Missing Out

Every now and then, I find some music that I've known about, even had in my itunes, and never given it a shot. This usually happens when I read about a band or a song somewhere, or hear it played at a restaurant, and I go to download it only to realize I've had it all along. This has happened twice lately, but these have been rather large cases. First it was Simon & Garfunkel. I heard Paul Simon was coming to Berklee about 2 weeks ago, and realized I had never given them a good listen. So I sat down at my laptop, thinking "well, I might already have a couple random songsm" only to find I had Bookends and a Greatest Hits collection. I listened to a couple of the hit singles, thought it was enough for now, and decided to watch a movie. I recently downloaded Almost Famous from Mojo, so I started it up. Not even 5 minutes into it, Zoey Deschanel pulls out Bookends on vinyl from under her coat. I decided to pause the movie and sit and listen to Bookends all the way through. I couldn't believe I hadn't listened to it before, or even known that it was an essential record that I should have listened to years ago.

Now after the Paul Simon clinic, I have 158 Simon & Garfunkel songs and 4 Paul Simon albums. I've been listening to them constantly, trying to make up for lost time.

I was pa-rousing around pitchfork.com today and stumbled across their list of the "200 Greatest Songs of the 60's" and went straight for the top 20. I saw Led Zeppelin at #11 with "Dazed and Confused." I recognized the title, but couldn't think of the song itself. I checked my library to find that I didn't have the song, let alone Led Zeppelin I. I scrambled to open Mojo and downloaded the whole thing, clicked on "Dazed and Confused," and listened. How had I not been listening to this song since I first listened to Zep in 7th grade?! It should've been the first thing I listened to... much more an essential to their catalogue than "The Immigrant Song." Not that it's not a classic, but it's merely a hit single and only scratches the surface of who they are. If there was only 1 song that could be picked to define Zeppelin, I think it would be Dazed. I feel like I've missed out on it, but I'm glad to have finally found it.

These incidents make me wonder how much other music I'm missing out on, and when/how will I find it. This is one of the biggest reasons that I have and always will be hunting for something new to listen to.

White Sky

First I'd like to say that I'm happy that Fallon isn't bombing. He seems a little awkward but I'm sure it will wear off. Anyway, I'm a big fan of Vampire Weekend. I've had a live bootleg of this song for a while, and I saw them play it in November. I think they're sound is very unique and sophisticated for such a young band.

A lot of hipsters seem to think they're ripping off Paul Simon's Graceland, but I just listened to the whole album and I beg to differ. It's easy to see that they were influenced by it, but they aren't "ripping it off." The line between the two isn't easy to see without some musical background. To me, ripping something off implies stealing a melody or a lyric. The only thing VW has taken from Graceland are some of the sounds (using similar instruments) and the use of weaving various melodies into a song. Both of these are tools to write songs and make music, so how can anyone say that only Paul Simon is aloud to use them because he was the first person to bring it into pop culture?

It's not just VW that's getting shit for this kind of thing. Hipsters are always whining about how New Band A sounds too much like Old Band B. Let's stop comparing and just enjoy the music people are making.

A Romantic Short

I love that this isn't a typical film, but a slideshow with the sounds of the pictures. It's composed of 4500+ still photographs. I'm getting more and more interested in photography and movies, so this really perked my interest.

I'm tired of the same kinds of movies that have been coming out over the past few years. The action movie with too much action and not enough story, the romantic comedy, the horror films that come out every 13th that lands on a friday, etc. I'm hungry for something fresh. Original story lines that don't need to be enhanced with special effects or crude humor. Something real, with regular people, and can have the same affect that a good song has on me. As soon as I find something, I'll post it.

Recent Phase

Pop Music. I used to hate it, till I realized how much I can learn from listening to it. What makes people so attracted to it? Well, take "My Life Would Suck Without U." The lyrics are shallow, blunt, and boring... so why is it a hit?

#1. "4 on the Floor" - the bass drum hits every downbeat, making it a dance track, stimulating the listeners hand to tap along on the steering wheel.

#2. Catchy melodies - Self explanatory... But they are everywhere. the guitar riff, the verses, and...

#3. The Chorus - Who needs deep and profound lyrics when you've got a catchy melody hitting you within 40 seconds of the song starting? Not only that, but you're having it engrained intro your head by listening to it 4 times in the song.

The synth helps too. I wonder how that got in there.... Could it be because the co-writer/producer Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) also wrote and produced "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot N Cold"? Yep. But the biggest reason pop music sells so much, is because it's written for a purpose. It must be marketable to the biggest group of music consumers.... mostly young girls.

So I've that I want to produce pop music (to pay the bills) and then produce the kind of music that I love, where I can be more creative.

Bon Iver

Beautiful first album. If you haven't heard it, here's some videos from La Blogotheque [Part 1, Part 2]. He's got an EP coming out in January, and here's two songs from it...

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

Bon Iver - Woods

(option click "Download Linked File")

Tsovet Watches

Wow. I wish I could afford this.

Utoob Faves

They both feature Stevie Wonder.

What can I say? I love the guy.

A Beautiful Place to Live

Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke is the definition of a Soul singer.  His talent and music is immortal.  It's a shame that he died so young.  But, it just makes his music that much more precious.  He's on that list of people who died too soon, but their death made their music twice as valuable.  Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, John Lennon, Marvin Gaye.  Part of the reason that I can't stop listening to the music these people wrote is that I know it's all I'm ever going to have from them.  Of course I don't have every demo version, live session, or B-side... but it's the fact that they're music catalog is complete.  I'll never get to see them live.  All I can do is watch documentaries and YouTube videos.

I've been lucky to see Stevie Wonder.  And I'll get to see B.B. later this month.  But what about James Brown?  What about everyone mentioned in the above paragraph?  New music is even more mouth watering.  I would go nuts for a new Hendrix album, or another Sam Cooke chart-topper.  Anyway, here's a couple Sam Cooke songs you should check out:

Sam Cooke - You Send Me

Sam Cooke - Wonderful World