One of my great passions is music. I have always loved music, despite my limited ability. I played the trumpet as a kid, but didn't stay with it. If only I had seen the coming of disco, and the re-emergence of horn bands, I might have stuck it out. (I hate disco, by the way).
As I have gotten older I realize how much of my feeling about music has actually focused on lyrics, on singer/songwriters, not on what is popular, but on what appeals to me. I have a strong contrarian streak when it comes to music. Recently I posted George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" on my facebook page, with the note that it is undeniably the greatest song ever written. (OK, I can engage in contrarian hyperbole...it's my blog...) In response my friend Brooke posted that the greatest song was "Night Rider's Lament", an old Jerry Jeff Walker song I happen to have on vinyl. While I'd still argue the merits of the Ol'Possum vs, Jerry Jeff, I had to go back and listen to "Ridin' High"...on vinyl.
The truth is, there is something very comforting about vinyl. The sound is warmer, even with the inevitable crackles and pops, vinyl is analog, and live performance is...analog. Digital music doesn't require us to move, doesn't require us to flip the record over, we never touch our music anymore. I miss that. I know that digital recording removes the imperfections, but the compression also removes the warmth, it moves music from a gritty, snapping, crackling experience to a clean, clinical, almost surgically precise place.
As much as I love music, I have never written about it here. I need to devote some time to my musical interests as well as my other, more esoteric interests. Just to complicate things, here are some of the artists and genres I enjoy:
Tango, Vallenata, Zydeco, Ray LaMontagne, Richard Buckner, John Hiatt, Steve Earle, alt.country, Americana, Alejandro Escovedo, Ryan Adams, Ryan Bingham, Hayes Carll, bagpipe bands, bag-rock, jazz fusion, Robert Earl Keen, Pete Yorn, Buddy Miller, Vigilantes of Love, Steely Dan, Cajun, Drive-By Truckers....did I mention my tastes were eclectic?
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I remember visiting the Sound Chamber on Monroe Ave. at the introduction of the CD. The salesman had me listen to a piece of jazz. In the midst of it, he said "listen... you can hear the trombone release his spit valve." I asked him why I would want to hear a spit valve when I was listening to jazz? Vinal blends all these sounds into one and forces a holistic approach to the sound of the music... There is great perfection in music's imperfections and extracating the imperfections into perfect sounds ruins the experience.
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