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What music speaks to you most during these unusual times?


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My listening has been all over the place. I watch a lot of anime and thus found this tribute video for Kyoto Animation, featuring music by a band called Clever Girl (bandcamp link in the Youtube description):

 

[video:youtube]

 

I still like this song a lot and appreciate that they put up a list of synths used - it's a pretty long list.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Became a fan of Shin Shakiura through the end theme of "BNA" on Netflix. His Youtube channel here.

 

This kind of led me to check out the guys who probably inspired later J-pop artists. This version has Akiko Yano on secondary keyboards. She supposedly inspired the line "Ms. Sakamoto, you're beautiful!" in Thomas Dolby's song, but she looks quite different from the woman in the Dolby video:

 

[video:youtube]

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My listening has been all over the place. I watch a lot of anime and thus found this tribute video for Kyoto Animation, featuring music by a band called Clever Girl (bandcamp link in the Youtube description):]

 

That was all interesting but relevant to the subject of this thread, I found Clever Girl very compelling in that I don't think it's possible to listen to it and not feel everything's going to turn out ok.

 

I actually thought this thread would be about music we are playing, not listening to. But whatever. Listening and playing should blur into each other.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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I began the lockdown recording an old family 78 collection to digital on a MPC1000. That was several thousand sides from 1908 to late 50s, and really opened my eyes to a bunch of now forgotten artists, like Ted Lewis, and many others.

 

I broke out and went deep into Latin Music, about which I was very very ignorant, and which, frankly is on fire right now, with many interesting sub-genres, and some gorgeous roots folk underneath the incredible big band salsa/timba/cumbria.

 

It's been helping me improve my sense of time. Montunos every day now for months, LOL. tick tick......tick..tick tick. Thats 2/3 ;)

 

I have terrible ADD so I can't play any style too much without contrast at hand. I've been collecting Music books since the 80s, and I dug into my folk stuff....like sea shanties, jigs reels etc. Those pure chords just ring on the gear I have now. Very soothing.

 

That started me on a re-survey of folk music and what happened in the UK, while Dylan was drowning the old school here, after they had championed him so hard.

 

So I discovered recently Nick Drake and John Martyn and Beth Orton. I'm probably the last one, but they are very new and fresh to me right this minute. Hence at the moment I'm working on folk songs then hammering Montunos and back. I think I want to die in Cuba. ;)

 

Statisically, I would live longer there. Gear is so expensive though.....

 

[video:youtube]

 

Here is a fantastic piece by a person very influential to Nick Drake:

Nick's busker idol from his time in france...

 

And her album created after reconsidering Nick's work:

Water Falls Down

 

I've also got my old Clarinet out and torture the neighbors almost daily. I'm about to repocess my guitar from my daughter...with all this inspiration...and eventually I'd love to get both electric bass and maybe a les paul clone...then I need to learn about those pedals.....eyes roll

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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My listening has been all over the place. I watch a lot of anime and thus found this tribute video for Kyoto Animation, featuring music by a band called Clever Girl (bandcamp link in the Youtube description):]

 

That was all interesting but relevant to the subject of this thread, I found Clever Girl very compelling in that I don't think it's possible to listen to it and not feel everything's going to turn out ok.

 

I actually thought this thread would be about music we are playing, not listening to. But whatever. Listening and playing should blur into each other.

 

I'm quite pleased to hear that you enjoyed the music. I also got an uplifting vibe from the Clever Girl video, which I believe was the intent of the folks who made that loving tribute to Kyoto Animation, to cheer them on, 1 year after the arson attack that destroyed one of their buildings and took the lives of a number of their staff (directors, animators, etc.). I find their determination to keep making art, in the aftermath of those losses, and now putting up with a pandemic; to be inspiring.

 

I'm not a professional musician and have relied on another career to support myself. I haven't been playing music much because much of my free time has been consumed by job interviews, preparing for job interviews, and updating my technical skills to try to advance in this career. I do take breaks from this career maintenance activity to do stuff like explore patching ideas on my Empress Zoia, Korg MS-20 Mini, etc. and work a bit on the Charlie Christian solos I've been practicing.

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I"ve been working on solo jazz piano which in the past I always found an excuse (like it"s too difficult!) not to pursue. Working on solo piano brings me to a peaceful place. Playing independent layers takes a lot of focus and creativity. I"m occasionally frustrated but mostly enjoying myself. Recently, I"ve been working on Country by Keith Jarrett and Relaxin" at Camarillo by Charlie Parker.
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I've used some of my free time turning my distant 2nd instrument, harmonica, into a not-as-distant 2nd instrument..to where I for the first time, did an entire gig on harp, with my old band (which had replaced me on piano). Knowing all the songs and changes on piano made it easier but it wasn't complex music, anyway- a Willie Nelson tribute. We didn't do many songs from Stardust or Willie's Sinatra album- wasn't that kind of crowd- so I stuck to diatonic harp. It was a positive experience with good feedback- 3 people can't be wrong!- and it was nice to move a harmonica gig from the category of "things I jawbone about" to "things I actually did". .

 

I've been working on experimenting with playing LH keys while playing chromatic harmonica held in my right. For that I find myself dawn to wistful tunes like Rainbow Connection along with 70's nostalgia like Feels So Good, to David Sanborn and Stevie Wonder. My goal is to be able to play on the fly, any song I know on piano, as a substitute for vocals- something I can incorporate into piano solo gigs. The local harp players focus on raspy blues honking so I see a niche for "everything else". But more importantly I'm just having fun.

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on the quest for folk inspiration, having devoured the obvious players from my childhood in the early 60's I was wanderin through the tube.......

 

[video:youtube]

 

I love all these performers, and the unique styles. Elizabeth Laprelle is a flat out revelation to me, early Dylan on steriods, to be crass about it. I'm sure many already heard of her. She has a wonderful podcast which is sort of a "old timey radio show" affair: "The Floyd Radio Show".

 

When I came accross a "Child Ballad" in my books I always thought they were children's songs!!

 

The ancient songs are so full of death, drama, et al. To hear them done so well really pushes me to play them more myself, and to search for more.

 

Another singer I have really fallen in love with is Hector LaVoe. You will never meet a Latino who has not heard of him, or a white bread american like me who has LOL. Long dead, he has a mix cutting tone that really pierces me, perhaps a bit more smoothly than Elizabeth's plaintive declarations....

 

[video:youtube]

 

And of course this keeps me chasing speed in my montunos...where I am bumping 120, finally, around the 5ths, in my most practiced riffs, with tumbao in the bass.

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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I've spent a good bit of time lately revisiting some very good musician-focused documentaries that I previously had put on the back burner. The makings of earworms that last for days. I guess it all speaks to me.

 

Bob Dylan: No Direction Home / Robbie Robertson: Once Were Brothers / Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind / Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars / Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool / Pavarotti

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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Ironically, while others have too much time on their hands, I have less than before lockdown. My wife is home 24/7 and the kids have been home for months with no clear idea as to when they'll go back to school in the physical sense. Yes, it's summer now and they'd be home anyway, but they were out of school for something on the order of three months before that. With my family underfoot, I don't get to listen to the stuff I'd like to listen to (at the volumes I'd like). My wife is okay with my musical tastes, but the kids complain. For their sake I don't listen to much except in my shop and even then at low volumes. This lockdown thing is much harder on them than it is on me, so I try to make it easier on them if I can.

 

That said, I pretty much listen to the same sorts of things that I always listen to--no change, really. What that says about me, I'm not sure. Yeah, I'll try a YouTube suggestion once in a while, or a link that someone posts here, perhaps, but I haven't found anything that's made much of an impression on me. I like rock, jazz, and classical. For whatever reason, I tend to listen to one category at a time. For quite some time now I've been listening to rock, but I find myself thinking about classical, so it may be time to shift over. But the thing is, that's the way it's always been for me. Nothing new.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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On topic, I've been listening to some Robert Fripp on Youtube a lot. I've also discovered some wonderful humor there, which is starting to inspire me as a performer to inject a little more fun (somehow) into my playing. Specifically, I have been enjoying The Mozart Group, a Polish string quartet.

 

That was outstanding. I needed a good laugh. Shades of Spike Jones! No one can screw around as beautifully as someone who has well-maintained chops.

:rawk:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I gave Dave Mason's Alone Together album a spin for the first time in years after checking out his great Feelin' Alright reprise in another thread here. Not only is it a perfectly-named album for the COVID era, Alone Together is still a supremely nutritious musical meal with a nice side-dish of tasty keyboard parts. Mason's bands were always great live: tight, talented and enthusiastic. Still are. Here's a grainy live version of Only You Know and I Know, the single from the album. Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) plays keys. Gerald Johnson just kills it on bass.

 

[video:youtube]

“True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.”
― Kurt Vonnegut

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When I have time before, between, and after Zoom meetings all day, I have been listening to a variety of things and revisiting some music I love. In no particular order, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, U2, Duran Duran...pretty much a lot of '80s stuff. Plus reggae and ska like UB40, Iya Terra, Sublime, English Beat, etc...and then there's Medeski Martin & Wood which is just twisted enough to feel like it fits 2020 quite nicely.
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Steppenwolf Live. Much of that album was written about the Vietnam war, draft, and mamajuana. But it was also about the evil of pushers and the dangers of complacency. Still a meaningful recording.

 

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

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This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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I'm a committed follower of Cluster, whose laid-back yet colorful style(s) stand alongside Debussy for music painted in water colors, IMO. Roedelius has also been named as an influence on many rock/experimental notables. His work is very reflective, yet still features plenty of movement. While synths definitely have a place, they're rarely prominent in the usual ways. Here are two of his more recent works, which show his gifts off nicely. Note the great collaboration with Tim Story.

 

Grosses Wasser, produced by Peter Baumann, 2017

 

 

Inlandish, with Tim Story, 2008

 

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I composed this piece to try and lower my blood pressure from all the chaos in our world today. This is the type of music I've been listening to.

 

 

Very well done, thank you.

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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Suzanne Ciani has a new piano+ synth album out. If you have Spotify, you can click here.

 

It is called "Music for Denali". It is meditative, and minimal, not flashy. If you are looking for jazz pyrotechnics and clever substitutions, this is not your album. But it does create and sustain a worthwhile meditative space, but an active one, not just spaced out ambience. There is movement and interest.

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