the police often had to help direct traffic on the way home. I don't have the foggiest if we were any good, but there were some moments. People were hungry for it and playing felt great! As I found more and more music I discovered how much LZ had taken from blues and that opened the door to that music. LZ was my door to the Blues. And Arabic aand Celtic rhythms. Great stuff.
I love Fado singing from Portugal. And Tango, Astor Piazzolla's work on the bandoneon breaks my heart. I went to Argentina because I wanted to hear Tango played where it came from. I love Ali Farka Toure. The album he did with Ry Cooder was beautiful. I probably owe Ry Cooder for all the amazing Cuban music I'm now listening too. Most of the US owes him for that introduction.
Glimmung, I have been to Pawling and heard Turner, Ray, and Glover on their last tour. They played to 10 people. It was fantastic! Like having them in your living room. I also sought out Junior Wells and James Cotton at the same club. Wonderful harp players. They were having a great time.
I was listening to Eminem because my son Nikolai got into him for a while-and I was amazed by what was happening. I got a glimpse of how this the vital poetry of this generation. It's from the heart. It's difficult and powerful. I can still only find my way into a small bit of it because it often feels so angry. It is angry, made by people who feel angry trying to get a foothold, so that makes sense.
The one type of music I have had no use for is the Great White Way broadway showtunes. Now, having said that,I just picked up Keith Jarrett'sThe Melody At Night With You. Solo piano works. This is truly lovely.
I love contemporary sacred music, Arvo Part, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Gorecki. Yeti, There is a place on The Blue Nile's album, Peace At Last where Paul Buchanan sings
Now that I've found peace at last
Tell me Jesus
Will it last?
with such pathos that I just have to sit and weep.
I've been involved with symphonic musicians all my life. I did the portrait of the CSO's music Director, Jesus Lobos Cobos for their centennial celebration. A very smart man. A great favorite, minimalist composer Steve Reich is, I believe, the Stravinsky of his time. I have followed his work all over and heard several World Premiere concerts. Sometimes they featured the Kronos Quartet. I saw the Kronos Quartet with David Bowie in NYC last year and that was extraordinary. Phillip Glass was on piano.
I love Asian music. Shakuhachi, the bamboo flute, and the chinese Erhu. I will sit and listen to the better guys in the subways playing these. Japan Pop is about the most appallingly shallow music there is. Followed closely by Hong Kong Pop.
My friend Tan Dun, has done exceptional works for film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonand also for orchestra, using stones, water, and paper.
Usually a point in every direction is like no point at all.
I guess this is all by way of saying that all music is about taste. We can show each other how a music is nutritious or not, but we can't make each other enjoy the taste of it.
I like all kinds of foods, too.(I just can't abide cuttlefish!)
Glimmung, I don't know much about Richard Thompson but his music has always been amazing to me. I heard an NPR interview with him and he was as smart as his music. If you got The Blue Nile's Hats, you got the one album I can't live without.
Gryka, I'm glad those Peter Gabrielvideos were interesting to you. I've only seen a few of them. I don't like videos much of the time but Peter's tend to have some integrity. It was the Downside-Up video that really excited me.
Posted by: mondrian5 | Oct 26, 2003 at 05:47 PM