For the finish of 2011, I compiled a zine. I chose 22 songs that have meant the most to me this year - several of which were released this year, some of which further than a decade ago, all of which have made an irrevocable impact on my year as a 16 year old. On the front side of each…
Stoked for this.
‘Late Last Night’
split 7” with White Laces out in early Jan
preorder here
Feel good jam and the classic tour montage, great vibes. I’d like to hang with you, Arches.
Sometimes, blogging pics from a show just doesn’t feel right nor genuine. There’s certainly nothing than can replace being there - feeling the sweat of a night and filling your ears with the entirety of a music. It’s probably too easy to simply snap a pic and quick send it up without commentary to say ‘hey, I’m there y’all.’ While that’ll do most times, last night’s Youth Lagoon performance was so big, so monumental, so rife with emotion, I felt the need to write more about it.
Trevor Powers was playing at a sold-out, packed wall-to-wall Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco - his first of a long tour. I suppose I feel a bit disingenuous to simply leave you with a lame photo and not the full story.
Soon after my baby was born, I bought his The Year of Hibernation album on wax. Typically the vinyl I own gets played in my living room in the evenings, but being a guy who likes to go out a lot to shows, etc, I hadn’t spent enough time just chilling out doing so until this summer when I had a wee lil’ bundle of cooing and giggling joy in my lap smiling up at me with upmost wonder. Now that’s all I do.
YL has been on constant rotation, building up an associated palette of sound with this music - a soundtrack to my life that’s being sewn ever deeply into little Elena’s mind. I can’t help but think back on my own childhood and recalling the power of the music my parents played for me. How I’ll never escape Lionel Richie or Neil Diamond or the Beatles. In years from now, Elena is going to pick up that record and just smile - she’ll play it in her college dorm for her friends and tell them how it reminds her of her dad. She’ll play it alone in her room when she’s sad and it’ll make her want to call me and just chat and see how I’m doing. We’ll play it together on a Sunday morning one day when she’s visiting me on the holidays and we’ll talk about old times. And I’ll take her to see Trevor’s comeback tour and I’ll tell her again about this night, this performance that I wish she could have seen and experienced with me.
I thought about all of this as I sat on the edge of the stage last night, cross legged, looking up as Trevor absolutely mesmerized the room, bathed in blood-red light and nervously bantering between songs. I closed my eyes and bowed my head in reverence and thought of my daughter and my fiance Erin who is just as infatuated with the album as I am and who’s sharing this common thread with me in her own right. I thought about how this moment, this time, would pass so quickly and I’d be happy to let it go. But equally overjoyed at the permanent stamp it was making on my own memory bank. I’m ashamed that I snapped that pic as a shoddy, digital replacement to what will likely be a meaty and vivid memory of a time in my life. I’m reminded that it’s far better to let go and immerse into the experience.
I’m just so stoked and happy that my hobby gets to be enjoyed this richly. I’m a lucky son-of-a-bitch. And guys, please go see Trevor when he comes to your town. Have your own experience, but do it with all your attention. It’ll be worth every delicious second.
Really happy to have read this. Thanks Mark.
Gem Club - Twins [Live]
This is a video straight off the camera, I just uploaded that I took at my buddy Dave of Stadium & Shrine’s CMJ showcase that also featured Pressed And, Noah Wall, Megafortress, and RxRy with live visuals by Nathaniel Whitcomb. The visuals for this set were done by BriAnna Oslon.
It was a gorg night in Greenpoint. Check the photos that were takin’ by Dave’s lady Victoria, she amazes.
Absent Fever // Exquisite Corpse
What can only be properly described it’s curators Tyler and Eloise have drummed up a neat project that features some of their finest artists on their label roster.
Composed by impulse and the stream of consciousness, seven juxtaposed artists came in union to create one collective vision; distinct and furthermore one. Seven of the Absent Fever artists collaborated to create one 7 minute song. Each was given only the previous artists 1 minute to base their 1 minute off of, and was told to compose from solely initial creative reaction. In result is a 7 minute long guide through the soundscape of Absent Fever. Videographer Library Voices then interpreted the entire stream of consciousness into a visual depiction of the landscapes visited. It sounds almost like an afterthought of a global-travel, and looks like it too. As if the sounds are soaring between the ivory coasts of the equator, wrapping their presence around the sphere. The travelers collected grains of sand and salt, blizzard and air-currents from each dwelling passed. Country, to corner, city, to village, without realizing, they’d had pieces of everything. And somehow, the diversity compiled itself into something more together than they could anticipate. Each had a map of their travels ingrained in the palms of their hands and the wiring of their subconscious; when each sat to make song, the song was together. Their were seven travelers, and their retelling of their voyage was one.
Artists (In Order):
You can download work from all of the mentioned artists for free on Absent Fever’s bandcamp.
next level
#MEGABLAAG CMJ 2011
YVYNYL + Ears of the Beholder are stoked to bring you the next round of everyone’s favorite indie music party series at CMJ on October 21st. If you’re reading this, you’re invited! Once again, we’re uniting the online community of bloggers, musicians, techies, label owners and more for an epic night of IRL fun - and you know it will be!
See live performances by:
As well as DJ sets by:
RSVP by emailing: megablaag@gmail.com
October 21, 2011
Bar Matchless
Brooklyn, NY
Cemeteries- ” Summer Smoke “
empty spaces.
I took an amazing visual trip with Cemeteries back in March. It will be memorable forever. Since then I’ve been extremely eager for new material to arrive. Kyle Reigle contacted me a few days ago and was nice enough to share this wondrous track from his soon to be released album, The Wilderness.
This is six and a half minutes of pure bliss and love, from a musician who is completely conscious of the blogosphere and it’s ‘one hit wonder trap’. He truly values patience and strives to makes sure that each recording has the appropriate amount of thought and detail. The result is an ultra relaxing, somewhat meditative sound that seems to carry deep influence from early Beach House albums, such as Devotion.
Check bandcamp for more.
(via yvynyl)
