(no subject)

[katallison]

Someday, I swear to god, I need to get back into a line of work where June means "early summer, things slow down, mellowness, smell the flowers, life is good la la la" and NOT "Oh sweet frelling Jesus, new student orientation is coming down on us like the fucking avalanche down the mountain, workworkwork stress-o-rama aiiieeeeee."

You know that the universe is in sad mismanaged shape when I (whose failings are procrastination and disorganization, and whose strengths are glibness and the ability to pull stuff out of my ass at the last second) am put in charge of logisitics for a large-scale, complex, tightly-organized multi-week event. Actually, honestly, it wouldn't be so bad if I were the only person involved in all of this, because I have great faith in my ability to tap-dance; but there are numerous other staff participating, most of whom need at least some modicum of structure, and it would be unkind (not to mention, uh, unprofessional) to say to them, "Well, hey! Just, y'know, improvise! Have fun with it!" So -- I have spent the entire day at the office, and have now produced enough schedules, agendas, handouts, brochures, planning sheets, etc., to gag a maggot.

Because I have not enough brain left to actually write or do anything else constructive, I'll post six songs I've been listening to a lot just lately:

1. Finisterre, Oysterband (with June Tabor on vocals): This has been #1 on my earworm hit parade lately; it's lovely, melancholic, nostalgic.

...last night I turned the glasses over
and I drank the bottle dry.
The moon stared out to sea all night and so did I ...

2. Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie: Also with the lovely and melancholic, and slightly surrealistic.

3. It's the End of the World As We Know It, the Great Big Sea version, which I like for its rough-edged brio: This is currently my theme song for coping with impending Bad Terminal Craziness at the workplace.

4. Sweet Fire of Love, Robbie Robertson: Yowza. I'm actually not all that crazy about Robertson's vocals here, but I love this song.

5. All That Way for This, Oysterband: Which is a nice energizing political song, but I'm mostly listening to it lately because I have great fun trying to put together in my head the very cool meta Outcry-of-the-Betrayed-X-Files-Fan vid one could make to it. ("All we wanted was something worth it, worth the labor, worth the wait . . . . Look around, you must be joking; all that way, all that way for this")

6. Cheating here -- not a song, but an album, Brian Eno's Music for Airports (a.k.a. Ambient #1). Gentle, trancey, hypnotic, this is now my favorite music for accompanying any slow meditative tasks requiring focus (like weightlifting, or thinking through database queries). I can even write with this going in the background, which is a first for me.

Comments

[umbo.livejournal.com]

1. *hugs* for the stressorama.

2. Do you have any idea how much glee I feel at the idea that you're listening to GBS? :-)!

3. I use my favorite Sean icon in GBS joy.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Dude, GBS is wonderful stuff! I thank you so much for recommending them, way back when. And I give you the reciprocal stressorama-hugs -- your teaching gig sounds very exciting, though, and I'm looking forward to hearing how it all goes!

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Two Oysterband songs and one GBS -- I love you! Or at least, your taste in music.

Thanks for #2 and #4!

PS. The Oysters are playing 2 gigs in North America this year, both in Alberta. There's the Canmore Folk Festival (http://www.canmorefolkfestival.com) at the end of July, and the Edmonton Folk Festival (www.efmf.ab.ca) the next weekend after that. (Full disclosure: splendidjack and I are roadtripping to Canmore, therefore I think convincing other people to go is a wonderful idea.)

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think that, like, half the vids I love are to Oysterband songs, so I was primed to love them, and indeed I do. And the concept of a Canadian roadtrip sometimes this summer is indeed tempting . . .

[newgrange.livejournal.com]

Alberta....sigh, they are never coming to NYC again. I hope you have a great time. I miss them so much.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

they are never coming to NYC again.

Well, on one hand, Ian Telfer claims they'll play anywhere if someone pays them enough, so there's some hope.

On the other hand, I'm not sure anyone but Bill Gates has enough money to pay them enough to come back to the US East Coast.

But you know... England is lovely in February and March, the airfares are as cheap as they get all year, and the Oysters are often touring then...

[newgrange.livejournal.com]

And you're right, I'm not sure there's enough money out there to get them back here. And most of the clubs I've seen them in are gone now.

I'm sure you're right about February and March, I even have family over there, so its always a possibilty. Until then there's the Virgin Megastore, vacations in Canada and Amazon.UK....

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

Woo! I've been into Oysterband since January, when justacat showed me a Pros video made to "A Fire is Burning." I went right out and gorged myself on Oysterband, and I haven't looked back since.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

They are indeed excellent, yes. And as I mentioned to Giglet above, they *so* lend themselves to fannish vidding. *g*

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

Transatlanticism is one of my very favorite over-listened to songs right now. That whole album is really fucking good. yay! Death Cab!

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Man, at first I was like "Death Cab for Cutie?? The hell kind of a name is that??" But you're right, that whole album is most excellent, and I'm starting to investigate their other ones, with much enjoyment.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I love Music for Airports. :-)

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Heh. The full story is that I got turned on to that album -- oh, god, fifteen years ago, by Howard the Dickhead, with whom I had an intense 11-week relationship culminating in emotionally disastrous break-up, and it's only now, all these years later, that I can finally listen to it free of all the lingering emotional baggage, which I'm very glad to be shed of. And yes, it's lovely. *g*

[heresluck]

Mmmm, Death Cab. Yum.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Golly, they're excellent. And Jeffrey Foucault would've made it onto this list, if I could pick just one song; Miles From the Lightning is on regular replay hereabouts, and I have you to thank for it. (And, um, I don't think I ever congratulated you on the ass-kicking outcome of your disseration defense, which came as no surprise, but still was greatly uplifting to hear about. Go Team You!)

[heresluck]

Quick note on Death Cab: you do NOT need to get their first CD (Something About Airplanes) EXCEPT for the song "Champagne From A Paper Cup" ("I think I'm drunk enough to drive you home now..."). You MUST get We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes, which is the CD that caused me to fall completely in love with them. It's a little quirkier than Transatlanticism, less pop, less polished, but just... wow.

I just saw Jeff Foucault do back-to-back live shows Friday and Saturday nights at his old hometown bar; they were damn good shows, as always. He tours through the twin cities sometimes, you know. I will be driving in for those shows from parts west, and will happily bring you along if you would like. And oh -- as good as Miles From The Lightning is, Stripping Cane is better. "How?" you might well ask. "'Northbound 35,'" I reply.

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

My own personal fave off of Robbie's first album is "Fallen Angel" but SFoL is great.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

You know, every time I hear that song I think, "What I'd really love is to hear Joe Dawson playing it." With Methos listening. *g*

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

That would just about do me in. It's always meant a lot to me because I first heard it after a dear friend committed suicide.

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

Or did you mean SFoL? Both would work for me in your context.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Well, I was thinking of SFoL, in the context of the story you wrote a while back -- but, yeah, both would work.

(Actually, I've got a Joe-and-Methos-talking-about-death-in-the-bar-in-the-small-hours story in the works for which the provisional title is "All the Blues in the Night," because it's about suicide, and Fallen Angels is part of the soundtrack for it. I hope to god to finish it sometime soon.)

[tracy-rowan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that. I always like your Joe-and-Methos-talking, especially if it's in-the-bar-in-the-small-hours.

[vagabondage.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about your stress, but very happy to see your music list. tzikeh turned me on the Death Cab for Cutie when we drove out to your place last fall. I was hooked from the first line of the first song she played for me.

[moosesal.livejournal.com]

I work for a college textbook publisher. This time of year is insane for us -- trying to get titles out in time for Fall semester adoptions. I'm jealous of people who get to vacation in June and July. I'm booked until mid-July and even then I'm still busy.

[flyingtapes.livejournal.com]

and NOT "Oh sweet frelling Jesus, new student orientation is coming down on us like the fucking avalanche down the mountain, workworkwork stress-o-rama aiiieeeeee."

Word. Our first (of three) student orientation is this Thursday and Friday. I am *so* not prepared.

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

thanks these are great.