Musical Education

Before I say anything about this song, you should just go listen to it. Click here, then scroll down to "Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra" and listen to "We Are MTO."

Listened yet? Okay. Now I can mention the word "jazz" without scaring you away. I know almost nothing about jazz. It seems to be an acquired taste. It's on my list of things to learn about, but I haven't had the time to really give it a fighting chance yet. I've heard a few jazz songs (like the one above) that I think are totally awesome, but so much "jazz" is either syrupy Kenny G easy listening crap, or overly obtuse, self-involved, dissonant, technical showing off.

While jazz is one of the biggest gaping holes in my knowledge of pop music history, it is by no means the only one, so at the top of my Christmas list this year is Tom Moon's book, 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die. I'm really excited to read it. I think it'll help me start filling in a lot of the gaps in my musical education. Unfortunately, recordings are not included, but hunting down the music can be an adventure in itself, and it'll help me pace myself and not get burned out on a music listening binge.

Hooray learning!