ten thousand nine hundred fifty seven days, and counting.
I turned thirty this last week and in the confusion of realizing I had been alive for that long and had survived with some rather interesting stories, I also ended up losing some people this year I never thought I would. Though of no worth to you dear reader- and I did have a wonderful birthday btw- I found myself oddly crestfallen due to some people in my life having to step away.
Anyway, as a result of the mood, I found my current music selections a bit inappropriate in terms of theme/feel and went through my library searching for that record to fit my current state, provide the reasonable mourning period and go on from there, as we all have to do at times in our lives. What I found were a few stand alone songs and one record that was hidden away from the American listener in what seemed an almost willful denial of the artist on our shores.
So for the stand alone tracks first, Memphis’ cover of the wonderful Pet Shop Boys track “Love Comes Quickly”. A really beautiful, devious and subtle play on our West End Boys who still keep making brilliant electro pop. Marjorie Fair’s “Empty Room,” a heart breaking track that is as simple as it is effective. Miles Fisher’s cover (and his whole EP btw, unbelieveable freshman effort) of “This Must Be The Place” originally by the Talking Heads. I have mentioned Miles before, but unfortunately his record fell out of my memory for a bit, do pick it up if you have the chance. The almost life ending track, “Wake up in New York” by Craig Armstrong with the amazing vocal work of Evan Dando. This is one of those songs, if you’re a Sonic Youth fan you have, but it is a bit of a rarity. If you are ever in a depressed state, get headphones, turn the lights out and listen to this.
Now for the complete record, Kleerup’s self titled that was not released in America until 2009! How does this happen? The record originally came out in Sweden and greater Europe in early 2008! A year of delay? Absolute silliness. I had to beg borrow and steal to get this record in high quality, but the sport is certainly simpler now, due to the official release on EMI now available anywhere. However, the record is designed around loss and the misgivings one experiences alongside breakups. It is just marvelous in its sadness, it’s danceable nature completely out of step with the near deathly depression held in the melodies and lyrics, but it works. Kleerup can be chided for his songwriting which can occasionally sound like some songs are on repeat, but I do believe he was pursuing theme on his self titled record, as opposed to a forced separation of each song, rather a blending of them all. I might be wrong in this conclusion, decide for yourself. The original cover is vastly better, I do not know what EMI was thinking, stick to this one:
On a further personal note, I have made some conclusions, I need a change of scenery, I am considering a move to New York in the next year or so. Friends, do feel free to comment on your thoughts for a kid from OC moving to the big big city, as Mr. Gabriel would have said.
please enjoy, listen with headphones
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