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this dj at the camellia lounge is kickin' out the jazz jams...it is top notch at the very least, and believe me, we're not talking bottom-rung here. allow a backwards recount of the playlist: lauren hill, tribe called quest, LMNO, digable planets, moka only, and it all began with bahamadia. ooh, del is coming on. matches is diggin', audibly.

not too many people take their music seriously these days; have you noticed? does it upset you? aside from the pop that dominates the radio waves, and apparently people 'vote' for in whatever manner that happens, mattress doesn't get the sense that humans are really engaging with their albums anymore. everything is track shuffle...everything is disjointed. there is no time taken in this day and age for real musical appreciation; a consciousness sitting down solely with the intention of being swept away by a series of melodies and rhythms. there is no commitment to music, no dashing home through the rain, grinning sugary, grainy smiles in anticipation of putting on a simon and garfunkel LP and sinking into a bean-bag chair. matches misses the bean-bag chair. o where have you gone.

so there is a phenomenon of people not taking their music seriously. it has become auxiliary, secondary; it only gets a nod of recognition when combined with other activities. and granted, one of the seductions of notes are that they slide so silkily into anything you want to mix them up with....what else do you know that can be appropriate at any time, any place? those things are the transcendent things, like smiles for instance. if music can be compared with smiles, then perhaps it really has achieved that pillar of 'emotion' that it so richly deserves. that classiest of classifications, most minute of magnifying-glass meritoriousness. but m gets the slinking feeling that he is in the minority with this opinion~

do you not command your full attention upon a book, upon a painting, upon a sculpture? music is nestled firmly into these ranks, and to top it off with a cherry, it is the most transitory of them all. a note bursts into existence, hangs in the air for a moment like a lingering scent, and is gone. not to return ever in precisely the same form, if you want to take into account the smallest of acoustic deviations (which is admittedly a little snooty; play it as it lies). this phantom thing should require more attention if anything. and it is fine to treat it casually; obviously there are certain genres which are catered specifically towards that end. the main problem with most popular music is that it just doesn't have the architecture to hold up under the weight of a heavy listen~ and that's alright, but it certainly also perpetuates this cycle of music that isn't up to snuff. it is disappointing, nonetheless, when music for non-thinking people eclipses the popularity of a thinker's music. what statements can we make about the general population based off of that? best perhaps not to venture into hostile waters.

tonight, take an album that has stood the test of time and commit to it...even if only for a few tracks. let it shred your mind and paper-mache it into whatever its purpose decides itself to be within you~ it's one of the most exquisite joys ; )