When you blink your eyes...

After listening to Graceland yesterday I felt the urge to get some great old albums on vinyl. I had heard about a place called Charlie's on Classen here in OKC so I decided to look it up and see what it was about.

It took me a bit of circling to find the place. It turned out it was on Classen Circle but its really not far from where I live at all. I walk into the store wearing a Smiths Meat is Murder t-shirt. I see nothing but LP's in bins around the whole place. The smell of incense and soothing voice of Ray Charles gives a warm and inviting feeling. No other customers are in the place at the time. An older black gentlemen wearing what appeared to be green OR scrubs comes out of the back and asks me if it was my first time in. I said yes, he introduces himself as Charlie. He asks me if I have a turntable. When I respond that I do a warm smile appears on his face and he says he's very glad to hear that.

I went through nearly all the jazz records in the store and ended up with 3. I complemented Charlie on such a great selection of great music and he seemed appreciative. Every record it seemed was in in pristine condition, obviously taken excellent care of. There must have been nearly 30 different Miles Davis albums on hand. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the one I was looking for, Bitches Brew.

I did end up with 3 great ones. Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz, Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners, and Miles Davis - Round About Midnight which I'm listening to for the third time at the moment.

I am really blown away by Round About Midnight. Its got an amazing sound. It features a young John Coltrane on saxophone before he really got big. Shortly after the release the group as it was on this recording was broken up by Davis. There really is some magic going on here. It seems so vibrant and full of life.

I will definitely be going back to Charlie's for some more music. He also has a great selection of old R&B and Blues that I'd like to try.

I just finished listening to Paul Simon - Graceland on vinyl this morning, what an outstanding album.

When I first was exposed to this album I remember listening to it on cassette with my family. In particular I remember a vacation where we listened to it over and over on repeat. We could sing along with all the songs.

I didn't know at the time what made the sounds so vibrant and interesting. But now I really appreciate how Simon experimented on this and included the South African sounds of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and cajun zydeco music. I don't think I have read the list of featured performers until now but I notice that Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, and Los Lobos are also featured on the album. It really turns out to be a perfect melting pot of sounds and rhytmns. I can see how it would be hard to maintain the focus and flow in an album with that much of a variety but it is successful. It reminds me of another great about that is all over the place as far as influnces but still holds together as a entire masterpiece, The Beatles - White Album.

I think I'm going to give it another spin right now.

I just picked up the M83 joint that I mentioned in a previous post. It was recently released for US consumption. After several spins today I can say it could possibly be considered by some people (me), as a combination of Daft Punk, My Bloody Valentine, and Broken Social Scene. They are also electronic musicians from France as are Daft Punk, but they bring a whole new sound to the table. They have a much more epic, symphonic and sweeping sound. Enthralling in the way that Broken Social Scene can be. I can also see that it can be a great album for analyitcal thought as Kid A can be. Its not nearly as dance oriented as Daft Punk, however, possibly more emotionally rewarding. After approximately 3 listens of the entire album I think it is outstanding, very original, and worth purchasing.

The last couple of days the weather has been amazing. Its cooled off and is a very un-July temperature. Its making me actually kind look forward to winter. I rather enjoy cold weather.

In one month from now I will be in England. I am getting excited about it. The only other time I've been out of the country is Mexico for a few hours so this should be a good experience. I'm going to have to figure out how to get my iPod and camera battery charged while I'm there. I hear some of the hotels do have American outlets but I don't know that I can count on that.

I've been very busy at work lately which has been very satisfying. I'm actually getting to write software which is what I love doing and what I went to school for. I don't mind working longer hours sometimes when I'm doing something that I wouldn't even mind doing in my spare time for fun. For me, writing software is like solving a difficult puzzle that not a lot of people are able to solve. Its really a good workout for my brain, trying to think of all possible solutions to the problem at hand and deciding which one is the best. Fortunately, I also enjoy reading technical documentation. More specifically, I enjoy reading well written technical documentation. The one I've been working with lately is rather poor but I'm getting past it.

Also, programming is great because it allows me to listen to music the entire time. My all time favorite album for programming has to be Radiohead - Kid A. I remember listening to it for approximately 6-7 hours straight on repeat in college one day and not getting tired of it. There is just something about it that gets the analytical juices flowing.

FYI, if you search for "gay robot" on google image search, C-3P0 is #2 on the list. I don't know what made me decide to just type that in. Somehow, these guys came up #3 which is even funnier.

I purchased Cocteau Twins - Treasure several weeks ago. I liked a couple of the songs very well initially but I hadn't totally gotten into the album in its entirety until today. I just happened to be in the perfect mood this morning to absorb its beauty. The voice of Elizabeth Fraser is like that of an angel through out the album with the perfect accompanying music. The word that comes up most often when I read about them is "ethereal" which does come to mind when listening to them.

I first started off just mainly liking the first 3 tracks, Ivo, Lorelei and Beatrix. Now I see the whole album in its entirety as something very beautiful. I actually listened to the last track Donimo many times back to back on repeat. I think its my new favorite on the album at the moment. I can really hear the influence of what they are doing here on this 1984 release in groups such as The Cure and My Bloody Valentine.

I still do not know the correct pronunciation of the group's name. I did a google search but couldn't find a place that helped people in my situation who have never heard it pronounced by someone who knows but have only read about them. I think I will ask at Guest Room Records when I go in to feed my addiction to recorded music this week.

I'll tell you what can really get you amped. Drink 2 double espressos, put The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious on the iPod and run 2 miles. I just did that and I felt like I could run through a wall afterwards.

I'm surprised at how much I still like this album from these Swedish rockers. I really appreciate punk music as it is the influence for much of my favorite musicians, but often times true punk music isn't very palatable to the mood I am normally in. I can only listen to so much of at once. I'm speaking of groups such as the Ramones and the Misfits. At they right time they are great, but only so much at once. Anyway, I wouldn't consider the Hives true punk, but they are somewhat in the category of punk revival. However, I can listen to the entire album all the way through and not get tired of it. Its a great album to play in the car with the windows down in the summer with the volume at high decibels. I'm anxious to listen to the Hive's recent release, Tyrannosaurous Hives.

I'll tell you what can really get you amped. Drink 2 double espressos, put The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious on the iPod and run 2 miles. I just did that and I felt like I could run through a wall afterwards.

I'm surprised at how much I still like this album from these Swedish rockers. I really appreciate punk music as it is the influence for much of my favorite musicians, but often times true punk music isn't very palatable to the mood I am normally in. I can only listen to so much of at once. I'm speaking of groups such as the Ramones and the Misfits. At they right time they are great, but only so much at once. Anyway, I wouldn't consider the Hives true punk, but they are somewhat in the category of punk revival. However, I can listen to the entire album all the way through and not get tired of it. Its a great album to play in the car with the windows down in the summer with the volume at high decibels. I'm anxious to listen to the Hive's recent release, Tyrannosaurous Hives.

I obtained Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album the other day for what I considered a quite reasonable price of $8. It really is a great album, I have heard a lot of great things about Wilco for awhile but haven't gotten around to hearing them much until now. Jeff Tweedy seems to be a very inspired and intelligent songwriter after a few spins of this disc. At times he has a very warm and familiar sense of Bob Dylan's vocal style. The melodies are very catchy and original, this is definitely an album that can be listened to many times. I think I want to try and go back and get their previous 2 albums when I get a chance, I want to try more of the alt-country sound that they are famous for.

On a continuation of my classic rap album appreciation, today I listened to Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die. While a great album. I don't know that a few of the songs seem quite as strong to me today. Maybe it was just the mood I was in. But there are of course many outstanding tracks on the album. Maybe, its thinking that poop daddy had something to do with the album that detracts from it a bit. It is still great and even poop daddy can't ruin it. I actually prefer the next album Life After Death a bit more.

I posted another set of photos the other day. We stopped at the USS Batfish memorial on the way to the Illinois River. It turned out to be very interesting. I rather enjoy old gizmos and thing-a-ma-jigs as you might be able to ascertain after viewing the photos. Its worth the $5 to take a look at it if you are in the area.

I'm listening to some excellent sad bastard music this morning. So far I've listened to Elliott Smith - X0 twice today. Now I'm onto Will Oldham - I see darkness, or Bonnie Prince Billy, Palace Brothers, Palace Music, or whatever name he is going by this week. It has gone well with the book about C# that I'm reading.

Elliott Smith is very much in the beautiful sadness category. In many ways his sound reminds me of Paul Simon. On the Good Will Hunting soundtrack which he was famous for, I thought it might be Paul Simon the first time I saw it. But, the more I examine this album he really has his own unique style. In other ways he really parallels the career of the great Nick Drake who also died at an early age. I am also reminded of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. The music doesn't sound at all the same but both talked about dying and self loathing a lot in their lyrics, kind of predicting their own demise. I listened to The Best of Alice in Chains yesterday in a friends car and it the themes in their songs also seem to predict the early demise of one of the all time great rock voices, Layne Staley.

Will Oldham, also has the sad undertones. But, he is more positive at times to balance it out I think. So, hopefully he will be staying alive to continue making good music.