Old friends, new music, the iPod and the s24o
Nick, is one who NEEDS nature. He works in a demanding job, he's a good parent, and all this means he needs to get away every so often to "sleep on the dirt" and think about life.
I'm going to invite him out for an s24o. The weather is cold in Santa Barbara right now, but there's no ice on the ground and I'm sure we'll be cozy in our respective tents.
The thing I'm looking forward to on this tour is music. My pal has recently been listening to a LOT of music. We went to college together and were roommates for two years. Among my many great memories is our trips to the music store to flip through new and used LPs. Sometimes I'd take a risk on something in the dollar bin and we'd bring it back to our dorm room for an audition. If it "sucked" we'd actually smash the record against the wall or frisbee it into the night (we were not ecologists at the time, that's changed).
Once in awhile, we'd spin something incredible and sit back enjoying the perfect mix of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals.
I'm looking forward to an s24o with iPods pre-loaded with our current favorites. Nick has been exploring in the area of Country Music (me too -- NEVER would I have predicted this) and I'm looking forward to sharing some recent finds in the genre I like to call "bands trying to sound like Joy Division."
We'll ride out to the one of our sites, plug in some powered speakers and listen to some songs as if it were the early 80s and we were in our old dorm room. For a few hours, our lives will be as uncomplicated as they were back before they unfolded like giant, unweildy maps. We'll ride back to our current, wonderful lives with new energy and new appreciation for our good fortune to be mobile, musical, and in touch.
D
Comments
It was a one non-hit wonder that was largely the work of Kevin Gilbert, a musical prodigy who, sadly, would be found in his bed, dead at 29, of autoerotic asphyxiation. As the SF Chronicle wrote: "A black hood covered his face. He wore a black skirt. His head was slumped against a leather strap chained to the headboard of the king-size bed in the sparsely furnished living room."
Embarrassing death aside, TM is a great album that still sounds fresh today. It's lush, layered, eclectic. It's also a wonder of mixing, and hard-core audiophiles still rave about its sound.
The best of the lot, I think, is the first song, "Last Plane Out," about a post-apocalyptic world that's gone to hell. "There's no time for a conscience / and we recognize no crime / yeah, we got dogs and Valvoline / it's a pretty damn good time." Crank that bad boy on a decent stereo, dude.
There's a cheap and cheesy video (nice headband, Kev) here:
http://www.kevingilbert.net/Videos/toymatinee_lastplaneout_dl.mp4
And what's a great album without a song that spoke to you in the most personal way? ("God, if Marni heard this she'd know what a piece of shit that guy is.") For me, that would be "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge." YouTube has the video, which features the fetching Roseanna Arquette, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGMEIX1a5Y
I'm also partial to "The Queen of Misery," although as a father it kinda creeps me out now. Makes me wanna keep my daughter on a very short leash.
I've been listing to a lot of new stuff lately, too, and I'll pass along my favorite: "Maudite moisson!" by Le Vent du Nord. It's French-Canadian folk and it's amazing. Look for it on iTunes. Oh, and do yourself a favor and drop the .99 cents on "Cre mardi / La turlette du rang des Sloan" from the "Le amants du Saint-Laurent" album. It even blew my kids away.
The band's name means "the wind from the north," and the first album translates as "cursed harvest" -- ironic, to be sure. Give it a listen.