Fables of the (Re)Construction

Dear Readers (all six or seven of you):

Forgive this self-indulgence, but I have been thinking about this post since about a week after I started The Tuning Room, which really should be entitled: "What Was I Thinking?!" Truth be told, I started this blog before I should have and then tried to turn it into something I am probably incapable of achieving--a resource on music (albeit a resource from a limited and personal perspective). So I find myself in a bit of a conundrum--one which might end this here adventure or, at a minimum, will alter the approach.

This really isn't a whine--I mean it! I am just thinking through this little (and I mean little) dilemma. Here are pieces of the puzzle--all problems with the mental construction of this blog and I am fully aware that the solutions might just be delusional answers that will allow me to reconstruct (the same) blog. (BTW--I learned this cool technique of inserting random self-reflective commentary via the use of parenthetical qualifiers in graduate school--isn't it the smartest thing you have ever seen?)

Problem #1: So I have this bad habit of building things as I go--but hey it has worked so far! The problem here is that I had this funny idea that if I started this blog about music and got friends and fam to check it out, people would naturally ask if they could join in and post their thoughts on music. I, being raised like a Garrison Keillor character, didn't see any reason to ask anyone directly if they wanted to actually start a group blog on music--that would be presumptuous now wouldn't it? Needless to say, that was I had in mind in the first place.

Problem #2: Too many blogs. Is it possible? Well, yeah, but don't just mean the number of great music blogs out there already, I mean for me personally. There is the work blog--luckily a good colleague maintains the other or it would be two work blogs. And then there is the Brothers K blog (by invitation) about The Artist, The Engineer, and Little Boss which we try to write on frequently to keep friends and family up to date on the boys. So the point is that there is a lot of blogging in this life already. And because of blogging for work (not to mention friends who maintain great sites) I have a tendency to think of blogs as needing to be interesting and have fresh content and therefore I create some self-imposed obligation to keep this site filled with new stuff as if folks are looking for new features each day.

Problem #3: I can't. I love music, but I just don't listen to that much music, have time to explore it as much as I want, AND write about it. Right now there are about a dozen new albums/artists that I want to check out and that doesn't even include jazz and classical. And as I recently noted, I feel like I am just too behind the times to catch up with most of you who would read this. I never meant to be cutting edge, but I am feeling a bit more than behind the curve. As a result, I feel like I am just throwing something up for the sake of posting.

Problem #4: I can't believe that I have reached this point in my life, but I feel like I don't quite have a handle on the technology and so I end up spending time trying to right things that seem wrong on the blog (I am sure you have all noticed) or trying to figure out to get something to work rather than posting about tunes--or god forbid, listening to tunes!

Okay so that sounded like a whine even though I promised it wasn't going to be one and perhaps I should just check into some Blogs Anonymous group, get over it, crank up some tunes and hang. . . . oh please!

Here are the considerations for going forward:

1. Add Players? I am going to let this sit here on the blog for a bit and see if any of you all who read this are, in fact, interested in joining on as "A Player" and writing your thoughts about music here at the TR--or creating something else all together with a music angle. I know most of you have blogs already and doubt you want to sacrifice those--but if you think there might be something to work on along these lines, you know where to find me.

2. Reorient the Room? The other alternative would be to change the orientation of the blog to not just be focused on music--goodness knows I have lots of thoughts about other stuff (really!) and perhaps I should just get out of this genre specific gig.

3. Bone Up on the Techno? Also want to take a little time to figure out some stuff about the back end, putting up music files, and creating a site that is less cluttered and easier to read without all these extraneous components (that I put up rather than taking the time to actually write). So while I might not post very frequently for the next bit, you might see design changes.

4. Get a Life? Finally, while this blog is about as old as a Mayfly, it might just be that we should let it fade into the background and focus on other things (doubtful, but in the mix).

So there you have it--an honest assessment of my current perspective on The Tuning Room. I truly, truly do not share this thoughts as some fishing expedition for reassurance that I must keep this all-important blog up and running (I have enough experience with blogs to know different). Rather, I thought I would put it out there and see if you all had some suggestions--no one would be better to weigh in on this that the few of you friends who stop by. Would love to hear from anyone interested in a joint effort or any advice on good resources for getting more up to speed on the technology side.

Update: Okay I am over this thanks to a little help from my friends--new and old. Thanks to Lisa B. from HighTouchMegastore for the support, advice and offer. To Wobs from OrganizingGrievances for making a comparison that was more motivation than any positive re-enforcement ever could be. Thanks to the good dr over at The Bellman for some tech advice, and a special shout out to Payton from This Mornin' for help on the music files and player piece. Needless to say I am back at it with a bit less ambition and hopefully a bit more focus. And now enough with the navel gazing.

Open Thread: You Spin Me Right Round

Okay, so we have veered into this topic a couple of times already in the comment threads here at The TR, but lets see if anyone is around enough to engage this open thread.

Is vinyl making a comeback?

Payton has more details, but I am cynical/futuristic on this topic and hope for a new medium where we get the benefits of digital music and the quality of vinyl. I also think this is more generational than anything--says the older guy with the vinyl bias.

What do you all think or hope or argue?

Growing Up with Joe and John: Part I

As I indicated earlier, College Roomy sent me the new Joe Jackson album Rain along with a few cuts from Summer in the City and my first listen was to say that I think I am done with Joe. What?! CR reminded me that I was once the "I will own everything by Joe Jackson guy" leading me to own everything from his big band album to the Pretty in Pink soundtrack (it has a cool JJ song with Suzanne Vega on it) to Joe's first modern classical recording Will Power. My reaction made us think a bit about bands/artists that were important to us at certain points in our lives but somehow haven't translated beyond nostalgic memories (and occasional listens to after a couple drinks and a few "remember when we used to" conversations). And I think that Joe might now, in fact, be one of those artists for me which is pretty amazing to say (as you will see).

Now, this is not to say that I don't like this offering by JJ--but I suspect most of that has to do with a very soft spot I have from spending so much time earlier in my life with his music. The songs are, as always, carefully crafted. They have a cool jazz feel--think late Steely Dan with lots of open space in them and wonderful piano being the central element as it is primarily Joe's preferred trio line-up, all of which is quite nice. I could do without all the falsetto here, but even that fits the mood and in many ways it is a nice summer sound. However, I am not sure I would recommend anyone but serious JJ fans go out and buy this one.

I would still refer folks who don't have any JJ to go back to earlier periods in his work. If you are looking for punky, loud, fun stuff, there is the early efforts, Look Sharp or I'm the Man. Add a little reggae influence and you get perhaps my favorite album: Beat Crazy (also best artwork award goes to this one). And then there is the more jazzy and polished era that gave us Night and Day, Body and Soul (another contender for my fav), and then that little played, but wonderful 1986 three-sided album, Big World which was the precursor to the 60 minute CD (the perfect length for a disc I believe). And the last disc that I was really into as a JJ fan, Blaze of Glory, a thematic disc of sorts about, well, what do you think, lost youth.

Side story: I saw Joe live twice and the second time was the Blaze of Glory tour when Neats and I and friends saw him live at the State Theater in Cleveland which was a perfect venue. So he and the band open up with a few songs all with different arrangements which is part of what makes his live stuff fun (oh and by the way, if you don't have anything live by Joe, the NYC album does sound like it is really nice as is the earlier double live album). So they are just about to start a version of "Hometown" and the usher brings a couple down and seats them in the near front. Joe stops the band in disgust and asks the couple how much they paid for those seats. Answer: a decent amount of money. Joe excoriates them for having no manners and interrupting the show (expletives included followed by much applause). He then turns back to the band to start over, but first pauses, turns back to the couple and says, "Oh and we already played 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?' so don't be calling for that later!" And well, that kind of sums Joe up, now doesn't it.

Okay, so where am I going with this ramble. Well, two places. One, if you are looking for some fairly mellow JJ, you could give the new disc a try, but if you have none of his stuff I would recommend you start with one of the others I note above depending on your mood.

Two, and the real point, is that I find the whole idea of what artists stay with you or "grow up" with you to be interesting. And like the discussion about seasons, the reasoning for why certain bands stay with us seems a bit random. One logical guess would be that we mellow with age, but I am not sure that is really it. I suspect it has to be about who speaks to us at the place we are in our lives, although it might be that some artists can transcend all of that--not sure.

However, I have just been listening to the new John Mellencamp album and while I never had the same connection with him as I did with JJ, I find myself more drawn to where he is at now and also remembering how much I liked his stuff at each turn as I grew up with him. But alas that is all for Part II which if I am lucky is more coherent than Part I!

Until then, I leave you with this nice live version of Wasted Time from the new album so you can decide for yourself.