7 posts tagged “music”

I've got a mammoth music collection much of which I haven't heard yet. The other night I created a dynamic playlist in iTunes that randomly picks 25 tracks from my catalog with 0 plays and adds them to my iPod. Once I've listened to one of the tracks it falls off the playlist and is replaced by another randomly selected track from my library that I haven't heard yet.

And I have to say, thus far it has been a delight. Just thought I'd share. I know you're happy knowing a glimmer of delight shines upon me this fine spring day. Especially you, Adam.

This is turning out to be an excellent music morning. I'm fumbling through iTunes wasting time before getting down to freelance business (or, as I like to say, "bid-naess"). Sometimes it's good, gets me into the mood. Often it's a bad thing because I get really into some tune or artist or whatever.

I've stumbled upon a pile of James Brown, specifically the enormous Star Time compilation. Bang, I hit "The Payback". It's not like I've never heard it before as it's been sampled from here to hell and back, most recently by The Notorious B.I.G. Little known fact but the keen overy-obsessive ear will note that the background singers on this track were sampled by A Tribe Called Quest on the track "Can I Kick It?".

I mean I don't know. I can't exactly describe it but I notice how the bass has a three note groove that rolls on the first three parts of each measure, the fourth part filled by the drum groove. All I can say is it's tight as hell.

And James himself on this track fits in nicely. I feel like here his voice and the track are evenly matched. His rage builds throughout and stays fresh, never loses steam. He's mad, wants revenge, payback for his girlfriend cheating on him. I'm not sure if he's going to get payback from her or him or the both of them. It is "the big payback" after all. Not just payback but the big payback. He's serious and he's going for it. I can't help but wonder if he's all talk, pacing back and forth on the back porch singing this to himself only to crash out on the couch after an hour or so, to wake up and go to work the next morning to stew.

Anyway, I'll put my money where my mouth is on this one and post this photo of me in action, actually actively digging this track. I'm not hanging out bullshitting about how good it is, I'm actually digging it right now.

I think I need to schedule this. Saturday morning music time with Art. At least an hour of me goofing around, getting down. Not necessarily getting jiggy with it as it were, but really digging the music. It sure feels good, sure is fun.

Tracks like this though make me want to pull out my bass, setup my drums, join a band, get a bunch of gigs in smoky lounges, wear crappy old clothes, smoke cigars, practice a pouty face, buy a strap for my bass guitar and hang it way down by my legs, wear my pants too low, show a little top o' the asscrack, and find the funk. Which I've never done but man, who wouldn't want to find the funk? I mean no matter what you listen to, even if you hated funk and soul, to find it and play it for even a measure or two would have to be bliss.

Does "Pusherman" not totally rule? There's this drum effect that's just perfect, might be a "talking drum", this rising then descending pitch that sets the mood just right. Dark alley, sodium vapor street light at the end of the block, imaculate Cadillac, fur, leopard trim. Six note bassline riff that's like bang, right on. So cool.

I mean does anyone out there even remember Steely Dan? At one point I really wanted to be the guy they sing about in "Deacon Blues":

I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink Scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me Deacon Blues

But uh, that never panned out. I never played the sax but my brother did, in highschool band, poorly. And I do not like scotch no matter how old or expensive or cheap or whether there's an ounce or fifty pounds of rotting peat in the bottle. And I've never been to Alabama.

"Peg" is great. Just great. The music is quick and tighter than anything, the lyrics almost indescernable and odd when figured out:

Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-d
Its your favorite foreign movie

But yeah, the question is whether I'm gay for liking Steely Dan. Good as they might be, square and cheesemo as they're perceived to be by anyone born after 1980, does liking them make me gay or somehow hopefully enlightened? I'd like to think that this whole jazz thing I'm going through is signaling some sort of transmorgrification of my musical tastes which may lead to discovery of new and interesting material. But it might just mean I've shifted right into the Adult Contemporary demographic, that I'm gay as the light of day, and I should get the fuck in line right now for tickets to the Wilson Phillips reunion tour, with very special guests Michael Macdonald and John Tesh.

I decided last week to attempt to roll through The Rolling Stone Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. I'm starting with stuff I've already got that either I didn't know I had or never got around to listening to. I can say honestly that I've never dug Miles Davis or been "into jazz" or anything like that. I completely missed the whole jazz boat, went straight to grunge punk and electronica. Anyway, I just have to say that I'm stuck on #12, Kind of Blue, and it's pretty darned good. Not sure if this means anything, if I'lll become one of those jazz junkies or anything, but right now at the moment this one is completely hanging in there for me. Along with Astral Weeks. God help us.

It's got video and photos and all that jazz, displays album art and most importantly plays music. I'm pretty darned stoked. I plugged it in here, fired up itunes and checked out the tv shows section and was quite pleased to see the entire first season of Star Trek available. I'm kind of new to the whole Star Trek thing and I'm enjoying it quite immensely. I was watching three to four episodes each day of Next Generation while at home during vacation. Yes, big nerd.

Anyway last night I downloaded the very first episode of Star Trek and watched while I rode the recumbent bike. The episode was only ok but the pleasure of watching while riding the bike was huge. Time flew. And my workout was excellent. On the program I do I usually do 14 miles during an hour of intervals. While watching Star Trek on my new ipod I did 15.7 miles in an hour.

Really the ipod is the most perfect gadget for what it does. Of course the world can thank me for getting this now. I'm certain because I made this purchase that Apple will come out with some amazing new ipod in a week or two. My karmic sacrifice is your gain.

Mike solved the mystery while watching a Hennessy documentary on the Discovery Channel over the weekend. Brilliant work Mike.

"Smooth & Harmonious - Hennessy Privilege was blended for a prince and it is still beautifully rounded today. It has a complex aromatic balance with suppleness, depth and persistence. Content: 35 cl or 70 cl."

Reasonably priced at $24.71! Who knew privilege could be so affordable? Smooth and harmonious, remarkably similar to K-Fed's musical stylings.