I just got back from the local pub, where I participated in a fiery musical discussion revolving around a certain Jimmy Herring. I didn't know who he was - I still don't know - but we sure talked about him. It was part of a larger debate over the merits of technical, flashy musicianship. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention because 1) the bar had Shiner Bock on tap (mmmmmmm), and 2) I've never been impressed by purely technical music. Sure, I can appreciate a good violin concerto or Victor Wooten solo, but I can't really learn anything from them. Maybe because I'm the anti-thesis of virtuosity? I prefer stuff that has a great feel to it, or a more lyrical style of playing.

But no matter what, I will forever and always hate Pink Floyd.

I watched the London Calling DVD today. It was great. Not a whole lot of new material, but it was amazing to watch Guy Stevens jumping up and down and throwing chairs while the band was nailing a take. The guys were always wearing these cool clothes and hats - anyway, I enjoyed it. Gave me some insight into the band and the record.

I found this during a random act of web surfing. It seems very appropriate. Then I found this one which seemed even more appropriate. I haven't read Diesel Sweeties in about 2 years. It looks like I have some catching up to do.

Top 5 Billy Ocean Songs:

1. Caribbean Queen (best Billie Jean rip-off ever)
2. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
3. When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going
4. There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)
5. Straight Outta Compton

I love this stuff so much. I don't know why. Who's with me on this?

The Paul Simon Songbook is really cool. I am listening to it now and it reminds me of my own first recordings. Not that I am anywhere near as good as Mr Simon; the production just sounds the same in places. But, since I learned most of what I know from him, am I really that surprised?

I went to Grimey's today. It's this awesome record store - we had some trouble finding it, which reminds me: we have a lot of trouble finding places. A couple of weeks ago, we got a new phone book. Which was kind of funny, considering we don't have a land line. Anyway, it was great because it was a yellow pages, and before that we just had the white pages business listing, and that can be hard to work with.

So the time comes when we decided to use the phone book to find a laundromat. We took a look at the listings, and chose one and drove over to the address. There was nothing there! Nothing even close to resembling a laundromat within 3 blocks of the address. Then, we were ordering pizza one time and we tried calling Domino's. The phone book had every location listed EXCEPT the one that was right down the street from us.

This went on for a while. In fact, it's still going on. I imagine it will keep going on until one of us finds a creative or humorous way to dispose of it. To date, every time we have tried to use the yellow pages to find an address or phone number, we have failed miserably. Doesn't someone test these things?

Anyway, today when we wanted to go to Grimey's, I took the initiative to look it up on the Internet. I didn't think to look for their website, but I trusted Google and Citysearch to provide me with the 411. So I got the address and map, and off we went.

It wasn't there.

Turns out they had recently moved. It just goes to show - you can't trust the Internet. Or our phone book.

Then we found Grimey's, and everyone lived happily ever after. Specifically, I hooked up with some Stereolab, Spacehog, Paul Simon, Billy Ocean (don't tell anyone), Lisa Loeb, Spiritualized, and U2's War on vinyl.

I also found out that this year is the 25th anniversary of London Calling. Grimey's is hosting a Clash party where they are going to screen the new DVD and have a cover band play some tunes. (Woot!)

Spacehog, baby!

Yesterday was a big turning point. You may ask yourself, "so why didn't he write about it yesterday?" Well, I was going to. But I ended up with a big long post that was just a summary of what I had done that day, and it looked boring, so I didn't post it. Anyway, yesterday was the day that things started clicking. I got some job offers (being in demand as a player is pretty cool) and so it looks like I'll be making some serious scratch this term. Our string quartet met today and started talking about gigs as well. Then we tried to play "Death and the Maiden" and it ... well, it's tough.

That's the great news in a nutshell. I got the new Pedro the Lion CD in the mail today, so you'll have to excuse me while I go check it out. So far, it sounds a lot like the Counting Crows, which is great but unexpected. Seriously unexpected.

Tonight was the show I was waiting for. But I wasn't waiting for what I thought I was waiting for. (This will become clear to you very soon.) I thought I was waiting to see Toots and the Maytals for only 7 bucks, with Ben Folds and some other band playing. What I ended up with was an amazing experience.

Ben Folds, live, for 7 bucks.

I gotta say, he knows how to put on a show. And countless others before me have praised his songwriting and musicianship, so I won't go there. Anyway, if you know what I'm talking about - if you've seen him live - then I need say no more. And if you don't, there's really no way I could explain it to you. Ben Folds brought us all together - yes, even the drunken, obnoxious Vanderbilt students - we all stood there, together, and sang 3 part harmony while a guy who reminded me of a young Dr Emmitt Brown jumped up on his piano and waved us on.

To be fair, Toots was awesome. Nobody knew who he was, which made me a little sad. And these guys next to me (guess where they went to school?) would not shut up while he was playing. They had very important things to talk about. They had to be heard. I'm really glad I didn't get into any trouble with them. At the same time, I almost wish I had.

In other news, I think I'm getting very close to a research topic. "Nostalgia as the driving creative force in popular music" - there are countless examples. (I will now name some for those of you who are still with me.) "Still Crazy After All These Years"; "El Condor Pasa" (and most of the rest of the Paul Simon catalog); "Rusholme Ruffians" (again, most of the Smiths catalog); 90% of the music produced in the 1950's; any song that contains the words "I wish" or "I would" or any other subjunctive language (which, if you think about it, is a hell of a lot of music). Even in rap - "December 4th" by Jay-Z is a prime example. And I noticed it in a lot of the stuff Ben Folds played tonight.

Nostalgia takes such a beating from everyone - maybe because it's overused - but realistically I think it's something that resonates universally among us. We've all made mistakes ... we've all said the wrong thing at the wrong time. And just about every songwriter uses it. (It's there in poetry, too, and literature in general. But I'm no expert on that. I just like Dylan Thomas.)

The funny thing is, sometimes I miss the times that really sucked. You know what I mean? "Man, those were great times. I had absolutely nothing going for me and I was miserable - but man, if I could only go back there, just for a second ..."

Of course, this wouldn't be about me without an awesome contradiction. I don't believe in dwelling on things that can't be changed. Like the past, or how many licks it takes to get to the chewy center of a Tootsie Roll pop. (Who thought of those, anyway? "Let's take this strange, turd-like candy of ours and put it in the middle of a lollipop. The kids will love it!!") You can imagine the fights I have with myself about these kinds of things.

And so I wonder - why is nostalgia something I identify with so strongly? The answer is embedded in the music I love. In studying it, I've amplified those feelings in myself. Or maybe that's a load of crap. I think I'm trying too hard to make some kind of a point here. I think the song I've had looped for the past 20 minutes can make that point for me, a song that said like no other, "This is the dawn of a new era":

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby...

I've got two words for you ... Toots and the Maytals. Ok, so that's not two words, but that's where I'll be on Wednesday night. Oh, and you might have heard of the other act - some guy named Ben Folds. All this and more for only $7! It's unbelievable. And next week, Wilco is playing the same venue for the same price.

FSU dropped to #11 in the Coaches' poll, and amazingly only fell to #8 in the AP poll. I'd love for them to have a great season, but I just can't see it after last week's disaster. Oh well. I'll just look forward to next year and an end to the embarrassing headlines.

Oliver Nelson is super-cool. "Self Help is Needed" - that is one sick chart. I haven't been able to find it on CD (or vinyl) ... so if you have a copy you're willing to part with, let me know.

Tonight was pretty neat. Some friends came over and I helped them put chords to 2 jazz songs they had written. It was fun - something interesting to do - and we had a nice talk in the meantime. My roommate (Incredible C.) put my CD on for them, and they seemed to like it. I can only hear the mistakes and inconsistencies, even though I know it is a pretty decent recording. It hasn't even been a year and I can already think of ways to record better. The next one should be really good and even closer to a professional sound. I almost have enough songs, but with all this other stuff going on (read: grad school) I'm having a hard time focusing on them.

You can hear some tracks from my first record at the Sharkdog Records website. I'm hoping to get that site updated soon. In the meantime, enjoy that cool Sharkdog graphic and the delightful Courier font.

You gotta be kidding me!

First, I had to watch Florida State lose to Miami on Friday night. (I graduated from FSU a couple years back.) Then, last night Georgia Tech stings Clemson right in the eye. And before that, Notre Dame takes it to Michigan and friggin Marshall almost beats Ohio State. I guess you could say it was a great week for college football. Personally, I'm a little upset about the FSU game, since (yet again) they had every chance to win it and just couldn't make the plays. Chris Rix is embarrassed yet again - but at least Cromartie had a great game.

Anyway, I was at the Goodwill yesterday and picked up some cool records. Got a copy of Rubber Soul (amazing since no one ever sells or gives away a Beatles record), a Chicago record (I can't tell which one, it's dated 1973 and has some songs on it I've never heard before), a couple of Charlie Rich records, Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits, this one record called Prisms with these two guys playing a bunch of synthesizers (might be good for sampling), and finally, two of the strangest records I have ever seen: "Voice of the Professionals" instructional records featuring John Havlicek on basketball and Bob Griese on how to quarterback. I don't even know what to expect from these guys. I'll have to send the Bob Griese one back home though, because all my friends there hate him with a passion.

I've been working on some art songs for composition class. It's coming along better than I thought, especially since I've never really studied composition before. My teacher is having me listen to some different stuff, some of which is great (Ravel/Debussy string quartets), some okay (Aaron Copland/Charles Ives songs), and some not so good (other Charles Ives songs). (Disclaimer: when I say that music is "good" or "bad", unless otherwise stated, I'm speaking in terms of my own personal preference. I realize that Charles Ives was a huge visionary, and his music is very intellectual, etc. etc. I just happen not to like it very much. So nyah.)

I'll leave you with a link suggested by my composition teacher. You can look up different composers and hear some of their music. And it's all somehow legal and free. Imagine that!

http://www.artofthestates.org/

Bienvenidos

EDIT: This post is now somewhat irrelevant since I have changed the title of this blog. Just so you know.

-Brandon

Welcome to "Music in the Third Millenium", or - as I like to call it - "The Magnum P.I. Theme". Seriously - this blog could be over, right now. The aforementioned theme song is quite possibly the best piece of music ever written. (Don't get on my case about the fact it wasn't written in the third millenium, either - seeing as this isn't even really the third millenium anyway. Forget about it.)

I stole the name for this blog from a Joe Strummer song. If you know it, great. If not, I encourage you to go buy his records. The Clash, the Mescaleros, all excellent music. It's too bad Joe himself couldn't stick around longer. I always wanted to see him in concert, but you know what they say - ah, crap. This thing fell off my chair again. It's one of the little black buttons that conceals the gigantic screws that hold it together. Ok - there. All good.

Now, where was I? My mom told me today she thought I was going to be successful in music because I had such an open mind about it. That was awful sweet of her. Meanwhile, I'll keep on keeping on. I'm in the master's program at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm studying composition, which always gets a great reaction when I tell people. I've also got some side projects in the works, so stay tuned. (I guess you could say that was some sort of play on words. I say it's late and I'm tired, so I don't know what it is, but I hope it's funny.)

Well, this is getting pretty long for an introduction, so I'll close by saying that all the music at http://www.homestarrunner.com is really really good. Even the stuff that's bad on purpose - I can't get enough of it. You might not think it's all that cool - but you're on my turf now. And I bet their stuff is more popular than you or I might think.

Ohhhhh - if you want it to be possessive, it's just I-T-S, but if it's supposed to be a contraction, then it's I-T-apostrophe-S! Scalawag!

My Music

Classical:

Intermezzo for piano trio (sequenced)
Belmont University Fight Song (sequenced - rejected)
Pale Fire for soprano and piano (Sabrina Warren, soprano; Tyler Meredith, piano)

Non-Classical:

Stateside Menace (link goes to myspace)
Abbie Cox - Beast of Burden