spring listening

i’ve tried to sit down and write all week. but nothing seems to come out.

it has been a beautiful week. my God how i’ve needed the sun. and how i’ve missed it on the drive home. it has been setting later and later these days. letting me sneak outside for a smoke and watch it fade behind the mountain looking toward east hampton. the trees still bare, but the evening warm enough to sit for more than a minute. warm enough to breath deeply and let some of the day fade away thru the still bare branches.

as spring unfolds i find myself driving to the sounds of mark erelli, the memorial hall recordings. for those of you not from connecticut or not into the folk scene, mark erelli is a local boy and the only artist at the 2003 newport folk fest to get a standing ovation…that lineup included bob dylan…sorry bob, we like the local boys. his music makes me feel like spring and summer. hot sticky days with all the windows in my car down – music blaring.

i’ve also been drawn back, as i am every year at this time, to 10,000 maniacs, our time in eden album. it came out when i was still in high school. and in the summers of my junior and senior years, i would drive my little silver 1984 toyota camry to work and back again…i was a lifeguard…at the ass crack of dawn during the swim season and in the late afternoons toward the end of the summer. this album reminds me of the summer when i was 18, and it keeps me grounded. i can picture the cool summer mornings, windows down, music on. driving down ada road, past johnny appleseed park, to dixie highway where the pool was – that road, i must have driven down that road at least 1,000 times that summer – the 10,000 maniacs was there with me.

the cure has been in my cd player. i made a killer mix – not too depressing. ‘boys don’t cry’, can’t have a cure mix without it…’to wish impossible things and friday i’m in love’ from the wish album…’let’s go to bed, the walk, the caterpillar, and in between days’ from the staring at the sea album (album of singles). old school cure had some soulful moments, but it was in the late 80’s early 90’s that robert smith found his voice, in my opinion. he created some beautiful lyrics mixed with full sounding percussion. it’s brilliant really. he makes me feel 15. young, fresh, sad sometimes, discovering life.

and brand new is slowly becoming my favorite band for the year 2005. their music has so far been transcending two seasons with me. and it fits with both. fun, funky, little skater boys. their sound is rich, full, and changes with your mood. not many bands can do that for me – most are only around for different parts of the year. for me, anytime music is stuff like indigo girls, janis joplin, u2, rem. not even rusted root makes the list. i know i just went to see them. and yes, i shook my sweet little ass a great deal. but not as much as if that same show would have been a month from now. it was still a bit too cold – gotta be able to be comfy in the overalls and tank top without getting chilled, or too hot for that matter. rusted root is like a may/june kinda music. although they did play a killer song,‘blue diamond’, that i’d not heard before. it was magnificent, sexy…you get the point.

anyway, no radio in the car. too much radio at work – my rob likes the radio, he likes to sing. makes me laugh my ass off when he goes for the high notes of gwen stefani, or tries to explain to me why it’s ok for 50 cent to sing about ‘the candy shop’ but not ok for howard stern to talk about masturbating. hhhmmm…makes you wonder doesn’t it?