thought we were due for a change or two around this place...
sometimes you need a perfect mix of old rock, think jethro tull, mixed with the bands that started the whole name "indie"
sometimes you need classically trained jazz musicians to diverge from their roots and make music that i can imagine blasting driving through the prairies
another one of those bands that as soon as i heard them i wondered how i could've possibly not known about them
then again, i'm not all that surprised by what i don't know either
3 posts in, i guess i should explain why the need for this blog anyways
i'll say half of it comes from a bit of boredom and then listening to the heart-swelling Pale Seas song - before the day was out i'd already linked the song to a bunch of friends but on that silly platform of facebook, i didn't want to explain what the song did to me - what i heard when i heard it - on facebook
and i like writing more than talking
though some may disagree on that point
the other half - the most important half
came from being on the island with my dad a few weekends ago
my dad is not technologically inclined
though he has one of those little wifi laptops that can handle email, the internet and getting football scores
it by no means has the memory or speed to store/download or listen to music
instead
the old man has a 300 disc changer
and a clipboard with a list from 1-300 of every disc in there
we were sitting in his living room and a song came on
i asked what/who it was
and he said "ah, this is so and so and it's one of my desert island songs"
so i asked him if he had a list of his desert island songs...
yet another clipboard was pulled out and he ran through his list, many songs i didn't know
i asked him to play them for me
all the while thinking of what would be on my list
needless to say,
Beirut makes it onto both of our lists
to my friends reading this, it will come as no surprise that Beirut makes it onto this list
i have seen Beirut perform 3 times and have taken my Dad twice, he would've come the third time if it wasn't for a problem he's having with his eye
i'm pretty sure i know their entire repertoire by heart and i could pick many songs for this list
but the one that has stuck with me the most comes in at a whopping minute and 41 seconds
from their split album of spanish funeral marches on the first half and somewhat electronic synth pop on the latter half - it's the brass section i go for first and every time
when On a Bayonet comes in with the deep tuba and trumpets it's so absolutely fucking sad -
it is a death march, after all
when the clarinets and oboes come in, there's a redemption - maybe a high-note of life in death, i don't know
i'm not here to analyze what Zach Condon was thinking about when he wrote it
but the song stops me everytime and when i'm on that mythical island, waiting for my time
this song will march me to the other side
once upon a time, i thought that in my future career i'd pick music for film and television
when i'd hear a particularly poignant piece of music
i'd make a music video in my head
or a snapshot out of a film/storyline/idea to it
but let's let bygones be bygones on dreams i haven't realized
instead, let's remember the songs that were perfectly suited to their scenes -
like elliott smith's needle in the hay in the royal tenenbaums
last christmas, after the throes of family discontent and gatherings had diminished
and i was left to my own lazy devices
i plowed through 3 seasons of Son of Anarchy
i don't think i cried throughout the entire show at all - mainly because i'm a heartless bastard
then, during an emotionally charged scene (oh internal struggles, you)
mark kozelek's voice drifted in
and i smoked a cigarette while tears made hot little tracks down my face
patiently waiting for the episode to end
so i could find the song
and post it near and wide
to all my friends
titling it
"no this is not my guitar..."
yesterday, i found a song that breaks my heart
i've had a few of those songs in my past
where upon hearing them, i just wanted to overdose on them
i sent a link to a fellow music-lover friend saying
"you know when a song is so good - like the chord progression is everything you want it to be that it makes you so happy you become depressed?"
his response was
"i'm more like this makes me so happy i wanna smash it - feeling."
it's not even the lyrics
it's the whole droney-ness of the guitars and bass
with this crisp guitar overtop
and stripped drumming
it makes my chest ache and my eyes water
today, i want to end my world with this song bleeding through my ears
