Music! Music! Music!

"Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is"--Miles Davis

I am now a creature of the night again, this time not for a couple of days or a week, but for the foreseeable future.
My biggest issue with nights, given that I'm a natural lark, is sleeping during the day. To that end, my loving wife has procured for me a sleep mask and earplugs. The former is absolutely wonderful: I can put it on, stare directly into where I know a light to be, and see nothing. And aside from it being a little warm--which will be a plus in a few months--I've found it very easy to get used to the feeling of it wrapped around my head...probably because my glasses wrap halfway around my head and I've been wearing them forever.
The earplugs--haven't tried them yet. Not sure I'll need them...we'll wait to see what manner of creature moves in next door. The fans and A/C in the bedroom do a wonderful job of masking external noise with their own white noise. I must admit I'm a bit worried about jamming those earplugs in there and having THIS happen to me:



Not that missing my alarm is any concern just yet, because after a single night shift, it's all I can do to sleep at all. Even fortified with a sleeping pill, I popped awake at 12:30 today. I took another and managed to sleep again from 2:00 'til ten of five. I'm going to keep pushing myself to stay up a little longer in the mornings--I managed 8:00 today and eventually want to be going to sleep at about eleven.

The shift itself, so far at least, is lovely. It's made more so with music. I'll crank up my tunes as soon as the store closes an hour into my shift, and then I have seven hours of magically imparted energy.

"I thought I had an eclectic taste in music", said Eva, who does. "You have an eclectic taste in music."

I really do. When you ask people what kind of music they like, more often than not you'll hear everything...and more often than not they don't mean that at all. "Really? Everything? Opera, Dixieland, death metal, old country ballads?" I've actually had people respond to that with, "well, okay, I mean music."

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything."--Plato


There are things I won't listen to. I've never been a fan of free-flow jazz (too unstructured) and while I appreciate the guitar talents of some of the heaviest metal bands, the vocals -- if you can call them that -- are a real turn-off.  Aside from that, I'll at least give a fair listen to just about anything.

I actually appreciate a good deal of today's pop. I don't enjoy Auto-Tune, though: it feels like a crutch to me. That said, it can be used creatively, as it is here...let this one build on you, it's slow but absolutely gorgeous.

Without further ado, selections from Ken's current playlist:

DREAM THEATER--BRIDGES IN THE SKY


I am eagerly awaiting their next album, to be released September 24th. This group together practically sweats musical talent. Not often you hear , a snippet of an Agnes Dei and a rockin' drum solo in the same song.

STOMPIN' TOM CONNORS--AROUND THE BAY AND BACK AGAIN


This is quintessential Stompin' Tom: the late icon specialized in rollicking Canadian ballads. This is almost certainly the only song in existence to specifically mention my dad's hometown of Britt.

CHICAGO-GOD SAVE THE QUEEN


Very famous group: very obscure track. This has one of the best openings I've ever heard. The sax/trumpet stings are just...wow. Depressing lyrics, though.

LA BOTTINE SOURIANTE--LE ZIGUEZON ZINZON


You don't have to know a word of French to appreciate this. If you're not tapping your toes within thirty seconds, you're dead and just don't know it yet.

ASTOR PIAZOLLA-FUGA Y MISTERIO


Another toe-tapper, this one from a different part of the world entirely. Remarkable violin playing here.


"If the king loves music, it is well with the land."--Mencius, Chinese philosopher