My friend Bill wrote a post a few days ago about the passing of Damo Suzuki, singer for the German rock band Can. I’ve always had a thing for quirky and eclectic music, so I was a bit bummed I hadn’t so much as heard of Can before now. So I commented such, and Bill recommended this album to me to learn more about them.
I doubt many of you know that my first major in college was music. I listened intensely, absorbing how the instrumentation and chordal structure were communicating emotional energy. Sadly, I got out of practice for that kind of listening ages ago. But, back in the 80s, I studied lots of artists in depth. Not just pop, but Jazz, latin, classical, funk…my list was pretty extensive. I would give anything to have notes back from those days.
Can has a solid funk feel to me. I really enjoy the driving, repetitive bass tracks, and fluid drumming.
What struck me even deeper, though, was how easy it is to discover new music. Bill made a post, shared a YouTube video of a song. I listened, made a comment on his blog, Bill recommended an album to check out, and YouTube served that up to me instantly. All within a few-minute timeframe.
I remember getting together with friends and listening to records/CDs, and tapes. If I really liked the song, I’d see about borrowing a copy until I could buy one. In my little Seattle suburb, getting anything other than Top 40 generally meant a trip to Seattle. There was a cool record show really close to UW, and I believe the iconic Tower Records was serving Seattle’s music community back then. I love how easy it is now to discover new (old?) music.
Onwards!
I’m with you Carl, there’s so much music on YouTube waiting to be played. I also listened to Can after reading Bill’s post. (Your assessment is spot on too).
I’ve taken an optical line out of the TV and routed it through a reasonable DAC to an old fashioned stereo. A great way to extract even more pleasure from that music.
Hmmm…the optical line out is an interesting idea.
words beautifully with
Topping i30 Mk lll
sorry e30
That’s so cool you checked it out Carl and it prompted a post, how lovely! Funk is right, you got it…happy to hear you had a listen. Amazing they were making music like that in 1971.
I love how easy it is to discover music now too. I’ve found some great songs thanks to posts by other bloggers. I had no idea your first major was music, that’s so cool.