Day 13: Age and Passing

Today was lighter on the listening than other days have been. I took some time to dig into one of the books I got for Christmas - Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. I decided to read it because of what I'd read about it from another book called The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century by Peter Watson. I went to some art openings today, although they were pitiful because of the weather and a lack of college-aged bodies. At the Heorot was a one-act by Beckett called Krapp's Last Tape, which was intriguing if not absolutely enjoyable. I still worked in music, though. 

I started off with Johnny Cash with At Folsom Prison. Next came some Nick Lowe and Etta James. This of course means that I got to listen to one of my favorite songs:

Something smooth and sweet hides in her leisurely notes. Its love without any pretense or self-awareness that later songs about love (I'm looking at you, Darwin Deez and your radar detector) lost. There's a quote from David Foster Wallace about how the next generation of artists will be rebellious not through irony but instead through genuine, unabashed emotion and desire. Their directness will be their subversion, and their honesty the source of their revolution.

After that came a live album of Styx. This has two problems: I'm only kind of okay with Styx, and I don't like live albums (with the exception of Jason Mraz, since he sounds as good live as recorded). It wasn't too terrible, although the age of the musicians showed in the unavoidable vibrato that distorted their harmonies. Then, The Flaming Lips! At War With The Mystics is pretty legit, and I'm glad I got around to listening to it. The crazy titles, bizarre soundscapes and keen sense of melody all combine into a trippy-ass ride that I'm definitely down for. I got to finish up with some Hall & Oates.

Lady Rain, from The Atlantic Collection.

Music left: 165.05gb

Cheers,

Bodhisvaha