Music

I know I haven't posted in a long long while, but I figured why not? Nothing to do on Valentine's Day, how about resurrecting the old blog. Anyway, a generous family member of mine gave me a $30 iTunes giftcard for Valentine's Day, and well, I've already stumbled upon something incredible. Last week's Newsweek had an article on Miles Davis' 1959 album Kind of Blue, praising it as one of the best albums in history, and I figured, with thirty dollars to spare, why not check it out? Oh....my...gosh. With six tracks coming in at almost an hour, in one listen this album has become an instant favorite of mine. With so much soul and so much power in the music, you can clearly see that Davis, John Coultrane, Julian Adderly, and Bill Evans (Google these guys if you don't know who they are, you won't be dissapointed) are having a ball and are putting their all into every note they play.

Listening to this album is bittersweet for me for the simple fact that this kind of music is almost impossible to find today. Not jazz music itself, but music that moves people. With the exception of just a couple of bands, I cannot stand mainstream music for the simple fact that it has become a waste of time. The past Grammys were an example of this. You don't have to have talent anymore to be famous in the music industry. As long as it's catchy, it gets played, and the "artist" gets paid. This also applies to some contemporary Christian bands. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen artists labeled as contempory Christian bands, but upon listening, find almost next to no mention of Jesus in their lyrics. That's not to say their are not contempory Christian bands out there who are witnesses in their lyrics, but I'm just saying, this apathy in the music industry has also reached into the contemporary Christian market.

The blame is not 100 percent that of the music industry, a big part of the problem is the average music fan. In an era where people like Soulja Boy, Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, and the Jonas Brothers are household names, it proves that average music fans will listen to anything. The music doesn' t have to mean anything, but as long as it's catchy, it's pretty good music. But I know that there are some out there who still know what good music looks like, and to those, I saltue you. I just hope that one day we can get to a place where music means something again, and that good music is more than just a catchy song on the radio, but is something that has a message and moves people in ways they never thought possible.