Friday, February 05, 2010

I-Peregrination

It was cool and overcast. Winds were at 20 to30mph. I put my
clunky headphones on and began to run.........The following
are the songs from my Pod and comments upon them. Yeah,
it's fatuous, but it's also fun to find an occasion to opine.

"Pray" Clem Snide

A song that sings a dreamworld. Beginning slow with an eerie
organ carrying a slow tempo. It builds to a Gospel Chorus end.
But it is not a Religious song, more a Morality tale, the moral
landscape of dreams.

"Ten Storey Love Song" The Stone Roses

Spatially grande. Epically simple. The guitar work pushes through
the tonally flat vocals(rightfully so) to make both seem two pieces
of the same Whole. Hearing this song makes one feel Human Love
is the greatest Cosmic Force.

"11:11" Andrew Bird

Noir type song about chance and mortality. Interesting that a
violin and backing vocals from Neko Case aren't as outstanding
as the hook--the swooning "soon" as a warning.

"Moving" Supergrass

Great uptempo song. Supergrass puts out gems like this in their
sleep. They are the best rock n' roll band in the world.

"Hum" Clem Snide

Strange wah wah opens this song. The rhythm section kicks in
and introduces a beat custom made for jogging. Again, a song
about the struggle of life against death. And also about the
desire for measure...And, oddly, it's not a sad song.

"Run" Ghostface Killah featuring Jadakiss

Awesome song about escaping arrest by two of the best rappers
alive. Rarely does a guest artist upstage Ghostface on a jam,
but Jada's verse features one of the best rap performances in
the past 10 years.

"Shelter from the Storm" Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan has a beautiful singing voice. This song exhibits a master
vocalist hitting every note with the acuity of a Raphael painting every
nuance in his tones. It is stupid to argue Dylan can't sing after hearing
a song as beautifully sung as this. The depth and emotion of the vocals
is true and thereby makes the clarity even more astonishing. You can
actually hear the storm die in his vocal. He carries and contains it
in song. Shelter is found in singing storms away. The irony(or weariness)
in his voice hints that more loom in the future.

"Lately" British Sea Power

This is how love sounds when it crashes. An ominous doubt builds to
an unpassable gulf between two people. In 13 minutes we go from a slow
plaint to a spaceship of sound exploding in the sky. A beautiful song---
---an orchestral movement of love, loss and rage. It ends with a bang,
not a whimper.

There were 6 other songs I listened to during the jog. They were fine, but
did not inspire me to make a comment.






1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So it's safe to say you're not in the running to be the new American Idol judge.