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Nutshell Kingdom: Musical Revolution
2005
"Must just be the colors and the kids that keep me alive, because the music is boring me to death" - Cat Power
Pop/indie is killing me these days. I cannot get into it at all. The lone exceptions are The Arcade Fire and Rilo Kiley. Everything else is too dull or too slow or too loud or all three.
This week, I bought a 3-CD collection called "Chicago-The Blues-Today." Originally released in 1965, this collection exposed the world to the post-Muddy Waters/Howlin' Wolf/Jimmy Reed generation of Chicago blues. Supposedly, it was very influential in its day among folks like Jimi and Mr. Page.
Also, I cannot get enough of Otis Redding and all those Stax records with the MGs. Now , I have always had a deep love of Otis, but lately he has been coming to life for me. I hear him fading out as I go to sleep, his famous "Good Godalmighty, I love ya! I love ya!" echoing into my dreams.
Lastly, I've been going through a Jamaican ska phase all year. now, with all the new Studio One reissues coming out....well, this is your official invitation to join me on this particular bandwagon. C'mon on aboard, it's some beautiful scenery we got down here!
So next time you're at the record store or when Amazon is telling you should buy something that sounds a whole lot like the last thing you bought, give it some thought. Put down the new New Pornographers. It's good; it sounds like the first two. Put down the Frank Black. Put down the Of Montreal, Sleater-Kinney, DFA 1979, Sufjan Stevens.
Do you remember when you were young and you first got a chance to listen to 'alternative' music? Was it R.E.M., The Smiths, your friend's brother's band? Remember that feeling of hearing something you hadn't been allowed to hear on the radio? Well, here's your chance to do it all over again. Buck the system like a teenager. Refuse to pay more than $15 for a CD.
You and me and the everyone we know...we can really screw with Amazon's programmed marketing. What's stopping us?
