Life is in flux BIG TIME these days. I want to keep in touch with all of my peeps. The Internet is this beautiful thing. I can move to a brand new city and still stay in easy, near-daily contact with the people I love. When I feel connected to the people in my life that matter, I am unstoppable!
I was feeling a little low energy yesterday (Mr. Pollen, it really is time to go) and decided to stay in. I didn’t have much on my TiVo I felt like watching, but nowadays, I don’t need TV to have something good to watch. Instead, I watched The Carolina Chocolate Drops recent concert in Amsterdam and Al Gore’s recent Ted talk about the climate crisis. A seriously uplifting evening of viewing, and it was all free, thanks to my glorious interwebz. If you’re so inclined, I offer my evening to you, next time you’re feeling uninspired and need a lift.My favorite song in the set is “Hit’m Up Style”. You can easily get to that by going straight to the direct concert page and double-clicking on Track 17. This track has this intense driving rhythm and a powerful kickass vocal. Check it out.
I’ve been struck down with a really annoying cold this week. I’ve spent most of my time in my apartment, watching bittorrented movies (I know, I know) and sleeping. After seeing Marion Cotillard win the Oscar, I was curious about La Vie En Rose. I’ve always liked Édith Piaf, and I knew that this film was about her life. What an astounding transformation. To see this pretty young thing at the ceremony, you’d never think she’d be able to alter every little thing about herself to create this flawed, fragile, deeply wounded character. Édith Piaf’s life was heartbreaking, every step of the way. After seeing the movie, I did some research and learned that she was only 4’8″. While she was married twice, the true love of her life was a world champion boxer named Marcel who was married with children. At one point, a movie was made about their love affair called Édith et Marcel. In this film, the part of Marcel was played by his real-life son. Weird, isn’t it? A man playing the part of his father while he was in an adulterous relationship? I wonder if his mother was still alive at the time of the film’s production? Anyway, I digress. My point is that I highly recommend this film.
Here’s Édith Piaf two years before her death, singing the song seen in that clip: “Non, je ne regrette rien” (No, I have no regrets). It’s clear in this video how utterly tiny she is:
A rough translation found on teh internetz:
No, nothing at all. I regret nothing at all. Not the good, nor the bad. It is all the same. No, nothing at all, I have no regrets about anything. It is paid, wiped away, forgotten. I am not concerned with the past, with my memories. I set fire to my pains and pleasures. I don’t need them anymore. I have wiped away my loves, and my troubles. Swept them all away. I am starting again from zero.
No, nothing at all, I have no regrets. Because from today, my life, my happiness, everything starts with you!
So after a French-tastic beginning of the week, I decided to go ahead and meet up with some friends to see Keren Ann and Dean & Britta. These are tickets I’d had for some time, so I loaded up on cold medicine and drove to Carrboro for the show. I’m so glad I did.
Keren Ann has an album that I’ve loved for a few years, but somehow I’d neglected to recall that she is, in fact, French. I thoroughly enjoyed her set and will definitely be spending more time listening to her.
Dean & Britta are new to me. My friend Ayse is a big fan, and I’ve heard of his former bands Galaxie 500 and Luna before, but only in passing. I was pretty undecided about them during the whole set, but I kept feeling like they were very reminiscent of the legendary Serge Gainsbourg. Then, at the end of the show, they blew me away with a cover of the Serge Gainsbourg classic “Bonnie & Clyde”. Perfection! While I’m not a new massive fan, they sure have my respect for their performance of that song, as well as at least one other song that I really enjoyed.
This isn’t the best writing I’ve ever done. I’m still pretty out of it, but I’ve decided to try and pull myself back to help starting tomorrow, even if I have to fake it. Maybe by the weekend, my brain will work properly again.
As you know, I’m not very political, but I have to admit that the promise of a new administration has gotten me more engaged than usual. Here’s a Super Tuesday song from The Mountain Goats.
In discussing music with many friends over many years, I’ve learned that the way I listen is a bit different than the way many other people listen. I’m a music first person. If the melody, rhythm, tone, instrumentation, and harmonies don’t interest me, I’m unlikely to listen long enough to even hear the lyrics at all. If those qualities are highly engaging, then it may takes a hundred listens before I move on to the words.
When at a gig or otherwise listening to a song for the very first time, I am often amazed that someone might ask me the question, “What do you think of these lyrics?” Lyrics? Already? Are you serious? I have to get to the point where I’m really into the song first – well before I have anything at all to say about the lyrics. What’s weird, though, is that I really prefer music that is vocal. I love the complexity and variations (flavors, if you will) the human voice offers. I love the sounds of words. I love pronunciation. I love the rhythm and cadence of rhyme. I love the choices people make about how they use their voice – whether those choices are deliberate or not. I hear personality in a voice. Right now I’m thinking of Chan Marshall of Cat Power, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Bragg, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats… All voices used well but in extremely different ways.
And speaking of The Mountain Goats, their latest video is what had me thinking about this the most. Having only heard a pre-released song from the upcoming album a time or two, I saw the accompanying video. It forced me to experience the music much differently from the way I normally experience music. Words are the centerpiece of the video. Instead of words just being additions to the overall soundscape, I am forced to recognize the picture that is being described by them. I can’t even say if it’s a good or bad thing. It’s just as different as can be. Take a look:
