The Blaze of Changing Leaves…and Midterms

I have loved walking back to my apartment from class the last few days. The leaves are finally changing, obviously the best part of October (yep, even better than Halloween). Some trees kind of burst from green to orange or red, or change in shades of yellow and brown that creep around the whole tree. I have gotten into a bad habit of stopping and taking pictures of trees while I walk. The thing is, the camera phone is a novelty to me. But people don’t like it when you are walking with them and you keep stopping to take pictures of trees. Apparently it’s weird. I successfully managed not do much work this whole week, so this weekend should be fun. At least I can listen to the FABULOUS Sarah Siskind album, Say It Louder, while I read As You Like It. Even a more “commercial” album by her is rich and folksy and original to me. I know I have already ranted about her, so I’ll just name my favorites on the cd: “Falling Stars”, “Say It Louder”, “Getaway Girl”, “Go”, and especially “Conversation with Fear”. Siskind’s voice is soulful and her songs are well crafted. In “Conversation with Fear”, she sings of an inescapable relationship; “I’m the sailor and you are the villain of the sea …You’re the painter and I’m the color that you need”. Check out her myspace page for some of the songs from her album. Another thing to distract me from midterms is re-watching Blade Runner. Firefly isn’t as original as I originally thought. The vision of the fusing of asian and western culture is all over Blade Runner. I forgot how perfect Harrison Ford and Sean Young were. That movie still doesn’t make any sense to me, but its still beautiful. Such is life.

Scottish Bands, Black Rock, and Sarah Siskind

Random post time. I need to stop reading Biochem. The Scottish band The Twilight Sad makes music that is dark, cavernous, and unshakeable. Their latest album title describes their music perfectly; “Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters”. Gotta love how expressive the lead singer sounds with his Scottish accent, clear in ever word he sings. “That Summer, At Home, I Had Become the Invisible Boy” is one of many great tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiODUPPNJyI

We Were Promised Jetpacks has an awesome name and their first single,”Quiet Little Voices” is, in one word, anthemic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZhBAylbN4

Black people make rock music! Way for me to catch up. Many people may have heard of TV on The Radio, but I hadn’t, and loved their song “Wolf Like Me” instantly. This is a horrible description of them, but when I first heard them I thought, wow, its Marvin Gaye’s hipster son. This completely original sounding band deserves a better description. TV on the Radio basically makes great indie music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTy-e6qEWRE

Gotta save the best for last. Sarah Siskind is one of those rare musicians who sounds like their were born to sing. This Nashville singer-songwriter sounds like a full on explosion of pure earthy talent. I discovered her, no surprise, through NPR tiny desk sessions. She looked like a suburban mom with slight bohemian sensibility, but then she started playing of her guitar and this crazy soul/country voice flowed out of her. Her songs sound almost like spirituals of some kind. Listen to “Say it Louder”, “Falling Stars”, and “Lovin’s for Fools”.