Appalachian American Ennui: May 2013

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Alt J in Concert, Courtesy of KEXP Seattle

:43 Intro (?)

3:32 Ripe and Ruin

4:47 Tessellate

8:15 Something Good

12:10 Dissolve Me

16:30 Fitzpleasure

20:16 Matilda

25:32 Breezeblocks

29:30 Bloodflood

34:40 Hand-Made

37:27 Taro

Friday, May 10, 2013

The Cars - Since You're Gone (The Dark Anthem)

In the winter of 1994 I bought an older model stereo and turntable from my uncle, along with a rectangular box filled with first class Rock and Roll LP's, which were in great condition. Later that Spring, in March to be precise, while in terrific, ceaseless emotional pain over the loss of my children to a malevolent divorce, I remember taking out the Car's Greatest Hits LP so I could play "Since You're Gone." It seemed to strike at a set of neurological chimes inside my head so precisely that I continued to play it over and over, replacing the stylus again and again and again over the tiny, blank, circumference that preceded the opening sequence.

"Since you're gone

[two three],

I've thrown it all away" . . . .

I remember sitting at my conference table, in the suit I'd worn to court the day before, held captive, trying to squeeze some kind of additional euphoria from the music so I would not interrupt my captivity.

The music ended later that morning as I panicked to hear the birds portending the impending sun, and the dreaded day that would follow.

At that moment I was confronted with Frost's metaphorical dilemma in The Road Not Taken,"

"And I,

I took the one less traveled by,

and that has made all the difference."

Absolutely.

Gil Scott Heron - Message to the Messengers

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Django Django - Hail Bop, Firewater, Love's Dart (Live KEXP)

Lose the box. I wince during this otherwise beautiful musical experience as I endure the beating of a goddamn box adorned with electrical tape. The idea's great after a bong hit in somebody's basement. But not in this venue. The box sounds like shit. Lose it, boys.

Shins - So Says I, New Slang

Neil Young - Tell Me Why

In 1972 while I was enrolled in a fifth grade class at DuPont Elementary School, my girlfriend, Tina Kirksey, gave me this album for my birthday. I've been soaking it up ever since. And by my calculation that's over 40 years.

I wish that I could have a cup of very black, very expensive coffee with Tina in some quiet hole-in-the-wall somewhere deep within the city so I could relate to her the impact this music had on the aesthetic health of my overall consciousness. The recollections I have of her are even better. And that's saying something.