Month: July 2012

The Dunce Cap: Week of July 16, 2012

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 48: I can’t wait to say all the things you can’t see, all the things that make you better. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Sunlight” – matt pond PA
2. “Like U Crazy” – Mates of State
3. “I Saw You Blink” – Stornoway
4. “Chloe” – GROUPLOVE
5. “You Wouldn’t Like Me” – Tegan & Sara
6. “Ten-Twenty-Ten” – Generationals
7. “I Won’t Spend Another Night Alone” – The Ataris
8. “Laura” – Girls
9. “Jack-Ass” – Beck
10. “Wicked Game” – James Vincent McMorrow

YES!, middle of July, summer swelter. I’m at a loss for words, mostly, about these ten. I think I’ll let them speak for themselves, though I’ll point out a few key things:

– Aw, yeah, matt pond PA. “I wish you would say/when I fuck up that it’s okay.” 
– Same with Mates of State. I really wanted to include, “Help Help,” but I thought “Like U Crazy” was more appropriate.
– I’m on a Tegan & Sara kick currently, and I refuse to apologize.
– I saw Generationals (and Pet Lions!) open last year for Magic Kids at Tomorrow Never Knows. They were incredible live, and I picked up a cool 3D poster (with glasses!) from the show. Got into the music a little later.
– I’m also rediscovering my love for the pop punk of my adolescence. My current gym playlist is a mix of The Ataris, Fall Out Boy and Something Corporate. I still adore The Ataris album, Blue Skies, Broken Hearts…Next 12 Exits. It’s replete with pitch-perfect pop culture references (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure in “San Dimas High School Football Rules!” and “I’d rob a Kwik-E-Mart for you!” from this one) and soaring, rough sing-alongs.
– And, hell, I saw James Vincent McMorrow last week at SPACE here in Evanston. The venue – my home away from home – is an intimate one, which lent itself perfectly to McMorrow’s haunting, booming, Bon Iver-esque vocals (sorry for the oh-so-obvious comparison). McMorrow’s been performing and recording awesomely unexpected covers, like John Hiatt’s “Higher Love” and this, Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” I remember the video for Isaak’s original from when I was a kid; it was, and remains, one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen in my whole life. And it was, if possible, sexier with McMorrow’s timbre.
– Finally, count the handclaps. I dare ya.

As always, happy listening.

About a Girl: The Gaslight Edition

in: viewing room, on: the girl

Happy summer, folks!, and greetings from Evanston.

It’s hot as hell out here, with even the breeze coming in from the lake doing little to abate the stifling heat. But it’s pretty, rull pretty, with mid-afternoon rainstorms and gorgeously encroaching sunsets and rippling tides. The coastline (can you call lakeside beaches “coastline”?) is astounding. I love summer ’round here. I’ve barely entered the city limits at all – hell, I haven’t gotten downtown but once this summer, surprisingly – but there’s so much to do in Evanston on a budget, so much to enjoy, even if the best of times are marred by itchy mosquito bites. My dear friend Jimmye and I have embarked on a grand old tradition to beat the summer heat. We delinquents are breaching the delicate Evanston-Wilmette divide and dragging our less-than-divine North Shore tourist butts to the Wilmette beaches. And it’s glorious. We trek up to Wilmette, biking along Sheridan, past the looming Bahai Temple and down through Gillson Park to the beach. The water is clear there, the sand fine and warm, the quasi-boardwalk pocked by generally well-behaved kids. It’s actually incredible, and it’s truly reminding me of why I love summer.

And, y’know, more than that, I think I’m loving the experience because it reminds me of a little movie I used to love called “Now and Then.” When it came out in ’95, critics called “Now and Then” the female “Stand By Me.” And while that’s hilariously untrue – one’s a classic, one’s a laughably admirable sleepover flick – it remains one of the most beloved films from my youth. And my little bike jaunts with Jimmye remind me a bit of this –


Clip from “Now and Then”

I like to think that, if we were to actually reenact “Now and Then,” I’d get to be the character of Roberta (Christina Ricci), the tomboy who tapes her breasts and flirts with and then (spoiler alert!) snogs dreamy Devon Sawa. But that would mean I grow up to be Rosie O’Donnell, and I’m not sure I’m on board with that if it can be helped. Regardless, last night, Jimmye and I caught a bit of an a capella group’s set live in the park amphitheater. Ac•Rock, “Chicago’s premier acappella rock ‘n roll singing group,” as per their website, played a few pretty fun songs, a number of which would have fit right in with the whole “Now and Then” thing. It was fairly perfect.

To you, all of you, happy summer! I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am. And be sure to enjoy tomorrow’s moderate temperatures. I, for one, will likely be beachside, bitten and buried in schoolwork. For now, I’m off to find out a little something about Dear Johnny.
Au revoir, Simone!

Back Talk: Just Thinking ‘Bout Nothing

in: potent quotables

“What do rich people need and poor people have that is greater than God and, like, if you eat it, you die,” she asks.

I ponder the riddle a moment and admit, “I have no clue.”

“Nothing!”  she exclaims.

She is off in a tizzy just moments later, giddy with the thrill of stumping her older, arguably wiser babysitter. But her brother hangs around, kicking dirt, sheepishly staring at his feet as he half-skips, half-lopes toward the glass door of the office.

“It’s funny, y’know,” he mutters, searchingly, bemused, “You’re thinking about nothing, ’cause you don’t know what the answer is, but that’s the answer: nothing!” He pauses for a second, halting, considering the implications of his statement. And then, in a moment, wizened, he sagaciously muses –

“Did you know I spend half of my life thinking about nothing?”

I am bent at the waist, clutching my gut, bowled over by the hilarity of this statement. Six years old, a veritable wizard, and a reminder of all the good things in life.

That kid’s gonna take over the world.

Back Talk: Mary Oliver’s “The Ponds”

in: potent quotables

“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled —
to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.
I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing —
that the light is everything — that it is more than the sum
of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.”

– Mary Oliver, “The Ponds” (House of Light)

I’ve a particular soft spot for Mary Oliver. She’s a true literary gem. One of my biggest influences, my high school English teacher, first introduced me to her, and, in writing about me for the Outstanding Senior portion of our yearbook, he quoted this very poem. He claimed the last few lines (“I want to believe…And I do.”) reminded him of me, and I like to believe he saw in me the unrelenting optimism I’m trying so hard to keep. That’s what I see in these Oliver stanzas – I want to see the beauty of life even as I weather the storm, and, perhaps, this can remind me.

And, as always, Oliver’s gorgeous reminder, the mantra I try so hard to repeat:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?“

– Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day”
(The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays)

Read her stuff – it’s rull, rull good.
Happy summer, y’all.

The Dunce Cap: Week of July 2, 2012

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 47: Oh, it’s tough when love’s a weed – it grows inside of me. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Ho Hey” – The Lumineers
2. “Nothing’severgonnastandinmyway (again)” – Wilco
3. “The First Single” – The Format
4. “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)” – Nine Days
5. “For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)” – Pete Yorn
6. “If It Makes You Happy” – Sheryl Crow
7. “Do You Love Me?” – Guster
8. “New Shoes” – Paolo Nutini
9. “Here Comes The…” – Butch Walker
10. “In the Sun” – Joseph Arthur
11.  “How’s It Gonna Be” – Third Eye Blind

Welp. It’s been one of those weekends, the kind that throws your entire conceptual existence for a loop and forces you to rethink the very construction of your day-to-day life. Not to be, y’know, melodramatic and whatnot. To be fair, and to be concise, I put myself in an incredible pickle, one that’ll take a lot of finagling and change (true, serious, real, long-lasting change) to get out of. I will get into that later, surely, in vague and agreeable terms, but I think knowing even that informs the composition of this Dunce Cap. This one’s a happy one.

I realize I’m recycling a lot of tracks from previous mixes, but I’m certain this particular combination of songs is fairly perfect for this moment. It’s a little longer than a traditional Dunce Cap (10 plus one, woohoo!), but it’s a mix replete with handclaps, soaring choruses, killer harmonies and unbridled optimism. From the most excellent opening by the Lumineers that spells out its lightheartedness in its title to the Sheryl Crow girl road trip anthem (see “Crossroads” if you don’t believe me) to the incredible Butch Walker/P!nk collaboration, this mix is a relatively uplifting reminder that good things don’t have to end. I’m going to lay some real claim to my very favorite Wilco track, “Nothing’severgonnastandinmyway (again)” from the exceptional album Summerteeth, which seems, at current, fairly apt. It’s a real winner, but it’s certainly not the lone standout on this Dunce Cap. There’s that Nine Days single from the late ’90s about “a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world,” and I’m pretty sure that’s who I’ve become as of late. Pete Yorn’s “For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)” was my sister’s favorite track from his debut album, musicforthemorningafter, and it’s one I like to keep on standby as a call to arms of sorts. In my mind, I like to think I can hear it and keep it as a reminder to keep moving forward, to keep the faith because things are already okay, or they will be, or whatever, though in rereading the lyrics, there seems to be a lot more to it than just that – they’re lyrics, and a point of view, I can really get behind these days. Maybe give the lyrics a gander and see for yourself. I think you’ll get it.

I don’t know, y’all. I’m trying to listen exclusively to happy tunes. I’m trying to move forward. I’m trying to try and to be better, you better, you bet.

So, for now, and for future iterations of the Dunce Cap, truly happy listening.

Oh, yeah, I should say too –
This week’s been kind of fun and good and stuff, too, not just a lesson in life. Three quick things: I liked this week because

1. It made liking Katie Holmes cool again!
2. I properly ID’ed a Creed song at trivia. I’ve still got it. So proud.
3. Dawson’s Creek season five seems to open nearly every episode with establishing shots of Boston. I couldn’t be more excited*.

*I keep forgetting – more on that later.