Twenty Minutes of Metal 09/28/2007
Posted by Christopher Mulé in Session Review.trackback
Some folks spend their Thursday evenings catching up with friends, watching the T.V., driving while intoxicated, or talking on the phone. At the second installment of “The Community Listening Project” we listened to metal; over twenty minutes of it. This wasn’t your grandmother’s Metallica. It was heavy metal from South Carolina (see above), it was heavy metal fused with Bach, and it was awesome. There was so much more music played, and more importantly, some great stories surrounding them. It would be foolish of me to think that I could tell those stories better than you all did. Please comment on what you played…it’s so easy.
I’m going to start by following the format of the comments left last week and thank Chris for doing this another year. I played “Kid Fears” by the Indigo Girls. We all (or at least I think we all) have those times where we reflect on our lives and how far we’ve come, how much we’ve changed. I think this song is the perfect soundtrack for these thoughts. Indigo Girls never fail to move me (this song especially) and make me just want to dance (or fly, or wallow, or compose deep, deep poetry). If you’ve never really listened to the Indigo Girls I suggest you look them up online and give yourself some time to fall in love. Here’s a quote from the song I played:
“Are you on fire from all the years? What would you give for your kid fears?”
BEAUTIFUL TO ME.
Hey, everyone. I played pianist Jim Gibson’s version of “Ashokan Farewell,” which can only be described as the antithesis of the metal we listened to last time. I like to think of it as the sorbet that cleansed the palate between songs.
Even though the piano version of “Ashokan Farewell” sounds like something you’d hear while buying scented candles and decorative stationary in a cutesy Cape Cod gift shop, it’s still one of my favorite songs, probably because of its mellow, nostalgic, sweeping qualities. It’s a great tune to listen to as you’re drifting off to sleep. . . .
Forgot to post here. I played Carina Round’s “Sit Tight,” which is one of those songs that I periodically listen to on repeat late at night with really good headphones. It reminds me of a lot of people at different times, and I think that’s the beauty of it: “I know you feel alone, those pictures are never going to leave my head/ your tears so heavy, they’re breaking down doors in your head, in your head/ someday you’re going to find her, she will be almost blinded/ by the light so bright you keep inside your heart.” I love how the guitars sound like lonely, creaky doors and the bass really carries the melody until the break in the last minute or so when those discordant, crunchy guitars kick in fully.
I didn’t get the vibe that it went over that well, which shouldn’t really surprise me. It’s easy for me to forget how Carina Round had to grown on me at the beginning. She’s had to grow on virtually everyone I know who likes her, actually, but as long as you’re not de facto averse to the growly lyrics and the guitars on just the other side of discordant, I’d bet anything she’ll grow on you, too.