I’m not claiming to be the first person out there to notice a trend in animal-related band names; it’s been going on for years, and with the ease with which bands can gain some notice and attention these days, and it’s more common to hear more band names thrown around all the time. However, after the White Rabbits gig in February, when we were talking about Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective, the trend was brought up yet again. And over the subsequent days, when I was excited to have discovered some new music by a band whose name I heard many times, but not really listened to, I wanted an excuse to recommend a song. With March 1st fast approaching, and with it not only the “Rabbit Rabbit” first of the month superstition, but also the old saying that March goes “in like a lion and out like a lamb”, Animal Band Month was born.

It’s been a really good month for me for two reasons. I love blogging – personal, editorial, whatever – I have a lot to say and want people to be interested in it, but I’ve let it, and writing in general, fall to the side for everything else I do (I have 4 jobs, and I’m supposedly an artist on top of that). This was an excuse to write again, but to try to constrain it to micro-blogging. That was less successful, in my mind – with a song title, track link, and #animalbandmonth tag, there was little else to fill in a tweet. Almost no one follows Blip, and with Facebook I could get a bit more text, but Facebook is so overloaded with updates that a lot went unnoticed, I’m sure. Hence this blog, to say what I wanted to say all month about these songs all in one place.

The other reason is that it’s gotten me back into listening to new music, and telling everyone else about it. I fell in love with music around the same time I picked up a camera, but for years and years I’ve been reading about new bands but not listening to them. That’s one of the sad effects of the decline of radio and rise in music-blogging – it’s easier to read about than to hear new music, and I fell into stride with that and listened to 10 year-old Blur songs on repeat. For example, I DID hear of White Rabbits ages ago, but paid them no attention until they were on Lauren Laverne’s Radio 6 show in late January. Then I bought tickets to see them, and you know what? I loved them. I still do, and a few of their tracks are in the 10 most-listened-to-tracks on my iTunes. While there were a lot of songs this month that I’ve known for years and years, part of the fun was trying to think of a new track every day and hunting down music by bands I’ve never really listened to before. For example, I really like Foals now, and I had never bothered to listen to them…independently of ABM, and despite the rally to save Radio 6, BBC’s best digital radio station, I’ve rediscovered NPR’s podcasts, which are amazing, and which I would highly recommend to everyone. I finally feel like I care about music again, and not in the snarky-about-what-SPIN-says way (my seemingly lifelong subscription to SPIN finally came to an end in late 2008, which has been a blessing in disguise).

So on to the music…I picked a new song every day, on the day. There are a few double (and triple) ups – the first was because Rough Trade gave me free tickets to see Passion Pit, the others were because I’d run out of days and had other songs in mind. A few tracks were picked out very early on, others at the last minute. I never went hunting for animal band names; I didn’t even look through my own music until the last week to see what I had missed. Every song came from a band with an animal name; the only exceptions are below:

*Vroom came in on the first Animal Song Title Wednesday (Tigers) – I mainly wanted an excuse to include a link to an old video of a performance I’d found recently, and it’s probably the only entry I regret since it’s not an animal band name.
*Passion Pit, as previously mentioned, with an Animal Song for the above reason, but as a special entry.
*Wings, The Antlers, and Deerhoof are the only bands that are appendages and not actual animals.
*There are also a few questionable band names, but were still animal-related enough for me to include (Be Your Own Pet, Alien Ant Farm).
*Every inclusion was a band name. I considered Cat Power (not her real name), but decided against anyone who just happened to have an animal-related name (i.e. Patrick Wolff).

I know there are a lot more Animal Bands out there, and I thank everyone for their contributions and suggestions. At the end of the day, I only wanted to recommend songs that I liked, or that I felt I had something to say about.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who read, listened, commented, and took part in Animal Band Month and made it as successful as it was for me. As a special thank you, I’ve compiled an ABM e-Mix Tape – highly illegal, I’m sure, so get it while you can!

http://www.mediafire.com/?kyjidzzhqmn

And on to the music…

ONE
White Rabbits “Right Where They Left”
I LOVE THIS SONG. It’s the perfect combination of dancey Afrobeat rhythm, catchy guitar hook, driving bass line, eerie piano parts, and very, very dark lyrics, and is everything I want in a song. Every time I hear Stephen Patterson sing, “Oh darling, I love you, but this just might be a feeling that just comes and goes” like it’s no big deal as he’s left someone in a burning house, I get chills. I can’t recommend it enough.

TWO
Modest Mouse “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”
After years and years, I finally saw Modest Mouse in December at ATP, and hearing this song live was everything I could have hoped for. Modest Mouse are brilliant, and I’m amazed that they’ve managed to work well so long and put out such a variety of music that still sounds incredibly unique in such a blasé soundscape that is the current music industry. This is another indie dance classic, and quite dark like “Right Where They Left” (you can also add time changes and ‘going up an octave’ to the list of things I like in songs). If you can sit still through this song, and not sing along to “we’re drinking drinking drinking drinking coca coca cola”, I’m impressed.

THREE
Vroom “Tigers”
At the time, I didn’t realize that there would be a multitude of animal bands with animal-titled songs, so I feel like this is a bit of a letdown now. One of the reasons I jumped at putting it in was because it was from a video I shot when Vroom played The Metro Cafe in D.C. in 2001/2; I recently put it on YouTube and wanted to share. But, as I have to stick to the choices I made, let me say that Vroom was an amazing band, and I’m glad I got to know them and can still count them as friends, however vicious they may be in a moonbounce. They put out some pretty good music, too.

the video

FOUR
Gorillaz “Stylo”
Let’s just start off by saying that I love pretty much anything Damon Albarn does; the man could recite a grocery list and make it sound interesting. I haven’t taken the time to listen to this album much yet, but I’ve heard only good things so far. “Stylo” is the same dance/electronic pop we’ve grown to expect from Gorillaz, but timely and updated. Jamie Hewlett’s animations have grown too; they look about as real as CGI can make them at this point. The video for this song reminds me of why I don’t like real people/animation mixes (Roger Rabbit sort of freaked me out, as did that Paula Abdul/90s cat music video), and I’m not sure what Bruce Willis is doing in it…but not bad.

FIVE
Arctic Monkeys “Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
I’ve never been a big Arctic Monkeys fan, but they were the first band to really make it after the introduction of, and specifically because of, Myspace, and I respect them for it. If I heard this song out somewhere, I’d dance along just like everyone else. They’ve grown a lot musically, but their last album is a grower, and I just don’t feel like taking the time to see if I like it eventually.

SIX
Eels “Last Stop This Town”
This song came out when I still listened to HFS and watched MTV, and feels intrinsically buried in my teenage years. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the music video – in short, E (the singer) creates a carrot version of himself. It was cool and different for the time, but man, is it creepy. I don’t like vegetable people, and I’m sure watching it very late on 120 Minutes as I undoubtedly did was not a good idea. Regardless, it’s a brilliant indie pop song with a great riff, and the video is far less strange than the eels song from Mighty Boosh, which I can’t help but think of whenever I hear the word “eels”. And Eels are still hanging in there, despite multiple line-up changes over the years, so…good for them.

that video

SEVEN
Them Crooked Vultures “New Fang”
Everyone loves a supergroup, it’s true. QOTSA are really good, but not my thing, but I think Dave Grohl is a genius (on par with Damon Albarn, but more for playing ability than writing/composing like Albarn) and I still can’t believe I’ve never met him, despite how frequently we could have crossed paths in D.C. From what I’ve heard from Them Crooked Vultures….they sound like QOTSA. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If anyone would like to disagree, please explain how you think the two bands sound differently. In relation to Animal Bands, though, I love how many of their song titles reference animals…

EIGHT
The Dodos “Trades and Tariffs”
I got this song a while back from a friend, and while it’s catchy, I never really got into it properly. But it’s a song where drumming seems to take the center accompaniment role, with an acoustic guitar simply echoing the melody (except for some lovely stretches of picking). I’m loving this trend in very percussion-driven music; it’s about bloody time it got noticed for how important it is to a song, and not just for keeping time. I think a lot of it derives from non-traditional music that Indie Rock has been taking the lead from of late – mostly non-Western, percussion-heavy music, rather than earlier rock and pop that relied heavily on intricate melodies and harmonies (not that some didn’t have good percussion, but there is a LOT out there that I could play, and I’ve barely touched a drum set in my life). And in my mind, the more drummers the better, every time.

NINE
The Monkees “Daydream Believer”
Cass asked for some Monkees, and while this song – like most of their songs – is sickeningly sweet, it’s hard not to sing along. One of my favorite things I learned recently was that David Bowie’s real name was David Jones, but he had to change it because of Davy Jones. And which one of those two would you think of first today?

TEN
Deerhoof “Panda Panda Panda”
“Panda Panda Panda” features one of my favorite lyrics of all time, probably because of my love for pandas (remember Butterstick?) and certain politically incorrect photograph poses: “panda panda panda panda pan- CHINA”. Deerhoof played at ATP in December and were brilliant. While it was Sunday afternoon and I couldn’t muster the energy to stand through their whole set, I loved them and would happily see them again. They have infectious energy and are generally really fun live.

Passion Pit “Moth’s Wings”
“Moth’s Wings” is not one of the best Passion Pit tracks; it’s got a lot of the traits of an anthemic ballad, which I’m not really a fan of. But, it’s animally, and it’s here. I’m amazed at how far Passion Pit have come in the past year. We saw them at Glastonbury last June, and they were perfect in the late afternoon on the John Peel tent stage. While I’m still not a big fan of Michael Angelakos’ ridiculously high voice, some of Passion Pit’s songs are electro gems, and I can’t get enough of them. I am eternally grateful to Rough Trade for the free tickets to Passion Pit at the Forum from the 11th; that’s the second set of free tickets I’ve gotten because of Twitter, so I’d say…get a Twitter account and start following the right people.

ELEVEN
Flock of Seagulls “I Ran”
I think my dad requested this, but it had already been in the back of my mind. In the 90s, everyone LOVED to make fun of Flock of Seagulls – remember how great that line was from “The Wedding Singer”? But the music video for this song was one of the first ones made shortly after the birth of MTV, and is so iconic of the time. The song’s a bit repetitive – the video is extremely repetitive by today’s standards – but it’s an 80s classic. And those haircuts would get by today, no trouble.

TWELVE
Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks”
Everybody’s current indie dream-team of Beach House and Grizzly Bear were playing together this day at the Roundhouse, but I was in Berlin. While this song has featured heavily in adverts, I still really like it (not everything commercialized is bad, I suppose), which is why I chose it over a more obscure track. It’s a lovely indie pop song, and a good starting point to access the rest of Grizzly Bear’s music. And I think they’re playing Latitude, so hopefully I will get to see them soon.

THIRTEEN
Phoenix “1901″
I love Phoenix, both the band and the mythical creature. When this song was all over satellite radio last May when I was in the states, I tired of it quickly…but with some time away, and lots of listening to the rest of their repertoire, I can’t get enough of “1901″. Phoenix also (just) played at the Roundhouse, which was hopelessly sold out, too, and made me regret even more not getting a box office job there last year. Anyway, I can’t say I’ve ever listened to a lot of French bands – few have broken the American and British music scene like Phoenix have – but their combination of catchy music and intelligent references have afforded them a widespread audience (we’ve all seen the NY school kids singing “Lisztomania” by now). Plus this song seemed like the perfect way to start off the weekend.

FOURTEEN
Fleet Foxes “Mykonos”
Fleet Foxes are really good, but I overlistened to them. And I can’t listen to them without thinking of quiet, snow-covered hills, which makes it strange both that they have a song named for a Greek Island and that the only time I’ve (almost) seen them was at a massive summer festival. This song does evoke a bit of the Aegean for me, and I still remember their vocals drifting through the valley of the Glastonbury site to the gate where I was working when they played in the late afternoon June sun. They sounded brilliant. Maybe next time…

FIFTEEN
Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal”
This band…wow. I’m amazed they had their 15 minutes, but I guess that can be said about a lot of bands. Sorry about the juxtaposition between them and Fleet Foxes, too, that was really unintentional.

Anyway, I don’t think many people can forget this cover, and I still associate it with a tap dance my sister once did to the original. Plus, I took one of my best concert photographs EVER at the tender age of 16 (or 17, it’s hard to remember). It’s of Dryden, the lead singer with the unfortunate haircut, included below.

SIXTEEN
Foals “Spanish Sahara”
Foals was one of the bands I finally gave a chance during Animal Band Month. This is their new single, which is not only gorgeous but has a brilliant music video, too (hard to come by these days, when MTV is a no man’s land and music videos have little commercial appeal). And they’re from Oxford, and used to be into math rock…so, that’s cool too.

their video

SEVENTEEN
The Beatles “Octopus’s Garden”
Don’t give me any flack about The Beatles – just because they chose to make their name a play on words does not mean it’s not still animal-related. The Beatles have a lot of animal song titles, ones I like a lot more than this, actually, but I have this inexplicable Ringo guilt, and I felt I should give him a bit of attention. And for some reason, this song has got an equally inexplicable connotation for me. Remember the movie About a Boy? And the boy, who’s on Skins now, gave that awkward performance of “Killing Me Softly” at his school talent show, despite how much Hugh Grant told him not to? Well, for some reason, in my mind I’ve changed the performance to a simplistic, still-awkward tap dance to “Octopus’s Garden”. And I picture it every time I listen to this song. Sigh.

EIGHTEEN
Bat for Lashes “Daniel”
A few months after moving back to London, I went to see Bat for Lashes at Scala with some of the people I was studying with. It was just the right moment to catch, actually – BfL were not well known yet, and buzz was building, with Bjork and Brett Anderson both at the same tiny club watching the performance as us. I had mixed feelings – the music was pretty good, but I did not like that headband-over-fringe trend that Natasha Khan sparked. But then the second album was released, and I remember listening to a beautiful performance of the new songs on NPR’s World Cafe. And I love the fact that such an amazing song and, in fact, the lead single off the album, is essentially a love letter to a character from a movie. And they get away with it brilliantly.

NINETEEN
Doves “Catch the Sun”
I hate to say it, but Jamie Cullum actually introduced me to this song. This version is much better, though, and sounds like the classic driving-around-with-the-windows-down summer track. I’m doing a bit of summer dreaming now, as it’s now April 1st and I’m shivering. I never really listened to Doves much, despite knowing them for years and years, and, like I’ve said before, this month has been a great time to take a chance on them. They’re really good, by the way.

TWENTY
Be Your Own Pet “Adventure”
This is really the only BYOP song that’s stuck with me over the years; the rest I could take or leave. I first heard them at 9:30 Club, actually, when they opened for Sonic Youth quite a few years back when I still worked there. Unfortunately, I had worked Warped Tour at Merriweather Post Pavilion all day in the bright June sun without sunglasses, and by the time I came back to the club for the evening shift my eyes bright red and constantly watering. While I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t really see much of BYOP’s performance clearly, I still enjoyed it and took note of them. They were really young at the time (as was I), so maybe they’ve matured a bit and honed their style. Or they’ve broken up. I’m not really sure, my internet’s down.

TWENTY-ONE
Pedro the Lion “Suspect Fled the Scene”
Now I’ve included the original Pedro version of this song – I still can’t believe I could only find the Vroom cover when I was searching for a streaming mp3. Oh well, more props to Vroom then. I think this is a gorgeous song, and David Bazan could lull me into a dreamy, but rather uneasy, sleep with “Ride as fast as you can, they’re shooting to kill” over and over. And he did, successfully, lull all of us to sleep when we saw them at the Black Cat back in 2003; they’re music is lovely, but just a little too quiet to see live, especially after sleepless nights.

TWENTY-TWO
Le Tigre “Deceptacon”
“Deceptacon” is one of my, and I’m sure a lot of other people’s, party playlist staples. Dancey grrrlrock to the max. Love it, love it, love it.

TWENTY-THREE
Wings “1985″
I think I’m one of a small number of people who love Wings. I have an ingrained love of Paul McCartney from my mom, and I looked up to Linda McCartney for a long time. There’s a lot lacking in Wings’ music, I know, and they’re the butt of a lot of jokes (remember “Role Models”?) AND everyone, except for me, hates their Christmas song. But this song transcends all of that. I love the piano so much that I taught myself it – and re-taught myself repeatedly until someone gave me the sheet music for Band on the Run – utilizing various pianos, keyboards, and my melodica (it sounds really good on that, I’ll have you know). I love that little bit of “Band on the Run” at the end, almost as much as I love their ’70s feathered mullets. Man, I love Wings.

TWENTY-FOUR
Minus the Bear “Monkey! Knife! Fight!”
I don’t think I’ve listened to this song since I lived in a 15 foot-square cement-block dorm room, so I would place its importance to me around 2003. The computer I had at the time had a hard drive that died – taking all of my music of the time with it – so it’s quite likely that I actually haven’t heard it in well over 5 years, at the least. However, Minus the Bear hold a higher place in my memory, thanks to going to see them with Sarah Reed at the Camden Underworld in 2004. I don’t remember Minus the Bear’s performance at all, actually, just that we saw them play with a band called Challenger who, for lack of a better word, were horrible. Sarah, correct me if I’m wrong at all, but they had such great lyrics as “dancing on the crematorium” and “phony matrimony”. Anyway, all that aside, this song reminds me of the emo trend of the early ’00s, which I liked a lot, but feels a bit too close for comfort still. This might come back out of rotation for that reason.

TWENTY-FIVE
The Antlers “Bear”
The Antlers are releasing a split 7″ with White Rabbits for Record Store Day (April 17th I think), which is why I gave them a listen. This song is quite lovely, although the intro sounds a lot like an Eisley song to me (not that that’s a bad thing). It’s quiet and slow, but once you get to the first refrain it really hits its stride.

TWENTY-SIX
Freelance Whales “Generator^2nd Floor”
Freelance Whales was an NPR-related discovery. I haven’t heard many songs of theirs that I truly like, but I love this one more than I can coherently express in words. It’s essentially a cutesy folk-inspired pop song, but its upbeat rhythm, inspiring sing-along lyrics, and combination of obscure instruments really take it far. And they, hands down, have my favorite band name of the month because IT’S JUST SO RANDOM. I get such a vivid picture of a whale who’s a freelancer, to be honest – completely anthropomorphized with a belted mac, fedora, and glasses, carrying a briefcase, and dealing with the hustle and bustle of city commuting. They’re yet another New York band from this month, whose location definitely influences their style, but they’re Queens, rather than Brooklyn, based, and there’s something I like about that.

TWENTY-SEVEN
Deerhunter “Nothing Ever Happened”
Honestly, there are so many wolf, horse, and deer related bands out there right now that I constantly get confused as to which is which. Deerhunter really sound like they’re from a different era, though, despite being barely older than I am; their music is much more fitting to, say, the shoegaze/emo/grungeiness of the early 90s, which is why they stand out to me. This is such a rock-out song and I can imagine it’s great live. They’re on tour with Spoon currently, and if I were you, I would go and see them.

TWENTY-EIGHT
Animal Collective “Loch Raven”
I’ve known Animal Collective a long time, but as they always said they were from “New York and D.C.”, it took me a hell of a long time to learn that they all grew up and met in Baltimore County. It didn’t click immediately that this song was about the one and the same Loch Raven that I knew – Baltimore County’s drinking water source, a massive reservoir surrounded by wooded hills. The same Loch Raven that I crossed on every trip to my grandmother’s house (Dulaney Valley Road bridge – although the Paper Mill Road bridge, whenever I did have to cross that one, scared the hell out of me), where I went fishing and hiking as a kid, the place of many, many picnics and, later, photoshoots. But I was always strongly reminded of Loch Raven when I listened to it – they managed to capture the feeling of the place in a song the way I tried to in “Autumn Song”, which was all photographed around Loch Raven on a sunny, crisp November day. When Merriweather Post Pavilion was released last year, everything clicked…most of the AC members went to Park, one of the other area private schools (didn’t they have a movie theatre?? I remember hearing that rumor when we played field hockey against them in middle school), they recorded an early album at a house in Sparks, MPP was named for an outdoor concert pavilion where I used to work (although I have always thought it was a cool name), and “Loch Raven” is about my Loch Raven. As much as they can say they’re from somewhere else, Animal Collective keep bringing up their BaCo roots; now, it seems, is a time to be damned proud to be from Bawlmer. There’s a lot of great Animal Collective songs, but I love this one and it’s a gentle way to taper off towards the end of the month.

TWENTY-NINE
Wolf Parade “Shine a Light”
I needed a bit of energy for a Monday morning, and Wolf Parade brought that energy. They were definitely one of the bands I got confused with a lot of others for a long time, most notably Wolfmother (hard rock/metal) and Wolf Eyes (nutso noise band). Wolf Parade are a hell of a lot more palatable than those bands. Plus they’re Canadian, so I’m sure the Canadians appreciate their inclusion. And Dan Boeckner’s really cool.

Panda Bear “Take Pills”
Panda Bear, one of the members of Animal Collective and one of my favorite animals, has released some really amazing solo work. This is a bit calmer than “Shine a Light”, but still happy and upbeat enough to get anyone through a Monday. It’s quite a relevant song, being about Panda Bear/Noah Lennox’s personal struggles with antidepressants, and I love the jarring overlap of seemingly disparate tracks about halfway through when the song completely changes tone. Sounds like it could be an Animal Collective song more than a lot of other Panda Bear tracks.

THIRTY
Deer Tick “Baltimore Blues No. 1″
This song sounds almost like it could have been used at the end of an episode of Homicide, but there’s some quality to it that makes it obvious that the singer is not someone who has “seen it all”, and definitely not in Baltimore. It sounds a bit more like a kid who watched an episode of The Wire and wrote a song about it, emulating some sound he had heard before, and trying to sound older than he is. But I still like it.

Frightened Rabbit “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”
This is quite an upbeat midday track from Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit. Unfortunately, White Rabbits’ last album was titled It’s Frightening, which is unnecessarily confusing, but both bands are exceedingly different. I came across a blog sometime recently where some poor music fan had mistaken the two bands not once but twice – both times mistakenly going to a White Rabbits gig instead of Frightened Rabbit. Oh, the perils of too many animal bands. Anyway, it’s not every day that British bands sing with their accents, and I love that you can tell that FR are Scottish from the first line. And I love rabbits of all sorts (having had a pet one for a while, and growing up with rabbit-related things as my name started with ‘R’), and there’s room in my heart for as many rabbit bands as need be.

The Yardbirds “Baby Please Don’t Go”
Other than The Monkees, The Beatles, and A Flock of Seagulls, I managed to ignore most pre-90s bands this month, although not intentionally. While three is really pushing it for one day, I had to include “Baby Please Don’t Go” – it’s down and dirty and danceable and I love it. I grew up listening to 60s English rock music, and the Yardbirds are a classic, having launched multiple guitarists careers (Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck). They’re apparently still a band, too. Their name always makes me think of the Orioles mascot, though – probably the combination of “Camden Yards” and the bird.

THIRTY-ONE
White Rabbits “Foxhunting”
About a week into the month I regretted not choosing “Foxhunting” as my White Rabbits track. Then I realized I set the rules, so I can start and end on White Rabbits if I want to. This song is another gorgeously haunting WR track; I love the trading off and sharing of singing duties between the two singers, the creeping bass line, and that slight bit of panic that sits in my stomach as the song escalates into full-scale paranoia. On a less cerebral level, I love foxes – I grew up on Tally Ho Road (there’s a lot of foxes there), and now I live in the home of the urban fox, Northeast London (which spawned Mighty Boosh’s beloved Crack Fox), and I see them most nights after dark. I’m more than happy to end the month with “Foxhunting” – a very open-ending, more like a beginning.

a video

and on with the topic of memory, i’m seriously considering constructing a list of things i’ve lost, a la simon faithfull. so far (recently), the I.R.P. mini dv tape, my most recent notebook, and a black scarf.

back to the point, i read ‘Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock’ by John Harris sometime around 2004/5, and learned how big Blur, and Britpop in general, were in the ’90s. to us, Britpop was a cool monthly dance night at the Black Cat, but in the UK it was a major phenomenon – it’s not worth trying to put into words how big it was, just know, if you don’t already, that it was HUGE. harris is a brilliant storyteller, and i sped through that book like a Harry Potter – all the intricacies of the Oasis/Blur rivalry were exciting, but what i loved was the fact that all of this really happened, and a lot of it in London at real places that still existed. i could see members of Blur sitting at the Good Mixer in Camden where Morrissey was also hanging out and Alan Bennett lived over the road, and Alex James out on the town in soho with Damien Hirst. my favorite tract was less about a specific place, but about the origins of ‘For Tomorrow’, one of my favorite Blur songs. i literally paused writing this entry for two hours to find that passage -i’m sure i typed it up once online – but no such luck…essentially, Damon came back from the normal pub-on-Christmas-eve British tradition, and with a hangover early in the morning of Christmas Day 1992, sat at the piano and composed ‘For Tomorrow’. that song is sheer brilliance, and the image of that story sticks with me whenever i hear it. with that two hour break, i’ve lost my train of thought…

i think one of the things i’ve realised is that a lot of the american anglophiles are angolphiles in the first place because of british music. from my dad to that guy i met at the supermarket last year who was freaking out about going to manchester for the first time (he really loved the smiths), a lot of the british culture we love is its music – and what these musicians sing about the country that makes it seem like an oasis (no pun intended, i can’t stand oasis) of culture that america is not. and i have to say, reading that book and really discovering blur’s music that i missed made me fall more deeply in love with london than even living here for 4 months did.

but as time goes by, i’ve lost that yearning to be here (now….i’ll stop, i swear). this spring i was aching for baltimore, and my friends and family that come with it, and every episode of ‘the wire’ dug in a bit harder. and i went back and loved it, and even began to think of when i might move back. but now, after a month and a half away, i’ve swung back completely. i even love sitting on the bus for an hour just to get 4 miles away – as long as it’s not a bendy bus, my love hasn’t streched that deeply yet. so i think as long as i delve into a little nostalgia and remember what is good about london, i won’t be leaving anytime soon.

the other point of this post is something i said to myself when i was making a cup of coffee this morning, although it’s not the first time it’s come to mind. this week i am downright obsessed with blur, as can clearly be seen, and when i watch their performance from glasto on iplayer for the 18th time, i still get so overly excited and happy. the first full time i watched it, i cried during ‘for tomorrow’ – not just because of how good the performance had been (it was emotional for everyone there, not just damon), but for all the feelings about london and life that have built up over the past 5 years. and that realisation is just that music can make me feel things that nothing else can – no visual art has ever done that for me, and i’m not sure ever will. i’m not going to pull a 360 and start writing music…which is really more like a 45, because we’re still in the creative arts realm – but i just know that i can’t deny that music will probably always take precedence over everything else. i feel that what i can create and give to the world (sounds a bit pompous put like that, but you get the idea) is art; more importantly, what i discussed with my tutor from the slade when i last saw him is that it’s a compulsion – i can’t not be an artist, it would be impossible never to make anything again. but i’ll always love music more. and i’ve always been the sort who wants to be a little bit good at everything rather than really good at one thing, so i think i’ll be okay with it that way. this is starting to get a bit sappy…

glastonbury was amazing, and i’m really glad i went and that this year was my first. everything i’ve heard and read has said that this year was one of the best, by far, so i feel right in saying that it was amazing and perfect. the attitude of everyone – all 200,000 people – was so positive that you didn’t feel trapped on a muddy farm with 200,000 people for a long weekend. i’m happy to have had a week off to sleep and relax afterwards, but i can’t wait for the next festival at the same time. i heard a lot of good music, met some cool people…and now have new gigs to look forward to, and new music to listen to. i mean, i never even gave blur much of a chance post-1995 (musically), but after hearing ‘death of a party’, ‘trimm trab’, and ‘out of time’ for the first time, i’ve changed my tune. i bought ‘blur’ and ’13′ last night on amazon, so i’ll be looking forward to that…it’s the strangest thing, discovering new music from a band that i had felt i’d heard all i needed to. woohoo indeed.

i’ve been downright yearning to blog again for a while, but haven’t spent the time on it to figure out what i wanted to say. it shouldn’t be that hard, really, considering i live an ocean away from a great deal of people i care about, and considering i don’t give said people mroe than twitter-like updates on what’s going on in my life. however, ii’m going to take the anti-twitter approach and revert to blogging – you don’t really need to know that i went to ikea unless i deem it worthy of writing a paragraph about.

so towards the end of winter, jimmy eat world marked the 10th anniversary of the release of ‘clarity’ with a 10-date tour, playing only that record from start to finish. needless to say i was beyond devastated not to be able to go – that record stands out as one of the most important in my development, and the chance to hear “goodbye sky harbor”is something that i’ve dreamed of. quite a few of my friends went to the DC and new york shows, and, to be honest, i didn’t even notice at the time, as i was concerned with gerhard richter and the private view of his new show (and magic tricks by david blaine – you don’t see that every day). however, i still remember think of those days bittersweetly, that constant pull to be in two places at once that i feel often.

on the bright side, kevin’s just sent me this:

after our critical studies presentations (which i passed, and a lot of people really liked, including john – although he had a weird way of showing it), and my move out of oldfield road, amanda visited during my brief stay at 163a stoke newington high street. i packed up all of my things one more time, stored them, and took off on a world tour to visit becky in australia, jess in hawaii, and amanda in LA. aside from monetary concerns (especially in OZ, which is inexplicably expensive), it was amazing and i wished i realised that every single second of every day i was travelling. i did most of them, but there was always the shadow of the end of my degree hanging over my head…so, upon my return, london was rainy and 7 degrees celsius, and i moved back, permanently (or as permanent as i can get at this point), to 32 kelshall court, with alexandra and revati. i still haven’t done everything i want with my room, but i’m so completely happy there. as with every place, it has it’s downsides, but compared to what i had before, its amazing and the perfect size. about a week later, my final term at the slade began. and what a ridiculous 7 weeks it was. needless to say, i came out on top, and while i’m happy to be done with it (and possibly school forever), i am, in the end, really, really glad i went there. right at the end, my parents and cass came to visit, and before i knew it we were driving around the south of france (read: amazing) and then running around paris, mainly montmartre, which was lovely. after a few days back of lots of hanging out and a beautiful radiohead concert at a big park, i am now in crete, and finally feel like, for the first time since well before this whirlwind tour i’ve given you, i can relax a bit and get back into some normal sort of life/routine. not that writing a blog while sitting on a terrace amongst pine trees and loud cicadas, with a teensy bit of the aegean sea visible between them, is at all normal, but i am much calmer than on the france vacation (which was lovely and a nice break from artwork, unlike this, but we were constantly on the go and trying to fit things in). so far its been lots of sitting on the terrace over communal meals, lots of reading, some walking, swimming in the sea, and sheer calmness. i even feel calm about making art again, despite not really knowing what i plan to do yet. i pick grapes from the vines hanging above me outside of my room, and i float happily in the waves (the aegean is more like the ocean). so far, so good, and i have 3 solid weeks here…and maybe a day or two in athens. life is good.

for those who don’t know, i’ve spent the past month and some more sorting out my living situation. i can happily say i am fully moved out of the oldfield palace; it will be missed for the lovely housemates and the convenient location, but little else. i’m eventually moving back into alexandra’s flat (where i lived briefly last winter/spring) with her and revati, and i’m super excited about it. we’re going to get a veg box and i can paint my room for the first time ever, and it’s generally going to be girly and clean. not to mention the full bathroom is huge and has fish tiles…and if you’re my mom or dad, you know how i feel about fish tiles in bathrooms. anyway, this move doesn’t happen until i get back from my world tour (which amanda aptly named “femmerae 2K8 “back in black: return of the rowhore” reunion tour, gin, gin, gin, gin, gin”), and i’m currently living in my friend nick’s room while he’s in uganda for a few weeks. because of my swiftly-approaching thesis presentation (in 2 days), i haven’t really had time to fully unpack. while the room is easily double the size of my one in oldfield road, half of the floor is covered with open bags and boxes, and the room is generally a site of over-stimulation (3 computers, 1 TV, 2 bikes, 1 guitar, 2 mattresses on top of each other). and the flat is above a cheap take-away fried chicken shop, so every now and again – like when you open a cabinet in the kitchen, or right before you step into the bathroom – you get a whiff of chickeny grease. but i’ll manage for 2 weeks, and i’m saving loads of money, and living with friends, so i can’t complain too much.

and my thesis presentation is coming together in a series of weird coincidences, so i’m quite happy. tomorrow i actually have to do loads of work for it, but i should be alright. in general, i wanted to take people on a walk, but, being limited by time constraints, location, and general logistics, i eventually realised i could do a video walk through stoke newington, and use the location as a means of telling a story/realising parts of my thesis. plus i talk about both poe and defoe in my thesis, and both lived here for various times, defoe for longer (as evidenced by both the pub and road named after him…plus he wrote robinson crusoe here, which is the important point). stoke newington is just teeming with psychogeographic connotations….i’m super excited to tell everyone about it. plus it’s an excuse to get out all of the facts i’ve learned about stokey by reading local history books from the library….and it’s about time i used those facts for something more useful than fodder over drinks at the pub. and, i mean, stokey is the best. where else would you see brett anderson in whole foods, or one of the klaxons looking in estate agents windows? not to mention one of the guys from hot chip walking down church street, or aggie from ‘how clean is your house?’ and that woman with the crazy glasses from ’10 years younger’ hanging out in your local (aggie lives on oldfield road as well, actually).

and speaking of coincidences, i went to a book fair in leeds yesterday for IRP with the IRP lot and sam and elisabeth, two fellow slade-ians, and the tables right by ours had loads of horribly coincidental books. one table had loads on journeys, one in particular that was made of tracing paper with perceived drawings of the UK on it (way too close to some work i was doing earlier this year), and the other just had books by a ton of artists that i looked at for my critical studies. the one book i ended up buying was titled ‘journey through an exhibition’, and was about an exhibition based on w.g. sebald’s book “ring of saturn” – WHICH i tried to find for my critical studies, but could never find in english. i recently returned to him because john hilliard recommended his book “austerlitz”, and i couldn’t believe my luck to find this exhibition book. and guess what artist was in it? tacita dean. i read about her loads for my critical study, but could never figure out how to fit her into it…but now, as i’m starting to see how much her work is important to mine, i just happen to find this book. weird. and another book, either about wittengeinstein or an exhibit relating to him, had an amazing poem called “the wanderer” in the beginning, oddly enough.

the other coincidence of the day occurred on the train home, when i was reading alex’s book she picked up on scottish concrete poetry. the poem in particular was like an ‘a is for ___’, but was descriptions of various people. it was quite nice, but i was almost shocked when i got to r.

“R can walk in Wanderlust.”

coincidences aside, things will calm down stress-wise after monday. i have loads of exciting things coming up – including visits from amanda and jamie, and the previously-mentioned world tour – but school will be winding down to the degree show, and i’ll be completely done in just 3 months time. the stress has been beyond high, though, and i’m sure i’ve suffered for it. i hurt my back while i was moving, so i treated myself to a massage to try to ease the muscles up a bit. of course the muscles in question were acknowledged, but the masseuse was shocked by how tense my shoulders were (as was i). they were like rocks. she was talking about crystallized deposits leftover from adrenaline as she squeezed them out down my shoulders (something i’d care not to have again), and i was so happy to know that, hopefully, i will never ever be this stressed again. and as much as i would like to go to something like cranio-sacral therapy to resolve all of that built up stress, i really don’t have the extra money for it. i meant to get to yoga today (which alex’s friend rowan teaches), but with the last of the move it was a bit difficult. but i can see the light at the end of the tunnel finally, and the austrailian sun should clear away any other remaining stress. did i mention we may go on a 3 day sailing trip around the whitsunday islands? yeah. this is the best half present/half holiday in the entire world. and i get to live april 2nd twice, just like bill murray in groundhog’s day. AND despite the disgusting no-good day, i’m having macaroni and cheese tonight! and i don’t even have to make it!

so i hope everyone is well, and hopefully i’ll actually get around to talking to you all soon!

if barack obama brought me dunkin donuts coffee, maybe i would have voted for him too.

BOOKS

i read this wonderful book of short stories about brooklyn on my transatlantic journey and various, shorter #73 bus journeys in london since then, and i loved it. if you’re into effects of the passage of time on a place and the psyche of those who live in it, this is a good book for you.

TELEVISION

sarah was right. 30 rock is hilarious. all the time. i love tina fey. plus between jane krakowski and john krasinski, the world of name mispronunciation may soon get better for all of us ‘ski’s. unlike laura knight, i will not be giving myself a legal name change for my 18th brithday…or 24th.

MUSIC

i’m always back and forth on joanna newsom, but i love that her music feels like jane austen-era springtime. and the temperature is closer to spring than winter (not that it ever changes much), so i’m all for it.

sat: borough market with sara, work at night
sun: christmas shopping, elf & knitting (not so much scary as that it’s actually written in my diary to watch elf and knit, at 5.45)
mon: colour darkroom all day, drinks with islington aca peoples
tues: bookbinding workshop all day, work at night
wed: special lecture and afternoon tutorial with artist hilary lloyd (thanks a lot, john, for doing this A WEEK BEFORE TERM ENDS, and putting me in the group), “rhinoceros” with kate
thurs: seminar in the morning, tutorial with jayne in the afternoon, *either* k dev or of montreal gigs
fri: CRITICAL STUDIES DUE (did i mention this needs to be finished in the next week?), SUBLETTER MOVES IN, SERIOUS DRINKING/GOING OUT ALL NIGHT
sat: whatever else i didn’t do. pack, probably.

nice.