I’m not sure when I picked up this trait, but I find myself humming a lot. I hum a wide variety of songs, but 90% of the time it is these five songs (listed in order of frequency):
Auld Lang Syne
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Pomp and Circumstance (the graduation song)
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Wedding March
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The Jurassic Park Theme
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And most recently, Hark the Herald Angels Sing
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I told Patrick I would write about this before Pitchfork, but I didn’t get to it in time. Thinking about High Places makes me feel very sentimental. I first heard High Places when they played with Lucky Dragons, Bobby Birdman, and YACHT at il corral. I went with Jon and we got there too early and met Jennifer Fodor of G-RAD (this was before G-RAD beat us) and went to an arcade. I really like High Places. They had already run out of CDRs when we saw them so I subsisted on downloads from their myspace. (Later I bought this seven inch on Ancient Almanac.) But my point is that they needed to put out a legit album and the rad cuties at eMusic just did, 03/07 - 09/07 on eMusic Selects. Ok, here is the scoop. eMusic Selects is “a brand-new monthly program featuring exclusive music from handpicked, unsigned new artists.” Whoa! To me this sounds heartfelt. They really want to help out new artists. It benefits the artist and it benefits eMusic. So far I think it has worked. And guess what? February’s releases? Not only High Places, but also Breathe Owl Breathe. I’ve been really digging both albums a lot and I’m going to tell you why. Or why you should buy them right now to support these rad artists.
Now the music. High Places consists of Rob’s sweet beats and Mary’s ethereal singing. Rob only uses tiny drums and shakers, but the sound is so full you would think there was more. There is no more! Well, there is. There is Mary’s singing. You can’t have one without the other. They sort of just move in your mind to be one solid noise and you forget that shakers can’t sing. Or I do. Mary’s voice is always echoed in this perfect way. You can imagine it. When they play she moves and dances around singing with bells around her wrist. When I say ethereal I don’t mean ethereal like Lavender Diamond, the pace and the attitude is different. Lavender Diamond ethereal feels delicate and light. High Places ethereal feels light, but full. Full in a lofi way or in a low treble way. The best way to understand is to hear:
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03 Banana Slugs/Cosmonaut
(Plus High Places always favorites my photos of the Margot and Travis.)
Breathe Owl Breathe is not an artist I was terribly familiar with before I got Ghost Glacier EP. I knew those Michigan folks were deep into it, but otherwise no. Ok. Immediate reaction: familiarity. Not familiarity like “I think I’ve heard this before”, but familiarity in the way “I think I’ve ALWAYS heard this.” It feels like a distant memory. A fond distant memory. Probably from your childhood. But like a positive experience. Not like when you were chubby and were bad at sports. More like a sunset or a Sunday afternoon. I suppose also sentimental. Their music feels like a fond memory. That’s the best I can say it.
Breathe Owl Breathe would be filed under “folk” I suppose because they play folky instruments. Their voices are comforting and make me weepy. Such mellow vibes!
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There are things that I find myself revisiting in my mind a lot. Not necessarily moments in time, but images that represent specific times. Whenever I make westside hand sign, which is usually when I get REALLY into dancing, I think of this video by Westside Connection:
Now that’s something classic.
So it’s not necessarily that video, it is where I was, the general atmosphere, when I first saw that video. It was the FEELING. That’s the f-ed thing about memory. It’s not about what happened, the facts, it’s about how it FELT. Sometimes, driving around L.A. in the late afternoon feels like this video, the 90’s, Top Gun, or Short Cuts:
Now that’s not to say I have visuals for everything, but more I wanted to show how absurd and mundane these memories can be. It’s like a weird phrase someone said some time. It’s not big memories. It’s not even things I am consciously thinking of most of the time. These memories are what I use to judge situations. And most of the time I don’t even realize that they are the criteria.
Some of them I’m not even sure if they are REAL memories. It seems like they have been altered over time through using them. I.E. Does anyone remember cheetah fader? I can’t find a link anywhere. I think that’s what it was called though. It made the text rainbowy when you were typing in aol. This is when we had dialup. 28K dialup. Anyhow, it’s stuff like that. Weird, pseudo memories about nonsense.
I joined Last.fm as a new years resolution of sorts. I was inspired by Kottke’s post, and, in general, my love for stats. So, needless to say, I’ve been checking up on my Last.fm account from time to time. Today, something very exciting happened: Between January 3, 2007 and now (July 16, 2007 at 4:17 pm) I have listened to 10,000 songs.1 If I continue at this current rate it will take me almost 6 years to get to 100,000, the next big milestone I guess. Anyways, here’s the stats.
My top 20 artists so far this year are as follows:2
1. The Blow
2. YACHT
3. Mirah
4. Bob Dylan
5. Deerhoof
6. The Righteous and Harmonious Fists (represent!)
7. Manta
8. Cat Power
9. Adrian Orange
10. Dear Nora
11. The Badger King
12. Wu-Tang Clan
13. Bobby Birdman
14. Tom Waits
15. Prodigy (of Mobb Deep)
16. Lavender Diamond
17. Dirty Projectors
18. High Places
19. CocoRosie
20. Belle and Sebastian
None of these are really surprising… If there was a “Top Time Elapsed” I think Public Radio International would be higher (currently 29) up in the list because all the podcasts I listen to are around an hour each.
1This includes my time at work (where I listen the most, 8-5 Monday-Friday since the summer began) and home (Far less than work lately because I’m at home less. Plus lately, with no internet connection at home, I don’t know how much is being tracked). This does not include my iPod (I know you can track your iPod listening, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet, plus I haven’t really used my iPod much lately).
I can’t get enough. The music. The jamz. The WU! Dance Party 2002. OK! Here’s a life lesson (#4): LIFEISCYCLICAL. You find yourself. In your new shoes. Your new persona. You feel legit. You always do. AND you love it. So, your in it (How much does Garden State suck? … it’s the Sufjan of movies, you like it, but it cheapens your existence)… Tonight, we were visiting, then the past comes back. Life is put into a new perspective. I can’t help but put myself into the lowest common denominator. FIRST, I hate to think I am better than anyone else. I mean, I do it, think it, but I am eternally bummed out about it. How could I know more than anyone? I forget my sister’s birthday, I mess up, lose friends, say the WRONG thing… I am a constant foot in the mouth. It’s a bummer.
I have always wanted an eternal perspective. The eternal transcendence. No matter what. Punk Rock. Conservative Christian. It’s the “eternal” perspective. Whether it be heaven, or the cosmos. I want to be like Bucky. I don’t want to fight for religion, or politics, just eternity.
