I adore my life here in Germany. No two ways about it. That said, while my mom has been visiting recently (hi mom!), Iām of course reminded of those I left behind across the sea. Iāve been thinking a lot lately about those connections and relationships.
Not lovey dovey, husbandy-wifey-letās make babies relations. While such permanent couplings are beautiful and I am lucky to have that one, perfect person in my life, Iām talking about something completely different. Friendshipsā¦platonic ones…important ones. Those we have, those we have yet to fully explore and those which havenāt yet crawled out from their peaceful slumber. Crouched in waiting, these associations prey on humans who finally realize āI might be mistaken, but I think we have something here. This person is worth some time.ā Itās been my experience over the last 20+ years that music is often the #1 catalytic ingredient (sense of humor being a close second) that encourages these friendships to warm, swirl and bubble, and sometimes reanimate from a towering pile of dormant years of not being in touch.
Pop culture, media and music especially, transcends gender and geography to the point of saturating everything and everyone within its interminable reach with indelible catchiness and memories. It connects all of us. Allow me to illustrate; music itās not, but I think itāll inject some truth into what Iām rambling on about:
Continue reading Think I’ll go for a walk outside now →
Summer. Though a friend of mine recently wrote a novella on Facebook about how it doesnāt exist in Germany, it seems to be warming up more and more here as June rolls by. Moreover, the sun doesnāt set until nearly 10, extending my waking hours far past midnight, usually. Weāre even going swimming this weekend. At any rate, itās warm. And not that DC/NYC hot, including but not limited to: swamp-ass, profuse sweating while standing still and sticky people perspiring on you while commuting on the public transport (because that, friends, has happened to me more than once in my lifetime). No, in Munich, for now, things are hot, but not humid, breezy and just pleasant. Perfect weather for some electropop.
Surprised? You shouldnāt be. I have time and time again written about more than a handful of musical genres. Of course, shoegaze and lo-fi bands happen to pluck my strings the most and are what I hope people associate me with. When the weather is the way itās been for the last few days, however, I prefer something a little less prone to drive my thoughts inward, feeding not my introverted side, but the more unreserved Abby. Bright, synthesizer-laden music does the trick.
Continue reading [Abby’s Road] Music for Girls →
Earworms. We all get them. Usually itās a bad track someone unknowingly burrows into our head, unbeknownst to us. Then, as innocently as it happens, an hour after the crime is committed we find ourselves humming a ridiculous song by Lionel Richie.
More joyous, however, are the rare instances when we hear a […]
We, as music lovers and collectors, are blessed and cursed I think. Hereās the scoop: we have at our fingertips a seemingly endless supply of emotional stimulants and downers. If elated one can crank up a particularly smasheverythinganddance record to conjure up even more jubilation; if supremely sad, the leveling quiet of, say, post rock or classical scores can calm frayed nerves. For most of us, music is never ever just background noise. For me, for sure.
Continue reading [Abby’s Road] The Happiest Melancholia →
A few weeks ago I was a part of a think tank (ha) of friendly, music nerd types who also fall under the āhoping to be parents in the near futureā category. As we gathered around a table brimming with cocktails, the conversation lingered to our parents and their musical tastes. Moms […]
So. SOā¦
I am kind of at a loss for words this week. You see, I am taking this Integration Course required by good olā Deutschland for all auslanders. I am kind of up to my ears in Nominative and Dative cases, sentence structure and all of the amazing stuff that makes […]
So I write stuff. And some people read it. I think. Ordinarily I wouldnāt care, but sometimes a little self-doubt trickles into my coffee cup (*sad trombone*), I wonder whether or not people āget meā and (I) feel the need to explain myself. Hereās the skinny: there are more than a few records I love so damn much it hurts. At times the compulsion to gush about them is overwhelming. Itās like I have to because thereās a slight possibility of a naĆÆve, 18-year-old me somewhere on this big blue marble stumbling over my suggestion one day and having a wherehasthisalbumbeenallmylife? moment. Hear me out.
There is nothing -nothing- like listening to an amazing record for the first time, even if it is a decade old. I want to share that feeling. Sometimes old is boring, that canāt be denied. A lot of the time, however, the opposite holds true, whether we like to admit it or not; musically, listening to an āoldieā is often like holding a mirror up to the edgy here and now. Thatās all. Now, on with the show.
Continue reading [Abby’s Road] Disclaimer →
So, I might be a day late in blowing the trumpet (I have a Friday column, damnit) but this is it.Ā According to My Bloody Valentine, the long-awaited reissues of Isnāt Anything and LovelessĀ will be released this May. To paraphrase something a friend of mine said earlier today, I guess pigs do fly. While […]
I love Saturdays. Saturday mornings especially. No husbandly iPhone alarm blaring, slow to rise, leisurely grazing on fatty brunch food and celebrity guest DJ hour on my favorite local radio station. I find it fascinating to hear what makes an artist tick and how often the music selected seems to be in total contradiction to what they themselves produce. Last Saturday I was disgusted and excited to find that everyoneās favorite Frenchies, Justice, were spinning the wax fantastic. Intrigued, I settled in.
First, a little background. When I first heard the D.A.N.C.E single several years ago I was hooked. The genius video drove the point home that these dudes were on top their game. Shortly thereafter I watched āA Cross the Universeā and all the love I had turned into disappointing crippling intestinal pain and nausea. What a-holes.
Nevertheless, I reserve the right to have a love/hate (imaginary) relationship with both AugĆ© and de Rosnay, my emotions dependent upon their future records and public behavior. With the release of Audio, Video, Disco late last year I, once again, wear a crown of hearts and bluebirds for the bastards. At first listen I was elated as I proclaimed it āELO-ishā. But would the DJing escapade ruin them in my eyes yet again?
No fucking chance. They were brilliant.
Continue reading [Abby’s Road] Unjust Conclusions →
I am at a crossroads. When life lobs lemons and apples and rotten tomatoes at your melon, sometimes youāre so preoccupied itās impossible to make anything out of it other than a big, rancid box of mashed fruits and vegetables. It can be exhausting attempting to be fresh and new and, moreover, on […]
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