Saturday, December 31, 2011

Lit(erature)/(Indie-alternative) Rock Part Two

TV on the Radio at Tabernacle last September
Many moons ago one of my blog entries was titled Lit(erature)/(Indie-alternative) Rock Part One. In it I talked about my love for reading and I alluded to music I enjoy.  I also mentioned a Part Two was in the works.  Well, your wait is finally over! (I also hope to somehow bring it back to GW but first I will attempt to tie in my love of reading to music.) 

Music is my companion as I cover many miles traveling for GW.  Many a road trip starts off with me listening to my favorite college radio station Album 88 (until I lose the frequency) and then I turn to whatever CDs I have in the changer. Sadly, my 2005 Honda Pilot does not have a port for my iPod.

Since I opt out of listening to commercial radio but love discovering new bands, Shazam has become my favorite app to figure out what was just played on Album 88! My recent tags include M83, Pallers, Parov Stela, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, and Someone Loves You Boris Yeltsin (yes, those are all band names).  But I promise I'm not a total music snob - LMFAO is a blast!  

Luckily for me, Atlanta is a great city to see live music, especially at smaller venues like the Tabernacle or Variety Playhouse.  This fall I went to see TV on the Radio  - love the band, but they aren’t so great in concert.  I saw Beirut in late October and they were amazing live.  They have a very unique sound (I’m a sucker for instrumental layering). I must have been a marching band geek in a past life (they play the French horn, trombone, trumpets, and sousaphone!)  - watch Beirut’s performance of Sante Fe on Jimmy Fallon*. They play such happy music - take notice of the drummer; he is always smiling! 

Another one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists, were brought to my attention by a former GW student I know from Tennessee.  Matt Lukach is an amazing young man who now teaches social studies at his former high school in Nashville – hi, Matt!  The Decemberists’ music is often described as “lit-rock” due to the story-telling and unique rhyming ability of their main singer-songwriter Colin Meloy.
How many bands can take a Japanese folktale called The Crane Wife and create songs full of beautiful melodies and lyrics?  Who else but Colin Meloy could find a great rhyme for “dirigible” from the song Sons and Daughters:

 “Take up your arms
Sons and daughters
We will arise from the bunkers
By land, by sea, by dirigible
We'll leave our tracks untraceable now”

They are also fairly goofy as you can see in this video Sixteen Military Wives . I’ve seen The Decemberists live many times and every second they are on stage is pure entertainment.  The audience members (me included) are extremely loyal and sing-alongs led by Colin Meloy are commonplace.  

Colin Meloy, by the way, just published a young adult novel with his wife Carson Ellis titled Wildwood. My daughter Haven, and newly minted Colonial, is now reading it and she can’t put it down. 

Listening to music helps me to concentrate. An important fact to know given that #readingseason is just a few days away. The last application deadline looms for our Early Decision II and Regular Decision candidates (January 10), which means I’m reading applications until early March.  I will spend many, many hours sitting at my computer evaluating applications, reading essays and listening to music.  I currently have almost 5,000 songs in my collection (not including Pandora, etc.) so I’m feeling prepared me for the next seven weeks of my life.  

Being a reader, good lyrics are essential for me. I’m always looking for a story as well as poetry so M83’s Raconte - Moi Une Histoire is on continuous rotation for me these days – a little girl tells a melodious story about a frog… 

 “… it’s a very tiny frog but it is also very special. You can only find it in the jungle. So far away from here but if you find it and you touch it, your world will change forever…”

There you go, you know even more about me: reading stories and listening to music are two of my passions. Now, it’s your turn, I’m turning the table over to you. For any applicants out there still composing essays – write me some great stories about who you are or tweet me musical artists you think I might like!

But right now, I need to make a decision – listen to music while I walk the dog or curl up with the cat and read The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes… I also got a Dyson but this blog said nothing about housework!

*If you do decide to watch Beirut's performance you will need to scroll down the band's web site to find the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon video.