Chilled Wine, Not Coffee
Went to a great concert in a local coffee house last night. I’m a big fan of chill and low-fi music — bands like Air, Massive Attack, Zero Seven, that sort of thing. The band playing last night definitely isn’t on that kind of a level, but they were very good. It’s a very relaxing and comfortable place to hear music; for a show like this, they turned the lights down a little, and a friend and I relaxed on a big beanbag, closed our eyes, and just vegged out to the music.
Honestly, I think if you put a gun to my head I’d be hard pushed to define the difference between chill or low fi music, and elevator music. But there really is a difference — it’s not necessarily simply background music, although it is quiet and atmospheric. At its best, there’s a kind of swirling and moving feel to the music that gets deep inside you. And elevator music really doesn’t have that quality.
We decided to pass on coffee, figuring that caffeine and chill wasn’t a very good combination. Instead, we split a bottle of Petit Syrah and got pleasantly buzzed. Walked home late, fell into bed, and this morning I’m waking up with a cup of coffee as I write this post.