Paul Simon - The Obvious Child

I don't remember much from being a little kid. Wait, that's a lie. I selectively remember. I remember eating nothing but fudge-ee-os and chicken McNuggets until the age of 12. I remember standing really close to the tv screen with my NES duck hunt gun while my mother placed the McNuggets in my hand, which I would instinctively eat. Multi-tasking, check. I also remember a long road trip down south which was marked by 1) me and my sister setting off car alarms at a Svedish car dealership in Jacksonville, F L A, 2) my 9 year old self arguing with my dad that I needed something to drink, him refusing to pull over, and me eventually vomiting (out of nausea or spite, don't know - selective memory), AND, most importantly, 3) Graceland. I would drift off, and my dad thought he could change the cd, or the track, but if he did, I would wake up and say "Graceland! Graceland!", and repeat track 2 he would. (OK, I am painting a very bratty portrait of meself, I have changed, no really, I'm different now, I listen to more than just Paul Simon, although Paul Simon is really all I, or anyone else, really needs.).

I'm different because I am now angry at my dad for not standing his ground in a more constructive way. He could have swiftly switched Graceland for The Rhythm of The Saints: An equally tribal Paul Simon, if anything more mellow and far more amenable to a long road trip - I'd have been none the wiser. As we rolled out of Jacksonville, all of us sitting up front of a near 18 wheeler with the tow truck driver who claims to have seen "Speed" over 20 times in theaters, my dad could have slipped on "The Obvious Child" in some sort of sweet, twisted irony to symbolize my (and my sister's) hard work and results: a triumphant cacophony of Saab alarms ringing off in the distance of the rear view mirror...

Fleet Foxes - Someone You'd Admire

A "Helplessly Hoping" for our generation, "Someone You'd Admire" is my favorite track on (off, off the album or on the album? Album goes IN the slot, music comes OUT the speakers, bah.) the new Fleet Foxes album. It reminds me of early winter, think November 24th, waking up in the morning, still dark out, you're struggling out of bed, struggling with the coffee maker, but you're humming, in spite of the dreariness, you are humming, like a blue bird lost in the darkness of a deep well, singing.

So rare to hear a very simple acoustic ditty that transcends derivative and actually just hits it. Robin starts off on his own, spare guitar, spare vocals, but my, a lovely melody. The band couldn't resist the gang land harmonies, that's ok, but I almost wish they weren't there. This is Robin's show.

Bon Iver - Creature Fear

Some songs were just made to be played on rainy Sunday mornings. Not a Saturday morning - it's too easy to enjoy a song on a Saturday morning. And certainly not on Monday morning - nothing sounds good on Monday morning. Period.

Bon Iver's Creature Fear, especially the slick version they performed for their Daytrotter Session, bleeds Sunday. It wakes up slow, with a plaintive and bluesy guitar solo which would never have seen the light of day on the studio version. This version feels untucked and loosened. It doesn't care if you got in early and are waking up late.