Viewing entries tagged
Good Music

Bon Iver

Last April I received a call from a good friend asking me if I wanted to go see Bon Iver that night. I had a lot going on, but the stuff that I had heard so far didn't blow me away. It kept bugging me to check him out so the next week I did and regretted having "a lot going on" ever since.

But he's back in Chicago this Thursday and I've had tickets for a couple months now. Sold out show at the Vic. And it better be a good one.

If you haven't heard of him, then you need to check him out. If you have his album already, then you need to check out his special recordings.

Skinny Love on Letterman:

For Emma, Forever Ago on La Blogotheque:

Flume on TheCurrent:

La Blogotheque's Bon Iver Search Results. The first and third results are the videos.

DayTrotter Sessions (Complete with free downloads)

MySpace Transmissions Audio (Again, free downloads!)

Euphonic Satisfaction

About the only genre of music that has been fully satisfying my tonal desires recently has been jazz. I flip through my iTunes library until I find that right syncopation of trumpet, guitar, bass, and drums. Sometimes, it's a trombone that slides up and down or fingers that twiddle the keys of a piano, but it's always about the music.

Last Sunday night I had the pleasure of getting to see my first Jazz concert. My buddy Tyrel, my dad and I headed down to the Tulsa PAC to a surprisingly packed crowd to hear Chris Botti. I was a little apprehensive about signing us all up, since my affinity lies more with the likes of Coltrane or Marsalis-- the finger-flying, passing out sort of jazz, that has been immortalized in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. But when he talked about the influence Miles Davis had in his playing, I knew I would be in for a show. He played some ballads and mixed it up with some jumpier tunes and was more than I had expected. Moreover, his band was excellent. His guitarist tore up the neck; the drummer's sticks disappeared in a rhythmic flurry; his bassist played stand-up. Plus he had a phenomenal vocalist and his pianist was 19 and won the prestigious Thelonius Monk Award. It truly gave me what my itching ears were wanting to hear.