Sonic Gardens: Day 210

 

I write this to you live and direct from the new and improved Musik Lounge aka Lydia’s house. Much has transpired since my last check in - and best believe sounds have been present through all of it! At the moment Evelyn King is pumping through the speakers I bought in 7th grade and haven’t heard in over a decade. Shouts out to Polk Audio for making a timeless product. 


Lydia, Mizo & I just finished up diggin through a basement archive at an estate sale here in Tacoma. As with any collection there was much of the unknown and certainly heavy styles of little interest. But when the price is right you can take some chances and we all did. So far it seems as though we made the right selections and probably missed some gems but such is the quest of a record collector.


While the day count is now more of an aesthetic choice than a nod to anything specific (did I ever really quarantine? Nope) we are over half a year into a new way of life, dominated by a disease we are still grappling with, an intense racial division and a political climate that increasingly feels like a stand up routine. But through it all we have music to keep us sane and I’ve reinvested myself in the process of discovery.




A couple weeks ago I was able to get my record collection out of storage and moved to Tacoma, since the beginning of summer I’ve been committed to supporting artists via Bandcamp Friday purchases and there have been a growing number of trips to local record shops in an effort to infuse my crates with modern sounds to balance out the vast array of older jams I spent the last 15 years excavating.




All of that is to say that I’m in full on collector mode once more. It feels good to be aware and in tune with the modern happenings of music and in a space to support the adventurous new styles emerging. If you have been tuning into the blog you have begun to get a taste of those new frequencies via Mizo & I’s weekly Sabbath Sessions and the return of my One Time @ Bandcamp series featuring a different voice each week that has captured my ears.


The music is good, the freedom to enjoy it and not chase clicks, but rather just shed light on whatever I’m enjoying in the moment is a blessing. I’m consumed by the new crop of Jazz talent abounding throughout the world. I’m intrigued by countless new rappers and producers expounding on the genre’s they are rooted in and pushing those boundaries forward with a vigor to explore.




Much can be said about what is happening musically and I will continue to document what crosses my ears. This week it has been a lot of 60s soul with a sprinkling of rap. I recently pulled out a Dionne Warwick record for a spin and was reminded of my journey to find a Dilla sample that led me to buying at least 20 of her LPs. I found what I was after eventually, and in the process was blown away by the strength of her vocals and the soul in her arrangements. The joy of random tangents in record collecting is a special treat that computer generated playlists will never capture.


Disco, the oft hated and dismissed sound soul music moved towards in the late 70s and early 80s was something I too laughed at for a long time and yet as I pull random records out of my crates to alphabetize and catalog I’m continually impressed by these early electro gems that pull on a realm of sounds still in use today. The estate sale this morning was a goldmine of Salsoul, De Lite and Casablanca gems that at 50 cents a piece I couldn’t not take a chance on. More will be revealed!




I’m officially back to work and life is about to shift into 6th gear as we open in two days. But the beautiful thing about cooking is that music goes hand in hand with the process of preparing food. I will be jamming new and old sounds and digging into what my new co-workers enjoy as well. We will be dancing in the kitchen and flipping eggs at the same damn time.


There is a vast unheard world out there that I will continue to seek out and digest. Be it the newest of the new young kid experimenting in their bedroom or a classic long forgotten that was at one point the pinnacle of someones dream accomplishment, we can always discover something new, evaluate the old with a new frame of mind and enjoy the fresh for the advancement it might hold in its grooves. I’m grateful for music today. I’m grateful for the process of discovery and I’m looking forward to what’s next. Thank you for walking with me and here’s to always listening to something new! Til next.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ahmad Jamal "At The Top: Poinciana Revisited"

Image
The first time I heard Ahmad Jamal I didn’t know I was listening to him. Thanks to the Soul Brother Pete Rock I was first privy to the sounds comin’ from Jamal’s piano thanks to “The World is Yours” from Nas’ first classic, Illmatic . As I learned about samples and started diggin in the crates I began to see this piano player pop up regularly. They were cheap and I copped one. It was cool, nothin’ spectacular, no Pete Rock sample, but I new I would find it one day! In that time I have since picked up a few more Jamal LP’s (five to be exact) and the one thing to know about this man is when he is on, it’s some of the best Jazz one could listen to! At The Top: Poinciana Revisited is a perfect demonstration of why he deserves more respect and listening time from music fans all over the world. What has always inspired me in Jazz is the musician’s use of his instrument in combination with silence. The piano is one of the best ways to express this. Jamal will play and play and then disappear...
Read more

Curren$y & Wiz Khalifa "How Fly" Review

Image
Two of Hip Hop’s best kept secrets found each other, seemingly through a thick haze of weed smoke – stoners do tend to unite. While Curren$y did enjoy a brief moment of semi fame rolling with Lil' Wayne, he left for potentially greener pastures (addressed splendidly on “S.D.L”) and has been steadily on his grind with the Fly Society behind him. Wiz Khalifa on the other hand has been making a name for himself on both the blog scene and the tour circuit, although he hasn’t made it out to the North West yet. His hustle never did seem appreciated by Warner Brothers who saw a star years ago when they signed him, but sit on the shelf he did until finally gaining his freedom just over 2 weeks ago. Independent is the way to roll and these two obviously share more in common than a fetish for the greenery, fresh kicks, and designer labels. The album gives you much of what you would expect and some of what you might not have. The beats are rocking almost all the way through, some however le...
Read more

Heatrocks of June

Image
Half way through 2010. I'm another year older. Time is flying and life is exciting. Apologies for the lack of updates around these parts, the sun coming out and my own lack of direction have been on my mind lately. I'm ready to make a move and find a home, it's been a long run since coming back to Seattle in October of last year. But let's dispense with the personal stuff, that ain't why you come to The Musik Lounge! Download June Heatrocks here. Kicking off this month's edition of the Heatrocks is "Think 4 Yourself" by La Finne Equipe & Mattic. I know nothing. The name is eloquent. The song is fun. Truth couldn't be realer. Get down with it. I need to go back into my Ani DiFranco archieves and see if this really is her voice they flipped for the sample in the hook. One of the last records I rocked at my old job in the Bistro on Seattle University's campus was Long Distance from Onra. As I remember it, it's great. "Wonderland...
Read more