MUSIC HAS THE RIGHT TO CHILDREN

It struck me on Sunday that listening to music has been a solitary pursuit for many years.

Once upon a time it was different. We sprawled out on the ring of a sump on summer nights and blasted My Eyes Have Seen You. We sat in Mike’s bedroom and listened to the Stones, trying to make out the words. We “borrowed” Howie’s mom’s old Peugot and hung out in the high school parking lot at dawn, dancing to Generation X.

Then slowly but surely, our lives became more compartmentalized, separate, private. Growing up, I think they call it.

I became more and more accustomed to listening to music through headphones or alone on half-hour commutes.

Having kids presented an opportunity to commune with new ears, and Lana in particular has developed a temporary passion for things like Deerhoof and The Go Team. But in general, my kids latch on to Taeko’s J-Pop with greater enthusiasm.

And that’s what we usually listen to when we’re out together on the weekends. But on Sunday, we were using my car. I put on Magical Mystery Tour, figuring you can easily form a consensus around the Beatles.

During one quiet moment, I Am the Walrus came on. The moment remained quiet throughout the song, and in this context I really heard it for the first time in decades.

Because we hear music better when we are together…

DESIGNED TO BLOW OUR MINDS

I took a six-month subscription to Rolling Stone for $1. Here are a couple of Arcade Fire facts I learned therein recently:

-Their latest album, The Suburbs, is their finest album to date.
-Their best song is No Cars Go. Because, you know, they released it on two different albums. So it must be good.

I'm enjoying my subscription immensely. It's like a bi-weekly ticket to Bizarro World...

TUESDAY'S OFFERING

Seemingly out of nowhere, Broadcast released an EP last month.

It's called (deep breath, now) Broadcast & The Focus Group, Study Series 4, "Familiar Shapes & Noises."

And it's more of the same psych Broadcast + library records stuff that they released on the last mini album (deep breath number two) Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age.

They're so inscrutable that it tickles...

LOSING MY EDGE

I’ve been very lethargic recently when it comes to new music, more so than usual.

A certain languor is part of my MO: I’ll listen to something a couple of times, find a reason to dismiss it, and then circle back later, sometimes to develop an obsession (say, Ships by Danielson), sometimes just to confirm my initial impression (say, Veckatimest).

I’m in this cycle now with Janelle Monae (“Waahh,” says I, “It’s toooo looonnng and schizo”), Arcade Fire (*cough* one-trick pony *cough*), and I fear I’m about to enter the cycle with False Priest (libido + logorrhea = libidorrhea).

But I’m troubled by the fact that I still have not even listened to the most-recent LCD Soundsystem. It’s sitting there on my iPod just taunting me…

CONTROLLER SPHERE

I bought False Priest on the cheap from Amazon yesterday.

So far, the last 1:30 of Our Riotous Defects has been worth the $2.99.

Probably not a great sign that this makes two OM albums in a row where I've been grabbed more by soundscapes than by songs...

WAIT AND SEE THE LIST OF SHIT YOU MADE

Of all the new release-y goodness on tap for fall/winter, I think I'm most looking forward to the new No Age.

I mean, I have a pretty good idea of what a 2010 Belle and Sebastian album will do for me.

I've listened to a bit of the NPR stream of the new Of Montreal, and I expect it will be more lamping than hissing.

And we are down to the last wispy contrails of Stereolab at this point...

But I don't know quite what to expect from No Age, which is one of their essential strengths...

AGAIN, I SWORE OFF CANADA

My friend He Knew He Was Right (HKHWR, as the kids call him) has been in the blogging business now for six months.

He writes primarily about family, horticulture, music, travel, sports. And don't be scared off by the moniker-- he's not a Glenn Beck or a Rush Limbaugh. It's just the title of a Trollope novel that neither you nor I have ever read...

In my 'umble opinion, this is his most affecting post to date. His conflation of the trials and tribulations of landscaping and his efforts to fill out his family tree have particular resonance for me, what with my black thumb and meager family line.

The piece is what I consider the best of HKHWR-- it is eloquent, elegant, and teaches me about things I know and do not know.

I thank him for it, and look forward to more.

Happy Anniversary!