[Abby’s Road] Like Fire

abbybeingcool

We are overrated – we humans, I think. While there is a propensity for kindness and love and the pleasant, gentle touches of friends, we are also noisy and hateful and we abuse each other and the land that breeds the means to our own good health and well being. Perhaps this is the reason behind only allowing a handful of folks into my life, as far as friendships are concerned. I have a hunger for closeness and platonic intimacy, obviously, as I have friends (new ones, even), yet seeing my own faults reflected in the actions of others is uncomfortable and depressing and therefore avoided a lot of the time. I have issues, you say? Well, of course I do. Fucking hell. So do you. So there.

Music is an escape. Sometimes a song can be so good it seems to have been created in an otherworldly musical Petri dish by ghostly hands unattached to a mere mortal. But alas, the rhythms blanketing one’s solitary existence are made by people. Though it would be magnificent to witness, the strings aren’t plucking themselves. The human element can lead to disappointment, not so much in the music as in the person behind it, often changing the way a song is heard and perceived. For example: will I continue to listen to Sonic Youth on occasion? Of course I will. That said, will I ever be able to listen to “Silver Rocket” again without thinking Thurston Moore is a complete asshole for shacking up and leading a double life with some young groupie bird who ultimately severed the matrimony of one of rock and roll’s great duos? Nope. We all make mistakes and he killed the awesome.

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[Abby’s Road] Love Songs on the Radio

I don’t have a song; the single song I associate my #1 relationship with or one that quintessentially harnesses my youth in 3 minutes or less for that matter. I was having coffee with a friend the other day and the conversation somehow wound around to her and her husband’s “Song.” Eh?? What’s […]

[Abby’s Road] And on the seventh day…

So, I might be a day late in blowing the trumpet (I have a Friday column, damnit) but this is it. According to My Bloody Valentine, the long-awaited reissues of Isn’t Anything and Loveless will be released this May. To paraphrase something a friend of mine said earlier today, I guess pigs do fly. While […]

[Abby’s Road] I Got You Covered

We’ve all been there: a friend suggests meeting up at a bar or restaurant before moving on to a show; a place you’ve never visited before. My most recent example of this was an Irish pub here in Munich. Such places aren’t usually chosen for the music, but for their drink or fattening […]

[Abby’s Road] Crisis Devices

You know how life creeps up and slaps us around once in a while? Just when we think all is going along swimmingly; nothing monumental happening, nothing precariously bad or particularly good, everything just humming along status quo? Whether it’s good or bad, I am at my most comfortable at these moments. Then, like an anvil born in the wing of a roadrunner, shit flies and hits us square in the head: drama. As adults: job loss, the death of a loved one, long time confidant has to move to the opposite side of the country, bad diagnosis from the doctor. BIG issues. The un-pleasantries of life.

While we are taught from a young age to deal with trying situations optimistically and with an informed, level head (“Breathe…take a breath. See it’s not so bad, it’s just a skinned knee…”), sometimes we lose it, and for good reason. When the broken is picked up and the tears and profanities of sadness or anger are wiped away, one is left to deal with the everyday goings on. The constant “how are you doing?” and work and school make some kind of self-medication essential, spiritual or physical – or both. Along with those in tablet form, hiding under the covers of music has been the choice of mine throughout the years.

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[Abby’s Road] Extra Track (and a tacky badge)

Reissues and boxed sets. If you’ve been paying any attention to industry news, the world is being completely inundated with them as of late. With the recent 20th birthdays of two of my all-time favorite records by *Primal Scream and Ride it is hard to avoid them. There is one stand out this […]

[Abby’s Road] “Pure Blood Will Kill You”

Well, not YOU you, but some people. Give me a moment to set this up.

The last two weeks involved our hanging out with some new friends, a(nother) American/German couple. The expat half of the partnership and I, obviously, had loads in common at the get go. First and foremost, we both left […]

[Abby’s Road] From the Ridiculous to a Little Less Ridiculous II

Or: Films I took Seriously Back in the Day – a new AR series. See the first installment here.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: 1990. The year I began what my father would later refer to as my “smoking career” and G.H.W. Bush was in the […]

[Abby’s Road] From the Ridiculous to a Little Less Ridiculous

Or: Films I took Seriously Back in the Day – a new AR series.

Firstly, excuse me for not showing up two weeks ago. My brain wasn’t allowing me to write. It happens.

This year marks my 20th year out of high school. While I’m not celebrating it per se, I am thankful […]

[Abby’s Road] You Say Rolls I Say Royce

Munich. I am realizing it is a giant village with a superb international art and music scene rather than a bustling city…and I love it. It was tough adjusting to my new home at first; still is on some days. My lowest moments find me longing for family and friends in the States […]