Wednesday 1 October 2008

Jasper's Reaction to Volume 1

"Loved it. It’s strange because, as I understand it, neither of you knew what the other was doing, correct? And yet the 'album' still plays like a semi-cohesive, almost concept album. It reminds me of an adult breakup record on Adderall. And I dig it.

Themes: love, regret, loss of youth/innocence, unrequited love, drug/alcohol abuse/excess

The first half (Kono's) is like you waking up on the couch, fucked up, maybe at a friend's place. you obviously blew it the night before (and Lord knows how many nights before that and before that); you don't wanna talk to her or anyone else, not taking phone calls, etc. ("Ask Her For the Adderall," Hold Steady) you get home to your cruddy apartment, feeling disgusting and regretful and all fuck the world. ("Rotting Strip," Crooked Fingers) it goes on like this, and I imagine the protagonist (yes, I throw everything in literary terms) eventually drags himself outside to get something to eat, walks into an empty bar in midday ("Live In Bars," Cat Power) and pontificates on his whole reason for being on the planet, much less in this dumpy place _______ (insert U.S. city here) and then later on in the day, you start feeling those feelings of "wait, I can save this relationship." ("Mr. November," The National)

*here, there seems to be an (unintentional) bridge from one album side to the other. Kono ends with an instrumental (Dirty Three) and Gulfboot begins with Booker T & the MGs, which is also instrumental. The link somehow works, which is why it's so surprising to me that y'all didn't even discuss it.

Eventually, the realization that it's all over settles in, evening comes on, you've regained some strength, and you sit down to fix yourself some hot tea and have a smoke out on the balcony. ("I Can't Turn You Loose," Otis Redding) it's almost like you're aging throughout the course of the day---this is youth lost and adulthood settling on your shoulders within a matter of hours. You still don't have a plan for your life, but you're mellowing, falling back on the comfort of maybe your parents' generation's songs/music. Deciding if maybe there's more wisdom in those words. (Gimme Some Lovin' / Everybody Needs Somebody to Love) you start reviewing your own life, from childhood onward, figuring all this shit out. How did you come up? Your values? How did you learn how to love without sacrificing self-abuse and solipsism? ("Ghetto Child," The Spinners) late into the evening, you come to a sort of contented melancholia; the world (like Camus) said is so much like your brother, careless....indifferent. Maybe you even embrace that wanton feeling in some way. In any event, you decide to start back in with some whiskey and buy another pack of cigarettes ("Rainy Night in Georgia," Brook Brenton)

The world keeps on spinning. Night and day. Rain. Heartbeats. Forward & backward. Inside-out. You’ll be back, because there's nowhere else to go."

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