Tonight’s choices were motivated more by something I wanted to listen to then anything else. For some reason I got the song “You’ve Stolen My Heart” in my head today (the original title is “Chura Liya Hai Tum Ne”). It is on a disc of music by Bollywood composer R.D. Burman that the Kronos Quartet put together with Burman’s wife, the amazing Asha Bhosle (possibly the most recorded voice in history with well over 12,000 recordings). And since that disc was next to other Kronos Quartet discs I grabbed those as well. Included there was ‘Howl U.S.A.’ (which isn’t as good as I hoped) and the 25 Years box set (which was as good as I hoped).

I have a strange relationship to the Kronos Quartet. On the one hand, what they have done for contemporary music is pretty amazing, even if I sometimes don’t agree with what they choose to perform. Actually, I usually don’t like what they choose to perform. They are amazing players and musicians though, and they have shown how music modern music can and should be performed, and they at times make risky programming choices like a new music ensemble should. The problem is, I’ve always felt like they have a ‘too cool for me’ vibe. And I do mean me personally. Like it isn’t a club I can be part of. I think much of this has to do with how record companies market them (even after thirty years, there is the edgier then anyone else feel to their releases). Like they know what cool is, and they are ‘letting’ us in on it… And I just realized what it is… they are like annoying record store geeks. In other words, what I hate about them the most is probably the part that makes them like me in some ways. ergh… not sure what I think about that (but then again, I’m a little tired… I’ll go over that thought more tomorrow).

Anyways – the Asha Bhosle disc is wonderful. But the 25 year set is a pretty special set of discs to me. The manager at the Tower in Berkeley when I left to move to Seattle (Jim) gave it to me on my last day as a going away present. He knew that I was hoping to go study music and composition (he studied composition as well at college on the east coast), and he thought that he should send me off with good music to learn from as well as enjoy. Jim and I pretty much always got along really well, but him giving me that set caught me off guard, and it really meant a lot to me. I have some of the Arvo Pärt on right now… music that at the time I thought was simplistic and empty. When I moved to Seattle, I couldn’t stand Arvo Pärt, mostly because so many New Agey people bought him. But when I heard the music on these Kronos discs, it started what has been well over a decade of getting to know his music. One of the first things I remember learning while listening to this is that music that sounds ‘easy’ or ‘simple’ is often everything but. Music that is written simply doesn’t last well. Music that sounds easy (or effortless) often takes work, and lots of it. As a result of this realization, it may not be too much of a stretch to say that these discs (which also include Astor Piazzolla, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich and Philip Glass among many others) showed me how much work composing was going to be. It was music that for some reason I didn’t take very seriously until this set was given to me. But Jim giving it to me carried some weight, and I realize now how seriously I took it.