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Life is composed of moments. Some come and go in an instant, while others suspend reality, leaving us drifting in a timeless limbo. And if you’re anything like me, music is right there with us — framing the moment. Sometimes, however, it’s the music that becomes the moment. They can focus a year’s worth of sentiment into a few brief seconds. Other songs may linger on for several minutes, drawing us in and enveloping us in a swirl of emotion and/or contemplation. This year I’m taking my own moment to consider songs on both ends of the continuum. Some of these tracks have personal significance, while other simply impressed me by their concision or audacity. I’ve compared each track to a length of three minutes — the ideal length of a pop song.
So many strive to make things neat and clean. Even my guitar becomes more tame as the years go by. But always welling up inside is an urge to tap into that raw surge of energy that eliminates any barriers between pure sound and pure emotion. I will blow speakers. I will strum ’til I bleed. It’s been said that “you can’t play loud until you can play soft,” but I also contend that you can’t play soft until you’ve played loud.
There are times when nothing more needs to be said. It cannot be improved or polished. It was perfect the first time notes flowed from fingertips and breath hit the mic.
Gently falling flakes, a snapshot of a never-ending hush. A postcard captured in notes and scales. The name speaks of a street I’ve never set foot on, and yet instantly it sounds like some familiar place. A floating world tightly contained inside a minute, it feels like home.
The drums are expectant, they are joyous! She will be here any moment! Anticipation bring melody and how it swings to and fro!
There are people that enter our lives that affect us in profoundly positive ways. It is not always pleasant, but we need them to grow, to make it out there. I am a swan! Put your hand down my throat!
Click click. There’s a burst of fun over here! Beep bleep! (my body moves)
What began as a three minute song has slowly unfurled into a dreamy swirling dream. I attribute this partly to intuition and partly to necessity. The arrangement and translation for the inagural Snowy Owls performance stretched it to a new length (of which I was not aware during the performance). Having technical difficulties from the onset of the show, I was frustrated and unnerved. However, each song improved a little and when it was time for “I Have Type...,” I threw myself into the song. I had always thought that this will be a show/album closer one day and I have never felt more sure that is its proper place.
I believe Ben has already extolled the virtues of this lovely slow jam. Christina. Christina! Christina?
It is soft. The clouds are purple. We lay on the grass, gazing upwards into the night. It is a dreamy, motionless forever.
Why do painful moments seem to last forever. The air is thick and I grow uncomfortable. But the lines drift so sweetly. Just tell me everything will be okay.
Set adrift.
Punk, classically composed yields every nuance of one chord with the combined efforts of 10 electric guitars. A thing to dwell on.
Hymns for a Dark Horse by The Bowerbirds
For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver
Come Up For Air by The White Birch
Sex Death Cassette by Rafter
Heretic Pride / Black Pear Tree EP by The Mountain Goats (+Kaki King)
If Children by Wye Oak
Black Wooden Ceiling Opening / Lost Wisdom by Mount Eerie
After Summer by Pia Fraus
Fleet Foxes / Sun Giant EP by Fleet Foxes
The Glow Pt. 2 (Expanded) / The Microphones
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