Songs that make me go mmhmm

Here's what I'm listening to in the last of '08 (not necessarily borne in 'o' eight)

1. Gobbledigook by Sigur Rós

this song makes me start tapping my brush and dance circles around my easel. best not to look at me when
listen to this song....

2. Waters of March by Holly Cole

it sounds so dramatic and final as seemingly insignificant things are examined and compared to life's
existence. the jazzy buttery voice melts and warms my cold hands.

3. Skinny Love by Bon Iver

NPR rated this song as their fav. Bon song, but I could go so many ways with my choice Bon I songs. First of all, I love the name of his band- Bon Iver a play on words of 'bon hiver' in french means good winter.
how true the title for my life right now. "ghostly and ethereal," "radiating otherworldly beauty" was how
this song was described in the rating... accurately so.

4. She Moves in Her Own Way by the Kooks

makes me want to kick my heels up and dance uninhibitedly (great word) ala Elaine Benes... "oh oh, she moves in her own way/oh oh..."

5. Silver Lining & Blacklight (tie) by Rilo Kiley

Jenny Lewis always finds her way in my iPod- whether masked with the watson twins, cloaked in another band name- Rilo Kiley or on her own ticket. also love her collaboration with M.Ward. you can't get any
better than the sassy line in silver lining- "hooray, hooray, i'm your silver lining/ hooray, hooray/ but now i'm gold... the sarcasm of the hooray seeps through. i love how the grass was ticking

6. Pumpkin Seeds by Devendra Banhart

I have wanted to like him for a long time, but none of his songs captured me like this one. the nostalgic-in-retrospect thoughts that ramble in between guitar riffs make me stop and think and ultimately agree that "there's a lot of love, but not the kind i need" I think that is true for most of us.

7. The Garden You Planted by Sea Wolf

i think i have a thing for the mumbled acoustic-y salty sea type lyrics... it sounds like he is singing this song across the pacific to the Atlantic (how does that work exactly? i don't know) and missing her. i can picture
the sweet peas and mums growing and dying in the garden. even the winter frost covers them, but they remain. he misses her. i love my garden even now in this winter snow.

8. Jenny by Tunng

this makes me think of an old record player playing some thoughtful indie music- not being forcefully indie for the sake of it, but a pure lostness of thought. maybe it's very close to Sea Wolf for me. maybe i like
introspective. i also like the added sound effects- tinkling and cassette recorded speech... another close call was "Wind Up Bird" by Tunng... again, they add interesting interlays of talking and clicking and tic-ing... the
beat is fun too. some of the best collage paintings i have seen remind me of this song

9. Only Love Remains by JJ Heller

struck by one of the first Christian bands that is organically true to the creative talent of orchestrating music from the words to the collaboration. she is simple in truth, but thoughtful and radiating convicting as her
words echo my own prayers

10. Ain't No Reason by Brett Dennen

his unique voice is so easily identifiable and lyrics seem to echo his desire to comment on the world around him. "love will come set me free" is the reverberating phrase as he laments the emptiness of mainstream consuming capitalism "working your fingers bear to the bone/
breaking your back make you sell your soul/politicians lie and i am not fooled/ you don't need no reason or a three piece to argue the truth.." he has it a bit wrong as he ends with saying "there ain't no reason we live this way/ it's how its gonna be/ its how its gonna stay" i have a different
perspective- a bit less dooming. still the song is good


11. a new duo that I really like, but won’t force a favorite song because I haven’t found it yet is: Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan… his smoky voice melding with her pastille sweet falsetto singing gives you a wonderfully complete piece of art for your ears to feast upon. Listen to (Do you wanna) Come Walk With Me for an example of this.

If you hate the taste of wine, why do you drink it till you're blind

I am thinking of the Tom Petty song where the line goes: "the waiting is the hardest part.." This always seems to creem up in my head as very true in so many situations. Now as I sit and wait for some sort of response, whether good or bad, for one of my recent submissions to a gallery, the songs rings true. However, (I begin now to start to have a debate with myself inside my head) the waiting really is NOT the hardest part. In fact, I think if it meant not being rejected, sometimes I might rather not know. While this is not always my wish in life, closing doors can, in their cliche'-like: when-a-door-closes-another-one-opens sort of way be good, and needed.

Now in this fragile winter twig like way, any bird that sits on me too hard, i might fracture and give it all up. Not really, but the drama is inspiring to me. (How can my own self-invented drama inspire me? I need help)

Some Bright Eyes food for thought on this winter-y December first Monday: