Category Archives: Music

Displaying Mastery by Breaking Convention

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There are two types of displays of mastery that I enjoy watching. First, is when a person does something simple better than millions of others that dedicate their life to it. This means they have taken the conventional path, but have taken it to an elite level through a all-encompassing obsessive pursuit of perfection. Many Olympic sports are a good example of this. I don’t know much at all about gymnastics but in 2012, McKayla Maroney (of “not impressed” meme fame) was the perfect example of this:

The second display of master I enjoy watching is when the person takes a different approach, breaks convention, and perfects it such that it no longer looks so foreign and “wrong”. This is the more interesting one to me but it first requires understanding of what is conventional in order to appreciate the breaking of such convention. One example of this that comes to mind is postmodern piano. Here’s an accessible piece by Carl Vine. It embraces “dissonance” and chaos: the very thing that music so desperately ran away from for most of its recorded history.

Top 5 Instrumental Acoustic Guitar Songs (Modern Day)

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The ambition of the title of this post cracks me up, because I’m neither prepared to make a real top 5 list nor do I think such a list is possible to make even based on just my opinion. On any given day, for any given genre, I would probably give you a completely different top 5 list.

This is not based on pure guitar virtuosity but on the power of the song and musician all elements meshed together into one split second decision on my part (very early in the morning). Here we go form #5 down to #1.

#5 – Michael Hedges – Aerial Boundaries

#4 – Adrian Legg - Cajun Interlude

#3 – Gypsy Kings - Rumba Tech

#2 – Tommy Emmanuel – Classical Gas

#1 – Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Diablo Rojo

Top 5 Classical Piano Composers of All Time

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I was listening to an instrumental “study” station on 8tracks while programming, and the 3rd movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata came on which blew my mind. I don’t listen to classical music much these days, but I think of it as like hiking the Appalachian: if you have the patience, you will discover something beautiful. So, in the spirit of top 5 lists, here are my favorite classical piano composers.

5. Rachmaninoff: My favorite Russian composer (I never really got Tchaikovsky). He is big on full distinct textures, staccato, and rhythmic style. I wish he stuck around on the keys a little longer as a pianist, but he isn’t on the list for that.

4. Franz Liszt: As a piano player myself, I appreciate the sheer difficulty of many of his pieces. Still, the on I heard first, and was always fascinated by has been Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. It’s been used in a million cartoons, which I think ruins it in the minds of many people, but I still think it’s absolutely brilliant (especially the second part).

3. Johannas Brahms: This guy does not mess around. Everything is either building to an emotional roller coaster or is riding it. His 2nd piano concerto is brilliant, and is the reason he is on this list, but I first heard of him because of Hungarian Dance No. 5, and while it’s probably not taken too seriously, it is one of the most powerful three minutes of classical music I can imagine.

2. Beethoven: I still know how to play parts of the Moonlight Sonata by heart after not having practiced it for many years. Really, I would put Beethoven at #1, but it’d be like voting for a family member. I’m too close with the guy, so I feel like I’m heavily biased.

1. Chopin: Sometimes I feel like Chopin is the Dali of the classical music world in that his work is too popular and simple. Nothing so melodic can be brilliant right? Whatever, I judge all things by how much I enjoy them. And no classical piano pieces I enjoy more than those of Chopin.

Recommend a Book, Movie, Album That Affected How You See the World

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Last year on my birthday (August 15) I asked people to recommend a book or movie that really made them think, and had an impact on their life. I read about 10-15 of the recommended books, which were excellent. Some of the ones I remember off the top off my head are listed below.

So, again, this year, as a hello/present, I’d love to get a recommendation here (or preferably on my facebook) for a book (or movie or music album) that you read / watched / listened to in the past that really made you think, or even changed the way you view the world. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks guys.

Book recommendations I read from last year (and still remember) are:

  • “Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior”
  • “God Delusion” by Dawkins
  • “Reading Turgenev” by Trevor
  • “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
  • “All Quiet on the Western Front” (finally)
  • “Down and Out in Paris and London” by Orwell
  • “Ham on Rye” by Bukowski
  • “Cod” by Kurlansky
  • “Catch-22″ (finally)
  • “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bryson

There are many book recommendation that I haven’t gotten to but will definitely read soon:

  • “Stalin: Court of the Red Czar”
  • “The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia”
  • “Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
  • “The Culture Struggle” by Michael Parenti
  • “The Power of One” by Courtenay

And many more that I’m forgetting now, but have it written down at work. Thanks again, it’s remarkable how many intelligent people I know, and also how many exceptional books are out there. Constantly reading, learning, thinking is essential. I believe that a life of inquiry is a life worth living.

It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It)

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I finally got around to finishing Keith Richard’s autobiography Life, whose title joins the likes of Bill Clinton’s “My Life” and Ricky Martin’s “Me” to be the most unimaginative and egotistical titles for an autobiography.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, at least the first half (the part that talked about Keith’s childhood, his love of music, and the obsessive pursuit of the creative process).

I usually read much heavier books, but given that I’ve just gone through a chain of books about war, it was time to read something less taxing on my ability to fall asleep.

Despite what you might imagine, this is not a book about a life of sex and drugs. It’s a book about a blues musician who loves, or rather is obsessed with, making music. In a way, it serves as an entertaining example of what it takes to be great at what you do and to be happy while doing it.

Songs of Christmas

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I like songs that make me think, that take an ironic, cynical, or just a unique step away from the norm. Here are a couple of my favorites for the holidays:

Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis by Tom Waits

Tom WaitsTom Waits is probably my favorite musician and lyricist. There is a beautiful melancholy feeling that he captures about lost love and lost time in this song…

“Hey Charley I think about you
everytime I pass a fillin’ station
on account of all the grease
you used to wear in your hair”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12qBoy2rhVw

White Wine in The Sun by Tim Minchin

A  political man giving in to the simplicity of family and holiday spirit…

“And yes, I have all of the usual objections to consumerism
The commercialization of an ancient religion
And the westernization of a dead Palestinian
Press-ganged into selling Playstations and beer
But I still really like it”