Holy Video: Alt-J

Just watch. You'll be like, whoa. Thanks mom.

Let's Talk SCORES: The Social Network

Hey there my sweet little froyo cup... Oof it sure has been a while. Oopsy doopsy. Well, I feel like that's enough of an apology. EAT IT KITTY; the joke has to be real! Okay, that's enough. 

To be completely honest, I didn't know if I would ever come back. But uhh, I guess I did. Lucky you, my new and incredibly intelligent friend. It's nice to hold your glance and attentiveness over the putrid words spilling before you, line after line. All right, I'll get right to IT. What is IT, you might be asking yourself. IT is film. IT is my parent's dog chasing her own tail right now. IT is humanity, my love. Ha not really. The first two though, sure. 

I've been watching some magical films as of late and their scores have inspired something of the interesting sort within my budding self. And I don't know, (averting eyes, kicking dirt between us), I just wanted to share my intrepid thoughts with a captive audience member like yourself. Well, let's get right to it.

Film of the Day: The Social Network (2010)

Directed by David Fincher

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

I loved this film from the first preview. And then, upon my first viewing, I was in love with it. I mean, Jesse Eisenberg AND Andrew Garfield. My head explodes with both excitement and profound fear just recounting it all. And obviously David Fincher is just a magician of a director, e.g., Fight Club, Se7en, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But these are not the elements of the film we are here to discuss. Let's talk about the MUSIC. This score will literally change you as a human being. It's like "MOM, you literally don't even get me as a human anymore!!" I don't know what that means, but seriously, it is remarkable. If I could metaphorically wrap the whole thing up in cellophane and have it for lunch every day for the rest of my life I would be the happiest and most nourished kiddo in the WORLD. There is one track in particular, which even you don't know classical music at all, you'll still be like, "MOM, I literally know this song!!" Titled "In the Hall of the Mountain King," this track is an arrangement of Edvard Grieg's 1876 composition for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (thanks Wikipedia, you church whore). Here's a little taste. 

This track also inspired me to write a most ridiculous piece of poetry. Read it... If you like CRICKETS and death. 

"In the Hall of the Mountain King"

Dancing Crickets line the crumbling walls,

Thinking of nothing but their dance...

Clicking their rickety heels,

Spinning one another around on their convex backs.

Until the day that they see a spot of light in the wall.

They climb and climb; 

Stacking up high—

Cricket on Cricket,

Until Grieg sees a glimmer.

A hope, a dream, a land of light
Beyond the wall.

In curiosity and longing,

They gather and plot to escape.

Grieg leads the attack;

Offering a brilliant speech,

Talking of happier times past the wall...

Moving his Cricket limbs emphatically through the darkness.

And that is all it takes.

The Crickets are laced with false hope

And stampede into the crumbles.

Pounding to break through the darkness,

Breeding and brooding confused hatred among the blind.

Misplaced rage inspiring the crazed action,

Pounding, pounding on the sheetrock,

Running into hardness, cracked exoskeletons,

Clawing at the wall, breaking legs,

Tears and cries of pain,

Until finally...

A breakthrough!

A hole big enough for two, maybe three at a time,

 allowing the blinding light to filter in,

The crumbles of dust sifting and dancing through the air,

Penetrating the untouched darkness.

Something they’ve never seen before—

Those who had been born in darkness.

They went mad for more.

Even with the casualties piling high and wide

In their attempts at escape,

The crunching and blood spread hot and pooled
Among the bodies of the already forgotten

In order to reach the light
And the promises it held.

Visions of beauty past the hard wall,

Out of the darkness and doom.

The hole spreads;

Greig plunges alone into the land of the light.

His black body sails,

Arms and legs flailing maniacally

Before he lands hard and bounces off the floor.

Only the highest Cricket can see him now,

As he hangs off the edge between darkness and light.

He stares at Grieg—

Pitiful and alone in the light.

He is silenced at the sight

And climbs back down into the darkness

The Crickets have turned docile—

Their blind rage has subsided.

But they can still hear the actions of a crazed man...

The great leader claws back from the light side.

Until he gives up.

But it is no matter.

The dancing crickets are no longer concerned with escape.

The pounding crowd disperses in tired regret,

Yet the dead remain,

Piled and sticky from death

In the comforting darkness—together.

Welp, that's all for today. I'll be back to talk about my film findings and music love soon. Enjoy the day or night, whatever it is for you, right now. Okay BYYYYE. Oh, and here's one more arrangement from the film. It's the opener. I really don't have words to encapsulate its greatness. 

And here's Andrew Garfield and uhhh, Jesse Eisenberg to close the day. You're welcome.

The Capricious Ways of Humanity in Love

I'm a sucker for flings. Every week or so, I do this thing where I get completely enthralled in a new song or album. Like crazy obsessed. I'm sure y'all do it, too. That one silly piece of music is all I think about for a pretty solid amount of time, which varies in length per individual. It's what gets stuck in my head in the shower, what I play every hour or so at work, and what bids me goodnight and into my slumber at night. Ahhh, the unscathed fascination with a new song or album in the honeymoon stage. Nothing is sweeter.

And then, in a fit of being swept away by another, just a week later, I find a new beau. I leave my former love unfazed and have found a new metaphorical (as well as lyrical and musical) shoulder to rest my head on. I am thrown into the young love spiral from square one again--butterflies, a constant need for a listen, a desire to find the very core of the song--it's all oh-so romantic. It's typical for a girl like me. But then a thought crosses my mind... what happens to my old flame? Although the novelty, that initial allure of this old obsession has faded into oblivion, the song or albums remains, does it not? In my fluffy and naive mind, I like to think what happens is that the song runs right out of my brain into the unassuming mind of another almost instantaneously. As it enters their ears, they, too, become obsessed, thinking to themselves, "how did I ever survive without this song?" I don't know my musical protege, I just don't know. Mainly because I felt the exact same thing just last week and I'll feel the same about another probably tomorrow.

However, I am not discouraged by my musical flakiness. I eventually find the former album/song again a few months later, but the feeling it inspires at that time is nothing more than a pin prick compared to the knife wound it seemed to call for at its inception. Meh, oh well, right? Yeah.

"As human beings, we are meant to be flighty and capricious without offering a valid explanation. And for this quality, I suggest you ride out this current love for as long as want, drop it when you grow tired of it, cutting the ties cleanly and without regret, and then, find an even more alluring interest to keep the beautiful feeling of discovery and growth alive." -K.E. Larson

When you find something you truly love, it challenges your thoughts and dreams and passions. It changes your outlook on life and makes you do crazy things. I am talking about musical love and no other type of love AT ALL. Obviously.

But once again, none of this is really relevant. To get back to the current obsession.... It is an album with one song in particular.

The band: Porcelain Raft

The album: Strange Weekend

The song: Drifting In And Out

 

Featured in the Celeste and Jesse Forever trailer. AHHHH!

A New Book and Random Ramblings

Hey sugar faces. I've been like the least loyal and most shitty blogger, if I can even call myself that anymore, the past few months. It's just that this "work" thing keeps happening. Every day. Behind my dreary desk, I often find myself in a deep daydream, like a daydream within a daydream, playing out this horror scene in my mind where I go brilliantly mad at the office. It's an out of body moment where I stand up, punch my fist in the air for no apparent reason, and prepare the people for a rash announcement while I storm towards the door. As the officemates follow me toward the freedom, I give a speech (duh). 

"Guys," I hold the power and speak accordingly. "I'm going to take the next few days, maybe more, off. To just chill." Gasps of disbelief. "Today, maybe I'll go to the city, drink coffee for a few hours, browse tumblr with some free wi-fi, go shopping, grab a vodka rocks with my cousin and fall asleep while watching Netflix and drinking half a bottle of wine at some bro's apartment. We'll see. I haven't thought it through. Now who's with me?!" My eyes flutter down the line of tired faces. The last face--Paul. He's weak.

"Pauly boy. You know you want to join," I say convincingly. "What do you say, sunshine?" His eyes avoid mine, cheeks redden. But the next thing I know, we're rolling toward the city, top down on Paul's dad's convertible. Straight out of Ferris Bueller, I swear. So while those chumps back at the office sit at their cubicles and "stay on task" for the "sake of being productive," me and Paul drink gin and tonics in the afternoon and go to the zoo.

In this scenario, I win. But this won't happen. There's no one named Paul at my office, plus I'd like to stay in good favor with my employer. So, instead, I'll spend my day writing for as long my attention allows while periodically, yet cautiously, switching back and forth between my *not so acceptable* tabs and my email tab as my tired and bored co-workers creep up behind me, clearly taking a gander at my extracurricular browsing with dismay and disapproval. Whatever, dude. My cube, my rules.

Anywho, absolutely none of this is relevant. But I do want to share a little something with you all. A little book I ordered from the INTERNET. It's called "Music Listography." Here is a photo of the book:

It's an awesome book. It will undoubtedly inspire many posts in the future. So that's exciting. Listen to this in the meantime. 

Cover Lover: Bob/Jimi and Bowie/Nirvana

A couple covers today. First is Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" with a cover by Jimi Hendrix. Both versions are obviously amazing. Followed by one of my favorite songs, David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World," covered by Nirvana. ENJOY. 

 

May Music

Well. This is incredibly late, but I went to some damn good concerts in May, so I figured I should talk about them. Better late than never, yeah? Check out these bands--cool dudes who put out some swell tunes. SHIMMY SHIMMY YA. 

Phantom Balance and Soulcrate Music at 18th Amendment in Sioux Falls, SD--May 18th 

Phantom Balance, Sapient, Botzy, and Soulcrate Music at 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN--May 26th

Phantom Balance

Botzy

Sapient

SOUNDSET--May 27th