Structural Analysis

My apologies for the long delay from my last post, things got a little crazy around casa de deeper: from postal misappropriations to structural failures, it's been a month. I've also delayed writing this entry in the hopes that the materials (The Muhal Richard Abrams Orchestra's Blu Blu Blu) would grow on me, it didn't.

Turns out, I'm a fan of structured music (though not structured settlements): I understand Mr Abrams is supposed to be a visionary of free jazz but this recording sounded, in the words of an underwhelmed fan of another disc, like "everyone was doing a solo". While I'm sure there is some sort of coherence here I don't hear it, similar to a problem I had with Francis the Mute from Mars Volta, give me something with an understandable layout and composition and I'll let the day drift by. This may make me a philistine to some (especially a jazz fan relative from Abrams' hometown) but so be it. This recording was a little hard to track down in digital form, Amazon (linked above) has an overpriced CD that should be reserved for the true conosieur while Emusic actually had one for download (about the only thing worth downloading from this free to cheap service).  (August 2011: Emusic has grown greatly since original posting, I feel it is well worth a look)

Journey to the Center of Music

It's Saturday, two days after Christmas and I'm laying on my in-law's couch while the missus is on their loveseat. We've been sick all night (thanks FIL) and the tv's on the Today show, when I see a bit with Tom Moon talking about his new book "1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die". I sit up a little straighter, getting a moist belch for my troubles, and think about the possibilities. After we get better I head over to a bookstore and have a look at the artists featured: it had everything from old favorites like Metallica to newer found treasures like Johnny Cash; many I had never heard of before, like the entire world music selection and most of the jazz selection; and it rounds out with *shudder* Britney Spears, ABBA, and country. After some thought I decided to buy the book and try something out: I'm going to get one of the recordings listed every couple weeks and blog my thoughts and reactions to them and in between we'll discuss other topics of interest, mostly music related. I originally thought it would be a 3 year project, but after I double checked my math, I realized that would require a budget of about $300 a week, not going to happen.

And so, I invite you to join me in this journey through some of the greatest music yet made. The comments section will be space for you to offer your thoughts on the artists featured, alternatives that we should check out and just have fun. The comments area is not your private billboard to advertise your recordings, blogs or pages; so, don't be surprised if your spam gets deleted.