For all my American readers I hope your long holiday weekend is getting off to a kick ass start. It’s a rockin send off as you mill about the country thinking about labor. Yeah right. I got the rockin send off part right, however a vast majority of us know that the only thing most Americans will be thinking of is hanging with some friends. Maybe do a little bit of BBQ’ing and tossing back some cold drinks. In addition you might be on an impromptu road trip, or even a planned road trip. Who knows?
Myself I won’t be thinking about working, I’ll actually be working. See, I’m still knee deep in finishing up a huge Christmas recording that I mentioned here on the blog some time ago. I got 5 more of the 30 songs recorded vocally yesterday. Its moving a little faster. I still have about 15 songs to go. I’m hoping to get them finished in the next two weeks so that the mixing can get done by October. Keep the fingers crossed.
I do plan on getting the old mountain bike out and doing a ride Sunday morning. Good to get the blood pumping and clear the head. I’ll also likely be spending a little time around the house and yard. Tending to some much needed clean up and lawn care. I’ve noticed that when I’m so engrossed with finishing a recording I can neglect simple everyday tasks, other than eating. I have made the attempt to kick the breathing once or twice, but I never seem to get far with that one. I guess oxygen is just a fact of life.
In that respect I’m very primitive in my needs. I need food, I need oxygen, I need music. Sometimes in that order, sometimes in a different order. Good thing I’ve come across this album by Modern Primitives. Funny that it’s called Music For the Modern Primitive. As you can hear its instrumental, it also has a lot of cool blended elements. This is a kind of music that will never likely hit the mainstream, I understand why, but it sure sucks that it won’t. I mean, c’mon we’re hearing some great music. The melodies are strong the production is great. It covers a lot ground. There’s the Joe Satriani-esque guitars, the world beat type of percussion, the top notch musicianship, the exploratory harmonies, that all adds up to something special in my mind.
There’s a good reason why the musicianship is kickin ass. Its because its masterminded by one of Billy Idol’s old guitar players, Mark Younger-smith. What I gather from the CD Baby page (as I couldn’t find his official website), Mark started this project of a sheer affinity of music. Adding and subtracting things from previous and some new writing’s he’d been doing with friends and co-workers. Some of those co-workers are other top notch players who do a lot of touring with bigger acts. Thus you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck. I will warn you though. This is likely the most commercially acceptable track on the disc. The rest of it has some cool melodies and some arrangements that certainly take a little getting used to.
In particular with this song I get the sense of being out on a journey. Something I’d like to be doing this holiday. How about you?
Despite my non-foreseen road trip, I do recommend relaxing this labor day with a new song and CD in your rotation. I think you’ll be impressed.