I was in Kerala, India this August for three weeks with my family. During the trip I kept a diary while I was listening to music. As it's relevant to the theme of this blog, I'm going to publish (relevant) excerpts.
"7/8/09
Airports are the way I imagine heaven is; lots of light, constant repetition, sterile, static, and stuck in no particular time whatsoever. “Heaven”, David Byrne once sang, “is a place where nothing ever happens”. I’m sitting in Toronto Pearson airport where I will catch a flight to Dubai, then Kochi (Cochin), India. I think the flights will take me, in total, 23 hours, but I am unaware of the accuracy of my calculations.
I’m listening to the Wooden Birds album which seems to work perfectly in jolting some kind of life into the dead canvas around me. I’m listening to the Wooden Birds, but I’m thinking about Thom Yorke, who has enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance on my headphones ever since I heard his cover of Miracle Legion’s “All For The Best”, which is Yorke’s contribution to “Ciao My Shining Star…”, a tribute album to Mark Mulcahy whose wife was recently tragically killed in an accident.
On first listen, there is nothing remarkable about “All For The Best”. A glitchy, unremarkable beat begins the song only to be accompanied by some fairly basic keyboard swells. What works so well about this track is not groundbreaking production but, as demonstrated more than ever by 2007’s “In Rainbows”, Yorke’s fantastic ability to isolate and emphasize the right melodies at the right time. Though the accompaniment to Yorke’s singing builds subtly and effectively, it’s his perfect, lethargic singing that really stands out here. I listen to it again and love it, especially the “say you love me” coda.
After listening, I revisit some other Yorke albums. First up, “The Eraser”, Yorke’s only, to date, solo outing. It’s not brilliant by any stretch, but there is some fantastic stuff here, particularly the title track, “Black Swan’, and “Cymbal Rush”, of which there is a good remix by The Field.
Next up is the recently released “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)”, a tribute to the last surviving UK soldier from WW1. Using just strings and vocals, it’s effective, and touching, utilizing well on the lessons learned from the luscious production on “In Rainbows”. I read a review of this track on Pitchfork today that gave the track 7/10. Almost the right score, but the review itself was bizarre, concentrating mainly on the author’s apparent desire to claim that they liked it while admitting that they could see why their friends didn’t. More assertiveness please.
On the bus to the airport today I listened to “Amnesiac”. Although I like some of the tracks, it always seemed, and still does, like a collection of random tracks whose main similarity is their being recorded at the same time. It really lacks the flawless cohesiveness and immaculate sequencing of “Kid A” and stands, with “Hail to the Thief” as one of the weaker of Radiohead’s recent work, “Kid A” and “In Rainbows” being my current favourites.
I’m not sure what time it is but I think it must be boarding soon. I put on “Document”, by REM, but quickly get bored of it. It’s by no means bad, I love REM, but as I watch the que of people board the plane, I get a pang of nostalgia and put on a mix I made for A., “I LOVE CAMPING VOL.1”. The reason behind the name is that we seem to have spent a bit of time recently driving places in New York State and camping. “Exhuming MCCarthy” gives way to “Stand-Ins, One” followed by “Lost Coastlines” both of course from “The Stand-Ins” by Okkervil River. I’ve started my mix with two tracks that follow each other on the same album. I wonder if I’m breaking some sort of mix-tape code, but quickly dismiss this. The instrumental followed by the lead single sound fantastic together.
All of these tracks are themselves from other playlists I’ve been playing in the hired cars we’ve been taking on our trips, although some have been played on these neat $10 portable speakers we bought in Wall-Mart that came with cool patterned jackets that allow them to stand. The majority of the tracks are taken from one specific playlist, “Great Party”, which was constructed for, fittingly, a party. Six hours long, it comprises mostly of tracks I was listening to last year. The party itself I have few good memories of as a visiting friend made me drink too much tequila.
Ah! Shady Lane! I love this song, and now it reminds me of Allegany State Park, where we sang it a cappella, while hiking. Later, Jens Lekman will play, which I strongly associate with seeing bears for the first time ever in the wild. I can’t believe this was the cheapest pen in the airport shop, $3.98! Should I be listening to “Music for Airports’, I wonder?
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This plane is insane. There are T.V.s in the back of the seats with touch screens and a database full of popular (and recent) movies and T.V. shows. I’m easily impressed. I switch from “Dylan In the Movies” by Belle and Sebastian, to an episode of the Office. I wonder, is this free? It seems to be… this is ridiculous.
“He died, alone with not even his own head to comfort him” – fantastic line. I watch three episodes then the second half of the new Star Trek film, the first of which I had watched online. I get that this is certainly better than the other Star Trek films I’ve seen but haven’t we had enough of “origin” stories recently? Similarly, Leonard Nimoy and Simon Peg kind of push things into camp territory the film would be better keeping out of.
After the film, I fall asleep. It’s impossible to tell for how long but I reckon I manage a respectable five hours. I awaken to the sound of bird noises being played over the P.A. It makes me wonder which morning Emirates airlines is referring to, given that we’re traversing time zones. I put on “Mars Attacks”. There’s a camera at the front of the plane that can be accessed through the T.V. Soon I’ll be arriving in Dubai.
An advert welcoming passengers to Dubai interrupts the end of the film, accompanied by that song with the chorus, “it’s a wonderful, wonderful life”. Dubai is marketed as an exotic paradise, although unfortunately comes across as a tasteless moratorium of excess, at least via these images of creepily clean and empty hotels devoid of an distinct personality. For me it’s always been the place where friends parents go to work in the oil industry, and has never struck me as a place for a holiday. My housemate’s girlfriend told me at dinner two nights ago that bankruptcy is a crime here, literally; they’ll arrest you."
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