We're super busy today, but I am pleased to report that my computer should be working again (I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say for sure), so we should be back to posting fancy remixes and advance tracks and the like any day now. Hooray!
My mom sent this to me the other day, she found it on El Chuco, a blog that features street art in my hometown of El Paso -- it's Marty Robbins performing "El Paso." And below that, another El Paso namecheck song from Ghost Mice that's a little more recent in vintage. And the subject matter -- the arduous 11-hour drive from Austin to El Paso (yes, you're still in the same state!), is a subject near and dear to my heart.
Ghost Mice -- Austin to El Paso
And one more for good measure, the squalling, melancholic wonderfulness of Young People...
Young People -- El Paso
In other news, I'm spending a lot of quality time with the new Jeremy Enigk solo record, World's End, and I want to make sure I've really fully digested it before I go writing about it. I will say for now that I think it may be one of the best records I've heard this year. It's quite the restorative tonic for the growning pains and angst of a 30-something indie kid. *ahem* And, there's a pipe organ, so. The album starts strong with the soaring, epic tear-jerker "Been Here Before" -- and just gets better. It's strong and sophisticated and full of interesting twists and turns -- and kind of puts the Colin Meloys and the Ben Gibbards of the world, with their flimsy sensitivity and tenuous musicality (and reedy, mumbly tenor voices), right in their place. Enigk, we all might recall, did the whole 'sensitive, dense songwriting wrapped in syncopated, fuzzy guitars and a punky rhythm section' thing first and best in Sunny Day Real Estate. You know, the band that spawned a thousand knock-offs and that somehow, and I'm not really sure how this happened, led to bands like My Chemical Romance labeled as 'emo' (shouldn't that be uh, 'glammo'?) and the stereotype of the sullen, sniveling indie kid. Oh well, I digress. We, and I mean we who were there, back in the day (sorry to get all James Murphy on you...) have grown up (sort of...), and so has Mr. Enigk. My only real complaint with World's End is that it's only 36 minutes long or so -- I could have done with another 4 songs...
Jeremy Enigk -- Been Here Before
Jeremy Enigk -- Return of the Frog Queen (repost, an old fave.)
Sunny Day Real Estate -- In Circles (oh! the nostalgia!)
My mom sent this to me the other day, she found it on El Chuco, a blog that features street art in my hometown of El Paso -- it's Marty Robbins performing "El Paso." And below that, another El Paso namecheck song from Ghost Mice that's a little more recent in vintage. And the subject matter -- the arduous 11-hour drive from Austin to El Paso (yes, you're still in the same state!), is a subject near and dear to my heart.
Ghost Mice -- Austin to El Paso
And one more for good measure, the squalling, melancholic wonderfulness of Young People...
Young People -- El Paso
In other news, I'm spending a lot of quality time with the new Jeremy Enigk solo record, World's End, and I want to make sure I've really fully digested it before I go writing about it. I will say for now that I think it may be one of the best records I've heard this year. It's quite the restorative tonic for the growning pains and angst of a 30-something indie kid. *ahem* And, there's a pipe organ, so. The album starts strong with the soaring, epic tear-jerker "Been Here Before" -- and just gets better. It's strong and sophisticated and full of interesting twists and turns -- and kind of puts the Colin Meloys and the Ben Gibbards of the world, with their flimsy sensitivity and tenuous musicality (and reedy, mumbly tenor voices), right in their place. Enigk, we all might recall, did the whole 'sensitive, dense songwriting wrapped in syncopated, fuzzy guitars and a punky rhythm section' thing first and best in Sunny Day Real Estate. You know, the band that spawned a thousand knock-offs and that somehow, and I'm not really sure how this happened, led to bands like My Chemical Romance labeled as 'emo' (shouldn't that be uh, 'glammo'?) and the stereotype of the sullen, sniveling indie kid. Oh well, I digress. We, and I mean we who were there, back in the day (sorry to get all James Murphy on you...) have grown up (sort of...), and so has Mr. Enigk. My only real complaint with World's End is that it's only 36 minutes long or so -- I could have done with another 4 songs...
Jeremy Enigk -- Been Here Before
Jeremy Enigk -- Return of the Frog Queen (repost, an old fave.)
Sunny Day Real Estate -- In Circles (oh! the nostalgia!)
posted by cindy hotpoint at 4:32:00 PM
4 Comments:
there are few location related times that i've ever been unhappier than in the brief period when i lived in london. my neighbor at the time was from oklahoma. (an oklahomo and a texan next door to each other in a building in england, who knew?) he incessantly listed to mixtapes that his girlfriend (presumably back in oklahoma) would send to him. one popular tape ended with "el paso." just about the time i hit bottom and almost went home with an extremely expensive ticketing change, i heard marty robbins singing about falling in love with a mexican girl. "el paso" was always special to me, but it became something more that day. i stopped being embarrassed about being from texas. it took me twelve more years to own it like i do now.
small town texas sons and daughters. i really want to see our NYC homeboys and girls.
They are well and truly missed, yes.
There's something really special, I think, to be able to say one is from the far-flung corners Texas. I do get sick of people saying, re: my accent: "You don't sound like you're from Texas," when I clearly do. I sound like I'm from Far West Texas! (;
Jeremy Enigk has been one of my heroes for like 12 years now...and I'm loving that he's still putting out quality stuff. 16 year old me loved Sunny Day's passion and guitars, 28 year old me loves Enigk's maturity, passion, and heart.
Glad you're enjoying it too.
That Ghost Mice song hits *really* close to home for me. I love it! I've done that drive numerous times. Thanks for posting it.
Post a Comment
<< Home