Music Of The Day (that is not changed every day because I'm too lazy)
I felt a bit jazzy today, should be because I'm playing Bioshock 2. I hope you don't mind !
About what I'm listening to (it's just another trick to talk about me)
I think I have to find an order to present what I'm listening to. I'll try chronologically. First, you have to go back to the roots of the blues, called delta blues. It's a very good music... Once you get used to it. It is indeed very hard to listen to : try Charley Patton's "prayer of death", especially part one. It has this very good feeling, a bit country. The problem for you reader is... The quality of the recording. You cannot understand what he says, and hear some sounds in the background. Add the noise of the gain, and you got a music that is hard to follow, but very good. In the same style, I listen mostly to Robert Johnson, Son House (which started recording later, so it is more 'listenable') and Tommy Mcclennan.
Then you go a bit forward in time. It's electric but it's still blues. It makes you dance (at least it used to, before techno ruined that) and come on, it makes the harmonica look like the best instrument in the world. Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker, especially his "boom boom", that he manages to pull out differently every time he plays it, only with a one chord structure.
The 70's/80's. I'm not an expert, unlike most blues/rock fans, but I have a few in my playlist, mostly guitar heroes : Stevie Ray Vaughan, that was my first encounter with the genre, Rory Gallagher, who stays my favourite guitarist as long as he has an acoustic or a dobro in his hands, and Jimi Hendrix. I'm always ashamed to say that I am not a big Hendrix fan, but I've never been fond of his style. His solos are amazing, but I can't stand his voice, and the whole "be psychedelic" attitude never amazed me.
And then you got today. At least, for me, today is a place you can relate to, where killing is actually bad and the colour of the skin doesn't make you more or less human. And today is a big mess. You have the artists that want to go back to what blues used to be, like Eric Bibb or Seasick Steve, with traditional blues, you got the ones that want to change the world : Bob Dylan, you have the "Wait, what ?" like Led Zeppelin or The Kills.
And then there's Jack White. Some violent, noisy blues distilled in low quality recording techniques, just to keep the sound rough. From The Upholsterers to The Dead Weather, I think there is only Two Star Tabernacle from the bands he's been in and actually recorded that I don't listen to. It is hard to say which band I prefer, as The Upholsterers only have a three track 7" out, but all the tracks are amazing. This apart, I love The White Stripes, the band he's famous for, and have a hard time listening to The Raconteurs, too mainstream for me.
But that is only the blues, and it's not the only thing I listen to, even if it mainly is. I listen to classic rock, with Elvis, Rock'n'roll with AC/DC or Guns'n'Roses (with Slash only), Rockabilly, following The Stray Cats, The Brian Setzer Orchestra or Eddie Cochran. Jazz, just a bit, with the amazing voices of Nina Simone or Melody Gardot, or the swing of Ray Charles. And I also support my country with French bands : Cocoon, Moriarty, Aaron, Keziah Jones (Nigerian but famous mostly in France), and, of course, Daft Punk.
If you've read all that (and you're courageous), I suggest you try some of these, just pick a name and go to youtube, most of them are there (I said most of them, so don't hold me responsible if you don't find it).
Then you go a bit forward in time. It's electric but it's still blues. It makes you dance (at least it used to, before techno ruined that) and come on, it makes the harmonica look like the best instrument in the world. Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf or John Lee Hooker, especially his "boom boom", that he manages to pull out differently every time he plays it, only with a one chord structure.
The 70's/80's. I'm not an expert, unlike most blues/rock fans, but I have a few in my playlist, mostly guitar heroes : Stevie Ray Vaughan, that was my first encounter with the genre, Rory Gallagher, who stays my favourite guitarist as long as he has an acoustic or a dobro in his hands, and Jimi Hendrix. I'm always ashamed to say that I am not a big Hendrix fan, but I've never been fond of his style. His solos are amazing, but I can't stand his voice, and the whole "be psychedelic" attitude never amazed me.
And then you got today. At least, for me, today is a place you can relate to, where killing is actually bad and the colour of the skin doesn't make you more or less human. And today is a big mess. You have the artists that want to go back to what blues used to be, like Eric Bibb or Seasick Steve, with traditional blues, you got the ones that want to change the world : Bob Dylan, you have the "Wait, what ?" like Led Zeppelin or The Kills.
And then there's Jack White. Some violent, noisy blues distilled in low quality recording techniques, just to keep the sound rough. From The Upholsterers to The Dead Weather, I think there is only Two Star Tabernacle from the bands he's been in and actually recorded that I don't listen to. It is hard to say which band I prefer, as The Upholsterers only have a three track 7" out, but all the tracks are amazing. This apart, I love The White Stripes, the band he's famous for, and have a hard time listening to The Raconteurs, too mainstream for me.
But that is only the blues, and it's not the only thing I listen to, even if it mainly is. I listen to classic rock, with Elvis, Rock'n'roll with AC/DC or Guns'n'Roses (with Slash only), Rockabilly, following The Stray Cats, The Brian Setzer Orchestra or Eddie Cochran. Jazz, just a bit, with the amazing voices of Nina Simone or Melody Gardot, or the swing of Ray Charles. And I also support my country with French bands : Cocoon, Moriarty, Aaron, Keziah Jones (Nigerian but famous mostly in France), and, of course, Daft Punk.
If you've read all that (and you're courageous), I suggest you try some of these, just pick a name and go to youtube, most of them are there (I said most of them, so don't hold me responsible if you don't find it).
