Week 2

Familiar Music
Artist: A Tribe Called Quest
Song Title: Oh My God
Run Time: 3:29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ETsie9aFKE

 Artist: The Doors
Song Title: Riders on the Storm
Run Time: 7:08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DED812HKWyM

I chose to write about A Tribe Called Quest's hit off their Midnight Marauders album because it's simply a good track to me.  It makes you want to bop your head and swing your hips and I think the most important aspect of music is how it makes the listener feel.  You simply can't listen to A Tribe Called Quest and not feel the groove of their near immaculate flow topped off with Qtip's smooth delivery.  In my opinion, he possesses perhaps one of the greatest voices in hip hop history.  It's simply butter to your ears.  Evidence for this claim can be found on 2:13 where Qtip recites his second verse which just sounds smooth and cool to put it simply.  In the beginning of the second verse Phife Dawg's opening lines are as follows, "One for the treble, two for the bass. . . " which is a direct play on of Elvis Presey's work on his song "Blue Suede Shoes." It's remarkable how artists recognize the greatness of their predecessors and continue to use samples from their work even today.  The track also possesses perhaps one of the more obnoxious hooks in hip hop history as well.  Busta Rhymes recites the title of this track as the chorus to the song.  I think the implantation of horns, bass guitar, and other instruments I'm not acutely aware of just add to the overall experience this song provides.   I genuinely believe this song was produced simply as a track to play at a dance party or club because it's nearly impossible for me to give this a listen and not tap my foot to the beat.

Unfamiliar Music
Artist: Miles Davis
Song Title: All Blues
Run Time: 11:34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-488UORrfJ0&list=PLdhGk7gKuZxYut3naMt3K1b3uwMbzZPIM

Despite not being that knowledgeable of the jazz music genre I found this track relatively enjoyable to listen to and certainly opened my eyes to how brilliant jazz music can be in the must subtle of ways. A friend of mine who is an avid jazz music connoisseur suggested I try this out.  Unlike my previous entries this particular track does not contain lyrics of any kind and is pure instrumental. I thoroughly enjoyed the sophisticated melody which I found to be the best of any jazz musician I had previously listened to. It's a relatively quiet song which I think makes it so easy to listen to and keep on.  I feel like the outro of this track does it great justice because of how the trumpet fades out in an almost eerie and creepy sort of fashion that just fits it almost perfectly.