I’m back. Sorry about the spotty nature of my posting of late. It has been a week since I put ellyn on the plane back to New York, and I have to admit, I’ve been a little mopey and unmotivated for the last few days. But I feel the funk breaking, for the most part.
Some news in the weather department. It’s been low-40s to mid-teens on the thermometer this whole week. I tell you, too cold for the me, too cold for Pam. She’s been having some trouble in the mornings. Also, it takes about twenty minutes of driving to heat up.
Oh hey, it snowed today. Stuck to the ground and everything. I’m crossing my fingers for more tonight, as white landscapes and kids rolling snowmen make for great newspaper filler.
My computer has been slowing up pretty bad with all the applications I need to run on it, so I decided last week to upgrade. I went with the black MacBook. I like the new OS X. Honestly, the whole package is an amazing, beautiful piece of technology.
It came today via UPS. I opened it at lunch and had to wait all afternoon to come home and play with it. Mostly, I’ve been downloading things and moving files. At some point, I’ll actually start doing something on it.
So anyway, if anyone is interested in buying a iBook G4 that works fine for everyday computering, I’d be willing to part with her for $325 or so. Let me know.
After tons of prodding from musically inclined buddies, I’m finally getting around to listing my top records of 2007. I know, I know. This was supposed to happen weeks ago. But life has been hectic with changes at work, an engagement and general ellyn-time filling free moments. Also, I feel like a lot of 2007’s music was pretty lame. Maybe it’s because I can’t dedicate myself to music like I could in college or the fact that I live in Junction City — also known as the hot spot for hip new acts.
Anyway, here are some of my faves:
Oh, grow up: Modest Mouse — We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Sometimes it’s hard to find beauty in what this band creates, but this album is full of it. Sharp lyrics, solid tracks and the addition of Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr make this the most accessible Mouse album to date. Backing vox by Shin James Mercer helps, too.
Accessibility is something I’ve never cared about when it comes to Isaac Brock’s music, and that’s why I think it was pretty lame critics ignored this album as radio-friendly, middle-of-the-road music. Modest Mouse is growing up. They can’t be doing that never ending math equation forever… it’s not all cockroaching, all the time. What do you expect ten years later?
Fitting for this album to have a song about a dashboard, because the disc never left my dash. The ultimate driving album of the year, I just kept wanting to hear it.
Sophomore Year (less depressing, finally embracing popularity): Arcade Fire — Neon Bible What do you say? Frequent readers will know my slow-starting history with Arcade Fire. I bought this the first day and didn’t stop listening to it for a month. Near perfection.
Then, something else took over, and I didn’t think about it too much. Listened to a song here and there. It faded into the background, but wasn’t forgotten.
Today, I sat down to write this and I truthfully had a craving for this album. A real craving. My stomach actually moved a bit, my mouth watered. Instantly, the songs came flooding back to me, cycling over in my head. I hummed various tracks for the rest of the day.
Buy it. Twice. I did.
Never had a Garfunkle, but I have had a Graceland: Iron And Wine — The Shepherd’s Dog Right after Sam Beam hitched a ride out west with Calexico (see the best ep of 2005, In the Reins) I actually got a chance to sit down with him and Joey Burns (see the best first date of 2005*). And since then, my bearded brother Sam has been one of my all-time favorite artists. He’s a honest artist and a downright genuine guy (Burns is great, too). This album is a treat.
A fan from the beginning, I actually worried about this when it first came out, delaying my first listen almost two weeks. I had heard there was more instrumentation, that it was a big step for Beam into more production. A previous ep, Woman King, had me and my friend Ian Rose flipping out over the amazing addition of electric guitar. But I wasn’t sure I was ready for “African rhythms.” Turns out, I was.
This album is the birth of something beautiful for the future of Iron & Wine. We can always pop in Creek if we need lo-fi crunch. This album is good for every other occasion.
* Wanna impress a girl? Take her to interview her favorite rock star.
We do whatever the f*ck we want: Radiohead — In Rainbows Dear Thom —
I have always wanted to hear what your brain sounded like between recording The Bends and OK Computer. Thank you.
Yours,
a
Everything about this album is worth every cent of the $80 disc box — save maybe the “art book” that came with it. So, as Alanis would say, isn’t it ironic most people stole the damn thing? Given. Radiohead allowed them to. But still, drums and piano and love and beauty and magic and timeless rock? All for one low price!
If you missed it, too late. The download’s gone. The CD went on sale Jan. 1, so now you have to pay Dave Matthews (owner of ATO Records, which released the disc stateside) a little bit, too.
What year is it: The National — Boxer High remarks from my friend Chris made me slip this album back into my stereo the other day, and I have to say, it’s impressive.
Something about it, be the Dire Straits-vocals, the quiet-Springsteen arrangements, or the simple, timeless quality the album brings with it. I just like listening to it.
Today, it was raining sideways here in Oregon, and “Fake Empire” just framed my day.
Sad, touching, simple. The National made something beautiful with this album, proving true indie-rock is for adults.
Brian Wilson once said: Panda Bear — Person Pitch Recipe for critical success:
Mix any attainable feeling of listening to Pet Sounds for the first time with some noise and layer as many sounds as possible on top of one another. Then, turn down the fidelity.
Yeah, this album is good. Might not be the best, like so many critics say. But, listening is fun. You almost feel like you are hearing something amazing for the first time, even though this all happened already in the 60s.
The disc starts off strong, but I feel like it fizzles out a bit toward the end. While it somehow captures everything indie-rock has been trying to do since 2004 so well, I’m not too sure if it will be around forever.
This is elitist ear-candy. There is a lot to love about it, too.
In the last few days, I have come about two separate examples of why I love media. Also, I was shocked that I had not encountered either of the following before, making me wonder what else is out there in this lovely world.
I stumbled across a clip from the film Dead Man on Youtube the other day, and taken by the composition of the clip, which featured the movie’s star, Johnny Depp, I quickly Netflixed the DVD, and I found some time to watch it last night while nursing a stomach ache.
Directed by Jim Jarmusch (Coffee and Cigarettes, Ghost Dog) and shot in black-and-white, I was instantly sucked in by the opening credits, which revealed the names of Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Byrne, Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Mitchum, as well as Neil Young composing and performing the soundtrack.
The story follows Depp, an accountant from Cincinnati, as he travels to the western American frontier in the late 19th century (possibly southern Oregon judging by the setting) looking for work. Along the way, he gets mixed up in murder, with the film following his slow dissent into madness and finally death.
Depp plays William Blake, who is befriended by a English-learned Native American named “Nobody.” Nobody mistakes William as the long-dead poet of the same name, and figures the poet is attempting to find the afterlife.
Everything about this film was outstanding, including Depp’s 1995 performance. Neil Young creates wonderfully powerful moods with the music. Jarmusch’s vision of an almost alien frontier is haunting. The film explores spirituality, the human condition and morality in a way that allows the viewer to think but not feel indoctrinated.
Plus, Blake becomes a pretty slick killer, transforming from the western equivalent of an emo kid, into a bad ass rocker.
Here’s the clip that caught my attention:
Rent it now!
Meanwhile, I have finished the first book in C.S. Lewis’ science-fiction trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet. Again, how did I miss reading these?
My mother-in-law, Susan, loaned them to me a while back, and I picked up the first one over the long weekend.
Written in 1944, the book offers a very interesting, if not now dated, theory of our solar system. Obviously, as we have explored, the books have lost their science, but keep their mystical fiction.
Apparently, the other initial-clad sci-fi master J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. were hanging out one day, badmouthing contemporary sci-fi. The two made a pact, Lewis would write a space story, Tolkien a time-travel story. Lewis finished. Tolkien’s story was published posthumously in fragments.
Anyway, Silent Planet sucked me in and awakened some wonderment as to how our universe really works. It reminded me that we humans are particularly limited in knowledge, and we are bound to knowing only what we can perceive. There might be a whole spectrum of existence and we may only interact with a tiny slice of it — only understanding what we are able to sense with our limited little eyes, ears, noses and mouths.
Of course, in Lewis fashion, the whole thing is an allegory for Christianity. However, I really identify with the type of thought Lewis uses throughout this book (as opposed to the rather basic metaphor used in Narnia), and after reading it, I have found myself wondering about my own understanding of God and how our culture and perception of existence is responsible for shaping that understanding. I could go on, but I’ll just leave it there for now.
Well, I went on about a month long sabbatical from my blog here, so I have to apologize. The holiday season at work is pretty hectic — with no interns to help me out, the whole paper is pretty much my responsibility. But I have some pretty big news that most of you already know.
Ellyn and I are engaged! That’s right. I am a man. At least, I really feel like one now. The last week with a fiancée was pretty great. Everything changes overnight, and I feel so in love that it practically overtakes every moment of my day. I won’t bore or disgust you all with any more of that talk, though.
I popped the question on Dec. 23 in Portland. Truthfully, I wasn’t all that nervous, even though I didn’t really have a plan. In the end, it was on top of Mt. Tabor Park, where the entire city of Portland could be seen. The gray misty clouds turned the huge evergreen trees the most brilliant dark green. We stood under an umbrella and kissed. When she opened her eyes, the ring was out. Instantly, tears. And then a nod. Finally, moments later, a ‘yes.’
It’s a pretty great feeling.
Beforehand, Ellyn, who was hungry, wondered what the heck we were doing on top of Mt. Tabor.
She soon had a smile on her face.
The first of what became thousands of ring pictures.
So, of course, this leads to a pretty natural question for most of you.
“She lives in New York, you in Junction City. What’s up with that?”
Well…
I will be leaving my post here in JC in April. Today, we hired my replacement, and I will be slowly transitioning him into place over the next three months. This is exciting for me because it allows my “senioritis” a chance to take over a bit.
Come April, I will be climbing into Pam the Van for a cross country drive. If you would like a visit from me between April and July, let me know!
Then, I will be ending my trip in Brooklyn, where I’ll set up shop. I’ll find a little two bedroom place, take on a roommate and settle into a new job. Finally, Ellyn and I will be able to spend some time together in the same city. Experiencing being engaged, finding some pre-marital council and establishing the first part of our life together.
Then, after Ellyn is done with school, we will be returning to Oregon for a summer 2009 wedding. We plan to live in Brooklyn for a while after that, having some adventure.
So, that’s the scoop. Much more to come. Much, much more.
My computer has been slowing up pretty bad with all the applications I need to run on it, so I decided last week to upgrade. I went with the black MacBook. I like the new OS X. Honestly, the whole package is an amazing, beautiful piece of technology.
