Martes 1 Ene 2008, 13:29
Longer Slow Drives took me about a month to figure out. It is a reflection of friend's playlist that surprised me with its calm and measured pace. My senses of wanderlust and longing tempered in 2007 but there was significant lag between when it happened and when I realized it. It's not gone, just less aggressive. This playlist is for that spirit, an outlet, a bucket and a shrine.
The movie Once moved me to think great things of the world and what's possible with love, even when it doesn't work out. When Your Mind's Made Up reminds me that some thoughts and feelings can't be shaken and that some things lie firmly affixed to your gut. Denial is out of the question, action is needed.
The next few tracks have a great amount of reflective space. I Can't Wake Up is somewhere between a chant and lullaby. Great Lake Swimmers simply offers hope. Wet, Wet, Wet is a smattering a whimsy and Distant Light makes the big world outside my head tangible when I get too far from reality. Kings Of Convenience ask me to try again and tell me that learning is tough, but worth it.
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists gives me a since of "us". I'm very likely to forget that I'm part of something larger than myself. This track is aggressive, subtly wrenching and a good purge. The purge continues with a dance track on Kinky from my co-favorite Mexican band.
Snowden's Sisters is a reservoir's spillway; fully worth a cry. I've described the band's tunes as haunting and this one holds fast to deep resentment and then lets it fade. It's a bit on the heavy side because life can be too.
Irene and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names both make me want to scream "Damn it!" Songs so short, shouldn't have so much power. Skwbn's line "Gone berserk over all the things she said" is just too clear. Irene's line "You don't know my name and you won't put my picture in a frame/ you don't know the game, you don't know the spark that lit the flame" is emotionally ravishing; I just can't piece that situation back together.
Then I return to Once for another bit of whimsy. The Treetops Of A Bad Neighbourhood is a sit-back-and-listen track that never lets me sit back and listen. It harbors the malaise of the suburbs. Never get to comfortable.
Blur's heavy tempo steadies the direction of the mix once again. The Walkmen let me calm down a bit before another dance track to get my heart rate up.
Irene and Annie let me fade away. Closure is not so definite.