Hi everyone. We’ve made it to another midweek. This time I’d start with something a bit on the relaxing side: Brian Eno’s earliest attempt at ambient music, as far as I am aware. This is the title track for the LP Discreet Music:
It fit in pretty well with some of the minimalism from the era, and reminds me a bit of some French Impressionism that caught my ear when I was young. Think Satie. The inspiration came by sheer chance. Brian Eno got injured badly enough in a car accident to require hospitalization. There was a record player in his room, and a friend had offered to put on some LP of harp music. His friend left before checking that the sound was sufficient enough for him to fully appreciate the music from his bed, and he was still to incapacitated to get up and change the volume. So he listened to the rain against the window and the occasional harp sounds that he could manage to hear, and the rest was history. That experience transformed how he experienced sound at least in musical form, and when he got healthy enough, he went into the studio to begin to experiment with this new insight of his. This piece would set the stage for the more ambient pieces on his next studio albums, including the first of his Ambient series (Music for Airports).
Out of some rough experiences, sometimes something beautiful emerges. Eno is still alive and well, and actively recording. He’s influenced countless recording artists. Enjoy and relax.
Cheers!
So, William Shatner is now a rocket man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I
Wednesday (10/13) was also the 10th anniversary of the airing of the iconic “Community” episode Remedial Chaos Theory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ
This was the song featured heavily during the episode. It’s a classic, and still available on Netflix and Hulu.
What’s one good thing that’s happened to you in the last few days? I’ll start. I tried out a new recipe. Had some chicken that was about to expire, so took some stuffing mix, added some diced tomatoes and garlic. Slicked some chicken. added some basil, some mozzarella cheese, and then layered the mix on top of that. Made for a fairly tasty casserole, with barely any prep time. Better yet: no one complained. I’ll take that as a win.
Today’s good thing – my youngest decided to treat me to some of the music on her streaming service on the way home from an appointment. Heard maybe about four or so songs before we were back home. She seems to have an interest in contemporary French pop (as long as acoustic guitars are in the mix), some stuff that is a bit on the folky side of contemporary alt-rock, and what I would almost characterize as cabaret. Since one of the songs had the word waltz in the title, and definitely had that sound, she told me that the waltz was not a popular dance at first – dancers had to embrace which was scandalous for the era. I no know that I have at least one kid with a somewhat off-the-beaten path taste in music and is definitely a trivia buff.