Playing everything I own.

What with recently moving house I’ve had certain financial restrictions in the past few months and my music purchasing has dwindled to zero.  As many of you will know this is unheard of for me and I have a wish list on Amazon that is growing by the day.

But to keep me going and stave off those musical purchase cravings I have been doing something that has been an interesting way to experience my music in a whole new light.  I have put my ipod onto shuffle for every track I have.  I started this on the 8th August and yesterday reached a quarter of the way through.  I have already heard so many tracks that I haven’t played in years and I love it when an old favourite pops up as well.  There are other tracks or artists that I’ve heard that made me think ‘what the hell was I doing buying that’, or made me realise how my tastes have changed over the years.


It’s made me realise that, despite my vast collection, I have a core of a few hundred albums that I play frequently.  There are certain artists that I play a lot and some I played once when I bought the CD and then never again.  The eclectic, sometimes ‘out there’ world music I own may be interesting to experiment with, but it is not something I play on a regular basis.

Many albums that sit in this core are ones that I grew up with, either listening via my parents or in my teenage years and strangely enough another handful come from albums in the past 3 years.  I may enjoy new music, but I have my old fallback options that keep popping up.

The only tracks I have skipped so far have been audio book tracks, language course tracks and the odd Opera track when it doesn’t flow without the wider composition.  Apart from that I have played everything.

As songs have come on and I’ve re-experienced them with a new mindset and view, I have been making mental note to play certain albums in their entirety when I go back to playing music in a more selective way.

I guess at this rate I have at least another 8-9 months before I have played my whole ipod through and I doubt I can hold off buying new music in this time.  I will play these new albums at home and continue with the shuffle at work and not update the ipod until I’ve reached the end.

So far I’ve come across some lost classics and realised my core listening may not be as varied as I’d once thought, but I guess this is probably true for all of us.  We don’t mind an experiment now and then, but we like to come back to what is comforting and familiar.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but just maybe playing everything I own in this way will push my core of music out that little bit further.

Organising your music collection.

It’s been a hectic few months that’s for sure.  What with starting a new job and selling my house, I have been up to my neck in work and various chores.  But, now we are getting closer to the moving date, I have been packing and organising my music collection.

A big part of this is making sure everything is packed in a way so that it won’t get damaged.  I have had to ensure the boxes are thick enough to protect the CD jewel cases and tall enough so I can store my vinyl correctly.  It has been interesting finding some gems that I forgot I owned and enjoying seeing my complete collection of certain artists as I pack them securely in their boxes.

Once I move I will have to think of a way to store and display my collection in a suitable way.  Over the years it has kind of grown out of the various shelves and became jumbled and now I need to impose some order upon it again.  My father recently helped my brother build some bespoke shelves for his music collection and maybe that is something he’d be willing to do again.

Now the old question.  Do I display everything alphabetically and risk having Mozart being bed fellows with Madonna (I‘m not sure how either would feel about this arrangement)?  Or Seasick Steve and Sepultura next to each other vying for the dubious honour of most outlandish guitar sound.  Or even Will Smith with his modern rap style nestled next to Winston Churchill and his traditional English language during his war time speeches, each mildly offended by the other.  Or do I do it (as now) by genre and have my blues, jazz and metal collections all sitting in their own respective niches?  Never the musical twain shall meet on the shelves, as is often the case in real life. 

If I do it this way I get into another dilema. Is Gary Moore filed under blues or rock?  He has done both styles in his career.  Would you class a classical film soundtrack as classical or soundtrack?  Is Aretha Franklin soul or gospel when both styles are covered, often on the same album? And so the questions go on.

A part of me relishes the idea of sitting on the floor in my new study over the coming months as the seasons move from autumn to winter.  I’ll brew up a nice cup of tea, have a plate of biscuits and play various albums and songs as I organise my vast music collection.  There is something comforting in this task, although I’m sure it may be frustrating at times.

The funny thing is, in time I hope to build an extension on the house I’ve just bought  and have a proper study with built-in shelves and CD racking.  And then I’ll have to do it all over again.  I hope by that time Mozart and Madonna will have resolved their differences and will know if they’re willing to be shelf mates or not.

Sharing New Music

To my mind the only thing better than finding new music is sharing it with someone you know will love and appreciate it as much as you do.

Often my brother, dad and I will text and email each other with  the latest musical gems we have found and occasionally when finances allow it I will send over a copy of a CD that has so moved me, so they can appreciate it straight away.  We have all found some great music in this way.

A lot of my early music listening came from my brother, dad and step-dad and it gave me a solid grounding in classic rock and classical music that has stood me in good stead to this day.  But, there is a certain special feeling when you start to discover music for yourself and you’re able to return the favour and pass the music back.

A friend of mine used to introduce me to new music on a regular basis and he was part of that time I have written about before (‘Getting Hooked on Audioslave’) where my work colleagues and I shared music a lot.  I remember he was very conscious never to hand hold me exactly to a particular track or album and he’d often lend me an album and say afterwards ‘did you like any song in particular’ and then delight when I was as moved by one specific track over all the others.

One time he did this was with the Alice in Chains EP ‘Jar of Flies’.  I borrowed the album and listened to it a few times as I worked and one song in particular hit me full force.  The second track ‘Nutshell’ is an example of stunning song writing and brooding melancholy that I just love sometimes.  I recall it was early autumn when I first heard it and it was perfect for the change in seasons and feel in the air.

Afterwards my friend asked his usual question of which song I liked most and when I told him it was Nutshell he was so happy that I had ‘chosen’ the same song that moves him the most too.  We spoke about it for ages and how much impact it has on first listen and he told me it only gets better with repeated playing.  Needless to say I went and bought the EP that lunch time and I have to say he was right, that particular song only gets better each time I hear it and I play it frequently throughout the year.


It is great to see that not only do I get great pleasure from sharing powerful, emotive music, but so do other of my friends and family who feel the power of music as much as me.  At its most basic it is a form of social bonding to share these emotions and feelings via the shorthand of music and it is a unique gift I am thankful for every day.

My second try of Moby

I’ve been listening to Moby a lot lately and it has got me thinking.  The four main albums I have been playing are ‘Play’, ‘18’, ‘Hotel’ and ‘Destroyed’ and of these ‘Play’ is the most well known and is classed as his break-though album. 

So many tracks from this album were used in adverts and in films and TV shows that at one point after its release you heard snippets of this album everywhere.  For me this album will be forever linked with some time I spent in New Zealand where I bought the CD and played it as I drove around this stunning and memorable country.

For a long time this was the only album I owned by Moby, for despite liking the music on offer, it didn’t really move me or inspire me to go out and buy any more.  That is until I heard a song in a film and when I looked on IMDB I found out it was a Moby song called ‘Be the One’ from the ‘Destroyed’ album.  I bought the album at a reasonable price and fell in love with it. 

The other songs on the album were as moving as the ‘Be the One’ and I loved the way most songs gradually built and increased in intensity and emotion.  After a few listens I was hooked and I quickly bought ‘18’ and ‘Hotel’ shortly afterwards. 

My general feelings were the same and both of these albums are excellent.  I especially like the track ‘Lift me up’ from ‘Hotel’. 

It is funny how a particular album from an artist is the one that everyone knows and buys and sometimes they can be unfairly (and sometimes fairly) judged on this one commercial success.  Their earlier albums may be just as good, if not better and that applies for subsequent albums, but if we restrict ourselves to just the album that we know best we will never know.

My brother mentioned he had experienced a similar thing when I mentioned this to him. He said he had been disappointed by an album that was an artists break-through album, but loved their other work and conversely he has loved a break-though album and nothing else before or since.

I guess the lesson here is to explore an artists output in more depth before we pass judgement and if you aren’t overly enamoured with one album, give another one a try and see how you get on.  With the advent of YouTube, Spotify and preview functions on online music stores, it is much easier to sample music than when I started off buying music on cassette and vinyl all those years ago.

So whilst I truly like (but don’t love) ‘Play’, I can say I love and heartily recommend ‘Destroyed’.  Give some songs a try online and if you like what you hear, buy it and enjoy some of the beautiful tracks on offer.

Laughing with my Music.

Although I am very serious about my love of music, not all music has to be serious for us to enjoy.  I can think of numerous albums and artists that have created funny or humorous music that I enjoy listening to.

One album my wife and I love is the debut from Electric Six.  Not only does this have some great rock, but the lyrics are hilarious too.  Most people know their hit ‘Gay Bar’, but ‘Danger! High Voltage’ and ‘Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)’ also crack me up too.  The whole album doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a quick blast of upbeat, fun music.

Steve Poltz is a musician I have interviewed on the blog before (Musical Influences: Steve Poltz) and his humour is zany, offbeat and infectious.  If you follow him on Facebook you will often read his hilarious little stories and thoughts and whilst his earlier albums had more serious lyrics, some later songs are hilarious and he often posts them on YouTube for us to enjoy.  He also does small skits on YouTube that I love.  One were he teaches you to say ‘dude’ under various circumstances is a lot funnier than it sounds.



Tenacious D’s first album was great for it’s mix of music and the brief interludes in-between where Jack Black and Kyle Gass joke around and act out various segments.  It adds to the songs, most of which have funny lyrics too.  So not only do you get some cracking rock songs (I’m thinking of ‘Tribute’ here), but you also get some tongue in cheek humour to boot.

Will Smith also uses brief humorous interludes between tracks on his ‘Big Willie Style’ album and it works to keep the whole album upbeat and fun.

Jeffrey Lewis is another artist in the Steve Poltz vein, where his music is credible in its own right, but also manages to be funny.  Their styles aren’t too dissimilar either. On one song Jeff tells us to ‘Never Let the Record Label Take You Out To Lunch’ as they’ll make you pay at the end of the day and he also teaches us how to kill Zombies on ‘If You Shoot the Head You Kill the Ghoul’.  Both good advice wrapped up in a musical package I’d say.  I adore the title of the album these songs come off of, ‘It’s the Ones Who’ve Cracked that the Light Shines Through’, couldn’t put it better myself.

So, as you can see, music doesn’t have to be brooding or serious to be credible and I can think of other artists who use humour in their music or performances (like Chas and Dave who I’ve written about before) and I’m sure you can think of many more and can suggest your own. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Hating and loving Kings of Leon

Have you ever bought an album that on first playing you absolutely hated and then after subsequent listens you ended up loving?

Many years ago I had exactly this situation.  I was in a supermarket with some friends from work buying lunch.  I walked down the CD aisle and bought the new debut album from Kings of Leon, ‘Youth and Young Manhood’, based on a magazine recommendation.

I returned back to work and after eating lunch put it into my CD player and gave it a try.  My knee jerk reaction was not good.  I didn’t like the singers voice (I felt he was trying to rip off Tom Petty badly) and the music didn’t really impress or grab me.  I admit I felt it was too sloppy.  I immediately started telling everyone what a load of rubbish it was and to not bother buying it. 

I took it home and gave it another couple of listens that evening and over the next few days my feelings towards it softened and I started to appreciate individual songs and how the album sat together as a whole.  I even started to enjoy the singers voice which suited the music perfectly and where before I thought the music was sloppy, I realised it was delightfully loose and free.  By the end of the week I was back at work telling everyone I was wrong and they should give it a try.

I felt a bit sheepish and everyone laughed at my expense, but at least I could admit my mistake and recommend it.  Over the years I have listened to this album many times and I always enjoy it (I‘m playing it now as I write this).

The only other time I can think of that something similar has happened was when Red Hot Chili Peppers brought out ‘By the Way.  Up to this point I had been used to ‘Californication’ and ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ and the sound to my ears was very different.  I could not gel with the album at all and lamented the fact that a great band had lost it’s spark and drive.

Again I gave the album a fair chance and a few more listens and after I warmed to it I could see it had some incredible songs on it.  Now I am slightly embarrassed to say it is probably my favourite album of theirs and I have listened to this album more than any others.

The lesson here is a) not to judge an album on first listen, b) don’t judge it based on past works and c) give any album a fair few listens before you make any judgement at all.  Thankfully I learnt this lesson reasonably quickly and even now when I get an album that doesn’t hit me first time I give it a fair chance before making up my mind. On the odd occasion I’ve even come back to an album many years later and realised how good it is.  I guess sometimes it is as much about the time in your own life that you first hear an album as the album itself.  And sometimes you were right and an album is just bad and you have to trust your own taste!

Judging John Lennon.

I recently read a book that collected together all the known letters that John Lennon wrote throughout his life.  It included letters to family and friends, business letters, as well as letters to fans.

One of the most obvious things to me from the early letters was that he didn’t seem to be the nicest or warmest person.  Sometimes it was just the way he phrased things, rather than what he said.

You also noticed a more spiritual and peaceful way of thought after he married Yoko and during their life together.

It got me thinking that it is strange how we think we know someone from the music they create and then get a completely different view once we learn a bit more about them. 

I also thought that it is harsh for us to read letters he wrote when an adolescent and still forming his own thoughts on the world and then judge his character on them.  I’m sure if some of our own young letters or thoughts were captured for public consumption we would feel embarrassed or even ashamed at some of our early beliefs.  Yet we find these interesting and judge celebrities and musicians by the things they wrote at all stages of their life. 

In today’s cult of celebrity where some people actively court the media I have little sympathy for those celebrities that get caught out by the things they’ve blogged or tweeted.  But for those musicians in the 60’s or in past years before the internet was invented or even those today who wish to maintain some privacy, it must be hard to live under the public glare of scrutiny when you think you are writing a letter that you believe is for private consumption which then becomes available for everyone to read.

It is strange how we form our beliefs of John Lennon from the letters he wrote throughout his life from a young age until his death, when it is obvious he was growing and developing his world view his entire life (as we all do). 

I find books about music and musicians fascinating as it gives me a deeper insight into their lives and what may have shaped the music I love so much.  But just maybe I should be more selective in what I read and remember that these musician are people who struggle with their own demons and ways of relating to the word as much as the next person.  Or maybe I should even let the music speak for itself and not delve any deeper than that.  It is something I will think more about and I wonder what your own views on this are.

Inspired by Music

Only a short blog post this week, but I’ve been thinking that one of the things I enjoy most about music is how it can inspire me or inspire others to new ways of thought and creation.

It could be how the lyrics in a song make me want to go off and explore more behind what inspired them.  A good example of this is ‘Mercy Street’ by Peter Gabriel.  This is based on a poem by Anne Sexton and I didn’t know of her work before I heard this song.  But after hearing it and being moved by the music and lyrics I tracked down some of her poetry and have since enjoyed it in it’s own right.

I also like how certain music can inspire me to go and write about it or how it has made me feel.  To be moved by something so much that it makes you go off and express yourself creatively is a precious gift.  To feel that emotion so deeply that you want to share it, or just sit at your computer and write about music in general is a wonderful feeling.  My whole blog came from this very motivation.

Sometimes it can be a simple as inspiring me to keep working out harder and with full effort.  If I didn’t have music playing when I sat on the exercise bike or did other exercises I think I’d struggle a lot more and the music bolsters my flagging resolve and keeps me going.

At it’s most basic level music can inspire me to get up and dance or just sing along with full gusto.

I know this to be true of other people and artists.  Marc Cohn writes on Facebook about how other songs and musicians inspire him to write particular songs or just create in general.  Plus some of my friends also feel moved to write poems, or work harder or more effectively due to the influence of music in their lives.

It goes to show how music has the power to affect us at our core, but also affect the way we behave and act.  When you think of it in these terms then it is a powerful gift to have music in our lives and whilst some of the light frothy music may inspire us to shake our tail feathers and have a good time, some of the more brooding ‘serious’ music may inspire the thoughts behind great physics, or other society/cultural changing works.  Not bad for a string of notes and some infectious beats.

Admiring the music of Hans Zimmer

I’ve mentioned in one of my early blog posts (‘Film soundtracks and Early Ego boosts’) that I particularly enjoy the film score music from Hans Zimmer.  Of all the film music I have listened to and added to my collection over the years his albums seem to be the ones I most come back to.

I have my favourites like ‘The Last Samurai’ and I have listened to this album so many times over the years that I know it by heart and hear it in my dreams!  I love the blend of Japanese instruments and western orchestral music and the way the albums builds and the overall feel leaves me breathless.

I also adore ‘Tears of the Sun’ and again the mixture of African singing and orchestral score is very moving.  The themes of the film are particularly harrowing and when I listen to the music I relive some of the emotion of the film.  It makes for a powerful experience.

The music for ‘The Thin Red Line’ is a very dark, brooding piece and whilst I never fully gelled with it I enjoyed the Polynesian chants so much that I bought the companion album that comprises just the chants and other hymns sung by the group that contributed to the film score.  The hymn used in the film ‘God Yu Tekkem Laef Blong Mi’ has a repeating phrase that gradually gets louder as more of the choir join in each time and the deep bass voices that mix with the higher treble voices make your hair stand on end by the time the hymn has finished.

It’s funny how I will watch a film and halfway though think ‘I like this music, I must find out who it is’ and then when I look at the end credits I find it is Zimmer again.  The music for ‘Inception’ was one of these instances and it goes to show Zimmer manages to add to the tension in the film and also be consistent enough that I admire his work even across many films.  I like how the music for this film has a futuristic, racy feel to it, yet remains unmistakably Zimmers style.

I was told by a friend that if I like Zimmer I must buy the Gladiator soundtrack and whilst I do like it, it doesn’t move me as much as other music Zimmer has created.  Maybe this is because I saw the film many years ago and I can’t associate the music to the film any longer, but to be honest I listen to the scores as music in their own right anyway, so maybe it just appeals less for some reason.  Also the music for ‘The Dark Knight’ seems aimless and has no definite crescendo.  It is certainly dark and brooding (rather like the film in places) but it seems to be rather flat compared to the soaring emotion in other music Zimmer has created.  But these are the only scores of his I can think of that have impressed me less.

What I also admire is unlike other film composers who sound similar from film to film (I’m thinking of Danny Elfman and James Horner here), Hans Zimmer manages to tailor the sound for the particular film project he is working on.  You get Polynesian chants, African singing, Japanese instruments and phrases or a futuristic feel, which all contribute to the film they are composed for.

Overall Hans Zimmer manages to create stirring, emotional film scores that compliment the action and emotion on the screen perfectly and even better, the quality is so high you can enjoy them as works of musicianship in their own right.  Getting that balance right must be like walking a tight line sometimes and whilst occasionally the music is better when watched with the film, like with ’The Dark Knight', generally Zimmer manages to walk that line exceptionally well.

Grieving for Gary Moore.

It’s funny how the death of some well known musicians or celebrities affect you more than others. This may be due to a personal tie to their music or life and how it has shaped you over the years, or maybe the time in your life when they passed.  Only two such instances have affected me in this way.  The death of Christopher Reeve, which is the topic for another blog or time and the more recent death of Gary Moore.

I was first introduced to Gary Moore by my teacher at Primary school.  Looking back it was rather cool that he went to the effort of making some cassettes and sharing them with me as he could tell my love of music and he made me up some excellent compilation tapes which I played to death.

I remember the first time I heard ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ with those powerful, relentless drums and the first time I heard ‘Parisienne Walkways’ with that held, sustaining guitar note that made the hairs stand up on end and my nerves tingle.  The first time I heard ‘Empty Rooms’ I felt his pain and anguish even though I was too young to comprehend the reasons and emotions behind them.

Typically for me I also loved a track called ‘The Loner’ which is a slower, brooding song and I still love this song to this day, especially the live version.

There was something about Gary Moore’s rich guitar sound and his solos that got into my young head and inspired me. I adored the pumping, driving rock songs he played and the more mournful, emotive blues and I happily listened to either for hours on end. I have fond memories of going on summer holiday to France with my parents and sitting in the cool gite as the sun seared outside and reading Asterix books as Gary Moore played in the background.

I shared the cassettes with my cousin (who is an exceptional guitarist) and we both sat in awe at the music coming out of my tiny cassette player in my bedroom.  We’d also go and sit on the field behind my school during the summer holiday and listen to it over there, with the smell of grass in our noses and the warmth on our skin.  The next best thing to discovering powerful new music is sharing it with those that are closest to you.

So with this rich history of his music in my formative years I felt a great sadness when I heard of his sudden death in 2011.  I remember being shocked as he was relatively young at 58 and for days on end I played his albums and mourned his passing.  I still feel sad when I think of his death even now, I feel it is a loss to the music world, but also without wishing to sound melodramatic, it is also a loss of that tie to my childhood.  I grew up on his music and with his passing I realised I was no longer that young, gawky primary school child who sat and listened to that music in stunned silence. 

Luckily we still have his music to go back to and I play his albums on a regular basis to this day.  His style and sound is rich and unique and if you have yet to experience any of his songs, track some down and give them a listen.  They may not do anything for you, but they just might make the hairs stand up on your arms and make you feel young and alive again.

Reliving my Fame days.

My first full time job, when I was just out of college and still wet behind the ears, was in a central London, luxury department store.  Over the course of my time there I met many wonderful and varied people and I struck up some friendships that have lasted to the present day.

One friend who I was very sad to lose touch with has just come onto Facebook and I have been delighted to catch up with her and share a little of our news and I’m hoping to meet up and share our news properly at some point in the future.

Inevitably it got me thinking back to our time working together and it reminded me of some music stories to share.

One of the things we initially bonded over was our shared love of a relatively obscure band called Ezio (I have written about them before in ‘Finding that Musical Sparkle’) and I remember how we were both so excited when we found out the other one liked their music also.  I felt an immediate kinship with her and we spent ages talking about their music and how it had moved us.  As the cliché goes, it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

We used to stand there and have in-depth discussions about religion and evolution and other topics like that and go on our lunch breaks together.  It made the day go so much faster and more pleasantly having someone like that to work with.

Eventually we went to an Ezio gig together and we got our CDS’s signed by the band and had great fun dancing together and singing out the lyrics full force and then reliving it all again the next day as we set up for work.  Such a fond, happy memory for me.

Another thing we used to do (don’t ask me why) is sing the opening verse and chorus of ‘Fame’ by Irene Cara to each other.  We’d be setting up in the morning for the day ahead, or standing around waiting for customers and one of us would start singing the opening line.   ‘Baby look at me’ and then the other one of us would smile and sing back ‘And tell me what you see’ and then we were off together until we sung out the chorus.  It was a strange and funny thing to do and I’m sure we must’ve got some disapproving looks from our managers and I’m also sure there were some dance moves we made up to go with it too!!!  Eventually my friend bought me the ‘Fame’ soundtrack and to this day I can’t listen to that song without a goofy grin spreading across my face and my memories going back to my friend and our time together.

For some reason when I left we never staying in touch (I remember it was a busy and complicated time in both of our lives) but I thought of her many, many times over the years.  I even rung her old phone number a few years back, but sadly it no longer worked.  Then Facebook did something useful, rather than the usual cat and joke photos and I managed to find my friend again.  Hopefully we won’t lose touch and I hope we can maybe share a dance and a sing-a-long at an Ezio gig one time again.  Who knows, maybe we’ll even relive our ‘Fame’ days too!!!!

Experiencing electronica directly.

A couple of years ago I saw Imogen Heap play at the Royal Albert Hall.  I had been looking forward to the gig for a long time having enjoyed her music with Frou Frou and her solo work and I sat in my seat in eager anticipation.  I’ve always felt Imogen is an innovative artist and I was curious to see how that would translate to the live experience.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Apart from being completely personable and open with the audience, she also managed to include us in the music being made.  She told stories behind the songs she played and I loved the humour she brought to the stories and then the emotion that I felt when she actually begun to play.

Imogen also bravely made use of samples during the show.  At one point she sampled the audience as we sung a refrain and included us in one of her songs.  At another point she sampled herself and layered up a song bit by bit until it was fully formed.  This could’ve gone so wrong (and she did have to restart the sample at one point), but the overall effect was beautiful and made me feel as if I was part of the experience, rather than just a passive observer.

Some people have said use of modern technology detracts from art and music as it creates a barrier between the person creating the art and the person experiencing it.  It is suggested that it brings us out of the music to the gadget that is creating it, but in this instance it firmly rooted us in the music and made it a more powerful experience.

Imi makes extensive use of social media and regularly has video chats with her fans to create music together and share ideas. I’ve loved watching her video diaries online (check out some on her website, she is so endearing), joining in with these video chats and that her connection to the people who buy and love her music is immediate and unfiltered by record companies.  Not only is this refreshing, but it makes me feel more connected to the music she creates.

As a brief aside, Marc Cohn also manages to connect directly with his fans via Facebook in this way.  I love hearing his thoughts on music as he has them and love even more that he (and other musicians who communicate in this way) have control over their voice and what they tell us.

So, not only did the use of technology make my experience of the music at the Imogen Heap gig more immediate and personal, it also means I can interact with her at other times and connect with the music on another level than just the aural.  This can only add to the overall picture and gives me another avenue to integrate music into my life.  Despite some of it’s flaws (as briefly discussed above), technology (and social media) can actually add to our artistic experiences and when used in the right way can bring it to a level previously unimagined.

If you like technology and music then you must also check out Imogen Heaps Gloves that create music.  But that is a whole other blog post.

Visiting Denmark street.

Many moons ago, when I first started playing guitar in my mid to late teens, my best friend and I used to travel to London on a regular basis and browse the guitar and music shops in Denmark street.

If you don’t know, Denmark street (aka Tin Pan Alley) is a side street off Charing Cross road that is famous for it’s guitar and musical instrument shops and it is a mecca for anyone wishing to check out the latest instruments and gadgets.

I remember the anticipation and excitement I would feel as we travelled up on the train and then coming out of the main station in London and walking up the road as people and cars bustled around us.  The whole way up we’d talk about a variety of topics, but the main topic was music and the latest bands and songs that had moved us.  It set the theme for the day perfectly.  We’d often stop off on the way up Charing Cross road at a little CD shop we knew of (that is sadly no more) and buy some CD’s at a great price, then bag in hand we’d continue on up.

Upon reaching Denmark street we’d step into each shop and browse the guitars hanging on the walls and drool over expensive items of craftsmanship we could only aspire to.  The shop assistants were usually condescending and dismissive and I’m sure they thought we were just another couple of window shoppers who came in to gawp at and paw their products.

Occasionally when we were feeling braver and the sales assistants weren’t too antagonistic we would ask to try a guitar and we’d carefully cradle the instrument in our arms as we’d strum our rudimentary riffs and licks and try not to embarrass ourselves in public.

Every visit we’d come away with a new music notation book of some kind, or a capo, or some plectrums or some other gadget.  But once in a while, after we had saved up our money, we would actually buy a guitar.  This was a wonderful day and it felt great knowing we could try numerous guitars, safe in the knowledge we were going to buy one at the end of the process.  We usually knew roughly what we were looking for (acoustic or electric etc), but the final choice was often what grabbed and impressed us on the day.  And what fell into our price range!

I still have fond memories of striking a bargain (probably not as great as I thought at the time) and walking back to the station with our new purchase in it’s guitar case, eager to get home to tune it up and start to play it.   Even if it was my friend buying the guitar that day, the excitement was nearly as great and we both vicariously enjoyed the others purchase and growing guitar collection.  Hell, we shared nearly everything anyway, so a new guitar for one was really a new guitar for us both.  We’d cradle the guitar case in our hands on the train home and talk excitedly and then we’d walk to one of our houses from the station at the other end sharing carrying duties and often not even feeling the weight in our excitement and anticipation.  You can’t beat plugging a new guitar into an amp for the first time, or that first full strum of an acoustic guitar.

We may have been belittled by the arrogant shop assistants who I’m sure only worked in the shops until their own bands ‘took off’, but overall I have happy memories of visiting Denmark street.  It was a day out in London with my best friend, it was exploring new music and it was savouring that glow that comes from creating music yourself.  I no longer buy new guitars, or even play much anymore, but the experience of buying them and learning is one I still savour and those years were formative in my musical education and I’d not give them up for anything.

Introductions: Johnny Cash

I know I only wrote about Johnny Cash relatively recently (‘Embraced by Johnny Cash’), but an old friend asked me the other day where was a good place to start with listening to his music and I thought I’d share what I told him with you.

Initially I suggested he start off with a good best of compilation.  One of the best ones in my mind is ‘Ring of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash’.  This has the best of his early music, as well as a good selection of his later work and it is great to see labels collaborate to bring out a rounded best of collection for fans. 

I then said he should move on to the prison recordings (’At Folsom Prison‘ and ‘At San Quenstin‘).  This is the time when Cash was reborn as an artist and found his path again after his struggles with drugs and these albums sound especially alive and fresh.  The perspective of a live concert inside a prison is unique as well and the atmosphere as inmates holler and whoop along with the music and laugh at the gentle jokes at the prisons expense only adds to the music on offer.

Then I would jump ahead and work my way through the American recordings (7 albums).  These series of albums again revived Cash’s career after he was neglected by past record labels.  Rick Rubin took Cash to the studio and told him to make the music he had always wanted to without label interference or pressure and the result is a staggering collection of gospel, traditional, reworked and new music that rates extremely highly in Cash’s back catalogue.  Some albums feature just Cash and a guitar and others have a complete band, but regardless the music feels intimate and personal.

On ‘Unchained’ (the second in the series) Cash is backed up by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the cover of Petty’s ‘Southern accents’ is a real highlight.  The lyrics and significance seem to mean something more when sung in Cash’s rich timbre.

Across the series of albums you get covers of U2’s ‘One’, Sheryl Crow’s ‘Redemption Day’, Springsteen’s ‘Further on up the road’ and Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt’ and these all sound like they could’ve been written especially for Cash.  These are just a snapshot of the covers across the series and each album offers something new to tantalise and delight.

One hidden gem in the American recordings series is ‘My Mothers Hymn Book’ and as its name suggests it is a collection of songs that Cash grew up with at home, singing in the fields and church with his mother. This album was recorded towards the end of his life and was recorded in a cabin on his property.  Cash sings instinctively and accompanies himself on a guitar and he had said before he passed away that of all the albums he ever made, this was his favourite and who are we to argue.

I think if you managed to get these albums and spent some time listening to them you’d get a good idea of Cash and his music.  Of course there are other albums that are worth tracking down if the bug has bitten you and the collection of early Sun records tracks is worth a listen at some point.  But with a good best of collection, the prison recordings and the American recordings, you’d have a solid and satisfying introduction to an American legend.  I am still only scratching the surface of his music and it has moved me a great deal and quickly become an integral part of my music collection.

Singing the Blues

Funnily enough for quite a young boy, some of the first music I grew to love in my life was the Blues.  Maybe I was a morose young chap (although I don’t like to think so), or I had an old soul, but a part of me revelled in the stories told in the songs and I adored singing along ‘the sky is crying’ or ‘I’m a hoochie coochie man’ and I loved hearing the raw blues guitar or harmonica as it ripped through me and made my insides ache.

I started out with Eric Clapton and one of the first albums I owned was ‘Journeyman’.  The track ‘Old Love’, whilst slightly too polished to my ears now, was a great introduction to the blues.  I now prefer the slightly more emotional version from ‘24 Nights’.  Clapton’s album of blues covers ‘From the Cradle’ is still one of my favourite blues albums to this day and I will happily turn up the volume on this album and feel strangely uplifted by the blues on offer.

Jimi Hendrix is another early blues artist for me (I’ve mentioned in ‘Discovering Jimi Hendrix’ how I discovered his music) and whilst he has some great rock music in his back catalogue, tracks like ‘Red house’ are as blue as they come and the original version of ‘Voodoo Chile’ still gives me Goosebumps to this day.

I quickly began digging out other blues albums and blues compilations and mixed them with more rock stuff as well.  Gary Moore is a great example of a rock guitarist who also plays some searing blues guitar.  ‘The Loner’ and ‘Parisienne Walkways’ are both simply breath taking.

I also remember one track from a blues compilation that I used to play, rewind the cassette and then play again, called ‘Christo Redemptor’ by Charlie Musslewaite.  The version I had was a live performance and to hear the harmonica wailing away as the crowd whooped and yelled in the background was magical to my young ears.  But boy was that a mournful, melancholy soaked song!

My blues listening developed into a roll call of the greats, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Robert Johnson, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and on and on and on and my blues education continued apace.

Even after my tastes moved on to other types of music and I started to listen to heavier rock during my teenage years I still had/have a soft spot for the blues.  I enjoy Seasick Steve and his style of blues and I have been playing his various albums a great deal recently.

The blues was for me and I still believe is for anyone, a great grounding to explore other music.  From the blues I explored soul and gospel music, jazz, the great rock bands of the 60’s, some of the heavier rock of the 70’s and 80’s and I can see it’s influence in some of the great metal bands I enjoy listening to today.

It goes without saying you don’t necessarily have to have a blue personality, or have experienced the same strife in your life as in the songs you hear.  The stories are often universal and the emotion in the music carries you along where there are holes in your own personal knowledge.

Although I may have been a slightly unusual child and when other kids were outside playing and still listening to the music their parent enjoyed, I was often inside reading my books and exploring my own musical avenues, but I wouldn’t of had it any other way.  It stood me in good stead when I started to experience my own heartache later in life and whilst I couldn’t stop these things from hurting me and shaping me, at least I could relate more directly and I had a damn good soundtrack to go along with them.

Getting hooked on Audioslave

I remember the first time I discovered the band ‘Audioslave’.  I was working in London and a group of us who worked together used to share music on a regular basis.  We’d talk about music on our lunch breaks, go to record shops after work and browse the vinyl, go to gigs together, pass on new musical finds, as well as suggesting old favourites and over the years I found some great bands in this way.   

One day a friend suggested I check out the new (self titled) album from Audioslave and when I said I didn’t know them, he gave me a little history.  He told me they were the joining of the band members from Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford) and Chris Cornell (the singer from Soundgarden) and that all the sounds you hear on the album are made using only musical instruments and no samples.  He told me they were relatively heavy, but considering I like heavy music this was no problem for me.

Here are some small band facts to set the scene for you.  They were brought together by Rick Rubin who has had his hand in the success of many bands and musicians over the years.  At one point the band nearly didn’t get it together due to quarrelling managers and record companies, but a compromise was finally reached which allowed them to move forwards and release the first album and form a group. Cornell was battling with drug problems during the making of the first album and used the project to find his feet after leaving Soundgarden and pursuing mixed success solo work.  Later in their career they became the first American band to play in Cuba and at the time Morello insisted there was no political message to this, but that they were on an artistic cultural exchange, although the impact of their decision could never be ignored when RATM had been such a political band in the past.  Anyway….

After the recommendation I went down on my lunch break and bought the album (as well as numerous other CD’s) and I remember slipping the disc into my CD player as I walked home and the raw, powerful intro to ‘Cochise’ washing over me.  I was instantly hooked.  I didn’t really know much Soundgarden stuff, so Cornells vocal style was new to me and to my ears suited the music perfectly.  Heavier songs like ‘Gasoline’ are balanced with slightly gentler tracks like ‘Shadow on the Sun’ which has some incredible bass lines and overall it is solid album from start to finish.

Their first album is one of the rare gems where every track is outstanding and the CD didn’t leave my stereo at home or my portable CD player as I travelled too and from work, for weeks.  It quickly became the music that coloured and influenced me during that summer and I happily passed on the recommendation to anyone who would listen.  They managed to blend the power and rawness from RATM’s sound with Cornells distinctive vocals and come up with a sound that is instantly unique and compelling.  There are some albums that set the time and place when you heard them so perfectly that every subsequent listen over the years instantly takes you back there.  ‘Audioslave’ became such an album for me.

Over the bands life they made two other albums and whilst they are also good (‘Out of Exile’ especially developed the bands sound), they each have a different feel and for me don’t quite match the urgency and power of the first album.  Whenever I play the album it reminds me of walking through London’s streets during the summer, feeing the heat from the pavements, watching groups of people drinking and laughing outside pubs, making my way home as it grew dark and having these songs as the soundtrack to my thoughts and feelings. 

I came across many great bands through the sharing of music with work friends, but this is one of the albums that endures and even now, at the first sniff of summer, it comes out and I play it loud and proud.

The Prayer Cycle

Many years ago my brother recommended an album to me and as always I quickly tracked it down and gave it a listen.  But the album he suggested was more unusual than most and it has become a moving and integral part of my music collection, if not my life.

‘The Prayer Cycle’ by Jonathan Elias is a choral symphony in 9 parts where various prayers/poems are sung by different known and unknown musicians.  Names include Alanis Morissette who sings in French and Hungarian, James Taylor and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to name just a few.

The prayers/poems are included in the booklet and the theme of the album touches upon nuclear weapons and the affect they have upon the world.  This may sound bleak to some people, but this is a deep, moving album and it is also an album of staggering beauty that never fails to take my breath away.

The blend of choral and solo voices with the orchestra is perfect (there is no other description) and the raw, emotive vocals that Morissette brings sits alongside the plaintive, penetrating singing of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the whole thing becomes a stirring experience.

The first time I listened to this album I read the poems at the same time and it was an incredible, memorable event.  My spirit was affected by the music I heard in my ears and my mind and thoughts were overwhelmed with the imagery and emotions given in the words.  It was, and still is, a powerful experience.

There is a second album in this series called ‘The Prayer Cycle:Path to Zero’ and this also has some well known vocalists who add their talents to the piece.  It has similar themes and it is a good album and is as moving in places, but the original album has a depth and power to it that I will never tire of.

I was recently able to pass on the pleasure this album has given me when a colleague at work heard me playing it and remarked at how beautiful it was.  I bought him a copy of the album that evening and I am so happy to pass on something that has affected me so deeply and share something that has now become a part of my life with him.  It sounds melodramatic when you put it that way, but music (some more than others) has the ability to make you feel that way.  I guess I just need to thank my brother for introducing me to something so profound and beautiful and sharing this music with me.

http://www.globalzero.org/ (The organisation Elias supports and tries to highlight with his Prayer Cycle albums). 

Emailing new music.

On Friday evening I sat indoors at my computer and after checking a few websites and updating my ipod with my weekly podcasts I put on some Beethoven and set about replying to some emails I had let sit too long in my inbox.  Snow drifted silently down outside and the house was warming through nicely, whilst a cup of tea steamed beside me.

There was something soothing about sitting there as it snowed outside and the music played quietly in the background.  I replied to some friends in various international locations and thought how they’d appreciate my current musical choice.  I enjoyed re-reading their news and set about sharing my own.

As is often the case I also included some YouTube musical links within each email to share some music that has moved or delighted me.

For one friend in New York I included a piece by a group called Rondo Veneziano.  They are a classical group that also include drums in some of their pieces and which my father introduced me to as a child.  Whenever I hear them I think back to those times listening to them on vinyl in his living room and that warm glow you have as a child when food and safety are taken care of and you can just sit back and enjoy what life brings your way.  I told my friend it reminded me of a time before you realise your parents are fallible and when I loved my father unconditionally.  Whilst my relationship with him has changed somewhat over the years, I think beneath it all, that nugget of unconditional love still lingers, despite (or maybe because of) our ups and downs.

For another friend in Geneva I shared a song I have recently discovered and which I adore.  The song is ‘Laura’ by Bat for Lashes.  I discovered this artist (Natasha Khan, who performs under a band name) when she performed on Jools Holland on the BBC and after buying her first album I quickly went out and bought the other 2 as well.  I love her style, her lyrics and her voice.  I keep thinking I must get a copy for my father-in-law as I think he’d enjoy her as well. 

I hope with both friends I have shared something both beautiful and new to them and I can think of nothing better than sharing a part of myself with music in this way.

So now on this Sunday evening, as it still snows outside I thought I would sit down and share both of these music snippets with you as well.  I hope you enjoy them and if you are shivering in the UK cold somewhere they help to warm you up just a touch.