Eclectic

Wagakki Band (和楽器バンド)
(Source)

Eclectic:

adjective

1. deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.
2. of, denoting, or belonging to a class of ancient philosophers who did not belong to or found any recognized school of thought but selected such doctrines as they wished from various schools. 

noun 

1. a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

I have a rather broad range of tastes in many things, not just music, but as we've been on a bit of a musical bent as of late, I'm going to talk about my tastes in music in this post. You are invited (nay, encouraged) to share your own likes and dislikes in the comments, of course.

So lately I've been entertaining myself on YouTube by watching a bunch of kinda goofy and hysterical videos. It's truly mind-numbing entertainment, something I have needed as of late with all the PVD action occurring inside my Mk1 Mod 0 eyeballs. Takes my mind off the floaters, flashing lights, and blurred vision (in the left eye, which is improving daily, so dinna fash yersel on my behalf).

Anyhoo, whilst watching all these "gifs with sound" or "coub" as the Russians call 'em, I stumbled across a brief clip of a group of Japanese musicians playing a mix of traditional Japanese and modern Western instruments. The samisen (三味線) is an instrument which I have always loved the sound of, and here was a lady in what was apparently a rock band playing one!

The clip of this band fascinated me, I needed more, so I searched for "Japanese rock band using traditional instruments" and found this -

Captivated I was, so I called The Missus Herself into the command center, er, I mean, "man cave" and showed her the video. She found it rather entertaining, she also mentioned that the clothing and hairstyles of the band members put her in mind of anime. (I have known this lady for 42+ years, been married to her for near 41 of those years, and she never ceases to amaze me. There are depths to her that continually surprise me. In a good way mind you, a very good way.)

Now I have liked "Eastern" (as in Asian) music since The Beatles' George Harrison played the sitar on their Rubber Soul album in 1965. (The song was Norwegian Wood.) I started junior high in that year (what I guess they call "middle school" in these modern times) and had a very good teacher by the name of John Wu. As you might guess, he was of Chinese descent.

The class was social studies, back then it was a mix of history and cultural stuff, Mr. Wu brought some mad teaching skilz to the table along with an understandably "Eastern" attitude towards the class. While European culture was mixed in, we had a lot of Asian culture as well. (Which is probably why I so enjoyed my time in Japan and Korea.)

One of the activities we did with Mr. Wu was to eat an Indian meal (prepared by the home economics class, remember those?) and listen to real Indian music. I seem to recall it was a Ravi Shankar album (I also seem to recall he's the chap who taught Harrison how to play) the timing was perfect. There was my favorite band using the sitar and I'm kicked back in the Home Econ room dining on curry, nan bread, rice, and listening to Indian music. Sweet.

Sitar music always puts me in mind of the hot, dusty plains of India, the countryside holding its breath as man and beast await the start of the monsoon. Also puts me in mind of the lofty peaks of the Himalayas. Elephants, tigers, and cobras. Oh my!

Now the sitar has about a billion strings, (actually not that many but it has way more than a six-string guitar, the instrument I was most familiar with at the time) and produces a sound which I find very relaxing and soothing. Of course, I wanted one, and of course my parents demurred on that, "But we just got you a guitar! Learn how to play that first!" Well, they did have a point, and just where on Earth could one find a sitar in Vermont in 1965? It wasn't like you could trot on down to the local music emporium and pick one up. Nope, probably had to go to India or something for that!

At any rate, so began my eclectic tastes in both music and food. While I can still do burgers and fries and rock and roll with the best of 'em, there are days I just have to chow down on kimchi and rice and listen to some old timey Asian music, like this -

That instrument is the kayagum (가야금), a traditional Korean stringed instrument. I had an entire album of kayagum music when we lived in Korea, The Missus Herself thought I was out of my mind, my mother-in-law liked it, so that scored me some points. I found it a winning proposition to always stay on my mother-in-law's good side. Advice I'd give to anyone looking to get married, win the mother-in-law, you've won the war.

Dang, but I miss that sweet little lady. She's been gone 19 years. I can still hear her laughing, shaking her head, and calling me "미친 사람" - crazy person. She knew me well, as does her daughter.

I'm a lucky guy. A little crazy and rather eclectic. A good thing, I think. I hope...