TomlovesMezz - Part 1 - Why?

I thought i’d explain myself. I’m Mezz. Tom is my best friend. He lives in Florida with his lovely wife Kelley and owns the greatest (currently alive) dog in the world – Norman the Old British Bulldog. I live in the UK - currently outside of Exeter.

When we were of the tender age of 17 I made Tom a compilation CD for his new(ly purchased) Citroen Saxo – most would consider this a gift but instead I was secretly giving myself a nice soundtrack to die to. It was teenage angst mixed with prime cuts of musical history mixed with anything that had basslines low enough to shake the rust off it. The name of this glorious backdrop that provided entertainment on countless journeys you ask? – ‘Tom Loves Mezz’. Hilariously immature then, hilariously immature now if I do say so myself. Tom STILL listens to ‘Tom Loves Mezz’ – he picked me up from Jacksonville airport to it.

So here we are. I likes music. I figured I would mumble on about albums that i saw worthy; whether this be underrated, pioneering, seminal or heck, just nostalgic. Principally nostalgic lets say and anything else is a bonus.

Another good friend of mine (Josie) once dubbed me (in jest) a ‘music snob’ – we laughed and I took it on the chin (I was probably ranting) but it did make me philosophise over this. I probably am a music snob but no one likes a snob right? I listen to people discussing classic films from the past and have no major interests in this but i love looking back through musical history and appreciating old music – why one and not the other? I figured I’d expand on some of my (sometimes useless) musical rants in the pub to show the full thought process behind them.

I own a lot of CDs which is a longstanding weakness of mine. Some of the albums I pick won’t be for everyone (if anyone is even reading) – keep checking back in it is going to be diverse. Rock, country, punk, jazz, metal, bluegrass, rap, reggae, ska – you know, the big genres… Nah. Well yes – obviously all music fits within one of the big genres but i’m not going to write about albums we all know are golden. There won’t be a Led Zeppelin ‘IV’ review, nor Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’, Bob Marley’s ‘Kaya’, Green Day’s ‘Dookie’ or Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ – we all know these are good albums. I’m talking sub-genres here – beautiful, beautiful sub-genres.

That’s why.