he got soul......

the cruel sea once had a song called ‘she got soul’ and i used to quote this song in reference to a woman i once knew and had a brief romance with. she was the type of person who had her own style, was very comfortable with her place in the world, had a passion for people, art, and music, and was as real as any person you would ever come across. i’ve currently been reading the keith richards autobiography and whilst i’ve always thought this about the guy, he definitely got soul

when you hear keith talk it becomes apparent his life is all about the music. he never joined a band to become famous, rather he just wanted, in his words “to be a bluesman”. he’s obviously known and admired for his drug addled ways and being the outlaw we all wish we could be, but when you dig deep into his words you realise his real interest and passion is in living life his way, and his way was to pursue the music

as for his playing, well he aint the most technically gifted guitarist around but jeez he came up with some killer riffs. he is “the riff master”, even if he says so himself. and the open G tuning he uses is the shit. listen to “honkey tonk women”, “street fighting man”, and “start me up” and tell me he aint got soul

great kanye quote

from his latest album 'my beautiful dark twisted fantasy'

"the same people trying to black ball me, forgot about two things.......my black balls"

love it!

award shows – celebrating mediocrity

a few friends of mine have mentioned the lack of talent and good music at this years ARIA awards, and I have to agree. i had absolute no interest in the awards this year, or any other year for that matter

it reminded me of a quote that I read by paul arden stating that awards ceremonies only celebrate mediocrity. if you think about it he’s absolutely correct. awards are usually voted by the public or by a committee, and whenever something appeals to a mass amount of people, more often than not it isn’t very good. i’ve always said “if there’s something everybody likes, its probably something I don’t want to be involved with”

there is so much great music out there, both in Australia and internationally and i for one have trouble keeping up. unfortunately the stuff that sells is what the masses want. they want to hear the same old song, see the same pretty faces, and listen to the same old rock clichés. that’s not to say that some popular acts aren’t worth listening to but i’d much rather see an award show congratulate innovative and excellent performances rather than the usual mediocre crap they’re been peddling for years

i’ll get around to it when the time is right

in my life of listening to records i’ve often found myself disliking an album and putting it way for a while. on plenty of occasions i’ve revisited the album. days, months, or even years later, to come back and realise how great a piece of work it is. why didn’t i realise this when i first listened to the work?

i’ve come to realise there are times in your life to accept new music, art, lovers, friendships. we move through cycles in our lives and there are times when something makes the most perfect of sense, and other times where a thought or an idea can seem so ridiculous

these days rather than dismiss a piece of work, i put it away for a while with the idea of rediscovering it at another time. some of my most favourite albums i hated on first listen. but somehow over time i gave them another chance and was in the frame of mind to understand the art presented to me

its all about timing