Spotify Playlist :: December 2012

Hey friends and readers--I made you all a playlist for the month of December. Because I love you. It's a playlist filled with loneliness, darkness, light, hope, joy, despair, death, drinking, and religion. December is a lonely time for some, and special time for others. Here's to us getting through it together, with or without medication.

Some notes on the playlist if you're so inclined to read those sorts of things:

1. The Clientele, "Since K Got Over Me" - Asheville through Sam's Gap, all the way to Kinsport, TN - frigid winds - "it's like walking on a trampoline"

2. Wilco, "I Might" - borrowed my brother's car, it smelled like Old Spice and onions - "you won't set the kids on fire, oh, but I might"

3. My Morning Jacket, "Xmas Curtain" - out of college, applying for shitty jobs - the sparseness of winter air - "the criminal who never breaks the law"

4. Sun Kil Moon, "Carry Me Ohio" - early damp mornings, teaching college - the highways were empty, the countryside a friend - "sorry, I could never love you"

5. Sufjan Stevens, "Oh Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)" - why the heater won't work, I don't know - coffee is too hot to drink - no snow for this year, but definitely snow in Michigan - "Industry! Industry!"

6. Damien Jurado, "December" - taking medication for my mind - wondering where the future is - "cause one day I'll kill you, too"

7. Bob Dylan, "Not Dark Yet" - packed like sardines in an apartment - sharing floorspace with my brother - an early Christmas present "it's not dark yet, but it's getting there"

8. Halloween, Alaska, "The Jealous Ones" - so much traffic - not sure this new year will pay off - "you're half right, you're mostly right"

9. Beach House, "Norway" - January won't stop raining - not alone anymore - where do I go from here? - "we were sleeping til, you came along"

10. Destroyer, "Virgin With a Memory" - mornings last forever - spending money I don't have - a striking warmth here with you - "the singer not the song, no"

11. Ida, "Lovers Prayers" - I may not ever figure this out - so much to do, too much time to do it - you may never finish what you started - "watching the sun turn black in the desert sky"

12. Low, "Long Way Around the Sea" - is this what Christmas can be? shot full of possibilities? - a new faith - "Herod heard, said bring me word"

Record Store Day, Day 2: Harvest Records, Asheville, NC

If you're just tuning in, all this week at SIO, I'm profiling some independent record stores that have had an impact on my brief tenure on this bright blue marble. I am NOT ranking these record stores, merely providing anecdotes and/or vignettes of what these specific records stores mean in the context of a decade-plus of throwing money at patchouli-smelling, cooler-than-you hipster types.

And speaking of patchouli...Harvest Records in lovely Asheville, NC is, thankfully, free of any of the usual cliches that the city of Asheville embodies so well.

There are many great things about Harvest Records; it's not a large store by any means, but somehow they seem to pack every inch of space with music that you feel like you absolutely must buy. Plenty of vinyl, a decent used section, a wall of new releases, and (this really can make or break a record store) a great section for music mag and homemade zines. (Sometimes I feel the need to read about my music in sloopily put-together, handmade black and white, disproportionately sized zines.)

Harvest Records is not positioned in downtown Asheville--which is great, because downtown Asheville really is maddening. So you're free to peruse the fruits of the Harvest (Jesus, I'm sorry for that one...) without being accosted by a 40 year-old hippie looking to recruit you to his commune where Dennis Kucinich is their leader. The guys who own the store are really swell and friendly dudes and when you hear them talking with customers about how much they love Pearl Jam, Ten, it's not ironic at all. They really love that album (for some reason). Additionally, they have managed to bring some of the best shows I've seen to one of the best venues (The Grey Eagle, if you're keeping score) in the Southeast: Mark Kozelek, Magnolia Electric Co, Damien Jurado. Bonnie "Prince" Billy is making an rare appearance that I won't be around for thanks to these guys and their little record store.

The last time I made it to Harvest Records was in early August of 2008 (it's a quite a drive to Asheville from the Coast of South Carolina). I picked up The Black Kids, Partie Traumatic and The Jesus and Mary Chain, Psychocandy and rocked foolishly all the way to my Grandma's house in Kingsport, TN. I don't think I'll make it back to Harvest Records anytime soon and that saddens me. I used to live a mere hour and fifteen minutes from Asheville, NC but now I've tacked on an extra three hours to that equation. And quizzically enough one only begins to realize how good things were once they're gone. I think Tupac Shakur said that, later echoed in a sentiment by small-time rap artist-turned millionaire mogul Puff Daddy when he said:

Yeah livin the raw deal, three course meals Spaghetti, fettucini, and veal But still, everythings real in the field And what you cant have now, leave in your will But dont knock me for tryin to bury Seven zeros, over in rio dijanery

Or something like that.

Cutting Corners with Our Faces

Matt Pond PA @ The Map Room, Charleston, SC (March 4, 2008)





















There are a few bands that garner more than four CD-sized slots on my music rack. And those slots are usually occupied by “classic” artists (Neil Young, The Beatles, U2) and a few less-than-a decade-old bands (The Pernice Brothers, Modest Mouse, Ryan Adams). Matt Pond PA falls into the latter category, though I often find it difficult to remember why I own six discs (four full lengths and two EPs) of their/his music; that is, until I break one out on long car ride or breathe in deep, wintry air and feel like I must listen to one of his songs. Now.

That MPPA are deeply and almost comprehensively associated with weather, seasons, holidays, etc. is an element that listeners and fans have no doubt come to observe and, most likely, appreciate. It’s fitting then that MPPA’s first trip to Charleston in seven years would come at a time when we were anticipating a violent burst of severe weather. Tornadoes and hail were loudly called for by the weatherpersons; none of it materialized, except for some occasional bursts of wind and a few brief cloud bursts. Nonetheless, with the elements working against us and a heavily anticipated Tuesday night primary in Texas and Ohio, I did not expect a big crowd at The Map Room.

I was totally and utterly wrong.

A crowd of at least 150 packed the stage area and the surrounding bar. (Doesn’t sound like a lot of folks, I know, but The Map Room is not what one would call large.) Fortunately, I managed to aimlessly wander to the front of the stage during tuning/soundcheck and then, as if by surprise, the band started to play. I felt a push against my back and turned to see four, thick rows of people paraded behind me.

The set relied heavily on the latest release, Last Light. Definitely not one of MPPA’s better albums, mostly because it sound as if Matt Pond decided to try to make a half-hearted rock record—a task that does not really fit into his band’s sound. The cello got ditched for this record and for this tour, but the songs still held enough thrust and melody without it to stand on their own. And anyone who's a fan will tell you that MPPA have songs whose melodies and lyrics rattle in your brain for weeks, months, and, for some, years. And everyone has a favorite song—that one song—that makes the daytime that much more bearable and the nighttime that much more glorious.

The momentum of the evening would build and swell with exceptional songs like, “So Much Trouble” and “People Have a Way,” and then crash way down with songs like “Wild Girl” and “New Hampshire.” Matt Pond does not look comfortable onstage, and his dreamy-nature-boy aloofness may be endearing to the ladies, but comes off as painful to some. “Here is a song,” he would say sheepishly before a few numbers. And inevitably someone would holler out a request for some obscure songs off of Measure or The Nature of Maps.

The night felt surreal with the bruising wind outside rattling the windows, Barack Obama slowly losing Texas and Ohio, and the drunk girl beside who kept yelling for “Grave’s Disease” (another obscure song from Emblems). And I felt like someone gave me a shot in the arm after the show ended, but the people refused to leave. “Guys, it’s a Tuesday night and the hurricane is coming,” Matt Pond joked after coming out for a second encore. But no one listened. Some folks had waited seven years for MPPA to come back to this city and they might not be around in another seven years to see them again.

“Thanks for coming!” someone screamed as NBC declared Ohio for Clinton. “Now play ‘Fairlee!”

“Play what you want!” a girl yelled from the back.

I’m with her, I thought. I can always have a new favorite song for tonight.

Damien Jurado - "Texas to Ohio" (mp3)