Less News and More Music

Last night I started watching "It might get loud" the documentary that brings guitarists Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White together for a discussion about guitar music. It's a fantastic movie, and a must-see for any music lover. When I first heard about it, I thought, 'What's Jack White doing in there?' Not that I didn't think he had the talent for it, I just didn't think that he had earned 'legend' status. However, after watching I definitely see how he belongs in the movie. He might not be a legend (yet), but he's an amazingly talented and innovative guitarist.

Of course, The Edge is great - think of his contribution to that great U2 sound. The documentary showed how he obsessives over trying to reproduce the sounds that he hears in his head, using painstakingly researched effects settings. And some of the early clips of U2 when the band was young are a hoot.

And the ultimate of course, is Jimmy Page. The guitarist for Led Zeppelin is an amazing contradiciton of sorts. A brilliant and well-spoken raconteur, who also wails away on the guitar like a madman when he wants to. He spoke of how he loves juxtaposing textures in rock music - the gentle acoustic sounds countered by the heavy electric sounds. Simply brilliant.

So watching this brought me to today's realization. I listen to too much news, and not enough music. I spend about an hour and a half each day in the car driving to and from work. On the way in I'm usually tuned to NPR, and on the way home I alternate between NPR and talk-radio. It's informative, but everyday it's seems like the same thing: catastrophes, oil spills, lying politicians, and economic woes. It's good to be caught up on current events, but I'm overdoing it. All that downer information has to take its toll on a person's view of life.

So my new experiment is this: I'm going to try to pull a CD from my collection each day and listen to it on my way to work. I'm sure I'll miss some days (and I'll listen to the news) but I'll make an effort to put more music into my days. I'm going to try to mix up the genres, and I'll even listen to some of my wife's CDs, just to make it interesting and expand my horizons. I'll also try to write a short blurb about what I listened to, especially if it leaves an impact - good or bad.