Song of the Week: Body on the Tracks

Feeling some SXSW nostalgia, I went in search of performances of artists I admired who I wasn't able to catch during that week. In the process, I stumbled upon the video below of a Mississippi show by Deep Sea Diver, the solo project of Jessica Dobson who had worked with the likes of Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Shins. This track comes from their sophomore album Secrets, released earlier this year, whose songs brush the fringes of synthpop, shoegaze, progressive rock and post-punk revival in a way that doesn't delve headlong into any one of these genres but instead uses them as cardinal directions for a musical compass with its center in indie rock.

"Body on the Tracks" by Deep Sea Diver

I carry you from one day to the next,

Kelvin

Podcast of the Week: Remembering Prince

In the wake of the death of Prince this past Thursday, two of my pop culture podcasts released separate 15-minute reflections on the legacy of the artist. At All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton and Ann Powers conversed about the impact Prince had in their personal lives, especially during critical turning points and coming-of-ages. At Pop Culture Happy Hour, Linda Holmes and Stephen Thompson painted the portrait of the enigmatic figure that Prince embodied and how he shook convention in multiple aspects of culture.

It is this latter podcast especially and this topic of non-conformity in particular that resonated with me because I see that with the passing of other great innovative pop musicians in recent years, like David Bowie and Michael Jackson, the mainstream culture is quick to aggrandize their influence and attribute to their stature social implications that could legitimately be out of their reach. It may just be that the boilerplate eulogy lends itself to canonization, thus making media personalities patronages of the societal progress, but time will tell what super-man may or may not arise from the image of the man that was Prince.

Listen to "Remembering Prince: The Utopian"

Visit All Songs Considered

Listen to "Remembering Prince"

Visit Pop Culture Happy Hour

℣ Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
℟ Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace.
Amen.

SXSW 2016: So Long, Farewell

Being over a month separated from all the events in Austin, I feel now's as good a time as ever to finish my story (see, I said I'd be detailed...).

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

Thursday 3/17

I woke up with three plans for the day: to check out Flatstock, the annual poster convention hosted by SXSW, catch a couple of international acts and get my face melted at a punk show. So I donned the backpack I acquired the night before and headed to downtown. As I was wandering the streets in the early afternoon, I was handed a flyer by a representative of Café Bustelo with directions to a site serving free Cuban coffee to festival attendees! I was simultaneously excited and dismayed at the prospect, as I was foregoing coffee (specifically espresso) for Lent. My temperance was quickly rewarded, however, as I turned a few corners and found myself at a booth giving away free Chick-fil-A sandwiches! God is good! After downing a pair of lightly breaded deliciousness, I would later visit the cafecito just to have a peek. I may not have been able to enjoy any at the time, but at least I could bring back some souvenirs for the other members of the office coffee break crew.

Outside the cafecito

Podcast of the Week: Head Fake

Last week's bro-talk between the seminarians and priest of Three Dogs North was chock full of culture and meaning. From sizing up the inspiring cinematic masterpiece of Rocky against the insufficiently identifiable plot of God's Not Dead, to relating the great works of...

• Graham Greene - "The End of the Affair" and "The Heart of the Matter"
• Erik Larson - "Devil in the White City"
• Anthony Doerr - "All the Light We Cannot See" (also discussed in Fountains of Carrots), 
• Georges Bernarnos - "The Diary of a Country Priest"
• René Girard - mimetic desire
• Evelyn Waugh - "Brideshead Revisited"
• and Matthew Quick - "The Silver Linings Playbook" (and film starring Jennifer Lawrence)

...it's difficult not to sing this podcast's praises.

Listen to "Head Fake"

Visit Three Dogs North

You can make a long road trip at nighttime just by seeing what the headlights show you,

Kelvin

P.S. - I finally got to hear my long-awaited shout-out request on this week's episode of CSYSK!

Song of the Week: Easy Lover

Last Friday my favorite 1985 album, No Jacket Required by Phil Collins, was reissued with remastered tracks and bonus material including live recordings. One hit which was played live but not included in the original album was "Easy Lover", which Collins sang alongside Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind & Fire on the studio release. Encountering this was a most enjoyable listening experience, and though I can't find the right live version I figured I'd just link the original music video in all its 80's glory.

"Easy Lover" by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins

She's the kind of girl you dream of,

Kelvin

Podcast of the Week: Real Talk about Conversion

Fountains of Carrots has been on a good run lately with regular updates and awesome guests, and this past week the pair of Catholic moms have a friendly conversation with Ginny Sheller and her journey to the faith. The show also delves into frank discussion on what living on twelve acres is like, how to tell your parents you're pregnant with your eighth child and the incongruousness of the setup in a cry room. I know, this all sounds like homeschooling parent central, but I enjoyed the flow of the conversation and it was interesting to catch a glimpse into parenting styles that are not too common in everyday life.

Listen to "Real Talk about Conversion with Ginny Sheller"

Visit Fountains of Carrots

If you think I'm going to help you glue-stick this, you've got another thing coming,
Kelvin

7QT: An Extended Respite

I recently turned in my final assignment of the semester and so I get to enjoy a bit of a longer break than normal before my coursework resumes in the summer. Thankful for the opportunity to catch a deep breath, I celebrated in my own little way by replaying some new songs (new to me, at least) that I've grown fond of in the past couple of months. Below is a snapshot of my trip down memory lane.

1. School of Seven Bells

I first heard of School of Seven Bells on the All Songs Considered show following the Paris bombings of last November. I enjoyed their style of atmospheric dream pop but kept them shelved until their latest album, SVIIB, dropped this February. When I heard their opening cut, whose music video was released just a week ago, I was instantly hooked and simultaneously disheartened at the fact that this would be their last release given the loss of instrumentalist Benjamin Curtis to cancer in 2013.

"Ablaze" by School of Seven Bells

Song of the Week: Visions

This week I started checking out some of Spotify's public playlists and was pleasantly surprised by the expertly curated mixes in "Deep Dark Indie", "Epic Wall of Sound" and "Young Punks". From the latter I discovered the following song by The Beverleys off of their 2015 debut Brutal, which I have been replaying in my head since I first heard it.

"Visions" by The Beverleys

Saw my friends and my enemies,

Kelvin

Podcast of the Week: Ryan Adams and Bob Mould

A recording that's making its rounds on music news sites, Bob Mould was invited by Ryan Adams to his PAX-AM Studio and talks about paving the way for punk in America, among other things. The former is better known as the vocalist for the alternative bands Hüsker Dü and Sugar and his latest solo album, Patch the Sky, was released last Friday. The latter, another seminal rock musician and ex-husband of Mandy Moore, may have appeared on your social media feed in the last couple of months for his work in recording a cover album of Taylor Swift's 1989.

The pair have an extremely enlightening conversation that brings up Mould's history of playing alongside other underground acts and the way musicians and technology have an ebb and flow influence on the direction of the music industry. I definitely have my work cut out for me in checking out all the obscure 80's hardcore bands mentioned in this interview, alongside Mould's and Adams' respective discographies.

Notes I jotted while listening to this podcast

Listen to "Hear Ryan Adams and Bob Mould Play Music And Talk About Everything Under The Sun"

Visit All Songs Considered

Nipper,

Kelvin