Two days in a row.... what?

So this is the first time ever that I have posted on two consecutive days. This probably won't be a very long one since I'm also writing an email to Dad right now....

At the moment, I'm listening to the new Yo La Tengo album, which is quite good. I first read about it in Paste at B&N a few weeks back, and they gave it a good review. It's another amazingly eclectic and creative album by my favorite group of New Jersey musicians. This time they delve a lot into a lot of different styles of songs, reaching especially back into some of their roots and influences. I once read a description of Yo La Tengo which said they were the critic's ideal band- they are both historically conscious and enjoy exploring the past, yet they are not derivative or "retro-kitsch" as a former co-worker of mine would say, and they always present their own ideas and expression. I'm still on the first song, but I know the album will be good (I'm listening to it on Real Rhapsody, which is an online service using a proprietary media player that gives you complete access to millions of songs with unlimited access, for about $12 a month. I'm just using their free trial version which lets you listen to 25 songs every month... it's pretty cool, and it's FREE! Oh, but then here's a secret- they also have a web based version which has a slightly more limited selection of songs, but you can get 25 more free song plays there!). Joel, if you read this, you must listen to this album eventually.

I also finished listening to the Stevie Wonder album, and it just keeps growing on me. Next I need to find Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. Those two won the Grammy for album of the year, which brings up a bit of Grammy trivia. Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and Frank Sinatra are tied for the most succesful Grammy winners in terms of album of the year- they each won that award three times. Interestingly enough, the Beatles only took that honor once, for Sgt Peppers, but it should also be said that with Sgt Pepper's win, that was the first time a rock album had ever won the award. The two preceding years it was Frank Sinatra. So I thought that was interesting. I think Joel would be pleased to know that in 1965, Stan Getz and João Gilberto won the award. Anyways, Stevie Wonder is more great Motown/soul/r&b and you should listen to him.

Well I think I'm going to cut this off now so I can finish my letter to Dad. I am going to the library later on, so that should be fun. I should have gone yesterday because I had movies due, so that means $2 into the copious coffers of Warsaw Community Public Library. Everything else is due today....

Oh, I did want to mention for Mom's sake that I think the best of the Grateful Dead probably came after her time, in the late 70's and 80's, so I'm not sure how familiar she is with that period of work. And don't worry everyone, I'm not about to become a retro-hippie pot-smoker... I don't think I would look good in tie-dye so that whole thing is sort of out for me. :)

you are the sunshine of my life

That applies to two things: Christine Marie and the Stevie Wonder song I'm listening to right now :)

So yeah, it is Monday again, so that means I'm thinking about the library again and of course music.

Last week's trip was quite profitable. In addition to music, I got two movies which I actually watched (oftentimes I don't get to them): Braveheart, which was quite good and it added more material to my internal/intellectual tension on the whole issue of war/violence/peace/justice, etc... Oh, and I watched the Recruit, which was a pretty good CIA thriller, though it did have some plot holes. yesterday I watched the Constant Gardener, which I had from Netflix, and that was really good. It definitely made me think about how we're (the Western world) dealing with Africa, especially those of us in the Christian community who are supposed to be concerned with things like love, compassion, and justice. I really have no idea what do about it all though.

But ANYWAYS! This is neither a movie review blog nor a philosophical one ( yet :), so lets cut to the music. Here are some short comments on cd's I'm currently listening to:

Talking Book, by Stevie Wonder. This is what I'm listening to right now. It's quite interesting- I've never really listened to his stuff, but I've always heard how great he's supposed to be and all of the influence he's had on pop, r&b, and a lot of African-American music in particular. Kanye West has been quoted as saying that Stevie Wonder has set the standard to which he (Kanye) aspires. Not that I listen to Kanye or anything :) But anyway, I think it can probably say that pop music today would be quite different without Stevie. But besides all of the hype and outside opinions, I do actually like the music. Some are just simple love songs, which I enjoy, and others are a bit deeper. The music is consistently good.

Timepieces, Eric Clapton. THis is a standard greatest hits sort of disc. It's the first Clapton disc I've checked out, though I've heard some of his stuff on Pandora, the radio, and elsewhere. I like it. I enjoy the eclecticism of it, as it includes his performances of original compositions and those of other great writers like Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. It's just this intriguing blend rock, blues, and funk. I also enjoy his mellow vocals. For a long time I was really wary of musicians known for being great electric lead guitarists, fearing the heavy 80's and hair-rock vibes I associate with that stereotype. But there's none of that here and Clapton just makes great music. Plus my fear of the lead guitar is gradually dying, though don't expect me to become a Van Halen/Steve Vai fan any time soon (though of course I say that in almost total ignorance...). Joel would like Bob Marley song "I shot the sheriff".

The Very Best of the Doors. So you may wonder about the generally high amount of greatest hits albums I get. Well that is mostly because that is what my library has and it makes sense for a library, I suppose- get cd's that have a lot of the favorite songs, instead of trying to get all the albums (with the exception of the Beatles, of whom they have an almost complete collection). But regardless, this was my first check-out for the Doors. It was pretty good. Jim Morrison was quite an intriguing and controversial character. I appreciate the literate feel of some of the stuff and it is really quite artistic rock. Morrison's quality voice is especially interesting coupled with hard rock because you would expect a voice that liek to be singing Sinatra standards and the like, not late 60's drug influenced rock. So yeah, this was pretty interesting.

When the Pawn.... by Fiona Apple. This album's title is actually 90 words long, making it the longest album title ever, according to the Guinnness Book of Records. I can't resist putting the whole thing here:

When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King

What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight

And He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring

There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might

So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand

And Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights

And If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land

And If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right

So how about that? The album is as confident, unique, and intriguing as the title suggests. She delivers tense, orchestrated, almost baroque folk-rock with some really interesting instrumentation. It's the kind of stuff that is could quite easily be considered overdone, overblown, pretentious, and pseudo-intellectual, but I think she pulls it off (it's a close call at times). One of those albums with a lot of layers, so you have to listen a few times to fully appreciate it. Bekah might like some of this. Btw, this is another first-timer for me (Fiona Apple).

When I was Cruel & some other album. Elvis Costello. Pretty good. I enjoy Elvis' humor and intellectual styling, about which you get the idea that he realizes it seems overblown at times, so that makes it ok- he doesn't entirely take himself seriously. it's unpretentious. This is a recent album for him and is supposedly more basic rock than a lot of his stuff (I haven't heard much). The other album is a collaboration with Burt Bacharach, so it features more standard songs, with some really lush orchestral arrangements, and it is quite intriguing as well. Bacharach is such a classic anyways. "Raindrops keep falling on my head..."

Well I really want to keep writing, but I've got to go each lunch and head off to my other job (I've been scanning this 42 page Winona Booklet today- it's a very helpful older local source for local history).

Until next time... (which I hope is soon, since there is so much to write about still! I haven't even mentioned Paul Simon and the Band yet!)

Another trip to the library

Well I'm about to head to the library again, that is, I should say, after a good warm shower since I just got back from a REALLY wet soccer game which we lost (but that's a different story for a different blog...). But yeah, who knows what I'll discover this time? I returned a bunch of stuff last week. The past few times I've been there I've sound some great box sets. Right now I have three- The Byrds (on cassette!), who were great and vastly underrated; The Velvet Underground, "Peel Slowly and See" which I'm curious to hear about from my parents as they were very much an "indie" band of the time and didn't sell many records, but are one of the foundational bands of what would eventually become punk rock, and then alternative and indie rock- so yeah, really interesting connections to today's music even though they were in the late 60's; and then I also have a box set from the Grateful Dead, who I have been surprised about. I never really knew much about them and figured from they're name that they'd be a lot mroe of a hard rock band like Led Zeppelin or something, only to find out that it's a totally different story. They still have a lot of the drug influences, but their music is really interesting- very improvisational and jazzy many times. I can almost detect some songs that have influenced the sound a great postrock Chicago band like the Sea and Cake. So anyways.... I've got a bunch of other stuff too and hopefully none of it is due today. WEll that's for now- I need to leave early enough to have time at the library...