In RECORD TIME!!!

In order to gain a bit more writerly discipline, I've decided to start up a little weekly column on music. I'll essentially be writing about whatever I've been listening to that week. There will be much gushing.


1. A.C. Newman's "Get Guilty"


I've owned this record for a year, but have only just begun to really dive in. Like the great pop songwriters of the 60's, Newman imbues his songs with a level of craft rarely seen, but unlike the scads of other indie-poppers who focus solely on "craft," Newman's songs shine through. He knows how to write a french horn part without saying "HEY GUYS, CHECK OUT THIS FRENCH HORN PART." I'm real sweet on Newman's whole catalog, but "The Heartbreak Rides" just absolutely tears me up. You should go listen to it!

2. Neu!'s "Neu!"

You can hear the influence of these two Krauts on so many bands (Stereolab, Joy Division, even Wilco!) that it's hard to believe that they first started to knock around in '72. Neu!'s music can be half-described by their "motorik" tag: driving, tight, simple, meant to evoke the new open freeways of Europe. I say half-described because Neu! frequently dabble in disconcerting sound collages to break up their more blissed out numbers. Check out "Hallogallo" and "Negativeland," if you don't like these two numbers, you might not care for them in general.

3. Fela Kuti's "Confusion"

Fela will always blow my mind. His extended jams (usually 15-20 minutes, sometimes more) have a way of capturing me totally, and his form of jazz/funk (dubbed "Afrobeat" by the man himself) is ultimately what I think of when folks gush about the freedom of jazz. A great deal of American jazz settles into boring solos that float around hither and thither, never fully delivering on the genre's promise. The Nigeria 70 (Fela's band) play short, gutting melodies all the way through, never once getting lost. The rhythm section are absolutely unstoppable: I hear a standard drummer (with a Western Kit), maybe two percussionist, and a bassist, and yet they all come together as one piece. The guitarists (usually two) also mostly play these fluttery rhythmic figures, highlighting the drummer's insane prowess. The sound is busy, the sound is powerful, the sound is righteous.

4. Gang of Four's "Entertainment"

Many bands are described as "angular," but the GO4 will forever be the most angular. Do you remember the triple slides that could be ill-advisedly found at playgrounds? They would usually consist of three foam triangles, and you would slide off one, hit the next with your feet, slide on your back for the third, and then land? The only time I ever tried one of these I ended up landing flat on my back, knocking the breath clean out of me. This is the same effect that the GO4 have on a person; they are exceedingly tight, sharp, and will frequently turn a beat from stiff to funky without any warning. The band is frequently mentioned for their political rhetoric, but they aren't mentioned enough for how goddamned raucous they sound. I had the fortune of seeing them live on their reunion tour. My expectations were exceedingly low, but to my surprise, they were incredible. Explosive, dynamic, British. Andy Gill's guitar is the sound that launched a thousand ships. But Hugo's weirdly funky drumming and Dave's meticulous basslines launched just as many (and helped punks the world over get into funk, soul, and reggae).

No need for an exit

"Thus is the earth at once a desert and a paradise, rich in secret hidden gardens, gardens inaccessible, but to which the craft leads us ever back, one day or another. Life may scatter us and keep us apart; it may prevent us from thinking very often of one another; but we know that our comrades are somewhere "out there"--where, one can hardly say--silent, forgotten, but deeply faithful. And when our path crosses theirs, they greet us with such manifest joy, shake us so gaily by the shoulders! Indeed we are accustomed to waiting."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars

"What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you have to take it."

-de Saint-Exupery's friend, Guillaumet

There is no greater comfort than knowing that you have a friend. Someone who will make you a cup of tea, fix you something to eat, or listen to you spiel for a bit. These small communions reveal an authentic friendship, one bolstered by common experience, a sharing of weight.

And yet it's so easy to doubt! To worry that you're not good enough, that your manners and etiquette are just flagrantly wrong, that every stupid joke you make is odious to everyone in the room but yourself.

Doubt is easily countered, though, and Guillaumet's words are as effective an antivenom as any. Don't rest on your negativity, don't make a sport of your unease, don't be so damned sensitive. Keep moving, hold your friends close, and pray that they accept you for who you are. If you don't like where you are, who you are, you can change. Just take a step.

I hope these pep talks aren't too tedious to you kind readers out there, but the comfort I find in friends, literature, and music feels worth sharing and elaborating upon.