A Holiday Song (Happy Holidays) by Starflyer 59 from The Fashion Focus
starflyer 59 - a holiday song (happy holidays)
maybe this’ll be a holiday song christmas countdown? this was the first starflyer 59 song i ever heard, and i’m pretty sure it actually changed my life. i was 12 years old, heard this song (probably on a 7-ball sampler?), then asked my parents for sf59’s americana, damien jurado’s waters ave s, and pedro the lion’s it’s hard to find a friend for christmas. like good parents, they got me exactly what i wanted. and, like a good person, i stopped listening to so much dc talk.
pedro the lion - diamond ring
this is probably my favorite video of all time, for so many reasons.
and i don’t say that lightly. i’ve been thinking about it for at least 3 years now, and i’ve made much more important decisions in much less time.
I Never Wanted You by David Bazan from Live At Electrical Audio
UM! so, i just got the live at electrical audio album. and it’s good. really good. but this version of i never wanted you (originally from the headphones album) is absolutely incredible. the whole live album was recorded in one take with no overdubs…which just makes it even better.
what’s killing me about this one is that he’s saying what are the probably the most hurtful words anyone could say to anyone anytime ever…but somehow i feel like he’s the one in pain. well played, david. well played.
so now i’m in my office, door open, belting this shit. i may or may not be the last one here…who knows?
li’l bear/cloud atlas mix 1 - we’re all gonna die (but don’t give up)
cloud atlas is a book - but it’s also a gobstopper, a nesting doll, and a fish wrapped in newspaper. each narrative is told in two pieces, tiering towards the center. and this mix is like that - this mix is tellings and retellings building towards each other, with death and hope nestled in the middle.
…maybe the track listing will help this make sense:
1) daniel johnston - true love will find you in the end
2) castanets - you are the blood
3) grizzly bear - shift
4) the beatles - tomorrow never knows
5) nick drake - cello song
6) the postal service - we will become silhouettes
7) scout niblett - your beat kicks back like death
8) beach house - master of none
9) japandroids - wet hair
10) neil young - heart of gold
11) radiohead - packt like sardines in a crushd tin box
12) colour revolt - mattresses underwater
13) david bazan - packt like sardines (live in beverly)
14) birds and batteries - heart of gold
15) teen daze - wet hair
16) toro y moi - master of none
17) jens lekman - your beat kicks back like death
18) the shins - we will become silhouettes
19) jose gonzalez and the books - cello song
20) secret colours - tomorrow never knows
21) levek - shift (a capella)
22) sufjan stevens - you are the blood
23) basia bulat - true love will find you in the end (live at daytrotter)
…do you see it? do you? each song is reflected on either half of the center - originals are in the first half, and covers are in the second. tellings and retellings. fish and newspapers.
i tried to do a few things with this mix. i tried to keep with the themes of the book: death, and rebirth, and occasional hope (of course love snuck in there, as it does into everything). i tried to choose covers that stand as their own songs. i tried to make it flow well on both sides. i tried to make the central song a true axis (but may have been blinded by my love of colour revolt). most of all, i tried to make it something i would listen to on purpose.
so…i hope you like it. if nothing else, it was fun to make. and i would love for people to actually listen to it - so pass it around, reblog it, email it to your friends, press it into vinyl for your parents, or do whatever else you want (if you think it deserves it).
(part 2 coming next week…and i promise it’s more fun, less desperate)
eirtee #19: david bazan (from pedro the lion, as paperback) - “i do”
(connection: high school, again)
li’l sis laura has good taste, really she does. but this is what i was listening to my senior year of high school. this exact song, actually. david bazan was opening for starflyer 59 under the name “paperback” - and i had no idea. my girlfriend at the time, jordan (who is awesome), and i went to see starflyer 59. but before they went on, david bazan got on stage, alone with jason martin’s guitar and a 10 watt travel amp, and silenced every single mouth in new brookland tavern. if you’ve ever been to new brookland, you know that’s a big deal.
this video was recorded in 2003, just a few days before i saw it (david bazan, not the video). and i cried the first time i heard it, swear to god.
it eventually turned into this:
…which is great. but it can never match accidentally seeing your high-school idol climb on stage with a borrowed guitar, close his eyes, and silence an entire bar. it can never match watching david bowie’s long-lost brother drunkenly slow dance during starflyer’s set. it can never match being stopped by the cops on the way home, and being scared but knowing that you’re a “good kid,” and everything would be alright. everything would always be alright.
…you know what? high school was pretty great.
