ThePhanastasio

Favourite 3 Genres
This is really difficult to pinpoint precise genres, but I'll try to go for the ones I've been listening to the most lately: "Jam" / Improvisational, Abstract Hip-Hop, and Jazz.


What attracts me to music
I'm attracted to music for a variety of different reasons, really. It's not necessarily any one thing that I can quite pin down. I think my love for music typically considered "jam bands" is probably one of my strongest attractions, particularly at this time in my life. The musicians playing this particular type of music tend to be very proficient with their instruments to begin with - the composed sections of their songs are often very tight and exploratory, generally drawing influences from a variety of genres and blending them seamlessly together. Then comes the "jamming" portion. When listened to with full concentration, it can be some of the most mind-blowing music you'll ever hear. The jamming is improvised, but there are two major types of jams you'll see with most acts in the scene. There are Type I Jams, which stem from the song itself. They'll be improvising around the structure of the song as it already exists, using that to base their jam around; a lot of the time, this will be with tempo changes, variations on the notes and progression, etc. - but still keeping with the song itself. Listening to a lot of Type I Jams is impressive enough to me, then you get into the real meat and potatoes of the improvisation (for me anyway): The Type II Jam. This often comes out of a Type I Jam, but in this type of jam, it's completely improvised; the notes, the chords, the progression, tempo, rhythmic changes - all done on the spot. It requires skill to do a proficient Type II jam in the first place, with a single instrument. When you bring multiple instrumentalists into the mix, and when it all really comes together...when they're feeding off of each others' energy and making this brilliant, collaborative, improvisational masterpiece seemingly out of thin air. It's really exhilarating to see or hear this, when it really does all come together. There's not a formula - not really. It's never been played before, and it will never be played again. It's really an experience and an event. Of course I'm going to use a Phish clip to illustrate this:

This is an Also Sprach Zarathustra jam > Carini which absolutely blew my mind.


Another note - when a band is able to segue one song into another...I feel like that is also an exceptional show of skill. Something I love to see.

Really, I feel like music which is really pushing the envelope is what appeals most to me. Something I've not heard before which really has the ability to challenge me as a listener. It doesn't have to be about lyrics, instruments played, who's playing it, why it was written, or anything like that.

That's probably why abstract hip-hop really appeals to me, although lyrically it can be ingenious as well. Rapping bizarre poetry over absurd time signatures is what initially drew me to Doseone, via Themselves. Any time someone asks me to put on hip-hop, I will always put this particular track in the mix. It has dropped many a jaw.



When I first heard Doseone, I felt like this is what hip-hop is going to evolve into. It's revolutionary, so ahead of its time. I guess a lot of people aren't ready for it yet. It's just so amazing to me. I can kind of feel the beats, the words, the strangeness of it all, and get in between the beats and feel fulfilled, content. All of that.

Jazz is something else which I've been listening to a bit lately. In particular, Jaco Pastorius and Charles Mingus, two ****ing phenomenal bassists.

This is why I like jazz, which is probably apparent in my love for the other types of music I'm most into.




Are you attracted to the same musical qualities now as then?
Not at all, really. I guess to a certain extent, I've always been pushing on to listen to music which was more challenging to me as a listener even in my teen years, preferring such intricate compositions as "The Prophet's Song" and "Innuendo" to much of Queen's other material. Now, I'm just much more hungry for music that will blow my mind than I ever was. I want to be thrilled; I want to be surprised; I want to be challenged - I want something to affect me.

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