January, 2007 Playlist

Often times, people are very focused on what is new in music. I, however, have found that as I get older, that it is not always the case. Nowadays, for the most part, I don't think that there are any great leaps of progression being made in respect to what people are doing to keep popular music evolving. At close to forty years old, I do not get a whole lot of inspiration from what younger people are trying to say. Mostly, it's the same thing that we got from every other generation. Only, not as pioneering as those who did it earlier on. I am also disturbed that there is a major war going on and that mainstream pop music seems oblivious to that fact compared to how things were 40 years ago in the music world. Either everyone has their heads buried in the sand, or THE GREAT CONTROLLER is not letting anyone listen to those protest pop songs because they might make people THINK. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we?

At any rate, with new music being somewhat stale, I often look to those thousands of older recordings that I may not have experienced yet or I have forgotten about. They may not be new, but they are new to me and often times, they are very groundbreaking recordings that paved the way for others to come. So, as a monthly feature I will start listing my playlist of music that I have been listening to. Sometimes it's brand new. Other times, it's as old as the hills.

Here is January's play list in no particular order:

1. The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big, & Bouncy
2. Bill Bruford/ Patrick Moraz - Music For Piano And Drums
3. Brand X - Unorthodox Behavior
4. Buddy Rich Band - Mercy, Mercy
5. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet (live bootleg from Munich of forthcoming album)
6. The Who - Who Sells Out
7. Neil Peart - Anatomy Of A Drum Solo (audio selections dubbed from DVD)
8. Buddy Rich - Big Swing Face
9. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot
10. Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie
11. Blackfield - (Compilation of new songs from forthcoming album recorded from various sources)
12. Weather Report - Heavy Weather

I guess you could say that I have been listening to a lot of drum oriented albums this month and the infectious jazz thing has given me bit of a fever. What better way to spend the boring month of January. Just turn it up and dance. If you do have a hankering for some brand spanking new music, you might want to check out the Blackfield MySpace page for a few selections from their soon to be released new album. If this is not your cup of tea and you prefer something a little more uplifting and gay, may I suggest that you check out the MySpace page for The Ark and give a listen to their new single, just released a few days ago, called "Absolutely No Decorum." Obviously, it was written about some of those who attended the MAL festivities a few weeks ago.