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100% recommend
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What Hacker News says
- The book "Kind of Blue: The Making of a Miles Davis Masterpiece" by Ashley Cole is great if you're into this album.
One of the most notable things about this album is that, while there were a few false starts, they used the first complete take for each track, which is astounding. I personally think it's the greatest achievement in the history of music.
- Read about the development and individuals involved with the history of different types of music. I suggest this because you probably won't instantly like styles of music that are significantly different from what you already listen to. For example, if you're not familiar with jazz, listening to an acclaimed classic like Miles Davis' Kind of Blue might strike you as boring, or as just cool mood music, but when you have developed an ear for it, it's mind blowing.
Unfortunately, it seems like there is a sore lack of good criticism--critical studies of music that attempt to understand the music more than rate it--and this is especially true of popular music (pop, rock, rap, country, electronica, etc.). I can think of one place that's really good for rock history: Only Solitaire (http://starling.rinet.ru/music/index.htm). That guy's opinions are certainly not the last word on that music, but he does do a good job of putting artists and albums in context. For other kinds of music, maybe start with a Wikipedia article and go from there and see what you find.
