January - Wrapup

YOURZ

January gave us the great category debate.  We solved this argument succinctly: music is good.  It doesn't matter who did it, what it sounds like, where or when it was recorded or who played on it - if you like it, then it's good.  It's as simple as that.  Don't try and categorise it or label it or put it in a box.  Put the fucking thing in whatever player you have, turn it up, take a breath and LISTEN to it.  Try to remember the joy you got from hearing it for the first time, without the preconceptions of myriad opinions, including mine.  Just listen and enjoy, start a riot, start a band, write a song or story or just dance around like a fucking loon.  Enjoy it because life is too fucking short not to.

The best thing about this project is it's kick started a new chapter in Mine and YourZ (truly)'s relationship.  Regardless of how mindful a couple are of complacency within their little world, it still has a habit of creeping in.  We're each other's best friends but even best friends have dull moments.  I'm not saying we'd become dull and boring, but the invigorating feeling enabled because of this shared task feels almost like the first heady days of our relationship.  And it's a wonderful feeling, let me tell ya.

Not only this, but it's taken us back to one of the things that brought us together in the first place: a common love of music.  Our first date, the one where we both got so drunk we could hardly stand, where we stood on an inner city footpath and kissed like teenagers, where we knew this, at long last, was the real thing...  Yes, that date was to see Dallas Crane and supports at the now-closed Hopetoun Hotel.  Dallas Crane were awesome but so fucking loud we retreated outside so we could also talk and smoke (remember those things?)  Prior to this, our past was built on musical excursions to various Big Day Outs with large crews of relative strangers.    

And now we're both listening to more music than we have in years.  Not only are we writing about it, but we're talking about, reading about and even watching more music than we've done in ages.  The wonderful collection we have, unlike any other collection in the world, has been a constant source of delight as we work our way through it, trusty pointy stick in hand.  It has also provided some pure cringe-worthy moments for both of us (for me, none more so than when the pointy stick touched down on Kylie Minogue - sorry honey).

It opened up and revealed to both of us music we'd totally forgotten about, either because of time or sheer numbers.  A lot of music we bought, listened to then put into the collection and forgot about almost straight away as something new drew our attention away (you should see us with pretty, shiny things - can keep us occupied for hours).  It's the reason I have the Forgotten Gems category, not just to inform you, but to also remind myself.  It also gave YourZ (truly) music I now consider my life richer for knowing.  In January, this accolade belongs the the Modfather himself, Mr Paul Weller and the stunning Wild Wood.  It also showed my lovely wife that not all of my taste is in the back half of my pants.  I am still stunned and surprised she took a shine to Pavement, for instance.  There is just no measuring this woman!

Each month, we're also going to give away a CD to someone who we think truly deserves it.  The joy of music is not in keeping it locked away but in sharing it.  This month, we've decided to give away the wonderful James Hunter CD, The Hard Way, to my parents as not only will they appreciate it and play it far more than we do, but it's a minuscule way for me to say thanks for all the musical joy they've given me over the years.  You never know, though, next month it could be YOU.

Oh yeah, thanks to all of you for reading and for commenting too.  We look forward to your continued company as we wend our way through our collection and hope you have enjoyed the ride so far.  Now it's time to sit back, buckle up and get ready for February.

Rock On!

YourZ

MINE

Oy, he's long-winded.   But he's right, you know.  (YourZ says: I can't believe she said this!  I'm gonna mark this momentous occasion on the calendar, hahahaha...)  This blog's given us so much to talk about, to laugh about and to enjoy - I can hardly wait for the rest of the year.

OK, to put my 2 cents worth in - I just want to urge anyone with a reasonably-sized music collection to do just what we're doing.  Not to write about it (unless that really floats your boat, in which case go for it) but to remember why you bought the music in the first place.  I realise that with the advent of downloads and carrying all your music on one little device, what we're doing here might seem outdated to some.  If you have it all there and just press Shuffle, you'll get those Forgotten Gems come around anyway - every now and again.  But I know we still exist in a small bubble of time when we can speak to people like us, who have music available in several formats (this house has six if you count vinyl singles and LPs as two).

So choose a format, assemble your collection, grab a blindfold and your equivalent of our pointy stick (pictured right for your delectation - stop laughing now) and pick out some music.  Put it on.  Listen to it.  Rinse and repeat.  Invite your friends over and make a party out of it!  It's way fun, and if the last month's been any indication, it'll just keep getting better this whole year.  Which is a relief, let me tell you - I must confess I had a minor worry at the start that it could turn into a chore.  But no more.

Boogie Down!

Mine

James Hunter - The Hard Way

MINE

Listening to The Hard Way is a bit like dropping into an episode of Mad Men.  James Hunter effortlessly recreates the feeling of early-60s smooth American white-people's music - although sometimes with a hint of dangerous rock-and-or-roll.  It just makes me want to reach for a pitcher of martinis and light up a Lucky Strike.

Just how good is that show, anyway?  And what is it about American TV in the Noughties that it reinvented itself with these OMG scripts and fuck-off acting?  Right now I'm panting for the DVD of the latest series - too long to wait for it to be screened in the Antipodes.  But I'm also enjoying Dexter, as mentioned in our sidebars, and we just gulped down the entire four series of The Wire available here, plus the sheer excellence of Breaking Bad.... and we're still waiting for more spin-off goodness of Battlestar Galactica after the series ended (sob).

It used to be US television was far inferior to the British product.  But now YourZ and Mine(self) spend time nudging each other over the excellent sets and furnishings in Mad Men (we're both Eames-era junkies) - or gripping our seats in the rollercoaster writing of Breaking Bad - or checking our watches to see if we can squeeze in just one more episode of The Wire before bedtime.

But all this isn't telling you how I feel about this album.  And I'm not as passionate about it as I am about Mad Men.  I guess I don't mind it - but frankly I'd rather listen to some recordings of music from back in the day - like my Stax Collection - rather than new music sounding like it was recorded back in the day.  Oh, but that doesn't include Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, who can play at any party I throw from now till whenever.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN


YOURZ

I'm a sucker.  Just ask Mine.  She probably has countless examples of why I am, of this I have no doubt.  But at least I know what I am.  This can go part way to help alleviating losing great amounts of hard earned dollars to snake oil salesmen or con artists trying to sell me national monuments.  But put a pretty girl behind a counter who knows how to use her, erm, charms, and I've already paid for whatever she's trying to sell.

Such was the case when I walked into my local music store and the young, firm beauty behind the counter was sashying around while listening to The Hard Way.  In other circumstances, things might have gotten embarrassingly hard indeed.  Thank goodness for air conditioning and a modicum of self-control, let me tell ya.  The end result was predictable though; I walked out of the store with this CD in my hot and somewhat sweaty palms.

James Hunter is a Englishman who sounds like a lot of the old soul and RnB singers (the first, true and only RnB as far as I'm concerned).  He sounds like a lot of the music my parents loved and listened to when I was growing up, music I find weirdly comforting, given I'm generally a rock pig.  Hunter is talented, unpretentious and in possession of a very fine soul voice.  But what really sets him apart is he not only writes all of his own songs but he plays a mean guitar too.  The authenticity is undeniable and he has garnered fans in people such as Willy Nelson, Chris Isaak and Van Morrison, as well as nominations for a number of the more prestigious music awards.

Personally, I like the ska flavour of Carina, the rockin' Don't Do Me No Favours (the yelps he pulls off in this are pure joy) and the bossanova-flavoured She's Got A Way.  But it's the last track, Strange But True, which comprises only Hunter's vocals and an acoustic guitar that stays with me long after this recording finishes. 

As Mine said, this music would have no problem finding a home in the soundtrack of Mad Men.  Sure, it might have been done before, but James Hunter has a way of making it his own and wow, daddio, what a way it is.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP, shake up a dry martini and shimmy 'till dawn

For more information: http://www.jameshuntermusic.com/