trying to hold it together, keep my love as light as a feather
sorry for the lack of text posts/short photo posts, but I can’t compel myself to update on actual things happening in my life right now, for some reason.
some photos from my color photo class…nothing special, just finally learning how to expose photos properly on manual settings
We also had a lovely neighborhood get together on Friday night. I actually sort of love living off-campus/having my own apartment.
monki
Superficially, one of the things I miss most about Copenhagen is the clothing store Monki, part of the Swedish conglomerate company that owns Weekday, Cheap Monday, and H&M. If I could pick one store to build an entire wardrobe out of, this place would be high on my list. Everything is simple but whimsical, and in the best color combinations.
i had to face that i’m still living
everything feels really overwhelming right now, but that’ll change in a week or so, right?
credit for first, fifth, and last photos goes to my parents
i’ve told every little star
Linda Scott’s song “I’ve Told Every Little Star” will NOT leave my head. da-dum, da da da da da….
Apologies for the lack of posting. Classes start on Monday, and I’m still getting over being back in this country, even though it’s been almost four weeks now.
My apartment-mate Alex has been back since Monday, but Eric doesn’t get here til tomorrow. Snapshots of food from the week. Nothing fancy, but still it’s nice to have pretty consistent meals, in between whole days of labor/painting Olde Club.
breakfast of champions
Back at Swarthmore, moved into my new apartment, but with no internet access, so I’m just bumming off of various other sources for internet. But, wanted to post something at least, so here’s what I had for breakfast today, taken on my new Nikon D60.
one night to speed up truth
so this is it. the last day of the decade of the 2000s. and it’s looking really gray and grim outside, hope that’s not an indicator of the year to come…UPDATE, as I’ve been writing this, it’s started snowing!
so by this point almost everyone has come out with their best of the decade/best of 2009 album/artist/song lists. While I don’t think I have too much more to add to that pile, I figured I might as well put down what I think for my own memory’s sake. These aren’t necessarily the “best” albums of the decade, but they are the ones that I’ve listened to and connected with the most. They are the ones near and dear to my heart.
—————————
Is This It, The Strokes (2001)
I remember when this came out while I was in middle school, which is kind of funny because I really think of this as more of a late high school/college sort of album. At the time I remember liking “Last Nite”, but then being confused as to why there were so many The+plural noun type bands coming out all at once (The Hives, The Vines). But The Strokes have endured all this time maybe because even then they were ahead of the curve, right down to the spelling of Nite–somehow that’s still relevant. Plus, Julian Casablanca’s new solo album is pretty damn good too.
You Forgot It In People, Broken Social Scene (2002)
The Canadian super band that sprawled a million other really good bands…what is there to say, really? When songs from this album were used for Half Nelson it was such a beautiful marriage that I actually liked them more, not less, as is usually the case. ”Anthems for a Seventeen-year-old Girl” is one of those songs that I could listen to on repeat for hours without really noticing that maybe that’s a little crazy.
Deep Cuts, The Knife (2003)
Even though Pitchfork named Silent Shout as the number one album of 2006, I still think Deep Cuts is better, even if just for the opener “Heartbeats”, which is beautiful in its original form and the ubiquitous Jose Gonzalez cover (I can’t even tell you how many people have heard the original for the first time and said, “wait, isn’t this a cover of that really quiet pretty song?”). I love pretty much every song on this album, and can listen to them while writing papers, walking to class, driving, running, just laying in my bed…despite the really moody sound somehow this album just works for all day, any day.
Milk Eyed Mender, Joanna Newsom (2004)
There was a time when I hated Joanna Newsom’s voice. I think a lot of people have that initial reaction when first hearing her, but yet there was something about it that lured me in, kind of like a traffic accident you can’t look away from. Beneath the yowls and sometimes pitchy vocals, there were some really touching lyrics, enough to make me listen to the album over and over again and eventually get over, nay, even start to like her voice.
Akron/Family, Akron/Family (2005)
This album has one of my favorite song sequences of any album, EVER. Italy–>I’ll be on the Water–>Running, Returning is fifteen minutes of pure perfection. If that were the album alone, I’d still name it as one of my favorites, but then there are 11 other tracks that are all so so good. This is the music I would listen to until I’m on my deathbed.
Rise Above, Dirty Projectors (2007)
In early 2008 I saw Dirty Projectors for the first of four (or is it five?) times and was blown away by them. They were sandwiched in between two really diverse acts, The Extraordinaires and Man Man. Despite lots of rudeness during their set, I was happy that I made it to that show. Though Bitte Orca, and perhaps the single “Stillness is the Move” has made them “big”, Rise Above was the perfection of those signature vocals and arrangements. Maybe the best “cover” album ever?
No Shouts, No Calls, Electrelane (2007)
I am still so sad that a. Electrelane is still on an indefinite hiatus, and b. that I missed their last show in Philly in Fall 2007 (I also missed the Mt. Eerie + Animal Collective shows that fall…what was I doing???). But at least they went out with a (albeit quiet) bang with this album.
———————-
The fact that I own almost all of these on vinyl really says it all. Of course there are tons of other albums that I both love and are deemed “significant” for the decade, like Arcade Fire’s Funeral and Sufjan’s Illinois. There are also other albums that are so integral to my first teenage years like Cursive’s The Ugly Organ and Domestica that I still can’t let go of. But throughout the whole decade, there are two bands that you can really see a huge arc of development: The Microphones/Mount Eerie/Phil Elverum and Animal Collective.
The Microphones/Mount Eerie
I had heard of The Glow Pt. 2 when it first came out back in September ‘01, but didn’t give it much of a listen and thereafter was confused when the names The Microphones and Mount Eerie would get thrown around interchangeably. I never really sorted it out til much later, when The Microphones were already defunct and Mount Erie was the proper moniker to call Phil Elverum by. But despite all the name confusion, I am glad that he is still making music a decade later. While some are purists and dislike the evolution/path that Mount Eerie has taken from The Microphones, I think it’s all good in various respects. Listening to Wind’s Poem and The Glow Pt. 2 back to back is really strange, but you can still see how some of the biggest themes, like a connection to nature, still hold strong in his lyrics. Maybe what I like about The Microphones/Mount Eerie/Phil is really still at its core–Lost Wisdom is the album I listened to on repeat twice a day everyday for over a month recently, and I can’t think of a more stripped down and simple recording of all of his projects.
Animal Collective
Since when did Animal Collective become so big? I guess Merriweather Post Pavilion sort of did it. Strawberry Jam helped. Feels was pretty accessible. Sung Tongs maybe less so. Here Comes the Indian…ehhhh it was the first album of theirs that I heard, and although I was definitely intrigued by it and curious, it was kind of hard for me to sit down and listen to the album all in one sitting straight through. I enjoy Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished and Danse Manatee a lot more. Then there are the EPs: Prospect Hummer, People, Water Curses, Fall Be Kind, which are just as good, if not better in many respects than their LPs. It’s been a long decade, but somehow Animal Collective has still managed to produce different sounds with every release, but what it’s all progressing to I’m not really sure. Definitely in recent years their sound has been more influenced by Panda Bear’s solo work, but I have serious reservations about referring to them as “indie rock’s Phish style jam band”, no matter how many more bros have started listening to their music and make my life difficult at shows by sweating all over me and stepping on my toes.
So what’s next? A film debut at Sundance in 2010 of course! ODDSAC.
So what about 2009? Well this post is so long I might as well give my list, since it’s pretty basic anyways. They are probably just the albums I listened to the most:
Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective
Wind’s Poem, Mount Eerie
Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors
xx, The xx
Album, Girls
you’re gonna make me lonesome when you go
I’ve been “home” since Sunday now…it’s been over a week since I last updated. Unsurprisingly, the last few days in Copenhagen were a whirlwind, with far too much finals-time, and the rest of the time passing by too quickly. It doesn’t really feel real yet, being back in the states. Maybe that’s in part due to the fact that I haven’t been to our old house yet. I went straight from the airport to Swarthmore, then from there up through NYC to New Haven, and on Christmas we’re going down to D.C. So I won’t be “home” until Sunday, really.
The last week in Copenhagen saw a lot of snow.
Despite the foot+ of snow in Philly, my flight from Heathrow was perfectly on time.
I was greeted by a pigeon in the airport. Welcome home!
New Haven’s pretty snowy too.
Claire’s Corner Copia on Chapel and College Ave: makes me happy going back to being a vegetarian.
In other news, there’s now only one more week left of the decade, what?!?!
if i could do just one near perfect thing i’d be happy
is it weird how at times the littlest things can set you over the edge? I’ve watched some not so good movies over the past couple of days and have managed to cry during all of them, unnecessarily. Even this, the most watched youtube video of 2009, had that effect on me.
oh, turns out youtube disabled the embedding on that one.
well, this one does it for me too.
leave a comment