MUSIC: I guuuess.

Been in such a musical slump lately; I've been playing Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" and "Byrter layter" non stop because they are so, so good, but MAN I am sick of this laid back acoustic stuff. I also have Cat Power's "The Greatest" album on repeat which is also phenomenal but I think I'm soon going to melt into a puddle of mush. I heard this other great band called Papercuts (www.myspace.com/thepapercuts) but I'm just so so sick of the quiet music.

I also bought Edan's "Beaty and the Beat" recently which is vverry good but I'm also finding my standards for hip hop are so high and the general standard out there right now is just so low. I think I've been spoiled by J live/tribe/fugees/lupe (although Food and Liqour was not that tight I have to say which is unfortunate b/c lupe is talent manifest). Bah. The last great hip hop I heard was "Big Shots" by Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf, which ironically was recorded in '92.

I've been bumping any jazz I can get my hands on lately; a friend gave me "The Big Beat" by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (amazing) and I bought a John Coltrane album ("Blue Train") and "The Kings of Jazz" (compiled by Gilles Peterson (older stuff) and Jazzanova (contemporary stuff)) but I wonder when I listen to this stuff -- am I listening to this with the same (at least mildly) educated ear that I may listen to, say, a Ghostface or Common album with? What am I not hearing? It seems for most other genres of music, you just listen listen listen and eventually speak about that music in an educated way; the kinds of instruments or samples they used, the song in the context of the history of the genre, or history of the artist, etc etc. But what about jazz? Jazz is so pushed from the mainstream that common knowledge of Jazz (like someone who doesn't listen to hip hop knowing that Run DMC were the first artists of the scene to make it big) is almost nil -- I think to reallyappreciate jazz, you have to have a musical ear than is beyond and above that of a musical fanatic, something like the kind of person who says "wait for it....wait for it...oooo what a perfect f sharp!!"

I wonder if that's a testament to the richness of jazz or the incompetence of even the most passionate of music lovers. Enough blabbing, kudos to you for getting to the bottom, here's some free (and legal) music

Chrome Children 2 (Stones Throw)

And Justus for All (Little Brother & Mick Boogie)