Stuff I'm Listening To #63 - Beethoven's 9th Symphony

Composer: Beethoven
 
Title: 9th Symphony
 
Favourite Lyrics:
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere. 
Freude!
Freude! 
Translation: 
O friends, no more of these sounds!
Let us sing more cheerful songs,
More songs full of joy!
Joy!
Joy! 
Why?: I started collecting records again.

I blame Talk Talk and Rustin Man... in March there were three brand spanking new Talk Talk records at the record store my husband accidentally took me to (it happened to be beside the restaurant he took me to) in March. But no record player.

Then the appeal of having a signed print from Paul Webb was too much for me to resist. My husband listened to me whine about how nice it would be to have it and how I didn't want to spend any money because it cuts into my ice cream budget and he succumbed and paid for my Drift Code album. But I still didn't have a record player.
 
Finally, Spirit of Eden got delivered, unexpectedly, at my work on my weekend shift (I've taken on a few extra hours lately). I posted excitedly about it yesterday. Still... no record player....

When I got home last night and my husband dragged me out to purchase a kettle (ours broke) and in the department store he declared he was purchasing me a record player because he wanted to.

I almost cried. 

Yesterday happened to be five years since the first time I'd taken my husband to Roy Thompson Hall to hear Daniil Trifonov play Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff and then the Toronto Symphony after intermission played Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I remember him being utterly amazed at the performance. He'd never been to such a concert before. And then he had to deal with emotional me after. Why emotional me? Well...

 

There are so many feels here. Three of the most important men in my life have something to do with this photo.

First. Beethoven was my dad’s favourite composer and piece. 

Second. The Beethoven record pictured here had been purchased by my brother (mom asked him to go out and buy this record) for me when I was younger and just learning how to play the piano so I could hear it in all it's majesty. 

Third. The player, just purchased yesterday by my husband on impulse just to make me happy so I could finally listen to all my records, after he saw the post of my Spirit of Eden purchase yesterday, and the Rustin Man and Talk Talk Records which husband helped purchase these last few months.

I usually cry during Ode to Joy because of my dad. I’m crying now writing this because it reminds me of my dad. Pity my husband who at Roy Thomson Hall five years ago had to deal with me ugly crying during the Ode to Joy part. I was laughing at my own ugly crying too, because it was so ridiculously out of character for me. 

So aside from the test run last night to make sure the player was working, it was befitting it would be this piece which means so much to me and relates to three of the most important men in my life, that would break in my brand new record player.

Stuff I'm Listening To - Bonus Track - Mark Hollis

Title: The Colour of Spring

Artist: Mark Hollis

Favourite Lyrics: 
And yet I'll gaze
At the colour of spring
Immerse in that one moment
Left in love with everything

Why?: Hmm. I’m a day late aren’t I? Happy Vernal Equinox to my friends on the other side of the planet some of who perpetually live one day in the future from me. This one’s for you guys (especially my Talk Talk buds!). 🥰😘

Stuff I'm Listening To #62 - Reel Big Fish

Artist: Reel Big Fish

Title: Everyone Else Is An Asshole

Favourite Lyrics: 
They called it assault
But it really wasn't my fault
Everyone else is an asshole

Why?: Every have one of those days? Yeah... I'm actually not having one of those days, but I heard this song and busted a gut laughing at it. I love these guys. I first discovered them as they'd done a pretty rocking cover version of 'Hungry Like the Wolf' by Duran Duran. Very much worth a listen.

They're so much fun to listen to. Their bouncy fun delivery is the very reason I've always loved Ska. They remind me of Madness, another bouncy fun group. Happy to see this music is still alive and well.  

Stuff I'm Listening To - Special Track - the Cars

Artist: the Cars

Video Director: Tim Pope

Title: Magic

Favourite Lyrics: 
Just a little bit of magic
That's true, when I'm with you

Why?: It was difficult to pick one track. There were so many favourites from their library. RIP Ric Ocasek.

Stuff I'm Listening To - Special Track - Eddie Money

Artist: Eddie Money

Title: Take Me Home Tonight

Lyrics:

I get frightened in all this darkness
I get nightmares I hate to sleep alone
I need some company a guardian angel
To keep me warm when the cold winds blow

Stuff I'm Listening To #61 - Japan

Artist: Japan

Title: Gentleman Take Polaroids

Favourite Lyrics:
I'd like to slip away with you
And if you said you love me
How could I mind?
Is there another side to everything you do?

Why: I must sheepishly admit, the only reason I learned about Japan was because I started collecting old British music magazines with Duran Duran in them. And in those magazines, here was this gloriously beautiful man who looked a like Nick Rhodes. So naturally I sought them out. This was probably one of the first cassette tapes I found by them, in a used record/music shop, for dirt cheap. I threw it on because I needed to know what this was all about. Back in 1987 it wasn't as if I could just look them up on Spotify. None of my friends seemed to be into the same kind of music I was starting to discover. Duran Duran was already considered passe by my peers, but they were my gateway into some very good music. Had it not been for them, I wouldn't have dug my heels in, pulled away from the top 40 pop music trends, and moved backwards, seeking all that I had missed because I was too young at the time (or in some cases, not even born yet). This backwards musical journey continues today. As I'd listened to my first Traffic song just prior to posting this.

Back to 1987. Up to this point, all I knew about Japan was what their lead singer looked like. 

This song, the first track of that album, comes on. Dreamy, soft, flowy, a little melancholy and beautiful. And his voice.... This glorious, low voice. I was immediately in love. This remains one of my most favourite songs by Japan. It remains one of my most favourite songs in general.

Fun fact: Today was the first time I'd ever actually seen this video. Despite me being utterly shallow at times, after all, I still think David Sylvian's beauty is something to behold, the lack of my actual knowledge of his videos should say something about the quality of their music. It was his voice and the music that stuck with me all these years and for some reason made me decide to listen to it today and decide to post it today. Yes, the cover the book made me buy it, but it's always the substance inside that book that remains.

Stuff I'm Listening To #60 - Rustin Man

Artist: Rustin Man

Title: Light the Light

Favourite Lyrics:
Light the light when the load ain't easy, light up, don't fade it
There's much to endure, so much to cast away
How, how, how long can you leave it? 
There's a grand highway out here, waiting for you to let go

Why?: 
I've hit some kind of milestone here. I've managed to commit myself to posting a song on average once a week for the past year on Facebook anyway. That's like 'Life Event' worthy. Some songs dripping with nostalgia for many, some songs clearly greeted with a giant "WTF?", even from my beloved husband who sat confused as to why I thought a lyric about "All the dishes rattle in the cupboards when the elephants arrive" was an appropriate love song from me to him. *insert mad giggling from me*.

But if you've followed anything I've written before you know I'm wordy and weird. But dammit, I have phenomenal taste in music. Which is why for this milestone thing I've decided to post this song. I've likely said it before and I'll say it again; the whole Drift Code album is good and definitely worth a listen. Outside of Vanishing Heart and Judgement Train, as per my usual pattern, i.e. If it has a video, I probably like it (hence, Our Tomorrows also liked by yours truly) Light the Light, was the one that popped out from the rest on my first listen to this album. 

I can't tell you why it popped. It just did. Something (my subconscious mind, no doubt) was screaming 'You need to go out for a long bike ride and appreciate this. There's many levels here. You'll see!' My subconscious mind knows me best. When I'm riding, I get into this zen state and suddenly the asphalt smells sweet, the sky is a sharper shade of blue, the clouds are a softer, welcoming texture. Even the roar of my motor backs off from the aggressive city barking it does, into a lulling purr. 

And it was on the first long ride this year, I managed to queue up my playlist in such a way that this song came up just in time for a long, uninterrupted stretch of highway. I think I must have Instagrammed Rustin Man immediately once we'd stopped for a break. He needed to know how perfect this song was on a motorbike! (And he, being a gentleman, replied and made my day!) The song was this playful romp across a piano, backed by this subtle jazzy drumming that permanently pasted an image of a smoke-filled speakeasy from the 1920s wherein these guys would have been the house band. The lyrics perfectly match my feeling of being out on an open highway, the strife and troubles left behind, for a little while anyway. You can tell I'm listening to this song as I start to do these full lane sweeps in time with the song. It's akin to me dancing on my bike. I am still listening to this song and the rest of the album and there is still more to be discovered. 

As for why it took so long for me to post anything off Drift Code... Simply put, I was a little embarrassed. I'm not great at articulating why I like certain music without some motorcycle or childhood/teenage anecdote attached to it. And I'm good at completely missing the point of songs at times (so apologies if I've done that here). This album deserves a far better review than I'm likely able to give. Also, me grunting "Good album, go buy", while perfect for the current attention span of people like me, just wasn't going to cut it.