I am currently working on compiling a new mix CD for an additional RMAS Mix CD Project that I am participating in. Since I never posted last years CD notes I thought I might as well publish it here as I have decided to keep this blog updated.
2007 RMAS Mix CD - Final Cut
Creating compilation CD’s are always hard, almost as hard as creating a ‘best of’ list. What songs to include often depend on how the tracks flow from one to the next. Choosing artists is only half the battle, and often it is just easier to omit a group than decide which one of their tracks to include. Take The Beatles for example. Choosing one song out of their amazing catalog to include here was too difficult to even try, as so many of them could fit, and choosing one would must make me question why it was chosen over others. So, I consulted a dynamic list I have been keeping lately and picked songs from there to include, putting them in an order I believe flows very nicely. I am sure you have heard most of these songs before, but not in the same context that I am submitting to you. I hope you enjoy this collection. While some of these would be included on an all time favorite list (if I ever had the guts to try to create one), there are plenty of others that would not, but just fit in with the flow of the music. I hope you enjoy it and welcome any and all comments, positive or negative.
Colorful – The Verve Pipe, The Platinum & Gold Collection. The first time I heard this song was when I saw Mark Wahlberg ‘sing’ it with his non heavy metal band at the end of the movie Rock Star (which is a move I happen to like). The song immediately caught my attention but it took me a couple of years to take the time to identify the name of the song and who really performed it. There is something about the song, and quite possibly how it was used at the end of the movie, that caught my attention. With the slow start and gradual build-up, this is a song I wish I could write, and one of those songs that I love playing on the piano. The lyrics are meaningful as well, with the line “I know I can be colorful, I know I can be gray. But I know this losers living fortunate. Cause I know you will love me either way” showing us that none of us are perfect and that we are often lucky to find the love that we have.
Big Railroad Blues – Phil Lesh & Friends, NJPAC 11/22/05. I was very close to including a Grateful Dead song but really had a hard time making a final decision and coming up with a song that fit in perfectly. Most people think the Dead died with Jerry, but Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends have carried the torch nicely, and have even turned it up a few notches. This one will certainly make you take notice.
Let It Ride – Ryan Adams, Cold Roses. To me, Ryan Adams is one of the those artists that 20 years from now we are going to look at his amazing body of work and just say wow, as long as he doesn’t self-destruct before it occurs. There are so many songs of his I considered for the compilation and I kept on coming back to this standout from Cold Roses.
Suddenly I See – KT Tunstall, Eye Of The Telescope. One of my favorite releases of 2006 and one of my favorite new artists I have recently started to listen to. This woman is an amazing talent and this song showcases what she can do. If you haven’t picked this release up yet, I highly recommend it.
In State – Kathleen Edwards, Back To Me. The Tom Petty influence is key to this song, and that is a good thing. The guitars sing, and Benmont Tench’s organ creates a swelling undercurrent of sound as Edwards sings a warning to her man that he better straighten himself out or else, because she knows where the cops hang out and maybe some time in prison will change his mind.
Welcome To Struggleville – Edwin Mccain, Lost In America. Originally written and released in 1996 by the Vigilantes Of Love, Mccain takes this song up another level on his latest release. There is unbelievable guitar work here that is strong, yet does not overpower the very descriptive and poignant lyrics.
Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) – Wilco, Summerteeth. I just ‘discovered’ Wilco about 18 months ago. Since then I have seriously made up for lost time, and have been lucky enough to see them once in a small venue here in Jersey (Starland Ballroom). I wanted to include a Wilco song and there were a gazillion and a half songs of theirs that I considered for this compilation, including my favorite song of theirs Jesus, Etc. However, none of them fit musically and I wanted a bit of a poppy type song that will bridge the opening set of songs with what amounts to a bit of time travel back to some of rock’s roots with the songs that come next.
My Pledge Of Love – The Joe Jeffrey Group. Found on Beg, Scream & Shout, Disc 5. Catchy lyrics, soulful horns and an amazing rhythm section. Upbeat and catchy, the perfect song to follow the pop song that precedes it here.
The Monkey Time – Major Lance. Found on Beg, Scream & Shout, Disc 5. Bruce Springsteen included the first couple of lines of this song as an introduction to Mary’s Place during The Rising Tour. I had never heard of this song until then and when I finally stumbled upon it on this box set it quickly became a big favorite of mine. Too bad Springsteen didn’t sing the entire song, that would have been a lot of fun.
Ordinary Joe – Terry Callier – I recently stumbled upon this song when listening to the Mojo Chess Classics compilation that came with the August 2005 issue of Mojo Magazine. I still don’t know much about Callier but by Googling him I can see that he has had a long and well respected career. A lot of soul, with some folk thrown in. This song will make you sit up and take notice from the beginning.
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show – The Band, Rock Of Ages. There are so many songs that you can pick by The Band. However, this one from one of my favorite live albums of all time just had to be included on this compilation. This song was one of those from this set that include a five member horn section that absolutely rocks and brings out the soul and early rock sounds that influenced The Band. If you never heard this song before, this is your chance to sit up and take notice.
Rumble In Brighton – Brian Setzer Orchestra, Guitar Slinger. I wanted another song with a lot of horns in this slot, and this was the first song that came to my mind. It is a gutsy move to take a song from your original band, add some more ‘meat’ to it (in this case sensational swinging horns) and turn it up a few notches. Setzer does his and then some on this song and this is the perfect fit after the great horns of the previous song.
Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2, Zoo Europa, 8/28/93, Dublin Ireland. This is from my favorite and (I think) the best sounding bootleg from the Zoo TV tour. This is also one of my favorite U2 songs. When they went into the studio to record Achtung Baby, one of their goals was to re-discover their rhythm section, as the band felt that was a little lost with their previous studio release The Joshua Tree. Listening to Achtung Baby and the subsequent tour, you can hear that they more than re-discovered it, but brought it out with full force. Listen to how Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen sound like a well tuned factory running with reckless abandon and you can almost picture machines at work. And, even more importantly, about 2/3 of the way through the song listen to The Edge’s unbelievable slide guitar work.
I Am Mine – Pearl Jam, 7/9/03 Madison Square Garden Official Bootleg series release. Quite possibly my favorite Pearl Jam song. Starting off slowly, with an amazing build up, a great melody, and a sensational guitar solo at the end. This is a prefect song for this compilation.
Get That Girl – Joe Jackson, I’m The Man – Almost buried as the second to last track on Jackson’s second album, this track is often overlooked when compared to the ‘hits that came off of this album (On Your Radio, It’s Different For Girls). However, this is the track in which I think his band really shines as Jackson sings that if he is lucky he is going to get the girl at the club who has more in common with him than her boyfriend that she is with.
I Found A Love – Eric Clapton – Crossroads, Disc 3. A previously unreleased track recorded in September 1974 during sessions for the There’s One In Every Crowd album. Very un-Clapton like in which there is very little true ‘Clapton like’ guitar until the very end. To me, the draw of this song is the amazing rhythm brought out by the drums and piano, along with Claptons passionate plea like singing.
Be True – Carrie Newcomer, Regulars And Refugees – I actually don’t own this album yet but will soon. I ‘discovered’ this song on the Paste Magazine 18 compilation and just had to include it here. Newcomer has an amazing voice that just has to be heard and shared. The first time I heard this song I was stunned by it, and it has since become one of my favorite songs of the last couple of years.
I Believe In Miracles – Pearl Jam, Live At Benaroya Hall. This semi-acoustic show of theirs is one of my favorites, as it showcases how good this band can be even when not rocking out. They have performed this great Ramones song many times, but there is something about this “almost unplugged” version that makes it different enough that you want to sit up and take notice. Definitely a keeper.
Fall On Me – REM, MTV Unplugged, April 10, 1991. From the Hitting The Note Acoustika bootleg. My favorite REM song and my favorite version of it. Stripped down to its simplicity, this song still powerful.
You’re A Big Girl Now – Bob Dylan, Blood On The Tracks. Almost lost in an album of amazing Dylan classics (Tangled Up In Blue, Simple Twist Of Fate, Idiot Wind, Lily, Rosemary…), this song opens starts out with some beautiful acoustic guitar accompanied by soft piano and percussion. After about 40 seconds, Dylan’s voice starts to tell us a story about a love found and then suddenly lost. In my view, this is one of his greatest works.
Take Me As I Am – October Project, 1993 self titled debut. Probably a band you have never heard of. Even 13 years later I still think this is their finest release, and one of the most overlooked releases of the 1990’s. And the lyrics of this song in particular have always had more meaning than others, with the line “Even if you shine a light into the mirror you won’t see me any clearer” being so profound that I just had to not only include this in this compilation, but make this the last song.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Favorite 2007 Releases
Favorite Releases In 2007
I probably bought about 20 or so CD’s this year. Not a lot by any means compared to previous years. A lot of the music I listened to in 2007 was from discs received in music magazines Paste, Uncut, and Mojo, which is a great way to hear a lot of new music and often old music you might have missed or forgotten about. The whole concept of “Backtracking” (discovering a band you had heard about for years but never really listened to) fascinates me. In addition, I spent a lot of time listening to legally available live shows by such bands as Phish, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Grateful Dead, Moe, Wilco, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, The Dave Matthews Band, etc….all grabbed from Etree or the DMB and Ryan Adams archive torrent sites. The wealth of live material made available by bands for free (or a small stipend) continues to grow and I see this as something that is never bad.
In any event, out of the approximately 20 or so CD’s purchased this year that are not magazine compilations or live shows, the following seven are those that made me stand up and pay attention to, and reaffirmed my long standing belief that you can never have enough good music to listen to, if you just listen carefully. As usual, there is always too much music and not enough time to listen to it all.
Note: These are not in any particular order.
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Lovely tunes, upbeat, great guitar work by Nels Cline. Tweedy’s songwriting is excellent, the band is stable and very talented, and if you don’t like Impossible Germany there is something wrong with you. We saw them in 2007 on the tour to support the release and it was clearly one of the best rock shows I have ever been to. Hard to believe this is only their sixth studio release. There is a lot of warmth to this music and Tweedy’s songwriting that has not been seen before. They are heading in an exciting direction
Springsteen – Magic – Back with the ESB after a two album absence. Shows more punch than The Rising and anything else he has done for a long time. Very much a true rock and roll record that in concert allows the band to shine. The lyrics are tricky and need to be paid attention to because they tell a complex story, mixing love with anti-war sentiments and how it feels to be a 50 something rock and roller with a family. The songs are tough and focused and while he often strays to do things outside of the ESB, he seems to always come back with a vengeance like this.
Rilo Kiley – Under The Backlight – Fleetwood Mac’ish? Nah, yeah, sometimes. With Jenny Lewis leading the way the sound is radio friendly (not that any listens to it anymore) and the tunes memorable from the onset. My first exposure to the band was from the previous release, More Adventurous, which is a bit mellower and more melodic, so my first listens to Under The Backlight were positive but I felt that they had taken a different turn. However, after repeated playing UTB has enough hook and panache to keep me coming back for more.
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black – While ignoring her personal transgressions in 2007 is hard, it is easier when you just listen to this release. When I bought this my dad was ill in the hospital in NYC and I was driving in every other day to visit with him, always during the evening rush when I had time on my hands to really listen to music. Note to others….if you are going to get stuck in traffic on the Helix leading to the Lincoln Tunnel for 45-60 minutes, make sure you have some good music with you. Winehouse made those rides bearable. I hope this amazing talent does not pull a Brittany train wreck and fall off the tracks. Oh, and listen to those horns!!! Motown should be proud.
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga – Have liked Conor Oberst’s music from the beginning but always felt his previous releases were a little choppy and unfocused. They had memorable moments, but nothing to hold things together. Listen to this release. Listen to these songs about love and alienation. Listen to Make A Plan To Love Me, and then listen to the whole release again from start to finish. There is space here, space to listen, space to give the music a chance to find itself and for the audience to feel like Oberst and the band are right in the living room with them. This is an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, and this should be exciting to watch.
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger – For me, not in the same vein as Cold Roses, this is nevertheless a strong release. A little bit more laid back, it sounds like this should have been his release after Heartbreaker. There is a lot more to come from Ryan, and while he does in concert often piss a lot of people off, at least he is now clean and ready to roll.
Erin Mckeown – Grand - Yeah, released in 2003 but I just heard her this year and found this release……not sure how. However, if you listen to Cinematic (sample it on Amazon!!!) and are not instantly hooked there is something wrong with you. A little bit of indie-pop, some swing, some folk, all the way to trip-hop. There are 14 songs on this CD and only one is more than about 3 minutes in length. And, the more you listen, the more it will grow on you and you will want to hear more. The first time I heard one of her songs I thought it was Dido singing. Mckeown is better than Dido in that her songs have more breadth, more fascinating lyrics, and a bit more pop mentality.
Honorable mention goes to:
The Sandinista Project – Yeah, my stepbrother Jimmy Guterman put this together, so I have some bias here. And yeah, just like the original release there is a lot of ‘what were they thinking’, but on a whole this is an ambitious piece of work not only by The Clash but by all of the artists that agreed to take part in this undertaking. One of the things I found interesting about this is that some of the songs I considered throwaways on the original actually shine here. Kudos to Jimmy for putting it together. For more info go to: http://sandinista.guterman.com/
Son Volt – The Search – A really, really like this band. For some reason or another I just keep forgetting about them. Perhaps it was because the first time I heard them was on Trace, which did not grab me right away, or perhaps it never has. Others have told me to get Okemah And The Melody Of Riot, which I WILL have to do someday. I need to spend some time with this music, to see if I can get it on my radar screen a little bit more.
And finally, I still need to get:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
K.T. Tunstall - "Drastic Fantastic"
And new releases by Levon Helm, Page & Krause, Neil Young’s Massey Hall release, Josh Ritter, Keane, and a host of others that I have heard on those magazine compilations I need to find out more info on.
And lastly, these are artists that had a bit of an impact in 2007 that I just don’t get, even though I have tried, really tried:
The National (and LCD Soundsystem and The Bravery)
M.I.A
The Hold Steady
Lucinda Williams
I probably bought about 20 or so CD’s this year. Not a lot by any means compared to previous years. A lot of the music I listened to in 2007 was from discs received in music magazines Paste, Uncut, and Mojo, which is a great way to hear a lot of new music and often old music you might have missed or forgotten about. The whole concept of “Backtracking” (discovering a band you had heard about for years but never really listened to) fascinates me. In addition, I spent a lot of time listening to legally available live shows by such bands as Phish, Phil Lesh & Friends, the Grateful Dead, Moe, Wilco, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, The Dave Matthews Band, etc….all grabbed from Etree or the DMB and Ryan Adams archive torrent sites. The wealth of live material made available by bands for free (or a small stipend) continues to grow and I see this as something that is never bad.
In any event, out of the approximately 20 or so CD’s purchased this year that are not magazine compilations or live shows, the following seven are those that made me stand up and pay attention to, and reaffirmed my long standing belief that you can never have enough good music to listen to, if you just listen carefully. As usual, there is always too much music and not enough time to listen to it all.
Note: These are not in any particular order.
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky – Lovely tunes, upbeat, great guitar work by Nels Cline. Tweedy’s songwriting is excellent, the band is stable and very talented, and if you don’t like Impossible Germany there is something wrong with you. We saw them in 2007 on the tour to support the release and it was clearly one of the best rock shows I have ever been to. Hard to believe this is only their sixth studio release. There is a lot of warmth to this music and Tweedy’s songwriting that has not been seen before. They are heading in an exciting direction
Springsteen – Magic – Back with the ESB after a two album absence. Shows more punch than The Rising and anything else he has done for a long time. Very much a true rock and roll record that in concert allows the band to shine. The lyrics are tricky and need to be paid attention to because they tell a complex story, mixing love with anti-war sentiments and how it feels to be a 50 something rock and roller with a family. The songs are tough and focused and while he often strays to do things outside of the ESB, he seems to always come back with a vengeance like this.
Rilo Kiley – Under The Backlight – Fleetwood Mac’ish? Nah, yeah, sometimes. With Jenny Lewis leading the way the sound is radio friendly (not that any listens to it anymore) and the tunes memorable from the onset. My first exposure to the band was from the previous release, More Adventurous, which is a bit mellower and more melodic, so my first listens to Under The Backlight were positive but I felt that they had taken a different turn. However, after repeated playing UTB has enough hook and panache to keep me coming back for more.
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black – While ignoring her personal transgressions in 2007 is hard, it is easier when you just listen to this release. When I bought this my dad was ill in the hospital in NYC and I was driving in every other day to visit with him, always during the evening rush when I had time on my hands to really listen to music. Note to others….if you are going to get stuck in traffic on the Helix leading to the Lincoln Tunnel for 45-60 minutes, make sure you have some good music with you. Winehouse made those rides bearable. I hope this amazing talent does not pull a Brittany train wreck and fall off the tracks. Oh, and listen to those horns!!! Motown should be proud.
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga – Have liked Conor Oberst’s music from the beginning but always felt his previous releases were a little choppy and unfocused. They had memorable moments, but nothing to hold things together. Listen to this release. Listen to these songs about love and alienation. Listen to Make A Plan To Love Me, and then listen to the whole release again from start to finish. There is space here, space to listen, space to give the music a chance to find itself and for the audience to feel like Oberst and the band are right in the living room with them. This is an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, and this should be exciting to watch.
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger – For me, not in the same vein as Cold Roses, this is nevertheless a strong release. A little bit more laid back, it sounds like this should have been his release after Heartbreaker. There is a lot more to come from Ryan, and while he does in concert often piss a lot of people off, at least he is now clean and ready to roll.
Erin Mckeown – Grand - Yeah, released in 2003 but I just heard her this year and found this release……not sure how. However, if you listen to Cinematic (sample it on Amazon!!!) and are not instantly hooked there is something wrong with you. A little bit of indie-pop, some swing, some folk, all the way to trip-hop. There are 14 songs on this CD and only one is more than about 3 minutes in length. And, the more you listen, the more it will grow on you and you will want to hear more. The first time I heard one of her songs I thought it was Dido singing. Mckeown is better than Dido in that her songs have more breadth, more fascinating lyrics, and a bit more pop mentality.
Honorable mention goes to:
The Sandinista Project – Yeah, my stepbrother Jimmy Guterman put this together, so I have some bias here. And yeah, just like the original release there is a lot of ‘what were they thinking’, but on a whole this is an ambitious piece of work not only by The Clash but by all of the artists that agreed to take part in this undertaking. One of the things I found interesting about this is that some of the songs I considered throwaways on the original actually shine here. Kudos to Jimmy for putting it together. For more info go to: http://sandinista.guterman.com/
Son Volt – The Search – A really, really like this band. For some reason or another I just keep forgetting about them. Perhaps it was because the first time I heard them was on Trace, which did not grab me right away, or perhaps it never has. Others have told me to get Okemah And The Melody Of Riot, which I WILL have to do someday. I need to spend some time with this music, to see if I can get it on my radar screen a little bit more.
And finally, I still need to get:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
K.T. Tunstall - "Drastic Fantastic"
And new releases by Levon Helm, Page & Krause, Neil Young’s Massey Hall release, Josh Ritter, Keane, and a host of others that I have heard on those magazine compilations I need to find out more info on.
And lastly, these are artists that had a bit of an impact in 2007 that I just don’t get, even though I have tried, really tried:
The National (and LCD Soundsystem and The Bravery)
M.I.A
The Hold Steady
Lucinda Williams
Monday, April 16, 2007
Latest listens Mid April 2007
A listing of some of the stuff I've been listening to lately.....
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga - Excellent. Buy this. Much more mature
and sophisticated than any of his earlier releases. Much more
accessible than I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning from 2005. Much more
mature (I know, I already said that), but its true. You listen to
this and just marvel at how much Connor Oberst has grown, and as he
has grown and matured and gotten more sophisticated and polished so
has the music. The songs are true tales of Americana, and you can
hear how he has been influenced by The Band and even Wilco. Here's
hoping that Ryan Adams is taking notice as this is something HE should
be doing.
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black. Such an amazing disc.
Stax 50th Anniversary Collection - No words needed here.
Dusty Springfield - The Ultimate Collection - I am so sorry I
missed this one in her prime ( I was too young). What a voice.
Neko Case - Fox Confessor.... I'm on a bit of a female artist
streak these days. This is one of my favorite releases from last
year.
U2 - How To Assemble An Atomic Bomb - Haven't listened to this one
in over a year (most U2 I listen to is live material). Still a great
listen.
Erin McKeown - Grand - Wow. What a fun CD! I'm not sure how best
to describe this. So, I'll paraphrase some reviews on Amazon: "
jazzy, lusty, jazz-hop, indie-pop, gentle country-rock....just to name
a few". A great voice, some great catchy songs that don't overwhelm.
I highly recommed this one.
Carrie Newcomer - Regulars And Refugees - "....the stories of
patrons at Betty's Diner.....where the souls both tragic and
triumphant dine side by side". A bit more serious that McKeown, but
equally as great a listen.
Son Volt - The Search
Bruce Springsteen - One of Flynn's compilation discs from the
Seeger Sessions tour. Not sure which one.
The Beatles - Hard Days Night. So innocent, so young, such a
simpler time in the world.
Wilco - A live show from somewhere, can't recall right now. Gotta
get back into them a bit since we are seeing them in June.
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga - Excellent. Buy this. Much more mature
and sophisticated than any of his earlier releases. Much more
accessible than I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning from 2005. Much more
mature (I know, I already said that), but its true. You listen to
this and just marvel at how much Connor Oberst has grown, and as he
has grown and matured and gotten more sophisticated and polished so
has the music. The songs are true tales of Americana, and you can
hear how he has been influenced by The Band and even Wilco. Here's
hoping that Ryan Adams is taking notice as this is something HE should
be doing.
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black. Such an amazing disc.
Stax 50th Anniversary Collection - No words needed here.
Dusty Springfield - The Ultimate Collection - I am so sorry I
missed this one in her prime ( I was too young). What a voice.
Neko Case - Fox Confessor.... I'm on a bit of a female artist
streak these days. This is one of my favorite releases from last
year.
U2 - How To Assemble An Atomic Bomb - Haven't listened to this one
in over a year (most U2 I listen to is live material). Still a great
listen.
Erin McKeown - Grand - Wow. What a fun CD! I'm not sure how best
to describe this. So, I'll paraphrase some reviews on Amazon: "
jazzy, lusty, jazz-hop, indie-pop, gentle country-rock....just to name
a few". A great voice, some great catchy songs that don't overwhelm.
I highly recommed this one.
Carrie Newcomer - Regulars And Refugees - "....the stories of
patrons at Betty's Diner.....where the souls both tragic and
triumphant dine side by side". A bit more serious that McKeown, but
equally as great a listen.
Son Volt - The Search
Bruce Springsteen - One of Flynn's compilation discs from the
Seeger Sessions tour. Not sure which one.
The Beatles - Hard Days Night. So innocent, so young, such a
simpler time in the world.
Wilco - A live show from somewhere, can't recall right now. Gotta
get back into them a bit since we are seeing them in June.
Friday, January 20, 2006
I bought alot of CD's in 2005, more than I care to admit. This is alist of my favorites purchased in the last year. I'm not going to provide detailed evaluation of these. There is enough information on the internet, specifically Amazon.com, where you can find more informative reviews. Some of these are not new for 2005, but are cd's that I purchased in 2005 that had an impact on me and I happen to likea lot.
In no particular order:
Brandi Carlile - Debut. From start to finish, possibly my favoriterelease of the year.
John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt - A mesermizing 'different' type ofrelease. Very acoustic with a lot of studio effects. Give it a try!!!!
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses. I don't have 29 yet, and I don't like Jacksonville City Nights that much (yet). I like the 'rockin' Adams a bit better and in my opinion Love Is Hell is my f avorite release of his. Cold Roses has some great moments, moments that are good enough to be memorable.
Joan Osborne - How Sweet It Is - Amazing covers such as I'll BeAround, Think, War, The Weight, Everybody Is A Star, etc. What an amazing voice.
Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me - From the start of In State (an incredible song that stands alone on its own merit), this release gets better and better with age.
Uncut, Mojo, and Paste magazine CD's - Various artists ranging fromthe old to the new, from the Blues to Punk to funk to acoustic rock to alt-rock. You name it, its there. Amazing stuff. All three magazines are worth the read and the CD's that come with them each month are something I always look forward to.
David Bowie - David Live - 1984, Rebel Rebel, Suffragette City, AllThe Young Dudes, Knock On Wood, Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs. Need Isay more?
Devils & Dust
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine - See my W/O post this week for my
feeling on this.
I Am Sam - Great Beatles covers
Wilco - Summerteeth - She's A Jar, Shot In The Arm, I'm Always In Loveand one of my favorite songs of any band: Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again).
Born To Run - Box set.
Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy - Reissue. Reminds me why I loved this release when it first came out back in the day!
Arcade Fire - Funeral. As good as the hype.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Debut
In no particular order:
Brandi Carlile - Debut. From start to finish, possibly my favoriterelease of the year.
John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt - A mesermizing 'different' type ofrelease. Very acoustic with a lot of studio effects. Give it a try!!!!
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses. I don't have 29 yet, and I don't like Jacksonville City Nights that much (yet). I like the 'rockin' Adams a bit better and in my opinion Love Is Hell is my f avorite release of his. Cold Roses has some great moments, moments that are good enough to be memorable.
Joan Osborne - How Sweet It Is - Amazing covers such as I'll BeAround, Think, War, The Weight, Everybody Is A Star, etc. What an amazing voice.
Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me - From the start of In State (an incredible song that stands alone on its own merit), this release gets better and better with age.
Uncut, Mojo, and Paste magazine CD's - Various artists ranging fromthe old to the new, from the Blues to Punk to funk to acoustic rock to alt-rock. You name it, its there. Amazing stuff. All three magazines are worth the read and the CD's that come with them each month are something I always look forward to.
David Bowie - David Live - 1984, Rebel Rebel, Suffragette City, AllThe Young Dudes, Knock On Wood, Space Oddity, Diamond Dogs. Need Isay more?
Devils & Dust
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine - See my W/O post this week for my
feeling on this.
I Am Sam - Great Beatles covers
Wilco - Summerteeth - She's A Jar, Shot In The Arm, I'm Always In Loveand one of my favorite songs of any band: Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again).
Born To Run - Box set.
Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy - Reissue. Reminds me why I loved this release when it first came out back in the day!
Arcade Fire - Funeral. As good as the hype.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Debut
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Dec 8, 1980. The Night The Music Died
December 8, 1980, is one of those nights that many people of our generation will always remember. 25 years ago I was a 21 year old college senior at American University in Washington DC. Lifewas good. I was living in a house with 3 other friends in BethesdaMaryland, had a decent car that took me to and from school, hadlots of friends and a good part-time job working at a restaurant inthe district.
On the night of December 8 I remember I worked until closing andgot home a little after midnight. The house of quiet as my housemateswere either out or sleeping ( I can't recall). As per my usualroutine after my shift I took a quick shower and then settled in myroom to listen to some usic and relax a bit before going to bed. Backin 1980, FM radio in DC was excellent, with stations ranging from thepopular DC101 to the eclectic WHFS. I remember putting on DC101 andsitting back to relax, and smiled when I heard a Beatles song beingplayed.
Back in 1980 my musical tastes were varied but still a bit limited. Iwas totally anti-disco, loved the Beatles, liked our homestate boyBruce alot, and was still very much into the Progressive music of the70's (Yes, ELP, Genesis, etc), and 'southern' rock artists such as theAllmans, the Outlaws, Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In fact, itwas the tragic deaths of Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines in thatplane crash a few years earlier that was my first taste of losing anartist that I loved. I still remember that day, and how it had such aprofound effect on the music that I listened to. However, it wasnothing compared to what was about to happen.
I really wasn't paying that much attention to the music playing on theradio, until I noticed that they had just played 3 Beatles songs in arow. I thought it was kind of cool and by the fifth song or so I wasgetting into their unannounced 'Beatles Block'. If you can remember,back in the 70's and 80's, many radio stations would play 'blocks' ofsongs of an artist, or have special times for artists or styles.Breakfast with The Beatles", "Bruce Juice", "Things From England",'Beatles A to Z", all are constants in the radio memory of thosedays, along with the inevitabable year-end (or sometimes labor dayweekend) top 100 songs of all time countdowns. I figured DC101 wasdoing something like this.
About 20 or so minutes into this Beatles/Lennon block a song ends andthe DJ begins to talk about the music, slowly and I felt with a bit ofsadness. He is talking about Lennon and The Beatles, and how muchtheir music means (or meant) to him nd I was beginning to sense thatsomething was going on. The Beatles getting back together was myfirst initial thought. However, that was soon crushed when the DJthen repeated the news that others had already known, that John Lennonhad been shot and killed earlier that evening in New York City.
At that very moment, the phone in the house rang. This was 1980, thewere no cell phones, no portable phones. We had one phone, in thekitchen down the hall. I ran to get it and I remember it was a friendof mine who went to school with me and she was crying hystericallyover the phone to me. The news hadn't even sunk in with me and thereI was trying to calm her down over the phone. It wasn't working andso I asked her if she wanted me to come over. She lived in a housewith a couple of other girls a few miles away in Chevy Chase, so itwas really a no brainer, and I had a feeling that I needed to be withpeople as well.
I arrived at her house about 15 minutes later and she and herhousemates were all sitting in one of their rooms listening to theradio, which of course was still playing Lennon/Beatles music. Therest of the night is really a blur, as it WAS 25 years ago, butfrom what I remember we sat around until after dawn listening tomusic, talking, singing, and just being together. None of us wantedto be alone and we all needed to talk, and that is what we did. Iremember falling asleep for a few hours in a corner and waking up tofind the listening/togetherness party still going on.
The next couple of days were a blur also. Nobody could reallyconcentrate on classes and studying for our upcoming mid-terms. Iremember going to a memorial service on campus, and another one in DCsomewhere. A few of us thought about going up to NYC, butfunds were low, and it just didn't work out. So, we did what collegestudents all accross America did....we studied, we sang, we partied abit, and we grew up some more and lost a little bit more of ourchildhood.
Time passes though, and wounds do heal. However, this is one thatnever seems to. If it wasn't for Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles wouldbe the number one band in my life. When I was 12 and first started tocollect music, Beatles albums were the first ones I ever bought, andI quickly knew the words to dozens of their songs. As my musicaltastes have grown, changed, and varied over the years, The Beatles areone of the few constant artists in my life thatNEVER stray off of my musical radar screen. As a piano player, I cansit down with the twoBeatles Compleat books and play the songs from the first one in thebook to the last. If I werein a band, I could play Beatles songs all day, I never get tired ofthem, just as I never tire ofBruce Springsteen songs. Their songs, along with Bruce's, have becomethe soundtrack ofmy life, my constant musical companion for the last 30 or more years.
It saddens me to think about this loss. I know it sounds selfish.John's family and friends didnot know me, and they are the ones most affected by his death.However, as an artist John wasa friend of all of us, and the fact that he was finally getting hismusical/artistic life back in track andthe possibilities of what could have come next is so upsetting knowingthat those plans werecrushed that day. I read an article last month in which he had saidthat in early 1981 he wasgoing to get a band together and go back out on the road, and then goback into the studio andrecord some more music, and then go back on the road and tour again.This blows me away,thinking about what a Lennon tour could have brought us, the songs hecould have played, andthe songs that were never written because Mark David Chapman (who Ihope by the way nevergets out of prison) decided that he wanted his own 15 minutes of fame.Shame on your Mr Chapman, shame on you. Shame on you for cutting down an artist in hisprime, and artistwho was just getting his legs again, who still had alot to say, andwhose death had a profound effect on millions of people around the world.
I think John would have found the last 25 years very interesting. Ican't imagine what his music would have been like, but it couldn't have been bad. We mighthave even seen somecollaboration with him and the other Beatles. Paul has even said hewould have liked to havewritten with him again. I think John would have embraced the personalcomputer age, he wouldhave been excited with the IPOD, and he would have probably been angryat our governmentfor all kinds of things, right or wrong, and that is ok because thatis what being an artist andan citizen is about. Question things that you don't feel are right.Express yourself in ways toget your message across, and do it in a civilized and rational manner.
We miss you John. The world has moved on and you will never beforgotten, at least not bythis writer and millions of others. While you would not have made adifference in how thingshave gone over the last 25 years (good and bad), I think you wouldhave had an interestingtime and we would have liked to have gone on the ride with you. Thepotential that you hadthat was taken from us will never be realized, and that is the biggestcrime your death hasbrought. What if.......?
On the night of December 8 I remember I worked until closing andgot home a little after midnight. The house of quiet as my housemateswere either out or sleeping ( I can't recall). As per my usualroutine after my shift I took a quick shower and then settled in myroom to listen to some usic and relax a bit before going to bed. Backin 1980, FM radio in DC was excellent, with stations ranging from thepopular DC101 to the eclectic WHFS. I remember putting on DC101 andsitting back to relax, and smiled when I heard a Beatles song beingplayed.
Back in 1980 my musical tastes were varied but still a bit limited. Iwas totally anti-disco, loved the Beatles, liked our homestate boyBruce alot, and was still very much into the Progressive music of the70's (Yes, ELP, Genesis, etc), and 'southern' rock artists such as theAllmans, the Outlaws, Marshall Tucker and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In fact, itwas the tragic deaths of Ronnie Van Zandt and Steve Gaines in thatplane crash a few years earlier that was my first taste of losing anartist that I loved. I still remember that day, and how it had such aprofound effect on the music that I listened to. However, it wasnothing compared to what was about to happen.
I really wasn't paying that much attention to the music playing on theradio, until I noticed that they had just played 3 Beatles songs in arow. I thought it was kind of cool and by the fifth song or so I wasgetting into their unannounced 'Beatles Block'. If you can remember,back in the 70's and 80's, many radio stations would play 'blocks' ofsongs of an artist, or have special times for artists or styles.Breakfast with The Beatles", "Bruce Juice", "Things From England",'Beatles A to Z", all are constants in the radio memory of thosedays, along with the inevitabable year-end (or sometimes labor dayweekend) top 100 songs of all time countdowns. I figured DC101 wasdoing something like this.
About 20 or so minutes into this Beatles/Lennon block a song ends andthe DJ begins to talk about the music, slowly and I felt with a bit ofsadness. He is talking about Lennon and The Beatles, and how muchtheir music means (or meant) to him nd I was beginning to sense thatsomething was going on. The Beatles getting back together was myfirst initial thought. However, that was soon crushed when the DJthen repeated the news that others had already known, that John Lennonhad been shot and killed earlier that evening in New York City.
At that very moment, the phone in the house rang. This was 1980, thewere no cell phones, no portable phones. We had one phone, in thekitchen down the hall. I ran to get it and I remember it was a friendof mine who went to school with me and she was crying hystericallyover the phone to me. The news hadn't even sunk in with me and thereI was trying to calm her down over the phone. It wasn't working andso I asked her if she wanted me to come over. She lived in a housewith a couple of other girls a few miles away in Chevy Chase, so itwas really a no brainer, and I had a feeling that I needed to be withpeople as well.
I arrived at her house about 15 minutes later and she and herhousemates were all sitting in one of their rooms listening to theradio, which of course was still playing Lennon/Beatles music. Therest of the night is really a blur, as it WAS 25 years ago, butfrom what I remember we sat around until after dawn listening tomusic, talking, singing, and just being together. None of us wantedto be alone and we all needed to talk, and that is what we did. Iremember falling asleep for a few hours in a corner and waking up tofind the listening/togetherness party still going on.
The next couple of days were a blur also. Nobody could reallyconcentrate on classes and studying for our upcoming mid-terms. Iremember going to a memorial service on campus, and another one in DCsomewhere. A few of us thought about going up to NYC, butfunds were low, and it just didn't work out. So, we did what collegestudents all accross America did....we studied, we sang, we partied abit, and we grew up some more and lost a little bit more of ourchildhood.
Time passes though, and wounds do heal. However, this is one thatnever seems to. If it wasn't for Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles wouldbe the number one band in my life. When I was 12 and first started tocollect music, Beatles albums were the first ones I ever bought, andI quickly knew the words to dozens of their songs. As my musicaltastes have grown, changed, and varied over the years, The Beatles areone of the few constant artists in my life thatNEVER stray off of my musical radar screen. As a piano player, I cansit down with the twoBeatles Compleat books and play the songs from the first one in thebook to the last. If I werein a band, I could play Beatles songs all day, I never get tired ofthem, just as I never tire ofBruce Springsteen songs. Their songs, along with Bruce's, have becomethe soundtrack ofmy life, my constant musical companion for the last 30 or more years.
It saddens me to think about this loss. I know it sounds selfish.John's family and friends didnot know me, and they are the ones most affected by his death.However, as an artist John wasa friend of all of us, and the fact that he was finally getting hismusical/artistic life back in track andthe possibilities of what could have come next is so upsetting knowingthat those plans werecrushed that day. I read an article last month in which he had saidthat in early 1981 he wasgoing to get a band together and go back out on the road, and then goback into the studio andrecord some more music, and then go back on the road and tour again.This blows me away,thinking about what a Lennon tour could have brought us, the songs hecould have played, andthe songs that were never written because Mark David Chapman (who Ihope by the way nevergets out of prison) decided that he wanted his own 15 minutes of fame.Shame on your Mr Chapman, shame on you. Shame on you for cutting down an artist in hisprime, and artistwho was just getting his legs again, who still had alot to say, andwhose death had a profound effect on millions of people around the world.
I think John would have found the last 25 years very interesting. Ican't imagine what his music would have been like, but it couldn't have been bad. We mighthave even seen somecollaboration with him and the other Beatles. Paul has even said hewould have liked to havewritten with him again. I think John would have embraced the personalcomputer age, he wouldhave been excited with the IPOD, and he would have probably been angryat our governmentfor all kinds of things, right or wrong, and that is ok because thatis what being an artist andan citizen is about. Question things that you don't feel are right.Express yourself in ways toget your message across, and do it in a civilized and rational manner.
We miss you John. The world has moved on and you will never beforgotten, at least not bythis writer and millions of others. While you would not have made adifference in how thingshave gone over the last 25 years (good and bad), I think you wouldhave had an interestingtime and we would have liked to have gone on the ride with you. Thepotential that you hadthat was taken from us will never be realized, and that is the biggestcrime your death hasbrought. What if.......?
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Bravo Bruce.......
Well! A couple of Bruce thoughts.
1. The BTR 30th anniversary box set. Bravo!! The 'new' CD sounds great, with a cleaner sound and more of a speration of instruments than ever before. Gary's bass is awesome in some of the songs. The Hammersmith DVD is worth its weight in gold. Could this be a sign that the vault door is starting to open? I truly hope so!!!
2. The end of the tour. I was strong. Despite 5 offers from folks to join them at one of the two CAA shows this month (including free tickets) I stood my ground and politely declined....even when Bruce brought out Thundercrack and Santa Ana in Philadelphia. I wanted my final show of the tour (Trenton #1) to be THE SHOW for me, and Bruce did not disappoint me at all. Trenton was a great show and the night would have been perfect if it didn't rain the WHOLE way down and back. Atlantic City, Spare Parts, Meeting Accross The River, Fade Away, DRIVE ALL NIGHT, Santa Ana, Thundercrack!!!!!, This Hard Land, and SONGS OF THE ORPHANS!!!!! As we left the arena I told Sue Potters that "I'm good, no need to come back for the final show". Yeah, I know, I would have heard Fire and Zero And Blind Terry and Mansion and Backstreets but you know, you can't have them all!!!! 139 songs on this tour. Bravo Bruce.....you did a fine job.
3. What I have learned - As on The Rising tour, the last month or so on this tour was totally different than how it started. In September 2003 Bruce started performing songs from Tunnel Of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town, which made the September and October (Shea) shows that much more enjoyable. At the end of this tour not only did Bruce start to play songs for the first time from his official releases, but songs that never made the light of day until Tracks (if that) and songs that can only be found on various studio bootlegs and outtakes, plus songs he has not performed live in ages.
4. 139 songs!!!!!! I know I said that already, but who would have thought he would play that many? I know, its easier for him to say one night "Let me see what's in my notebook that I haven't played in awhile" and rehearse it a bit in his hotel suite, soundcheck it so the sound guy can mix it right as opposed to having the band learn the song again. However, to boldly go down the path he did on this tour with some of the songs is mind boggling (to me at least). Thank you!!!
5. What's next? Only Bruce knows for sure, and its a good possibility that he doesn't. Hopefully we will see a return to the Convention Hall Christmas shows this year. These have always been personal favorites of mine. As for what is next starting in 2006 lets hope we have a new release that rocks, followed by another ESB tour. The clock is ticking on how much mileage he will be able to get out of this band, especially with Clarence. However, if the Stones can do it and do it well then I believe Bruce and the ESB should be able to do it as well.
1. The BTR 30th anniversary box set. Bravo!! The 'new' CD sounds great, with a cleaner sound and more of a speration of instruments than ever before. Gary's bass is awesome in some of the songs. The Hammersmith DVD is worth its weight in gold. Could this be a sign that the vault door is starting to open? I truly hope so!!!
2. The end of the tour. I was strong. Despite 5 offers from folks to join them at one of the two CAA shows this month (including free tickets) I stood my ground and politely declined....even when Bruce brought out Thundercrack and Santa Ana in Philadelphia. I wanted my final show of the tour (Trenton #1) to be THE SHOW for me, and Bruce did not disappoint me at all. Trenton was a great show and the night would have been perfect if it didn't rain the WHOLE way down and back. Atlantic City, Spare Parts, Meeting Accross The River, Fade Away, DRIVE ALL NIGHT, Santa Ana, Thundercrack!!!!!, This Hard Land, and SONGS OF THE ORPHANS!!!!! As we left the arena I told Sue Potters that "I'm good, no need to come back for the final show". Yeah, I know, I would have heard Fire and Zero And Blind Terry and Mansion and Backstreets but you know, you can't have them all!!!! 139 songs on this tour. Bravo Bruce.....you did a fine job.
3. What I have learned - As on The Rising tour, the last month or so on this tour was totally different than how it started. In September 2003 Bruce started performing songs from Tunnel Of Love, Human Touch and Lucky Town, which made the September and October (Shea) shows that much more enjoyable. At the end of this tour not only did Bruce start to play songs for the first time from his official releases, but songs that never made the light of day until Tracks (if that) and songs that can only be found on various studio bootlegs and outtakes, plus songs he has not performed live in ages.
4. 139 songs!!!!!! I know I said that already, but who would have thought he would play that many? I know, its easier for him to say one night "Let me see what's in my notebook that I haven't played in awhile" and rehearse it a bit in his hotel suite, soundcheck it so the sound guy can mix it right as opposed to having the band learn the song again. However, to boldly go down the path he did on this tour with some of the songs is mind boggling (to me at least). Thank you!!!
5. What's next? Only Bruce knows for sure, and its a good possibility that he doesn't. Hopefully we will see a return to the Convention Hall Christmas shows this year. These have always been personal favorites of mine. As for what is next starting in 2006 lets hope we have a new release that rocks, followed by another ESB tour. The clock is ticking on how much mileage he will be able to get out of this band, especially with Clarence. However, if the Stones can do it and do it well then I believe Bruce and the ESB should be able to do it as well.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
The IPOD is changing the way I am listening to music.
As the IPOD (and other similar personal music devices) increase in usage, I am beginning to personally notice a trend in which even I am starting to listen to music.
Back when I first started to listen and buy music around 1973 I bought LP's. For the record (no pun intended) the first record I ever bought was Naturally, by Three Dog Night, followed by Every Picture Tells AStory. I learned early on by my mistakes. I was never really interested in singles like some of my friends because I was never a 'hits' kind of listener. I wanted to hear the other songs the artist/group had recorded and found the album format to be the one that worked best for me. Because of this I at one time amassed the complete record collections of many of my favorite artists.....I trend the continued with the CD era. In addition, my leanings toward theLP as opposed to the single format was also due to my enjoynment of the Progressive Rock movement of the 1970's (and somewhat beyond) in which albums were built around a theme (think Nektar, Yes, ELP, Genesis.....to name just a few) and these types of releases did not come accross very well in the single song format.
Time marches on, as it always does, and some things continue as always while otherschange slowly. As the era of the CD came along, I continued to buy them in thealbum format (no CD 'singles for me) and look at the CD as a whole entity as opposedto one or two good songs followed by what was and is still known as 'filler'. From time to time I would make a compilation of songs from CD's that I was getting rid of (selling forthe sake of making room for more purchases) but my buying and listening habits did notchange from the time I began to listen to music in the early 1970's to the present.
Even with the advent of the Sony CD Walkman and its successful copies by every electronic manufacturer in the business, my listening habits did not change. Unless I was listening to a 'mix tape' or a 'mix cd' (think of me being a bit like Rob Gordon, the lead characterJohn Cusack played in High Fidelity. I was very much like him as I made mix tapes for countless people in high school and then in college.....primarily as a way of impressing girls I guess. With the Walkman format you still listened to one CD at a time. Even int he car and with the early home CD players. It wasn't until CD players at home and in the car were able to handle multiple discs that we were able to either 'program' a group of songs to play from multiple CDs loaded on the platter, or better yet, put the player on shuffle play to randomly select songs form the loaded CD's. However, we were still limited to the CD's that were loaded into the player and had no choice in what was being played. Until now.
When my older son got his first IPOD about 2 years ago I showed little or no interest except in helping him learn how to use the software (something he soon surpassed me in knowledge and experience). It wasn't until I started to borrow it from him from timeto time that I began to enjoy having one around the house. It reminds me of an articleI once read about when televisions first became commercially available, most peoplethought that having one in each household would be enough. Nobody at the time could have guessed that in some houses there is a television in every room (bathrooms included). However, I digress and need to get back on track.
Even with borrowing his IPOD I had no interest in owning one of my own. However,my family thought I would enjoy one and bought a 20 Gig model for me last June for Fathersday. I was tickled pink and very thankful. After a few weeks of staring at the wrapped boxand (believe it or not contemplating returning it) I finally opened it, loaded the software and imported and loaded some CDs onto it, gradually over the course of a year and a few months to the present of having about 2300 songs on it.
When I first started to use MY Ipod, I listened to an album, and then when it was donescrolled around and listened to another. It wasn't until I accidently discovered the shuffleplay feature that the full power of the IPOD became apparent to me. By setting the machine up on songs shuffle I had (in my opinion) the greatest radio station in the worldat my fingertips, with NO commercials and annoying DJ chatter (more on annoying DJ chatter another time....when I was growing up and listening to WNEW-FM in NYC, part of the lure WAS the DJ chatter). I was in heaven as I was listening to MY songs in an order that wouldtotally surprise and sometimes confound me.....how DOES this little machine know what songsfit so well together?
Well....about a month ago I realized that this shuffle play was nice, but there were plenty of times that a song would come on that I really did not like. I would skip over it. As time wenton I realized that I was doing this more and more. It finally dawned on me a few weeks ago that when using my IPOD I wasn't listening to ALBUMS anymore. I was listening to SINGLE songs, from many different artists. About a month ago I loaded some more CD's onto myIPOD. This time however I did it a bit different than I had before. Instead of letting Itunes just import everything (by the way....isn't Itunes one of the other coolest inventions ever created andt hat database it goes to get the CD and song titles, how cool is that), I started to select only the songs I wanted to hear. I even remember the CD I began doing this with. It was Ghost In The Machine by the Police. A great ALBUM, but there are a few songs on it that I just don't enjoy (I can't recall them offhand). So.....I didn't load them, and now I won't have to listen tothem on my IPOD. Of course, if I have that CD on at home in the changer it is possible that a song I don't like will come on, but that's ok. This is not to say that some of my favorite albums won't have songs not loaded . Think about Born To Run, Sgt Pepper, Blood OnThe Tracks, The Fillmore Concerts, or many other great classic albums. Could you think about a song from those NOT to load onto your IPOD. If you can, well that's another topic.
As I am thinking about this I am beginning to realize that (for the IPOD at least) my listeninghabits have changed. No longer do I need to load every song from every CD I own. I may not want to hear them all, and that's ok. When I want to hear an entire CD I still can. But, whenI want to hear some great songs that I love (and some ones that I love and have forgotten about), not having the 'filler' songs from an album on my IPOD is nice. I really hate interrupting what I am doing and pressing the skip forward button. I'm not sure if this is good for the industry or not, but I think it is one of the new business models (along with some others)that the music industry has to face as we (as listeners) become more technological savvy and keep expanding how, when, and where we listen to music. I will still buy my CD's and listen to them at home andin the car. However, my portable device, my IPOD, will contain the songs that I love and not all of the albums.
Rock on and make sure the device is charged.
As the IPOD (and other similar personal music devices) increase in usage, I am beginning to personally notice a trend in which even I am starting to listen to music.
Back when I first started to listen and buy music around 1973 I bought LP's. For the record (no pun intended) the first record I ever bought was Naturally, by Three Dog Night, followed by Every Picture Tells AStory. I learned early on by my mistakes. I was never really interested in singles like some of my friends because I was never a 'hits' kind of listener. I wanted to hear the other songs the artist/group had recorded and found the album format to be the one that worked best for me. Because of this I at one time amassed the complete record collections of many of my favorite artists.....I trend the continued with the CD era. In addition, my leanings toward theLP as opposed to the single format was also due to my enjoynment of the Progressive Rock movement of the 1970's (and somewhat beyond) in which albums were built around a theme (think Nektar, Yes, ELP, Genesis.....to name just a few) and these types of releases did not come accross very well in the single song format.
Time marches on, as it always does, and some things continue as always while otherschange slowly. As the era of the CD came along, I continued to buy them in thealbum format (no CD 'singles for me) and look at the CD as a whole entity as opposedto one or two good songs followed by what was and is still known as 'filler'. From time to time I would make a compilation of songs from CD's that I was getting rid of (selling forthe sake of making room for more purchases) but my buying and listening habits did notchange from the time I began to listen to music in the early 1970's to the present.
Even with the advent of the Sony CD Walkman and its successful copies by every electronic manufacturer in the business, my listening habits did not change. Unless I was listening to a 'mix tape' or a 'mix cd' (think of me being a bit like Rob Gordon, the lead characterJohn Cusack played in High Fidelity. I was very much like him as I made mix tapes for countless people in high school and then in college.....primarily as a way of impressing girls I guess. With the Walkman format you still listened to one CD at a time. Even int he car and with the early home CD players. It wasn't until CD players at home and in the car were able to handle multiple discs that we were able to either 'program' a group of songs to play from multiple CDs loaded on the platter, or better yet, put the player on shuffle play to randomly select songs form the loaded CD's. However, we were still limited to the CD's that were loaded into the player and had no choice in what was being played. Until now.
When my older son got his first IPOD about 2 years ago I showed little or no interest except in helping him learn how to use the software (something he soon surpassed me in knowledge and experience). It wasn't until I started to borrow it from him from timeto time that I began to enjoy having one around the house. It reminds me of an articleI once read about when televisions first became commercially available, most peoplethought that having one in each household would be enough. Nobody at the time could have guessed that in some houses there is a television in every room (bathrooms included). However, I digress and need to get back on track.
Even with borrowing his IPOD I had no interest in owning one of my own. However,my family thought I would enjoy one and bought a 20 Gig model for me last June for Fathersday. I was tickled pink and very thankful. After a few weeks of staring at the wrapped boxand (believe it or not contemplating returning it) I finally opened it, loaded the software and imported and loaded some CDs onto it, gradually over the course of a year and a few months to the present of having about 2300 songs on it.
When I first started to use MY Ipod, I listened to an album, and then when it was donescrolled around and listened to another. It wasn't until I accidently discovered the shuffleplay feature that the full power of the IPOD became apparent to me. By setting the machine up on songs shuffle I had (in my opinion) the greatest radio station in the worldat my fingertips, with NO commercials and annoying DJ chatter (more on annoying DJ chatter another time....when I was growing up and listening to WNEW-FM in NYC, part of the lure WAS the DJ chatter). I was in heaven as I was listening to MY songs in an order that wouldtotally surprise and sometimes confound me.....how DOES this little machine know what songsfit so well together?
Well....about a month ago I realized that this shuffle play was nice, but there were plenty of times that a song would come on that I really did not like. I would skip over it. As time wenton I realized that I was doing this more and more. It finally dawned on me a few weeks ago that when using my IPOD I wasn't listening to ALBUMS anymore. I was listening to SINGLE songs, from many different artists. About a month ago I loaded some more CD's onto myIPOD. This time however I did it a bit different than I had before. Instead of letting Itunes just import everything (by the way....isn't Itunes one of the other coolest inventions ever created andt hat database it goes to get the CD and song titles, how cool is that), I started to select only the songs I wanted to hear. I even remember the CD I began doing this with. It was Ghost In The Machine by the Police. A great ALBUM, but there are a few songs on it that I just don't enjoy (I can't recall them offhand). So.....I didn't load them, and now I won't have to listen tothem on my IPOD. Of course, if I have that CD on at home in the changer it is possible that a song I don't like will come on, but that's ok. This is not to say that some of my favorite albums won't have songs not loaded . Think about Born To Run, Sgt Pepper, Blood OnThe Tracks, The Fillmore Concerts, or many other great classic albums. Could you think about a song from those NOT to load onto your IPOD. If you can, well that's another topic.
As I am thinking about this I am beginning to realize that (for the IPOD at least) my listeninghabits have changed. No longer do I need to load every song from every CD I own. I may not want to hear them all, and that's ok. When I want to hear an entire CD I still can. But, whenI want to hear some great songs that I love (and some ones that I love and have forgotten about), not having the 'filler' songs from an album on my IPOD is nice. I really hate interrupting what I am doing and pressing the skip forward button. I'm not sure if this is good for the industry or not, but I think it is one of the new business models (along with some others)that the music industry has to face as we (as listeners) become more technological savvy and keep expanding how, when, and where we listen to music. I will still buy my CD's and listen to them at home andin the car. However, my portable device, my IPOD, will contain the songs that I love and not all of the albums.
Rock on and make sure the device is charged.
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