I recently described 43T as “blogging about the boring parts of my life,” so eventually I imagine I’ll have a Thing for every essential facet I’d rather not ramble on about in my ‘real’ blog. ;)
Yeah, I’m definitely on a new music kick. Last week’s exploration of jazz (and discovering, among others, Cannonball Adderley, Gene Krupa, Earl Hines, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Getz) led into this week’s binge on — with the natural bridge of Laurent Petitgirard and the sudden /facepalm/ realization that ‘it’s high time I discovered Jacques Brel!’ — French music (sampled so far: Jacques Dutronc, Georges Brassens, Leo Ferre, Charles Trenet, Alain Bashung). They’re whole new worlds to me: I’m no more conversant in jazz now than I was in middle school band, and till now the chansons on my iPod went no further than Edith Piaf. I have no framework for this stuff, I don’t know subgenres or timelines or influences, couldn’t tell the greats from the underappreciated, and the ground-up novelty of it is so exciting to me…
Entering the French phase, I wonder how much of the language I could pick up if I immersed myself in the music—I know my binges on French films at least helped me maintain the level of proficiency I already had. But I’ve got to say, these guys annunciate admirably well, and if I could sing along and understand, I’d go a long way, eh? Again, exciting possibilities…
Jacques Brel. Holy hell, Jacques Brel. Yes, I was long overdue to discover this man—pathetically, I’d never realized how many Scott Walker songs I adore were written by Jacques Brel. The guy was a fucking poet, and I know that from Walker; the guy wrote gorgeous music, and I know that from ‘Ne me quitte pas.’ But I want to understand his every word, in his own language… Even scratching the surface of his discography and his meaning, he’s so amazing.
Well, speaking of just scratching the surface. I always will be in music: there’s just so much to be discovered. I’m so glad to be out of my musical rut and wading through this impossibly vast world again. I want everything… and as far as that goes, the Rough Guides are always a great place to begin a new tangent. Latin Funk? African Street Party? Chicago Blues? Yes, please!
