Since the recent resurrection of my hot half life and the blog of the same name, my tiny brain has been a-buzz with ideas of what to blog about. Should I review the new Kevin Devine album? Talk about the great new Metric track, Help I'm Alive? Or should I shed some light on my recent discovery (via my excellent-tasted friend Ryan) of Paul Baribeau?
Well, after not all that much deliberation on the subject at all, I've decided to cover all subjects at once because... Well... Why not? Let's make up for my long internet absence somehow. And I can't think of a better way to do it than with a bombardment of music related facts and opinions.
I've noticed that it's so easy when going through a transitional phase in life to sink to the comfort of the saddest songs and, as I made clear with my last entry heralding the Good Life's Inmates as the current theme to my life, I haven't been completely avoiding that familiar trapping. However, more important to me than that is making like the Hold Steady and staying positive. While Kevin Devine's beautiful new album, Brother's Blood, is full of politics and introspection, the opening track, the amazing All Of Everything Erased, ends with a line that strikes a particular chord in my life at the moment : "Oh, what a joy to finally be free."
I could write novels for years on the beauty of Kevin Devine and the way his work has matured since his years with the snotty-punk leaning rock band Miracle of 86 into what is now acoustic, whispered musings worthy of Elliott Smith but I do feel it necessary to bite my tongue for you see, on May 29th I shall be writing my 3rd Hot Half Life Rocks Out concert review to Kevin Devine and his Goddamn Band at Schuba's so to keep from overloading this here little blog with K. Dev, I must for once shut my mouth and let the song speak for itself.
Kevin Devine - All Of Everything, Erased
If I made music, I imagine it would sound like Emily Haines of Metric. Distant, forlorn and usually rife with clever metaphors and analogies (Like "(Love's) pathetic, it's impossible, like girls in stilettos trying to run." from The Lottery), lyrically, Emily Haines has always impressed me more than most any of her indie, female music counterparts of modern times. While it will come to no surprise to anyone who knows my preference for lo-fi and indie that I prefer her solo work to her work with Metric, I nevertheless have found myself having quite the soft spot for Metric's newest song, Help I'm Alive due to the sheer relatable-ness of the simple refrain "Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer."
If I could simplify my tomes into verses, I'd hope it would sound like the melancholy lonliness of Metric. Only without a synthesizer or any drum machines.
Metric - Help, I'm Alive
Paul Baribeau was an artist I was, up until last week, blissfully unaware of the existence of until a friend of mine, whilst sitting in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts drinking coffee in my car in the rain, introduced me to him in the most perfect way possible - Via his song Ten Things.
Simple and infectious and perhaps the most positive thing this side of that Hold Steady song I mentioned earlier, Ten Things might be the cure for any bad mood. I find it consistently stuck in my head and I've taken the lyrics to heart, from the simple request to "Name ten things you want to do before you die and then go do them" to the slightly more constructive "Think of all the things that are wrong with your life and then go fix them" and "Think of all the mistakes you've made in your life and make sure you never repeat them."
It's probably been sung a million times before in slightly different words with slightly less catchy melodies but for some reason, at this point in my life, this song is doubtlessly the most affecting thing I could have heard in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts if not the most affecting thing I will hear all year.
Paul Baribeau - Ten Things
All of the artists I just blogged about are either on tour now or will be soon, so I suggest you check the Myspaces of Mr. Devine, Metric and Paul Baribeau and, as always, if you plan on hitting up the Chicago Kevin Devine or Paul Baribeau show, look for the short, pale brunette in black mini-skirt rocking out as best an indie kid can because that'd be me!
