Over the past couple of weeks, I spent some time in Italy and Switzerland with my girlfriend. This was largely to decompress after a particularly grueling semester of teaching and dissertationing (Yeah, it’s a word. Well, it is now.). And as always, this proved to be a bit of a wise idea and a bit of folly. Even so, I’m glad, even if for nothing else, that I had the chance to find some street music that was actually compelling.
Seven months, huh? Man, that’s got to be some sort of record…
Anyway, hello! I wanted to share these two songs with you because, well, I sort of owe you, and because I went to see live music on Friday and it made me very happy indeed. On Friday, I went with my friend Chris to see our friend Andy/The Pluto Tapes perform at the Kick-Off Cabaret in Arlington. { There. Is that enough links for you?} The Pluto Tapes were, as ever, lovely and it was great to see friends and to get stuffed with barbecue beforehand. I miss getting out. The dissertation is a terrible beast, which won’t even let me post on this blog. { Please don’t tell it. It thinks I’m just in the next room…} Sitting there, and watching people perform, was a wonderful, uplifting experience after so much time spent toiling away. Of course, it did also drive home just how much I miss living in a place with good, live music. { Notice how you’ve never heard of York, England as one of the U.K.’s premiere music scenes? Well, you would have, if you’d ever noticed York!}
I’ve never thought of “Americana” as an adjective that would make me want to buy anything. I’m not given to effusive patriotism, and it’s really not a word that seems to mean very much in particular. In this case, the word was “Canadiana,” but the principle seems to be same. Just the same, one listen to “There Is A Light” on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and I was hooked. And despite the fact that that song (in a close tie with “Changing Colours”) is my absolute favorite from the album, I want to draw your attention to the single – “Your Rocky Spine.”
Adam Duritz once sang the line: “Gonna get back to basics / Guess I’ll start it up again…” And honestly, it’s all I can think about just now. I’m back, and the site will continue on, and my grasp will refrain from attempting to exceed my reach. I’ve missed you. I wish I could offer you a perfect reason for neglecting this site, but, hey, who are we to fool one another? Life with a dissertation, and a family, and friends, and Sartre is hard. Having said as much, I find that certain songs just push their way forward until it becomes impossible not to write. So, for better or worse, you can thank Yo La Tengo for my deciding to poke my head in…
Sometimes, you just have to take a chance on music you wouldn’t normally give a second thought to. This is an accepted truth, and a necessary one if you’re ever going to break free of a musical rut. Yet, at the same time, it can be hard to overcome long-embedded musical prejudices. Take, for example, the above-mentioned song. I’m a bit done with all of the “The…” bands, frankly, and, even though this band promised to deliver two of my favorite things (marsupials and Joy Division), it took me some time to warm up. This snobbery, I admit, is the danger with becoming so very attached to specific types of music – and, yet, without this “Barry in High Fidelity” syndrome, I’d be worth almost nothing as a music commentator. Tricky, tricky…