the crush crush crush is so comforting now

dear friends,

after an evening watching likable guys who seem to have tourette's hoot & holler on american idol and typing up one woman's incredibly articulate & lengthy suicide note (I'll explain soon,) I really couldn't, couldn't, WAIT to go see the duke spirit tonight at the hook. because when I feel like ass on a stick, I need music goddammit! of course, respite never comes that easy, does it? two words: show cancelled. two more words: visa problems. AH!

anyway, I need to feel better than this. to the rescue...

1. I owned a grubby copy of treasure by the cocteau twins in high school. it was given to me by an older, wiser friend who told me it was the best bathtub music in town*. I played it over & over again. to me, it was the sound of a bedsitter with a drum machine & some guitar effects pedals who had gotten his cigarette stained fingers on a mermaid, trapped her in a large tank in his living room & was making her sing for her mackerels. her songs? in mermaid, of course! girl never learned no human speak! instead you got high trilling, swooping & soaring elegies in a babbling, burbling language of the seas. which meant that if you wanted to sing along, you had to approximate the sounds. which usually went something like this: "ish mish meow, ish mish meeee, ish pish pow, inna meepy mah!" that didn't bother me at all since it was no different than hearing & learning american songs on the radio when I was a kid. it all amounts to "I don't know what you're saying, but it sure sounds great" & that's all one needs really.

of course, elizabeth fraser of the cocteau twins is no mythical sea denizen. for one, she's got legs. also, I eventually found out by perusing Q magazine or something, that she's scottish & speaks actual english. still, hearing her sing in a recognizable language is much like seeing thurston moore play money with the backbeat band. this weird feeling of dislocation, like, they can do normal? crazy!

for something magical & soothing, go find her cover of chic's (by way of the magnificent robert wyatt - discussed previously here) at last I am free for rough trade's covers compilation stop me if you think that you've heard this one before. her vocals on this are so gentle & fucking PERFECT, I just want to purr & rub my face with a swatch of velvet. her soprano is a wondrous thing; it never hits the ear in piercing way. instead her soft tone works like a whispering kiss, one that you wish would stay. listen to this song & picture yourself in the water & imagine what you'd most like to see. it will be beautiful.

2. speaking of the disconnect & of the happy, the monkey & I were watching new york noise, which is a video show on channel 25 that caters to the local & the indie. it was a bizarre episode because in between the videos, there was this continous spoof? take-off? something? on blind date & it starred a fetching young lady named nicole atkins from nicole atkins and the sea out on the town with the singer/guitarist of the cloud room.

the singer/guitarist? the man has a name, d. I know he does, but I don't want to know it. seriously, I was alarmed to see he existed & was just some regular guy because the cloud room's hey now now was one of my absolute favorite songs of '05 & as far as I was concerned, the tune had been written & put together by anonymous christmas elves. no foolin', hey now now provided the soundtrack to many a walk to the store, a commute, dinner & impromptu solid gold dance from the moment I heard it. it's got a quick, rolling chime hook that all but carries you & this charmingly run on, almost breathless commentary that works like a balm. that song made me feel accompanied in a way I can't explain. it sounds like an inner voice that doesn't berate but pulls you along in a "you can do it!" way that's practical & reassuring but not sappy. so you can imagine, I felt perturbed looking at this poor guy on his blind date, eating pizza (at my local pizza shop!), singing don't you want me baby? at karaoke! & there was a video for the song! with the rest of the band! other normal looking guys! disturbing! so yeah, I can't learn his name, I'm sorry. I want to love those types of songs as mine & mine alone & take the makers out of picture entirely. because hey, I am a little bit touched.

this doesn't mean YOU have to be totally insane 'cause if they're playing anywhere near you anytime soon, you should go see them. also, if you haven't checked out the cloud room, you really should STAT. their self-titled album is full of catchy pop with bits of surprising beauty tucked in its edges.

love, d

songs to seek: at last I am free/elizabeth fraser, hey now now/the cloud room

albums to seek: treasure/the cocteau twins, the cloud room/the cloud room

* my home at the time had a giant tub. it was also my preferred listening station.