Monday, January 25, 2010

flow sweetly hang heavy you suddenly complete me, you suddenly complete me.

i never write about music in detail, which is strange, because it is, and has allllllwaaaaays been probably the most consistent and influencing factor in my life. bands that have been a big part of my life for the last - however long. past couple years to back when i was in elementary school. the other day i was having a conversation with my mom about music, and when she was younger - teen years and twenties sort of thing - she said she was always into music, she always appreciated it and loved how it can make you feel - yet she never really devoted any part of her life to music. my father was a big fan of bands like the who and bob dylan and jimi hendrix, he saw bob dylan in montreal a long time ago - imagine?! i'm glad that somehow in the course of my life a series of events occured - my brother caring enough to show me select bands and meeting friends that opened the doors to shows and the likes - that lead me into a very musically impacted life. classical music was always a huge part of my life because of cello and being trained vigorously in classical musical for a long part of my life - and i will always appreciate, understand and have a special sort of admiration for classical and celtic music - but i find the following bands have impacted my life in different ways than anything else ever could. there are of course a lot of other bands i really do love, but these seem to be the ones that stand out most.



joy division. over the past three years this band has been a quiet constant in my life. i still find myself getting joy division obsessed every few months.


yeah yeah yeahs. i bought "fever to tell" when i was in grade 7 because i had once heard "maps" and when i saw the cd, i decided to try it out. fell in love with the album almost instantly and still to this day i listen to this band close to every day. there's always been something about them that i love.


attack in black. i had been hearing about this band for a couple years before i actually gave them a good listen, and when i did i instantly vibed to them. spring 2009 was all about attack in black - singalongs in the car with eric and chris and mushrooms in my bed losing my mind to the album "the curve of the earth." i'm listening to them right now as a matter of fact. one thing i love about this band is that when you meet people that also really like attack in black, you can bond over their music. haha. fuck i love attack in black.


celeste. uggh what a band, every time i listen to them i get shivers. lyrical intrigue combined with an almost haunting vibe and tempo makes this band so heavy yet not, and so good. definite recommendation.


the black keys. the best way i can describe this band is by using a quote once said by kim irvine to me one summer night while we were sitting on our front stoop - "the black keys make me want to do one of two things - dance or have sex." this band has such soul and everything about them i love. their music gets to you. even though they have a lot of relationship-orientated songs, they also have songs that talk about just wanting to TOUCH someone. magic band, magic magic magic. if you haven't listened to them, please do so.


descendents. obviously. no need to say more. one love.



danzig. what do i even say about danzig? great in so many ways.


saves the day. anyone who knows me well in any way knows that i am a completely devoted saves the day fanatic. i can't help it. i remember being 11 years old and hearing the first 8 or so songs off of "ups and downs: early recordings and b sides," they changed my 11 year old life. this band is perfectly pop punk and cheesy and hopelessy romantic and pathetic all at the same time. this band has been so constant in the past 8 years of my life - driving all night to ups and downs when i first got my license, screaming and crying in the front row of their 2006 concert at mac ballroom, driving to edmonton many times and having 2 hour long std singalongs. i love this band.


jawbreaker. i'd have to say jawbreaker is close to, if not my top favourite band. ever. that is all. favourite. ever.


shook ones. this band provided the perfect soundtrack for the summer of 2006, and continued to be a staple music selection in my life up until this day. i've travelled to multiple cities in various parts of the country to see this band, and even though i've seen them more than i can probably remember, i still love them. their lyrics have always gotten to me in a separate way than most other bands, and their presence and passion has always drawn me to them. shoooooook onnnnnessss


go it alone. i don't listen to a lot of the hardcore bands i used to be really into a couple years ago anymore - i just never listen to bands like floorpunch, blacklisted, cold world, have heart... and on.... i still have appreciation for them - i think i always will - but i just can't get INTO them anymore. go it alone is a big exception to this for me, i still find myself throwing on histories from time to time and still, loving it. maybe it's because some of the best times of my life had go it alone as a sort of backdrop - summers 2005 - 2007, going to van for their last show when i was 16 and having so much fun. i'll always have a place in my life for this band.





big l, the pharcyde, ghostface killah. about 2 springs ago, i went through a long, very intense hip hop phase - it was all i listened to, and most of what i thought about and talked about. these three came out as my favourites. all three = genius. assasianation day by ghostfasce with rza and gza? i have driven alone in my car singing to that song too many times.




neutral milk hotel. it with either jason or elijah that introduced me to this band many years ago, i can't remember who now. there's a few reasons why i love this band as much as i do - driving along the coast of sicily listening to "oh comely" on repeat with my brother does something to you. two, reminds me of sarah pester, whom i love more than most humans. three, their musical genius creates something that's haunting and kind of fucked up mixed with something that's beautiful and calming and makes you think. i can never get enough of this band.




sublime, jimmy eat world, oasis. these bands were my childhood. my older brother always loved these bands so inevitably, i started to love them at a very young age. music was always a strong part of my brother and i's relationship - the one thing we could really connect over no matter what. i remember sitting in my brothers room, being 7 or 8, and listening to these bands with him and even though i had no idea what kind of music it was or who it was or anything about it, i loved it. i still listen to all of these bands regularly.






graf orlock, cursed, iron lung, the endless blockade. i've decided to group these 4 bands together because a) i'm kind of tired of writing this ridiculously long blog and b) it seems fitting in the sense that these 4 bands have become definite consistent favourites over the past couple years. kim knows how crazy i've been about graf orlock - when we lived together i'd try to put them almost every time we were sitting around listening music even after she'd repeatedly ask me to put on something else, haha.

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