Settling down to an early night in Rye. I’m gonna be back and forth a lot the next few days but I’m ok with that as when I get here it’s chill. I’ve been using the peace to look at my words, as it is all gonna start getting more complicated now. Time ticks on inevitably.
My musical listening project is moving on. Lots of hip hop in the Rolling Stone top 500, and for sure the choices have been made despite the personalities of the respective artists. But there are some right classics here
Aretha and The Stones was my jam in Budapest. Then around early rehearsals, Public Enemy. I bought “Fear of a Black Planet” on cassette to annoy my mum. It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back wasn’t familiar to me but was as a result. I don’t go to hip hop for choice these days so I’m finding it hard work thinking about it before I start playing the albums they recommend but… there’s always something to get hold of when I do start playing. They’ve all been selected by committee. They’re all good albums, across many genres, and I’m gonna start to miss the stuff I usually listen to before long as my listening has habitually been anti-commercial.
The last few days it was The Clash, London Calling, very familiar, an accepted voice of dissent. They would hate being so high in such a list. And right after them, Kanye. I was exposed to him as a person in the media before I knew his music. I’ve always avoided him. “I’m a genius, voice of a generation,” etc. There are two Bob Dylan albums in the top 20, one Kanye. Michael Jackson there too, my generation’s version of the complicated fucked up egomaniac musician that gets big. They have the self absorbtion to take the time needed to make good music I guess. I was really surprised to enjoy Kanye’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Listened a few times. Rushed through Bob and Highway 61 Revisited just now as I was driving south and it is too familiar to me now. It has its place though.
As I write, my glasses are giving me Kendrick Lamarr : To Pimp a Butterfly. I’ll be relieved to go into the familiar embrace of Thom York in the next album but actually the challenge is really on me now to find the why for all these albums. It’ll take me years to get through the list and by the time I’m done there’ll be better albums written. I’ll have to start another project. But I’ll have a better basis in the sounds that passed me by the first time.
By the feel of this Kendrick Lamarr it’ll take me a few listens to crack it. My focus isn’t really on it and its wordy. I’m gonna get an early early bed tonight here as gotta smash it up for rehearsal tomorrow. I’ve booked a parking space for the day in Brixton. There’s an autofeeder for the cats but you don’t want to prime it too far in advance so I’ll be yoyoing the next few days.
It’s dark and completely silent here in the winter woods. Me, Kendrick, the cats and Melancholy Jacques…
AlBarclay 