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"A little bit of this. A little bit of that. A pot, a pan, a broom, a hat. . ."—Anatevka, "Fiddler on the Roof." This is a blog about everything and nothing. A little parenting, a little humor, some poetry, news, essays, a lot of music. I don't want to waste your time, just send positive vibes into the blogosphere. Oh, yeah, my name is Sarah Torribio. Enough about me, how are you?
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Song of the Day: "Teleport 2 Me" by Kid Cudi
I remain ever a fangirl. When I like something, I like it. And I let myself get into it because enthusiasm is the opposite of apathy, ennui and depression.
After shopping, I go to sleep in my new clothes clutching my new shoes (haha, elementary school reference). I like to smell my new school supplies. I reread books and mark them all up with notes and underlines. I listen to songs on repeat. I figure if a song can stand 20 consecutive listenings, it can hold up.
(I discovered this precept when I was in high school, perhaps a junior. I became temporarily besotted with The Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy." I purchased the cassette single at Tower Records and hated the song within a few days.)
Other songs are my go-tos, literally the soundtrack to my life. The Police will never go amiss, nor Men At Work nor Alkaline Trio.
I'll sometimes go a few weeks thinking I'll never hear a song, new or old, that moves me. I also often go for the same amount of time thinking, "This is it. Stick a fork in me. I'm done. I can't write anymore." (Cue the world's smallest violin--it's the tidal fate of every creative and perhaps every craftsman.)
The two things, the ability to get into something—a cool song, a book that's a page-turner or anything else to enjoy, adore and enthuse—and the ability write seem for me to be connected.
Lately, I've been listening to some music I missed in recent years while I was apparently living under a rock. (Actually, I do live amid and below the red rocks of southern Utah. It's kind of amazing.)
Anyhow, I'm becoming a super-fan of Kid Cudi in my mid-40s. My song of the day, "Teleport 2 Me," was released in 2012. According to my go-to source, Wikipedia, Kid Cudi is prolific. He's a "rapper, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor." That's a lot of frickin' hyphenates! His listed genres are varied, including hip hop, neo-psychedelic, alt rock, alternative hip hop and trip hop. Considering I'm delving into music writing and I'm shit at categorizing by genres, this type of triangulation (pentangulation?) may be a helpful part of my education.
I'm not gonna lie. Until a couple years ago I pronounced Kid Cudi's stage name "Kid Cutie." Also, even if I would likely pull a muscle, I want to be one of those people jumping up and down in the pit in the "Soundtrack to My Life" vid.
I'm not gonna lie. Until a couple years ago I pronounced Kid Cudi's stage name "Kid Cutie." Also, even if I would likely pull a muscle, I want to be one of those people jumping up and down in the pit in the "Soundtrack to My Life" vid.
So here I go, inundating readers again with another song by this talented guy named Scott Mescudi. The good news is, with each consecutive listen I further suspect I will write again.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Song of the Day: "Bad Decisions" by The Strokes
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Wow, there's more than a touch of early New Order to "Bad Decisions" by The Strokes. I know it sounds pretentious, but I always think this band makes such elegant rock. There's no other adjective for it.
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Song of the Day: "Lose You To Love Me"
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It was bound to happen. I'm into a Selena Gomez song. "Lose You To Love Me" is my song of the day.
Song of the Day: "The One To Wait" by CCFX
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A friend recommended this song to me, "The One To Wait" by CCFX, which the internet says is a "filmic dream pop collaboration" featuring members of the Olympia band Trans FX. I gave it a dutiful listen and am delighted to report that it is so good it's my song of the day.
It's perfect for those moments when you're feeling introspective, happily wistful, like you're deliciously dying of love and all such shoe-gazey emotions. The same friend has recommended that I check out the entire EP and I plan to.
This song has so many phases it's a quiet hero's journey. The melody starts spare, ghost-town lonesome, like you're walking slowly and kicking the dust. The last tumbleweed blows through the soundscape and the beat drops, tentative at first and then building. The synths jump in, optimistic, and now, though the highway may be deserted, you're in a car.
Just when you've decided the song's a really good instrumental, lead singer Mary Jane Dunphe comes in with an alto that occasionally, just occasionally, flirts with tenor. Though her voice is powerful—think Siouxsie Sioux, Bjork and Elizabeth Frazer of the Cocteau Twins—Dunphe keeps her delivery hushed. Is there a bit of Brian Eno-style reverb making it all sound so pretty and cohesive? The song continues with hypnotic repetition and variation of twining instruments. If this is a wall of sound, the wall is filigreed as the screen of a mosque or confessional.
Inevitably, "The One To Wait" drags the listener into dreamlike territory. It's a welcome place, nowadays.
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