Kind of Blue Morning

I gathered up an A+ stack of music last night to listen to -- some of which I knew already, some of which I had yet to hear. This morning has been a Miles Davis' Kind of Blue sort of morning. 

I've been listening to jazz and classical a lot more during the day -- mostly at work, but also at home when I am writing, because it provides some sort of music background without being distracting. I've never been much of a jazz enthusiast (or classical, for that matter, until I discovered some English composers such as Elgar and Vaughan-Williams), but not for lack of wanting to be. Interestingly, since I work in a bookstore, it has always been bookstores that I associate with jazz. When I was about 14 or so, I was staying north of Milwaukee with my dad, helping him out with an air fair during a summer weekend. In the evening, we stopped into an independent bookstore in some anonymous upper-crust shopping center, and the adjoining coffee shop had a live jazz pianist, whose tunes wafted through the dark-shelved and cozy bookstore and forever impressed upon me the association between bookstores and jazz. Alas.

So now, whenever I have the chance at the bookstore I work at, I put in jazz, because it reminds me where I am. I love it. Yesterday I grabbed a few jazz titles along with some other alternative titles that I knew, but hadn't heard yet, save The Duke Spirit, which I have already and wanted to play in the car on the way home. ;) The 2009 Editors release, In This Light and On This Morning, is really great, and worth a couple listens.

1. Gene Ammons & Sonny Stitt - God Bless Jug and Sonny (Live at the Left Bank), Prestige

2. Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie - Bird & Diz, Verve

3. Editors - In This Light and On This Evening, Faderlabel

4. My Morning Jacket - Chocolate and Ice EP, Badman

5. Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Columbia

6. Miles Davis - Cool Blues, NewSound

7. The Duke Spirit - The Duke Spirit, Shangri-La

8. The Walkmen - Bows & Arrows, Record Collection

9. Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers - A Night in Tunisia, Bluebird

10. Elgar - Symphony No. 2, EMI

Not Shown: Gene Ammons/Sonny Stitt - Boss Tenors, Verve

music from europe.

first, la roux. she's the newest addition to my itunes library... her self-titled album has finally been released in the united states... it's a totally 80s-infused dance album. it's funky, light-hearted sounding, but with really penetrable, deep lyrics. a few months ago i heard the tracks "fascination" and "in for the kill." itunes had "bulletproof" as their free single a couple of weeks ago and that was it -- i had to have the album. it's great driving music!

and another route altogether is beth orton, whose 1999 album central reservation we have been playing at work from time to time. below i posted the video for one of my favorite songs off that album, "blood red river." "stolen car," the first track, is another favorite. beth orton's voice is chilling and absolutely beautiful.

lately i've been in either a la roux- or beth orton-type mood. there's really nothing like pulling out beloved albums after not listening to them in ages... and adding new ones...

which brings me to my discovery last night; how could i have missed this? not that it's entirely old news or anything, but probably not stateside at all -- milow. if you haven't seen/heard his song "ayo technology" (yes, it is that song, a 50 cent cover [!!]) it's totally worth checking out. milow, who i believe is a dutch-belgian singer, is pretty popular in germany, as far as i can gather. not sure if i've been living under a rock or he just hasn't gotten over to the states yet much. but no matter -- check out the video below. it's awesome. and then check out some of his other songs; they are also quite nice.