Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down

i was given a gift a couple weeks ago that i would now like pass along. whilst lunching with a friend who was in town briefly, i was handed Noah & the Whale's album, Peaceful the World Lays Me Down. From the very first listen, i was struck not only by the catchiness of their sound, but by the depth of the lyrical and thematic content in each of their 11 tunes. i recognize that everyone may not be moved by their sentiments in the same way that i have been , but they express so poignantly the experiences of love, loss, giving, sharing and treasuring life while accepting death a part, and the joy to be found in all of it. and they have a girl on bgv's, which gets me every time. in my own mind, i place them musically in the company of other folky art-rock entities like other lives [kunek], iron & wine, andrew bird, sufjan stevens, stars, etc., for various reasons that may make sense only to me.

have a listen, then go buy this album or borrow it from me so you can really take it in...
noah & the whale- give a little love

OREGON

Invictus

just had this added to my repertoire (the photos only do it half-justice). i will also be adding the word Invictus ('unconquered/able') underneath.


in the recent season of difficulty in my family, my dad was told that his sons "stood like four lions through it all... unflinching", and that he would "pity anyone who tried to come between them"...

i had this drawn up from the rembrandt sketch below which is called "lion resting". i thought that it captured the essence of the statement and would be a meaningful representation of the experience. my dad and brothers are also talking about getting lion tattoos, each expressing his own vision.

Invictus
William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of Circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of Chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust

1. gobbledigook · 3:05
2. inní mér syngur vitleysingur · 4:05
3. góðan daginn · 5:15
4. við spilum endalaust · 3:33
5. festival · 9:24
6. suð í eyrum · 4:56
7. ára bátur · 8:57
8. illgresi · 4:13
9. fljótavík · 3:49
10. straumnes · 2:01
11. all alright · 6:21

Just when you thought i might be dead, or at the very least had permanently forgotten my blogger password, i return triumphantly with information about our favorite icelandic makers of audible glory... and in case you were wondering, yes, i copied most of this directly from the band's site..

Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
[translation: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly]

Sigur Rós will be releasing their fifth album on June 23rd, 2008. The first song from the album, entitled ‘Gobbledigook’, is now available worldwide for free download, via www.sigurros.com.

A pre-sale for the album will begin on www.sigurros.com on June 2nd and anyone who pre-orders will then be able to access a stream of the full album from June 9th.

With A Buzz… was co-produced by the band and renowned producer Flood and was recorded in New York City (at Sear Sound Studios), London (at Assault and Battery Studios and Abbey Road), Reykjavík (at Álafoss, the band’s studio, as well as a church in Reykjavik) and Havana, Cuba. Their newest creation is the first album in the band’s career to be made outside of Iceland. It is also their first album to feature vocalist Jón “Jónsi” Thor Birgisson’s vocals in English on one track (the remainder are sung in Icelandic).

Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima, Sigur Rós decided to adopt a looser approach in the writing and creation of their brilliant fifth album. The material for the album was written, recorded and mixed entirely in 2008 and is being released just one month after completion. The album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, upfront presence not found in previous Sigur Rós recordings, moving away from the reverb-induced guitar sounds of old to something altogether more fragile and affecting. It also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded.

First song ‘Gobbledigook’ sets the tone with its shifting acoustic guitars, playful vocals, time signature shifts and swirling percussion, while ‘Inni mer syngur vitleysingur’ (‘Within me a lunatic sings’) sparkles as one of the most anthemic songs Sigur Rós have ever written. ‘Festival’ is epic in its elation and scope, ‘Illgresi’ (‘Weeds’) features one of Jónsi’s finest vocal melodies over a lone acoustic guitar, and ‘Ára bátur’ (‘Row boat’) is the single largest musical undertaking in the band’s career, as it was recorded live in one take with the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy’s Choir, a total of 90 people playing at the same time. The band also utilized the talents of their string-quartet friends Amiina, as well as a five-piece brass section on certain tracks, in addition to introducing the Mellotron into their writing/recording process for the first time on this album, specifically on one of the most tender and beautiful songs on the record, ‘Fljótavík’.

omg! that's my fav!

i was thinking the other day about how often i hear people say something like; "oh man, (insert movie title, song, book, etc.) is definitely in my top 5..."

then i thought about the reckless disregard for math these claims represent.

i bet, over relatively small spans of time, any given person includes up to 10 or 15 movies, songs, books, actors/actresses, in their respective top 5 lists to suit whatever occasion in which they happen to find themselves... (i mean if you were to follow them around and keep track)

what of accountability, such as a master list somewhere to reconcile these claims with?

we need it. the public demands it.

not it.

"justice"

bull shit.


























________________________________________________

PSA

here's the thing; you've been called for jury duty, a very important civic responsibility. you've had to take off work, you'll have to sit around a bunch and wait and wait and wait. you may be questioned endlessly for multiple potential cases, criminal or civil, or both. it will be mostly boring, guaranteed. you may be sent back downstairs to the jury pool over and over. in the end, you may go home on thursday and feel like it was all for nothing.

you are experiencing a relatively minor inconvenience compared to the individuals involved in the cases you are called upon to judge (some of whom have waited for a year or more for their day in court). pull your head out of your ass, step up to the plate, and quit wasting hours of the court's (and everyone else's) time with your pathetically obvious attempts to weasel out of it with stupid excuses and/ or whining. i will stab you and then (if you survive) you're going to have to sit through my trial anyway, and i promise you'll wish you had just done the right thing in the first place.

it's 2008!...

...and there's still no jetpacks.