harmonica

i have a certain fondness for the old mouth harp, for a number of reasons. here are two of them.

bob dylan - most of the time (alternate version)
(you can listen to more of tell tale signs here.)

"this is another new one."


neil young - heart of gold

faster than the speed of night

so tonight i waited in the cold at a bus stop where bus after bus would pull up, let off all of its passengers, change its sign to read "out of service," and drive away. after about half an hour (6 buses) of this bizarre bus behaviour i gave up and decided to go home rather than figure out another way to get to the bar where i was already supposed to be, ages ago, so i condensed all of the relevant information into a text message for my friend — "transit fucked, going home" — and hit send. but the explanatory nugget would not be sent. MESSAGE FAILED, MESSAGE FAILED, the phone beeped. i tried again. MESSAGE FAIL. again. MESSAGE FAIL. then i tried calling, but (perhaps unsurprisingly) CALL FAIL, CALL FAIL said the phone. so i went home to call her, and now i'm in our "living room"* eating a bag of chips and listening to songs on repeat while my roommate's cat kneads the tender inside of my arm until it turns red. it's friday night. i have no plans to go back out. could this be LIFE FAIL? it is a big bag of chips.

*current contents of "living room":
me
cat
giant television, sitting on floor
mattress and box-spring, also on floor
assorted chairs
fan
dead plant
one winter boot
empty bag of chips
jenga

fortunately, it is for moments such as this that "faster than the speed of night" exists. the video is pretty amazing too, even though it cuts out the epic last third of the song.



i'd say the dancing guitar man is worth it though.

plaid flannel shirt

i like plaid flannel shirts. my father had one that i borrowed when i was 13 and never returned. i still have it.

when i was 13 grunge was really popular and wearing a giant man's shirt perfectly normal. i have a bad feeling i might have even tied it around my waist at times. (last halloween i went as myself, aged 13 — i wore my father's shirt; a poor-boy cap (turned backwards); high-waisted, baggy, tapered black jeans; and an oversized t-shirt. it was a dreadful experiment; i felt really strange and awkward all day.)

men who wear plaid flannel shirts and have a beard make my small heart beat faster. i know that that makes it sound like i'm attracted to lumberjacks.

last fall my friend rachel threatened to attend our friend tasha's paris send-off party not in the old hollywood glamour attire we were supposed to wear but in "glamorous grunge." i actually quite like the idea of glamorous grunge and think it looks really nice when i see it on other people, even though i've yet to pull it off. it appeals to my 13-year-old self.

my 13-year-old self also really loved my so-called life (not that the 27-year-old self doesn't). since it was 1994 there was a lot of plaid flannel on that show.

oh plaid flannel shirt: nostalgic, cozy, and kind of a turn on.

bon iver, for emma, forever ago

i've been listening to this album a lot lately after it was recommended to me by a friend. it's rather mopey (come to think of it, so is the friend) but such music is always helpful to have on hand, especially when you're prone to days and nights of melancholy. i usually put a song on repeat and lay curled up on my bed. then later on i reset the play count in itunes so that no one will know that i listened to one song 50 times in one night. we all have our hobbies.

you can listen to the whole album here; my favourite song is "re: stacks," and it's right here.
bon iver - re: stacks

there's also a really cute video of bon iver accompanying lykke li on her song "dance dance dance" if you'd prefer something less gloomy.

you're swinging around in the evening, humming someone else's tune

two hours traffic are an indie band from charlottetown who play lovely, sunny, perfect pop. i really like them.

i chose this video because it has the most close-ups of their adorably awkward lead singer, liam. i got to shake his hand once after a show. this was really exciting for me as i have a small (huge) crush on him. in addition to his musical talents he has really widely spaced eyes, like a hammerhead shark, or peter sarsgaard.



my favourite song is "sure can start," and you can listen to it here if you like.
two hours traffic - sure can start