Author: Ellen

Instead of boring my friends with my need to catalog my life through music, I'm putting it here.

By Degrees

Mark Erelli – By Degrees

It’s crazy how things seem to be spiraling out of control since the attacks in Paris on Friday. Did you hear what the idiotic mayor of Roanoke, VA has said? It’s not just a race to the bottom, it’s a stampede. It somehow feels even worse, even more knee-jerk reactionary than during the W. years. It’s shameful.

I really don’t even know where to begin. Plus, I know I’m preaching to the choir and my little online footprint is so small that my spouting off about how ignorant politicians are ginning up fear to score political points against an outgoing president is not going to make a particle of difference.

There’s a college in Maryland right now that has shut down and sent all of its students home until after Thanksgiving because of a home-grown threat by a student. Yet there’s a Texas state legislator who doesn’t want any refugees to enter the country because it’s too easy to buy a gun here and just think what they could do. That’s not from the Onion either. Seriously, how does this hypocrisy not give people whiplash?

So I’m just going to keep on looking for ways to restore my own sanity. Listen to songs that help me know I’m not alone, count myself extremely lucky to live where I do, and be thankful for the company I keep.

Gagarin

Public Service Broadcasting – Gagarin

Several weeks ago I heard a song, once again on my local college radio station, as I was driving home. The dj had read some information about the song that was pretty interesting so I Shazamed it to look it up later. An online friend said he’d been listening to the album for a couple of months after he’d heard it on his college radio station. I was curious enough to look up the rest of the album and more information about the band.

The band is Public Service Broadcasting, two nerdy looking guys from England going by the names J. Willgoose, Esq., and Wrigglesworth. They use audio and film clips from old public service announcements and news reels which they set to music. The song was on their album The Race for Space, nine songs that trace the history of the US and USSR space programs by highlighting different chapters in each nation’s story.

The more I read about them and listened online, the more intrigued I was. The reviews of their albums on Amazon were nearly all 5-stars and for this record especially they recommended buying a physical copy so you could get the booklet that comes with it. I don’t need much arm twisting when it comes to getting the liner notes so I ordered the CD (much as I like records, the CD seemed more practical for me right now) and have not been disappointed.

It is worth it. The whole album is fantastic. You can just have it on in the background but it really deserves to be listened to more closely. I find myself getting pulled in to these stories and, this is not going to come out the way I want it to but, I feel like all of the day-to-day distractions fall away. I’m really immersed in these scenes of the space race.

I almost hate to choose just one song for this post because they work so well in the context of the whole and I can’t really pick a favorite. I lean toward “The Other Side” because it’s so expertly done – but I don’t want to give it away.

So if you’re curious and/or like this song, check out the whole album. And here’s some more links to see how they pull it together when it’s just the two guys* or when they add some people to flesh it out for a larger stage.

*The Tiny Desk Concert link is from last year and features songs from earlier albums but equally cool.

Night Comes Out

The Raveonettes – Night Comes Out

I’ve stayed up too late the last couple of nights and somehow it’s already Sunday and I need to go to bed. I miss being able to stay up to two in the morning and not pay for it the next day.

Calling All Angels

Jane Siberry and k.d. Lang – Calling All Angels

This song, yet another from the Until the End of the World soundtrack, is on my memorial service playlist. I’m not a religious person but the solemnity of it and the idea of asking someone to walk us through this world, to bolster people in their time of need and uncertainty, is one that I find especially appropriate.

I am shaken by the events in Paris, at the concert hall especially. Music has always been the thing that makes me feel the most alive and that gives me hope and restores my faith in humanity.

Sometimes I have felt like this business of spending my time going to concerts and writing about music is so inconsequential in a world that faces so many problems. But I always come back to the belief that music is uplifting and has the power to bring people together and transcend differences. If I can’t fix the problems, perhaps I can at least highlight something that lightens the load or provides solace. It helps my heavy heart at times like this.

Oh Bondage! Up Yours!

X-ray Spex – Oh Bondage! Up Yours!

This was among the songs played at the Beacon the other night while people were milling about and we waited for things to get under way.

I think “up yours!” is such a great expression and it’s time for it to make a comeback. It does lose a little something without the British accent but I think it’s worth dusting off and giving it a try. So the next time someone pulls a douchey move in traffic, I think I’ll shout, “up yours!” as I sit fuming in my car alone. I expect I’ll be able to master it quickly and in no time it will roll right off my tongue.

Gloria

Patti Smith – Gloria (live at the Beacon Theatre 11/10/15)

Last night. I really can’t write a concert review. I think you can probably find one out there if you want to read one, though, or troll around YouTube looking for clips like I did to find this one. I am still too wrapped up in it to say much.

Here’s what I can say. Patti Smith is a badass and her gray hair is the only thing that would lead you to believe she’s 68 years old. Her voice was strong, her performance was captivating, the band was tight, and joy filled the theater. In between songs she was funny and sweet. Both of her kids were there as well and it made me wonder what it must be like to have Patti Smith as your mom. The crowd was, older. True, as a 40th anniversary show that’s not a surprise but for example, the woman next to me looked way older than my mother who is 78. I am not used to being on the younger end of things but it did not have the effect of making me feel younger.

If you saw my Instagram shots then you also know that Michael Stipe opened up the show. I knew he had done that last year and I figured he would make an appearance at some point but not necessarily play a set. He came back out to sing back up on “People Have the Power” while Jesse and Jackson Smith joined the band. I looked on YouTube and someone has uploaded it so take a look. We were a few rows up from the gum-chewing security dude you can see facing the audience so you know my view of things.

With that, I’m going to bed. Back to normal life tomorrow.

My Generation

Patti Smith – My Generation (by The Who)

Tonight I’m going to see Patti Smith for the 40th anniversary of Horses show at the Beacon Theatre in New York. For years she’s been performing a run of concerts at the end of the year, including her birthday on December 30th and then New Year’s Eve, at the Bowery Ballroom or Webster Hall. Those shows always seemed to me to be for the insiders. Very intimate affairs that I’m sure were great shows, I’ve seen plenty of videos from those nights, but I felt like I should leave those to her hardcore fans. I didn’t feel like that was the right concert for a first-timer. So when I heard about this show at the Beacon, I felt the time was right. After all, it’s a bigger venue and while this is a special event, it feels more like an open invitation.

Patti Smith was a huge influence on so many of the musicians who influenced me. It’s well documented that Peter Buck and Michael Stipe met at the Wuxtry record store in Athens, GA, talking about Patti Smith. And if you listened to yesterday’s post and this one, you will hear that influence. That was enough of an endorsement for me. Yesterday marked an unbelievable 29 years since my first R.E.M. concert and I think it’s safe to say that I am who I am today because of that night and everything that followed. Even if it’s indirectly, I owe much to Patti Smith.

But it has taken this long for things to come together for me to finally see her live. I am excited and nervous. I am hopping the local trains and meeting up with my best friend, who was with me 29 years ago, and the symbolism is just about to do me in.

Just a Touch

R.E.M. – Just a Touch

Only rarely can you point to something, a song, a book, a speech, an album, a concert, and say, that was it. That was the moment things changed.

Maybe that doesn’t happen for everyone. Or maybe it comes in varying degrees of intensity so for some people, it represents a blip-like pinging in your consciousness while for others, it’s nothing short of an epiphany.