Condensed Music (part 3)

My time has become more valuable over the years and I'm afraid that it's time to shrink my year-end lists down to a more condensed and manageable process. One of the unique experiences that I have with music is that it has turned into a wonderful inspiration for my storytelling flair to spread its wings. Perhaps this has always been the case as the parts of brain that process each element in its own way could easily be linked by some creative force that cradles the ridges and valleys of my cerebellum with electrical current that encourage me to sing sing sing in the most beautiful voice that I know. What that means is that I dig down within my subconscious and find a story to tell the world and it all comes from an impulse or feeling that registers when the songs fill my head. So here's a few stories that I wish to tell. Though they are condensed versions, I suggest you simply add water, click on the songs and cultivate the earth. In time, the full version may come to blossom there, where you sit and listen.

10. Anais Mitchell - Hadestown

When she first started singing with the company, she didn't know what to expect. She simply knew that she was hungry for an experience that would provide some nourishment in her life. It wasn't that she didn't love her husband. She still adored him the same as that day two years before when she promised to share her life with his. No, this was about something missing in her soul. So it was a complete surprise when the flirting began and she couldn't understand the flutter that she felt inside when the director raised his eyebrow at her. She had no idea how far that it would go and found herself reaching out to her husband as if he was a beacon in the night. Then there were the late night sessions after rehearsal to help a few of them get up to speed on the production and those eventually dwindled until it was just the two of them, alone on the stage. He was a strict man when he was directing the company but when he was only around her, he became a gentle lion. She knew that every move was a mistake but something drove her forward and it wouldn't take long until everything was ruined. In the end, it was her husband who saved her. He felt that something was amiss and he came after her, saw that she was falling through the floor when she simply wanted to lift her voice to the heavens. He went to the wife of the director and told her everything, poured out his heart. She knew how her husband could embrace his devious side and it wasn't long before the late night sessions ended. Everyone fell back into their assigned roles and the musical became a rousing success. Yet, in a couple of years their marriage was over and she would forever blame it one her descent into the underworld.


9. High Places - Original Colors


8. Souljazz Orchestra - Rising Sun


7. Baths - Cerulean

He finally understood what it meant to be a teenager. All those strange and confusing emotions that coursed through his body four years ago on the day that he turned thirteen were nothing but faint memories, just like the back-slapping from uncles with mischievous grins on their faces and the shiny-eyed smiles from forty-something women. He smirked at that child who he knew so little about the grand schemes of the world of adults. From the urgent need to discover fulfillment in the glossy sheen of playmate dreams to the drunken ambition to wander the dark streets of oblivion. From the street corner posturing of ritualized growth to the gradual development of an apathetic shield to ward away the demons of societal pressure. From the first schoolyard kiss to behind the AP building to the shadowy back seat of his parents where the residue remained on his lips long after she came and went. From the vicious hallway antics that brought down the middle school frown to the popular ascension on the path to the top of the hierarchical chart. All leading to a sudden awareness of this adulthood that was a mystery no more.


6. Destroyer - Kaputt


5. Glasser - Ring


4. MEN - Talk About Body

It had been just like a John Hughes film, one of those quirky high school threesome love stories between two girls and a guy but the boy wasn't in the middle. Now we were almost thirty and he was gone. I knew that she would be at his wake, even though they had split up five years ago. The only reason that I know all of this was because I couldn't help but keep tabs on her, with a couple of mutual friends keeping the vital fluid of information flowing in my direction. She meant more to me than anything that came before and definitely any of the relationships that I had since. She was the gift that confirmed my conflicted emotions. She was the dream that gave birth to my fulfillment. She was my first love and I was lost when she left me for him. I fell into torturous flings with girls that only caused more pain, for me and everyone else. Then, about the time that I heard about the break-up, I gave it all up. All the ache that had fueled my existence shed from my life and I settled into a healthier place. I allowed myself to be alone so that I could understand my life once more, then I hoped that I could find a moment to wrap my arms around love again. As soon as I entered the room, I knew where to find her, alone at a table in the corner reflecting on loss. I go to her with open arms.


3. Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon


2. Washed Out - Within and Without


1. Hindi Zahra - Handmade

Condensed Music (part 2)

My time has become more valuable over the years and I'm afraid that it's time to shrink my year-end lists down to a more condensed and manageable process. One of the unique experiences that I have with music is that it has turned into a wonderful inspiration for my storytelling flair to spread its wings. Perhaps this has always been the case as the parts of brain that process each element in its own way could easily be linked by some creative force that cradles the ridges and valleys of my cerebellum with electrical current that encourage me to sing sing sing in the most beautiful voice that I know. What that means is that I dig down within my subconscious and find a story to tell the world and it all comes from an impulse or feeling that registers when the songs fill my head. So here's a few stories that I wish to tell. Though they are condensed versions, I suggest you simply add water, click on the songs and cultivate the earth. In time, the full version may come to blossom there, where you sit and listen.

20. Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear

She liked to work with others when she expressed herself creatively. Open to the broad diversity that the world offered, she found that she was only able to overcome her own limitations with a collaborative experience. Alone, she noticed that people tended to fall back on convention and stagnated within the comfortable confines of reliability and safety but when she was forced to deal with someone else's perspective then her own, ideas evolved into a more amazing space. So she pushed and pulled and expanded and shrunk and embraced other artists around her who were willing to do the same with her. In this way her life was never left wanting.


19. Lia Ices - Grown Unknown


18. Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain In the Cloud

Her very first memories of him are faint but always happy. They're more of a feeling, really, being lifted into the sky with playful arms, riding upon his shoulders and breathing the musky odor of his hair. He was a hero, she recalls that as well. She was only six at the time of the first Gulf War and she didn't want him to go that day, standing on the tarmac clutching his leg as tightly as she could. Even then, she knew that nothing good would come of it, though he was going to fight the good fight and liberate the oppressed. He came back damaged, not physically but something else that had broken him inside. He wept over the slightest bit of joy and fell into dark dreams that he couldn't recall upon waking, though the evidence was there for all to see on the bodies of his wife and child. Ten years later, when the son of the President sent more soldiers back to that awful place, she hit the streets with protest, locking hands with friends to unite with affront  Even though he was no longer around to give her strength, she carried his spirit like a child aloft upon her shoulders, a buoyant gift that welled out of her life. A father's true worth carried within the actions of his daughter.


17. The Books - The Way Out


16. Jolie Holland - Pint of Blood

She could easily recall the words of hurt that he unleashed upon her when they were young but old enough to find fault in their dreams of tomorrow. Well, that future world had arrived and she was just as shocked as everybody else about the guest he brought to the wedding. She knew that he would come to her room long after everyone else was asleep because he kept giving her strange looks during the festivities, as if he really needed to tell her something. He wanted to unburden his soul and dump out some of the sadness that lay like a shawl across his shoulders. She let him in, a drunken light shimmering in his eyes, and he hugged her with a deep love of camaraderie. They smoked some of her weed and then he asked her to hear his confession. He had been terrible to her because he resented the strength that she had to come out and stand forth with authenticity despite being ostracized by almost everyone. Doesn't the worst vitriol always come from those who understand your plight but turn away to hide the shame touching their cheeks? He admired her most of all in the family and remorse flowed out of him with warm tears and emphatic apologies. But he really just wanted to thank her for giving him power, even when he didn't deserve it, for he first began to live true to himself during those teenage years.


15. Twin Shadow - Forget


14. Bibio - Mind Bokeh

He searched for the presence of God in all things. Even after all of the seminary and catechism courses, after the confirmation, he continued to feel that he must search far and wide for the precious gifts that gave life to the divine. So he kept moving when he could and refused to limit himself to his assignment from the church. He traveled to Africa, South America, even took a trip to Antarctica one summer hoping to feel or hear something special in that sparse landscape. All of his travails were rewarded with wondrous teachings and helped him connect in a beautiful way with his soul but not once did he know the voice of God. It wasn't until decades later, following a life of giving, sharing compassionately with the people in his community, that it happened, almost by accident. He took walks in the neighborhood, throughout the city and then God began to speak to him. Softly at first, in the heart of a flower, in the whisper of the leaves or through the aroma of burning wood. Then more forcefully, a car horn or a shout down from an upper floor window to a friend. In an embrace that was filled with love. In the tears of a child. It was only when he became a witness to the mundane human experience that played like a symphony all around him that he truly discovered the presence of God.


13. Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah


12. The Villagers - Becoming A Jackal

The first time he went to the fortune teller, it was a lark, a goading prank from his fraternity brothers. He never imagined that it would turn into something so magical. She gave him access to the conspiracies of the old world, past lives that he knew in his heart were true. His life as a slave, when he discovered a love so powerful that the ache of his want resonated throughout every life that came after. The time his life was cut short in his youth and he became trapped as a spirit in the massive house where he had lived, not managing to escape until it burned to the ground centuries later. A feeling so old that it was only a hazy recollection of a musical instrument where his fingers made beauty. A frivolous existence of indulgence in unprecedented wealth when he embraced others without passion, got lost in the sickness of drugs and disease and only felt misery. Before long his friends began to mock him and worry that he'd fallen under the spell of the mysterious woman with shimmering eyes. But even if the stories that she told him were only a means for her to extract money from his wallet, he still wouldn't give up his time with her. Because she gave him something so much more...meaning in his life.


11. Wye Oak - Civilian

Let's go in the water, she said. Something so simple but they had been drinking wine and were giddy with pleasure, so the spirits of the unforeseen made easy prey of them. Now he was numb from the suffering that had laid hold of his heart but they said that he was well enough to go home. Once he returned, his friends and family avoided the subject of loss and he didn't mind so much at first. Then it began to become a problem, this avoidance of avoidance, so he decided to open his eyes to the light and that's when the angels began to appear. Sometimes they came to the places where he felt intimacy, in the faces of those who loved him. Sometimes they jumped at him from the mouths of strangers, in the structure of new occurrences. He embraced this divine guidance and the path that began to unfold revealed an entirely different truth from the one he had held against his chest ever since that night. In this new awakening he could perceive that she was very much alive and this brought him the greatest joy, so much so that he was finally able to truly let go.

Condensed Music (part 1)

My time has become more valuable over the years and I'm afraid that it's time to shrink my year-end lists down to a more condensed and manageable process. One of the unique experiences that I have with music is that it has turned into a wonderful inspiration for my storytelling flair to spread its wings. Perhaps this has always been the case as the parts of brain that process each element in its own way could easily be linked by some creative force that cradles the ridges and valleys of my cerebellum with electrical current that encourage me to sing sing sing in the most beautiful voice that I know. What that means is that I dig down within my subconscious and find a story to tell the world and it all comes from an impulse or feeling that registers when the songs fill my head. So here's a few stories that I wish to tell. Though they are condensed versions, I suggest you simply add water, click on the songs and cultivate the earth. In time, the full version may come to blossom there, where you sit and listen.

30. Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter - Marble Son

A moment of fear grips her, then nothing but confusion takes over. Quick as that and everything changes. Everything is taken. Hope descends into anguish, love becomes a hidden torture, a blemish on their heart. Walking down the crooked road, lined with reeds, sticks thick with juice and hungry for the sun, she glances up at that warm face and is blinded with the white intensity. That's when she hears it, like a precious voice inside her head but coming from outside her, to her right. A weak cry, a message of new birth, calling to her, beckoning her. She turns her head and looks deep into the shadows, hears it again. Please give me breath from this night. She feels the darkness of the binding that suddenly surrounds her and for a instant she feels the fear that is so natural and honest that it's impossible to describe or explain. She hunches back, retreats from the menace scurrying away from her. Then the voice reaches out with delicate fingers and deep within her heart she knows that she can't look away, whatever the consequences. She reaches forth again with her hand, her head hanging down but her shoulders hunched back, the last of the strength she can muster. It doesn't matter. She's already gone. The blank space from where she left the roadside giving no trace of the person who used to be. There's no sound, just the sun beating down from an empty sky, harsh and white. She sinks and the current grabs at her. Turning her head she tries to look back through the thin slats for a brief reprieve of light in the darkness but she's sucked down below the surface. Gone. Eventually her body washes ashore. Then the mob follows and a tragedy occurs on top of a tragedy and a soft laughter can be heard in the wind.


29. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse

Across the terrain he traveled, with guitar in hand and a swelling following growing behind him. What kind of society was bound to erupt from this ragged sea of gypsies? This was the type of question that invaded his dreams when his fingers would lay down his emotions on the strings. His father, an ardent fan of the great philosopher Woody Guthrie, taught him how to reach through the heart of the instrument and make it a vehicle for inspiration, to become the power of a voice that might transcend all of the hate that drove the mice into the shadows. The world had grown tired of those fearful masked faces and now they turned to a fresh tone of change, of hope and appreciation. He couldn't say when the ears, eyes, hearts of the people began to turn his way but it never affected the energy that he gave to the cause. His spirit was the same as any great poet who came before him. It was the spirit of the people and it sprang from the earth as a natural spring wells forth with the clean fresh beauty of tomorrow.


28. Caroline - Verdugo Hills

After awhile, he forgot to count the years. It happens when you choose to spend the remainder of your life on a space station that orbited Mars. He could count the days since Mariel passed away and it wouldn't be long before they would be sending a new crew up to take his place once his frail soul decided that it would take no more abuse. Perhaps there would be no more missions, the last transcript from earth informing him of the growing instability of the New Order and it was true that the construction down on the surface of the red planet had yet to continue after the last tragedy that destroyed the fledgeling colony. But Wayne could care less about all of the insignificant plans of men who never truly had the heart to invest in the stars...for he had heard the voice of heaven. At first he thought it was Mariel coming to take him away from this frivolous life, immersing him within the essence of the universe. Oh, what a blessing that would be but then he began to notice that it was something else, even more beautiful than what he initially imagined. It was a voice that transcended any human expectation and it lifted him up beyond the limitation of the mind into a realm of magnanimity.


27. Toro y Moi - Underneath the Pine

Everyday after work they went to the club and danced, a primal imperative that had to be fulfilled, a need that was theirs alone. It never affected their other lives at home, neither her live-in boyfriend or his wife suspected them of having an affair, as long as they came home every night. This dance they shared was never about a desire to take their relationship into a passionate dream of sexual enticement. Their friendship was different, a unique connection that centered on the touch and swirl of the rhythmic symbiosis that could only happen on the dance floor. Their bodies were partnered in only one place, the club. His wife once suggested that the two of them take professional dance lessons to hone their craft but it wasn't about that either. A dance studio was too intimate and would ruin everything. Only the club could satisfy their need, to let down their hair and shake off the cubicle rust. One night he lightly said that the two of them must have been lovers in a past life, during an era when dance was transcendent, a genuine release for the human spirit. Who knows, maybe it was sometime during the seventies.


26. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints

Emma Wocjekowski made a discovery and it was either going to kill her or make her famous. Very few laboratories around the world monitored the prism of quantum physics within the realm of possibilities as her lab. She was already considered one of the greatest minds in her field even after the controversy surrounding her theories on genetic coding conducted as a college student under the guidance of a Nobel Laureate. They say the man stole the prize from her and she has never truly disputed the claim, but it's something that is no longer discussed around her. Rumors are frivolous distractions, as far as she's concerned and she doesn't have time for distractions. Emma rechecked the equation and began to trace the length of the tail toward where it lead. Down the rabbit hole, she laughed to herself. Wasn't that the type of thing that she told those who inquired of her research. Well, the equations didn't lie and it appeared that she had found a source of energy unlike anything that had ever come before, tiny in scope but massive in intensity. She was about to blow the cover off human perspective.


25. Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner


24. James Blake - James Blake


23. Black keys - Brothers


22. Tom Waits - Bad As Me


21. Tosca - No Hassle