Okay, so over vacation I spent a nice chunk of my Christmas money on buying new music. So it's back to weekly obsession! Although I have known both of these artists for quite sometime, and I have also actually had one of these albums for a while, I have just recently discovered their true power. Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis and The Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel have absolutely nothing in common, and are complete musical opposites, but both are amazing.
Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis is jazz as smooth as butt-ah. It has come to my attention that jazz may very well be the universal language. At a recent get together with a few of my friends, all of which who have musical tastes that could fill the entire spectrum, I put on Kind Of Blue, and every single person in the room seemed to enjoy it, and a few people were actually familiar with the tunes. It became very clear that one does not have to be a jazz nut to appreciate the incredible talent Miles Davis has. In case you didn't know, there are no vocals in his songs, they are all instramental. According to jazzitude.com, the album is good for relaxing, drinking, meditating, making love, and just plain listening. And I not only agree to that, but also add that it can very well be considered the universal language. With the colaboration of exquisit talent Kind of Blue brought together seven now-legendary musicians in the prime of their careers: tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb and of course, trumpeter Miles Davis. These power houses bring down the house with thier oh-so smooth jazz that can make the coldest soul feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My favorite songs off of this album are deffinetly "Freddie Freeloader" and "All Blues." I personally love taking bubble baths and reading Cosmo to these songs especially but also this enitre album, talk about a stress reliever!
And now for a complete 180. The Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel was my biggest surprise album. I purchased this album on a whim, after testing it out a little bit at FYE. I find this album incredibly addicting. It's so different, many of the songs on the album use "fuzz bass" which is an eccentric distortion technique that sounds like well, distortion. Which can be considered "noise" (sorry Des!) but I think you may actually like it. It's a unique effect really, it would sound horrible if it was all Neutral had, it would sound like you blew your speakers and continued to play your music way too loud. However, the band also applies theatrical folk behind this fuzz bass, which makes for another completely unique sound. The entire album tells a story, so for you people who like to listen to everything on random (much like myself) at least give this album one run-thru in order. Once you get the concept of the album listening to it on random is okay, you will still be able to piece together the story as well as enjoy the songs. Some fo my favorites include "Two Headed Boy," "Holland 1945," and "Oh Comely." These are the best songs off of the album to sing along to. It's really hard to describe, this album is just THAT awesome. When listening to Neutral Milk Hotel, you can hear where The Decemberists got some of thier influence, which just makes me even more happy!
Again, I recomend both of these albums to anyone and everyone. Despite thier complete oppositions, I think that anyone with any type of musical taste can appreciate and fall in love with both of these disc's!
Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis is jazz as smooth as butt-ah. It has come to my attention that jazz may very well be the universal language. At a recent get together with a few of my friends, all of which who have musical tastes that could fill the entire spectrum, I put on Kind Of Blue, and every single person in the room seemed to enjoy it, and a few people were actually familiar with the tunes. It became very clear that one does not have to be a jazz nut to appreciate the incredible talent Miles Davis has. In case you didn't know, there are no vocals in his songs, they are all instramental. According to jazzitude.com, the album is good for relaxing, drinking, meditating, making love, and just plain listening. And I not only agree to that, but also add that it can very well be considered the universal language. With the colaboration of exquisit talent Kind of Blue brought together seven now-legendary musicians in the prime of their careers: tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb and of course, trumpeter Miles Davis. These power houses bring down the house with thier oh-so smooth jazz that can make the coldest soul feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My favorite songs off of this album are deffinetly "Freddie Freeloader" and "All Blues." I personally love taking bubble baths and reading Cosmo to these songs especially but also this enitre album, talk about a stress reliever!
And now for a complete 180. The Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel was my biggest surprise album. I purchased this album on a whim, after testing it out a little bit at FYE. I find this album incredibly addicting. It's so different, many of the songs on the album use "fuzz bass" which is an eccentric distortion technique that sounds like well, distortion. Which can be considered "noise" (sorry Des!) but I think you may actually like it. It's a unique effect really, it would sound horrible if it was all Neutral had, it would sound like you blew your speakers and continued to play your music way too loud. However, the band also applies theatrical folk behind this fuzz bass, which makes for another completely unique sound. The entire album tells a story, so for you people who like to listen to everything on random (much like myself) at least give this album one run-thru in order. Once you get the concept of the album listening to it on random is okay, you will still be able to piece together the story as well as enjoy the songs. Some fo my favorites include "Two Headed Boy," "Holland 1945," and "Oh Comely." These are the best songs off of the album to sing along to. It's really hard to describe, this album is just THAT awesome. When listening to Neutral Milk Hotel, you can hear where The Decemberists got some of thier influence, which just makes me even more happy!Again, I recomend both of these albums to anyone and everyone. Despite thier complete oppositions, I think that anyone with any type of musical taste can appreciate and fall in love with both of these disc's!
4 comments:
Jazz is definietely the universal language. I love that you can put it on at a party and nobody complains, because how can you hate jazz?
I agree with you that just about everyone would love Kind of Blue. I havn't heard the other album, but I don't know if I agree that everyone would like something so filled with "noise." Maybe I'll take a listen and be proven wrong.
I think it's really cool that you have an interest in all types of music. I think you have inspired me to listen to some jazz, I haven't really done that lately at all. I'm looking forward to your next review.
I love the neutral milk hotel! I read that the singer got his inspiration for this album from reading The Diary of Ann Frank... cool huh? I think I will have to listen to Miles Davis too. Great blog!
If jazz is the universal language then I'm highly deficient in its vocabulary. All I know is that I enjoy mellow jazz, especially Billy Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Cole Porter. I don't like loud, angry jazz or anything involving a shrieking saxophone (no offense to Desirae) that invades your cranium and produces a state of agitation.
Unlike other genres of music, to play jazz requires real musical talent, and I'm not referring to that "Muzak" styled jazz that Kenny G plays (gag me with a saxophone -- again apologies to Desirae)
Anyone, with a little practice, can strum "Stairway to Heaven" on the guitar, but jazz demands an understanding of blues and rhythm and the ability to improvise.
You can't fake talent playing jazz. It's either really good, or it's not jazz. Some of you describe jazz as the "universal language" for me, it's more like poetry - - really really moving, and so incredibly intense, that sometimes when listening to musicians jam, you forget to breath for a few seconds. Now that's jazz!
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