Okay my dear not so Swedish friends, here is what you should be listening to. Or what you should have been listening to since May 2010. Lord knows this applies to me as well.
The following is a story about one of the ways Gill Ford discovers new music.
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| The National - High Violet - 2010 |
Once upon a time in January, I took my monthly trip to HMV to pick up some more records to add to my extensive collection. Okay, you're right, my trips to HMV are more daily than anything else, but that's not important. When I go on these trips, I always have in mind at least one record that I know for sure I want. I decide on these perhaps because they are classic albums that are necessary additions, or perhaps I know that I like the band. I also have a rule that if I like three or more songs on the record, I am obliged to buy it. On this day, I went arrived with the intention of purchasing for myself the latest Cold War Kids record, Mine Is Yours. As you know, I'm a fan of the Cold War Kids, so I was destined to purchase it under that criterion.
This is the first step of my music-buying process. The second is to find album number two (or three, or four, or whatever, dependent upon how impulsive I am planning to be on the day). This album is always a blind item. Criteria for selection as a blind item include: never having heard the band before; never having heard OF the band before; having heard good things about the band from other people; or a simple appreciation of aesthetic (cover art, title, song list, band name, etc.). I don't believe I had ever heard The National before, but I had heard this was a swell record. It had an interesting cover, and the title High Violet had me thinking of a certain exquisite brand of LSD. (Not that we at Not So Swedish condone the use of drugs. Stay in school, kids.) So one thing led to another, and before you could say "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," High Violet was officially the property of one Gill Ford.
I returned to my humble abode, and listened through my new purchases. Lone behold, High Violet turned out to be totes brill (thanks to Nat for that rad descriptor). I actually mean it. Let's talk about tracks. That's another term for "songs" by the way. Turn your highbeams off, you filthy crackerjacks. I'm only reviewing a couple of songs on the record, because I don't want to ruin it completely, but I'm serious, this is one that you really ought to buy.
Tracks To Check Out:
1. "Terrible Love"
Oh alcoholism. Such a destructive and depressing subject, and yet, one hell of a moneymaker in the music world. For the people who capitalize on it, anyway. I suppose it's because we all love that sort of cathartic feeling we get when we realize that we are not suffering. Or at least, not as much as the character in the song. Take "Terrible Love," for example. This guy has begun drinking to deal with the death of his alcoholic best friend ("It takes an ocean not to break"). He is not yet caught in a web of addiction ("It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders"), but aside from his bottle, he is alone in his depression because he doesn't want to talk to anybody about what he's feeling ("It's quiet company"). He goes to the funeral, and, being vividly reminded of what the addiction has done to his friend, he resolves that they would not have wanted the same thing for him, though this had been his original plan ("But I won't follow you into the rabbit hole, I said I would, but then I saw your shivered bones: they didn't want me to"). So, we hear this, and we think "good job laddie, you're climbing out of it!", but then he reiterates the part about "walking with spiders" and it taking "an ocean not to break," and it now sounds like painful denial of the fact that he's already halfway down that rabbit hole.
2. "Anyone's Ghost"
Let's see how many birds we can hit with this stone of an album... "Anyone's Ghost" is about that stalker-esque obsession One gets for One's Unobtainable Lover. In this case, the Lover is very insecure, and has incredible difficulty letting people in, preferring to spend time alone. This has caused Lover's past relationships to last little more than a month, because no one can handle the issues of being submersed in all the issues. Key lines in the song for me we "You said it was not in my heart, it was; You said it should tear a kid apart, it does." Lover has difficulty believing the love of One because it is not obviously visible, but One is desperately in love, such that his entire identity and existence is at war with itself, fighting over a refusal to sacrifice independence and his obsession for Lover. He fears that if he gives in to the love he feels, his life will revolve around his Lover's, and he will cease to be little more than a ghost.
3. "Little Faith"
Still counting? Add adultery to the list of alcoholism and adoration. Well, maybe not actual adultery, but the suspicion of. I thought about this one for a while actually, fitting the verses to what seemed appropriate. The biggest clues were the use of the name Anna, and the fact that another song on the album was originally named after Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. The connection to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina was thus uncovered in all it's tragic, tear-jerking glory. We have the story of a modern day Anna and Vronsky in the song "Little Faith;" Vronsky, a young and handsome army man, and Anna, a beautiful but aging Russian royal. After a long affair, Anna has divorced her husband (Karenin) and eloped with Vronsky, but as time has passed, they have come to find that their relationship is no longer as fulfilling as it once was. Anna feels Vronsky is growing apart from her and suspects he is cheating. She swings between phases of anger at his perceived distance from her (starting fights to get some sense of feeling), and depression over this and the pain and ostracism she has earned for herself by cheating on Karenin (which Vronsky tries to cure with jokes and outings that she used to enjoy). Much of the song is from Anna's perspective, though we also get Vronsky's, where he indicates that he is aware of her suspicions, and sarcastically remarks that she won't be satisfied with his dedication to her until all the beautiful women in the world are gone, and she won't be able to trust her own love until the world has forgiven her for cheating on her husband. All the while, he feels guilty for having tempted her, because had he not done so, she would not be experiencing the pain she is now, and Karenin (who was actually a pretty upstanding fellow prior to all this love nonsense) would not have been left so damaged. Until they can both forgive themselves for their sins, they are playing at being nuns and priests. Oh, in the book, Anna develops an addiction to opiates, and both she and Vronsky experience incidences of suicide ideation, attempt, and completion. Hooray for consistent themes!
4. "Afraid Of Everyone"
Mental illness, check. Legitimately, the poor fellow is so psychologically instable, there are no drugs capable of sorting it out. Well, speaking as a student of this field, that is the case with many things in psychopharmacology. But hey, two thumbs up for that placebo effect huh?
5. "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
Aaaand we have apathy! This guy borrows money from everyone, not just friends, but his family. Which becomes a massive problem when it's the only reason you keep them around. He "never [thinks] about love when [he thinks] about home". Why? Because home is where the hoard is. But let's rewind a little bit. Why does he need this money? The girlfriend. Who he loves dearly, so it's not like he's an antisocial jackass to everyone; he's perfectly capable of feeling love. Just only for her. When she finds out about how he's draining everyone dry, he denies it, claiming to be a totally upstanding guy. He fails to convince her, and ends up throwing himself on her windshield in a mad attempt to stop her from driving away.
Official Site
MySpace
Facebook
Again, not condoning the use of drugs. But you have to admit, it makes for fucking great music.
Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford
1. "Terrible Love"
Oh alcoholism. Such a destructive and depressing subject, and yet, one hell of a moneymaker in the music world. For the people who capitalize on it, anyway. I suppose it's because we all love that sort of cathartic feeling we get when we realize that we are not suffering. Or at least, not as much as the character in the song. Take "Terrible Love," for example. This guy has begun drinking to deal with the death of his alcoholic best friend ("It takes an ocean not to break"). He is not yet caught in a web of addiction ("It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders"), but aside from his bottle, he is alone in his depression because he doesn't want to talk to anybody about what he's feeling ("It's quiet company"). He goes to the funeral, and, being vividly reminded of what the addiction has done to his friend, he resolves that they would not have wanted the same thing for him, though this had been his original plan ("But I won't follow you into the rabbit hole, I said I would, but then I saw your shivered bones: they didn't want me to"). So, we hear this, and we think "good job laddie, you're climbing out of it!", but then he reiterates the part about "walking with spiders" and it taking "an ocean not to break," and it now sounds like painful denial of the fact that he's already halfway down that rabbit hole.
2. "Anyone's Ghost"
Let's see how many birds we can hit with this stone of an album... "Anyone's Ghost" is about that stalker-esque obsession One gets for One's Unobtainable Lover. In this case, the Lover is very insecure, and has incredible difficulty letting people in, preferring to spend time alone. This has caused Lover's past relationships to last little more than a month, because no one can handle the issues of being submersed in all the issues. Key lines in the song for me we "You said it was not in my heart, it was; You said it should tear a kid apart, it does." Lover has difficulty believing the love of One because it is not obviously visible, but One is desperately in love, such that his entire identity and existence is at war with itself, fighting over a refusal to sacrifice independence and his obsession for Lover. He fears that if he gives in to the love he feels, his life will revolve around his Lover's, and he will cease to be little more than a ghost.
3. "Little Faith"
Still counting? Add adultery to the list of alcoholism and adoration. Well, maybe not actual adultery, but the suspicion of. I thought about this one for a while actually, fitting the verses to what seemed appropriate. The biggest clues were the use of the name Anna, and the fact that another song on the album was originally named after Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. The connection to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina was thus uncovered in all it's tragic, tear-jerking glory. We have the story of a modern day Anna and Vronsky in the song "Little Faith;" Vronsky, a young and handsome army man, and Anna, a beautiful but aging Russian royal. After a long affair, Anna has divorced her husband (Karenin) and eloped with Vronsky, but as time has passed, they have come to find that their relationship is no longer as fulfilling as it once was. Anna feels Vronsky is growing apart from her and suspects he is cheating. She swings between phases of anger at his perceived distance from her (starting fights to get some sense of feeling), and depression over this and the pain and ostracism she has earned for herself by cheating on Karenin (which Vronsky tries to cure with jokes and outings that she used to enjoy). Much of the song is from Anna's perspective, though we also get Vronsky's, where he indicates that he is aware of her suspicions, and sarcastically remarks that she won't be satisfied with his dedication to her until all the beautiful women in the world are gone, and she won't be able to trust her own love until the world has forgiven her for cheating on her husband. All the while, he feels guilty for having tempted her, because had he not done so, she would not be experiencing the pain she is now, and Karenin (who was actually a pretty upstanding fellow prior to all this love nonsense) would not have been left so damaged. Until they can both forgive themselves for their sins, they are playing at being nuns and priests. Oh, in the book, Anna develops an addiction to opiates, and both she and Vronsky experience incidences of suicide ideation, attempt, and completion. Hooray for consistent themes!
4. "Afraid Of Everyone"
Mental illness, check. Legitimately, the poor fellow is so psychologically instable, there are no drugs capable of sorting it out. Well, speaking as a student of this field, that is the case with many things in psychopharmacology. But hey, two thumbs up for that placebo effect huh?
5. "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
Aaaand we have apathy! This guy borrows money from everyone, not just friends, but his family. Which becomes a massive problem when it's the only reason you keep them around. He "never [thinks] about love when [he thinks] about home". Why? Because home is where the hoard is. But let's rewind a little bit. Why does he need this money? The girlfriend. Who he loves dearly, so it's not like he's an antisocial jackass to everyone; he's perfectly capable of feeling love. Just only for her. When she finds out about how he's draining everyone dry, he denies it, claiming to be a totally upstanding guy. He fails to convince her, and ends up throwing himself on her windshield in a mad attempt to stop her from driving away.
Official Site
MySpace
Again, not condoning the use of drugs. But you have to admit, it makes for fucking great music.
Peace, love, and floating,
Gill Ford
6 comments:
I LOVE THE NATIONAL
^me toooooooo!
Gill could you post a list of all the songs on your playlist right now? You don't have to describe them or anything but just post a list? We have similar taste in music but you come up with bands I've never heard of sometimes... so yeah a list please? :)
i like that idea too, it would give a wider variety of music
You just want a list? I can do that, but I don't want to post my whole iPod, because there's hundreds of song on it... I could do like 50 records, or 50 songs or something along those lines if you'd like. Or you could email specific requests and I could send a more complete list that way.
50 songs is a good idea!
The way you analyze songs and things is so cool. I'd never be able to get all this out of something, it's nuts. Are you an english major or something?
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