Cutting down Trees

Outside of my recent, almost entirely all consuming obsession with New Order, I've had the chance to give a few new and excellent albums a go through. And since yesterday my obsession finally peaked w/ the arrival of the 18 N.O. albums (movement up to Technique), 12" and 7"s i won on Ebay, i may soon have even more time to put towards listening to new music...

Or maybe i could start a NO remix project... yeah....

No!

Beach House - S/T

I took a drive on Sunday up the F.C. to find a tree to chop down and display ceremoniously in my living room. It was a great sunday to be in Vermont; there was snow on th ground, the sun was blasting, and the air was clean. I grabbed my Ipod, my spirits, a coffee and hit the road. This was the first thing i played, and it lasted almost the entire trip to my friend Johns organic farm; I hadn't heard it yet, but picked it up on a hot tip from AQ.

It was pefect. exactly what you want to listen to while driving through a sunny winter landscape... so much warmth, yet w/ a certain cold detactment. Buzzy organs, crunchy spare percussion, and boy girl vocals w/ that west coast lackadaisical hum and strum; equal parts Beach Boys, Yo La Tengo and yes, Broadcast.

and so i don't step all over AQ; here's what they said:

Wow! We haven't been this smitten with a debut release in quite a while. Didn't know much about this Baltimore duo but we do know, the second this record we laid ears on this the first time, we were immediately seduced by the glorious sounds within. Hazy, daydreaming pop with equal parts magic, mystery and dreamy darkness, all drenched in beautiful melodies and sincere sensuality. Kind of made us think of Broadcast taking a warm bubble bath with Coco Rosie. Lights out, candles burning, bubbles floating, reverb dripping. There is a timelessness in these songs that is so evocative, Warhol's factory, a summer twilight in Southern California in the '70s, an abandoned art studio in the UK. You can never quite put your finger on exactly where these songs are drawn from but in the end it's music truly unique and wonderful. A mysterious voice, a haunting presence and songs carry you off, eyes closed, to somewhere much more enchanting then wherever you really are. So nice!

"This is why events unnerve me,
They find it all, a different story,
Notice whom for wheels are turning,
Turn again and turn towards this time,
All she ask's the strength to hold me,
Then again the same old story,
Word will travel, oh so quickly,
Travel first and lean towards this time."
-Ian Curtis

On the way home, i needed a pick me up - the tree was cut and loaded in my Tacoma, and the sun was already on its way to bed. I had stopped in to visit my grandmother, she still lives alone, despite having had a stroke and a suffering from a potentially fatal aneurysm in her stomach. She was sad; she had gone to her monthly Widow's support group and all the ladies their had been talking about how they're going on cruises for the winter, or trips down south, or even Europe... but because of her stomach, she can't go anywhere and she's stuck here for the winter.

I sat on the floor and played w/ her weird cat Minew and listened to her roll off half-connected stories about my grandfather, how because of a heart condition he wasn't supposed to live past 18; but made it almost to 80 - and her uncle who was a secessionists for Quebec; how when she was a girl they would smoke corn silk, and when she was in her 20's she traveled to Spain and Tangiers She even informed me, seemingly out of the blue, that

"Your grandfather and I never had sexual intercourse till after we were married...."

leaving me smiling awkwardly and wondering how to respond to that, before i could respond she turned her attention back to the cat. I missed out on so much not being born till the 80's...

So on the way home i listened to more New Order...