The Sounds I Heard in 2007

Happy New Year all.

I love music and getting new recommendations (and hope this post generates some). So I thought I’d do a cliché blog thing and use a post to give out the Utah Cog Award for Excellence in Making Noise awards for 2007:

1. Neon Bible by Arcade Fire – This album hasn’t been far from my ears since it’s been out. I was admittedly prepared to love Neon Bible before I heard note one for my appreciation of Funeral, their first album. In the end I don’t think my bias was needed. Give a listen to Building Downtown, or The Well and the Lighthouse, or, though it’s not on this album, one of my favorite songs of theirs, Une Annee Sans Lumieere (pay no attention to the music videos on youtube :-); they detract).

2. In Rainbows by Radiohead – Though Rob thinks Thom York sounds like Family Guy's Old Man Herbert, I’m a sucker for Radiohead. OK Computer felt like an epiphany those many years ago, and Kid A was equally surprising. I’d put In Rainbows near both. Though I wasn’t as much in the mood this year for the sort of lyrics Thom writes, and maybe that’s why my favorite band takes second place, but their work is always beautiful. I’d particularly recommend Nude, Weird Fishes, and All I Need.

3. Boxer by The National – Here's a sample of the album. I’d never heard The National until this year when I accidently came across Fake Empire online (listen to the full song). I was drawn in by the mixed timing and lyrics. I decided to buy it once I read Sufjan Stevens was a contributor. After a couple listens it’s become one of my favorites of 2007; I’d say Green Gloves is one of the best songs of the year. Add to that the joy of discovering their other releases and I’m pretty happy with The National. Plus, Matt Berninger’s voice is low enough that I can sing to it in the car near the correct key :-).

4. Hvarf/Heim by Sigur Ros– Pretentious sissy Icelandic art rock? A little too grandiose in places? Maybe… sometimes… Still, it’s great music, uplifting and poignant in ways I’ve never heard from other bands. I very much enjoyed last year’s Takk and was disappointed to hear this CD would be a rework of old songs. I was wrong to be concerned, though, and find the new versions to even improve upon what I liked about the tracks in the first place, such as Hljomalind and Vaka.

Honorable Mentions:

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse – Maybe I’m just glad to hear Jonny Mar’s guitar again, but I’ve enjoyed this one quite a bit too. Give Little Motel a listen, or Dashboard, or Fire It Up.

Armchair Apocripha by Andrew Bird – Love his violin and whistl’n, and the lyrics are always interesting. Listen to Imitosis, for example.

Sound of Silver by LCD Sound System – I have to put this up because it’s what Alan got me for Christmas. While I’m not a fan of every track, I do like North American Scum and Someone Great, and would recommend the album.

Other than that, and while they didn’t make an album this year worthy of a UCAEMN award, I’d recommend a couple other bands:

Beck – Of course. Despite my confusion about the Scientology, I’ll buy anything he makes. This year, it was only a single, time bomb, but good nonetheless. I’d recommend: Missing, New Round, or Sunday Sun, or really anything.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Often very strong on Christian imagery and is one of the rare guys who can write a love song that'll move me, one that's not too pop sappy, but he can be brutal in his imagery. As a start I’d recommend: Breathless (almost a hymn), Bless His Ever Loving Heart (not almost), Darker With the Day (one of my favorite songs in all--it's a great love song and hit's all those christiany buttons in me), Henry Lee, Supernatural, Idiot's Prayer, or many more.

Decemberists – Great story telling in song. O Valencia, or Here I Drempt I was an Architect.

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Boards of Canada – They’re hard to explain. Try out roygbiv, or Dayvan Cowboy.

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Frank Black and (though not anymore) the Catholics -- This ex-front man for the Pixies, a great band, has been prolific after dropping off most folk's radar and much of it is quite good. This years release was okay, a kind of return to his old style, and most fans may not agree but I really like more his folksy country streak in the older albums. Check out Manitoba, 21 Reasons, or a bunch of other I can't find on youtube.

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Christopher O’Riley – As a fan of radiohead and having been raised on classical, I love his piano interpretations of some of my favorite songs. Let Down, or True Love Waits.

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Sufjan Stevens – Some pretty good christiany music for a christiany agnostic. Casmir Pulaski Day, To Be Alone With You.

Finally, bands that no longer exist but young'ns should give a chance.

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Cocteau Twins – For their uniqueness, I think they have to be one of the most underappreciated bands. Try: Pandora, Heaven or Las Vegas, Caroline's Fingers. They're not the best but it's what I could find.

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Billy Holliday – I’m resistant to the gay allure of Madonna and Cher… but there’s just something about Billy. Summertime, Strange Fruit, and so on and on.

Morphine – It’s unfortunate this band’s life was cut short. Most songs are base, sax, and drums, but I love the mood they deliver. Try The Night, Early to Bed, Yes.

Leonard Cohen – Though he hasn’t done much for my tastes lately, I love his early songs and he is a great influence on today’s music. Hallelujah, Suzanne, or too many to mention.

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Talking Heads -- An influence on bands like Arcade Fire and quite creative in their day. Naive Melody is one of my favorite songs. Try Heaven, Once in a Lifetime, or Take Me to the River.

Well, I'm not done listing my favored music but spent :-). I hope some are turned on to new music and I hope, if you've any suggestions, you'll share.

Rubber Ring

I see in the paper Morrissey will be in concert here on Tuesday.

Ah Morrissey… I own a piece of the man’s shirt you know :-). A very close close-up of it is right to the right there.

He threw the clothing into the audience at the last concert of his I attended (about 16 years ago!). The crowd pounced on that quarry and my friend tore off a piece. We split the bit he snatched, as per our pre-concert agreement. Now, that sounds insane, but the mood of the place was insane. When we left that place I can remember looking down at the pile of disregarded seating, metal chairs, some even bent by the crowd. I wasn’t proud for my actions as part of a wild mob that night, not to mention so much wanting a bit of a stranger’s shirt (stop laughing at me!).

Before I came out, up to middle school, the only music I ever listened to was school approved; that meant classical or hymns. My parents had no rule in the area, but I’d been convinced anything else was right out of Hell. I remember taking the UTA bus home one day in 8th grade and a kid had me listen to his Violent Femmes tape. I debated weather or not to attempt an exorcism on the spot.

That changed a bit when I left the safety of Christian schooling. Friends got me into what would be called classic rock, I guess: The Who, Pink Floyd, etc… I had no idea what the lyrics were actually about, of course, or I’d never have listened. Then I began dating (girls). One girl I dated for quite a while turned me onto more modern music, and one of her favorite bands was The Smiths (No, not a goth girl, just one with a difficult family). But when I first heard The Smiths I was sure Morrissey was of the Devil. I hated the self-centered melancholy and thought I needed to save her from such dark influence; I was righteous that way ;-).

This poor girl would get no help from me though. My orientation was more and more insistent with each micromolar rise of teen hormones in my veins, and our relationship only made the reasons I couldn’t end up on the common path with a woman all too stark. I began a full on campaign against my self. I’d walk miles in the mountains, each step counting off an “I’m not gay.” Sometimes it felt like the desperation could knock me back and pin me down; my chest always felt physically tight with it and I wasn’t sleeping. I began to fear even the drive to school, for the ease that route offered by which I could turn the car off a cliff. I was in no place to have such opportunities, even when I knew I didn’t want them.

Simply, The Smiths began to sound reasonable.

I recalled my Boy’s State story a while ago, where I’d just accepted being gay and was put in the midst of debate to ban gays from Boy’s State, here. I didn’t turn out a hero there either, but by that time the soundtrack to my life had become all Morrissey, all the time. I am the son, I am the heir of nothing in particular… I will live my life as I will undoubtedly die, alone… this is the fierce last stand of all I am..… The rocks below say through your skinny body down, son, but… the hills are alive with celebrate cries… the luck I’ve had could make a good man turn bad… I know I’m unlovable… I want the one I can’t have… Love, peace, and harmony, maybe in the next world…

It was perfect :-). And if I could talk to the front man of The Smiths today, I’d tell him that and, really, with all sincerity. To have some company, even this imagined sort, in a problem no one could ever know about was very important for me. There were no blogs, no support groups I knew of for me, in those days; I was pretty sure I was the only gay kid in my city. And having this false conversation with someone I could only imagine empathized, it was a limited help but it did help get me through those days.

These days, if I ever hear Morrissey, he comes through only when the player is set run randomly through my collection, but when he does come up such sad sentiment often puts a smile on my face. Part of it is for how ridiculous my past self appears to hindsight. How simply I could have resolved all that by coming to my family and friends sooner, instead of wasting so much time feeling sorry for a “curse” I’d blown out of proportion. I look back and it makes me laugh at how serious and dire I felt about my orientation. Don't get me wrong; it is very understandable to be overcome at that perspective, but looking back there is simply a bit of nostalgia and amusement at my misunderstanding, and poor judgment of distance. The greater part of the amusement is found in that distance travelled; that curse that had me physically ill with fear and worries turned into a blessing.

It must have been in the summer of my 17th year when I went home clutching a piece of some stranger’s shirt. I met my Rob that fall and everything changed; a new set of sign posts in my life became as clear as day.

So, it turns out Rubber Ring was a work of prophesy, if not a bit insulting :-). Sure, maybe the most impassionate song was outgrown. Sure, I’m older now and a clever swine, and I’ll not likely be going to another Morrissey concert or buying another CD. But I’ve not forgotten the songs that saved my life, as he’d put it and always far more dramatically than I.

“And when you’re dancing and laughing
And finally living
Hear my voice in your head
And think of me kindly"

Fair enough, Morrissey; you got it. And I hope you're still in the mood to toss your shirt to some other young gay Utahn tomorrow night (if young gays in Utah still know who Morrissey is ;-)). I still love and very much appreciate my little purple piece of memorabilia, though now for very different reasons :-).