Face the MUSIC!!!

  I can't think of an album that is more fitting of the title of "life changing" as that of Peter Gabriel 4, also known as "Security" in the states.  I would almost dare say that this is the album that made me take songwriting seriously and start dabbling in it in a more real sense, taking it out of the imagination realm and beginning to actually experiment, learn an instrument, work on my voice, etc. I could probably separate my life into two halves, one being "...before Genesis/Peter Gabriel" and "...after Genesis/Peter Gabriel".  Genesis will undoubtedly end up in this blog more than once but I've been fighting with myself about which album to start with, and that's a harder argument than you might think. Having said that, it took me awhile to dabble in the Peter Gabriel realm since there was something darker, more chilling, more real about Gabriel's work and presence in general versus the Phil Collins early 80's Genesis an...

  I know I've been neglecting this list, mainly just due to having way too much going on all at the same time and also fighting various fires.  I'll try to get back into the groove again because I do think this blog is fairly important on some level. Ah, the band called Yes...  You knew I'd mention them sooner or later, no?!  Talk about a band that can conjure up all kinds of feelings, from pure elation to absolute disgust, and so on.  A friend of mine's wife has a very classic comment about why she can't stand Yes and the reason is apparently "every note with them has to be perfect".  It's certainly a strange thing to hold against a band, mind you, but it is a decent example of how the feelings on the band run the gamut including the mildly bizarre. Personally, I've always loved them although it certainly took me a bit of time when I was young to be able to get my head around their music in general.  Being a child of the 80's, like many in my ...

  Here's an album that many people may not be familiar with.  It was almost like fate led me to find this one and I'm fairly sure if luck hadn't intervened that I would never have crossed paths with it.  Kim Fox just happened to be the opening act for Holly Cole, I believe, and a friend and I went to see her performance at the original Nita's Hideaway in Tempe, AZ.  My friend was a fan of Holly Cole and wanted to see her; I was (and remain) a bit so-so on Cole's work but I did sort of like the album she was touring for at the time, I believe "Dark Dear Heart", and I also had an appreciation for her Tom Waits cover song album.  Because of this, I agreed to go with him to the show. The old Nita's in Tempe was literally exactly that...a 'hideaway' or hole in the wall sort of place, and it was also somewhere that I frequented, seeing quite a few great performances there in the most intimate venue imaginable.  As usual, I went into the performance l...

  There are a certain number of albums from my childhood that I'd consider "must haves" and absolutely essential for any collection and Hunters & Collectors "Human Frailty" is absolutely one of those.  I'll admit that grouping of albums is larger than a handful, probably more like 20-30 albums, but there are a select few that fit into the absolutely must own category in regards to life changing albums.  I still remember when I first bought this on cassette tape and I think I knew immediately that I had found something that would change my musical life forever. One thing to note right off the bat is that the original American version of the album ran in a different order than the Australian, and to my knowledge this album has only ever been offered on CD with the latter ordering.  Having said that, I actually prefer the US version's order although it might just be due to having first heard the album that way.  Also, the original US CD version includes...

  The year was 1985 and I was a mere 14 years old.  For my age, I was really into music, not only owning more albums than most people around me but I actually knew them inside and out.  I was also silently developing my singing skills by singing along to albums at full blast in my bedroom, assuredly driving my mother insane.  A bit to her credit, she never complained about my singing, just the volume of the music itself, by banging excessively on the adjoining wall while yelling "...turn it down!!!" At this point in time, I was looking for something new to listen to, different if you will.  It was around May of 1985 and I first chose to buy the Icicle Works self titled album from 1984.  This initially was a total clunker to me as I simply couldn't get into it.  Now, later on, this album would do a 180 degree turn and become one of the big albums for me but initially I couldn't get my head around it at all.  Because of this, two months later, I wen...

  It's not really that much of a stretch to say that Ali Farka Toure completely changed my musical life and direction.  It all kind of started in the mid 90's, more or less a continuation of what I wrote about within the Bill Frisell "Good Dog, Happy Man" entry.  Around this time, after venturing into guitar based jazz and other areas, another storm was brewing internally for me:  world music. I would say that this pretty much started with my minor interest in Kitaro, someone who straddled the line between New Age and World in general.  When you're really into music, one artist tends to forge a path to another, and then another, and the next thing you know you're at a doorstep that you would have never imagined.  Another album that helped get me to that doorway was Peter Gabriel's "Passion" instrumental album from the late 80's, not to mention most of Gabriel's work since his third solo release.  Gabriel put an incredible amount of effort...