We interrupt our regularly scheduled wordiness to bring you this: Read More
ByGD
Pollyblog: Sudden Weather Change
Pollyblog: 1. When you don’t want to say too much, but 140 characters just won’t cover it. 2. Good ideas that haven’t got their legs yet.
My first experience with Sudden Weather Change was at the Reykjavík Calling show that KEXP put on at Neumo’s in October. The show featured Ásgeir Trausti, Sudden Weather Change, and Apparat Organ Quartet from Iceland; and Redwood Plan from Seattle. There was also this cool thing where the Icelandic bands worked with local writers and the Seattle band worked with an Icelandic writer to create new music for the show, but describing that would turn this into a proper post instead of a pollyblog.
I use this picture a lot.
Sudden Weather Change lived up to their name with music that shifted from abrasive punk to melodic indie so suddenly that sometimes they were actually doing both at once. It was angular and unexpected and awesome and I couldn’t wait to see them again at Airwaves a couple weeks later. Except somehow, I didn’t, and Sudden Weather Change became one of the ones who got away.
Eureka!
Recently, I discovered this gem on KEXP, and got a Eureka! moment when I heard that the band’s first album was straight up garage rock. They weren’t satisfied with it, so they started working to develop a new sound with a producer – Ben Frost at Greenhouse Studios.
Greenhouse Studios
I visited Greenhouse Studios to interview Bedroom Community co-founder Valgeir Sigurðsson when I was in Reykjavík. Preparing for the interview, I had listened to music from each of the label’s major members, which is how I became acquainted with Ben Frost. All of the Bedroom Community folks do experimental, primarily electronic music, but each has a different take on the fundamental concept. Frost has a more industrial aesthetic, which makes him more accessible to me than some of the other members of the community.
E = mc2
Garage band + Ben Frost = Sudden Weather Change
Simple equations that tell great stories.
{2018 Update: Sudden Weather Change, like most of the bands listed on this page, have since split up. You can hear some of their members in Oyama.}
ByGD
In Which the Wind Alters My Plans and Solstafir Changes My Life
Planning emergency repairs
On Friday of Airwaves, I spent some time writing in the morning, where I overheard others in the hostel reworking their plans because all of the tourist excursions had been cancelled due to heavy winds. I ventured out to the media center and find out whether the press tour to Sigur Rós’ recording studio and Halldor Laxness’ house had also been cancelled. The walk that took ten minutes when I picked up my wristband earlier in the week took nearly half an hour this morning. This was partly due to struggling against the wind, and partly due to blocks of Laugavegur being closed while emergency crews cleaned up damage from the pieces of metal roofing and siding that had blown off buildings along the high street. Read More
ByGD
KEXP Powers Me
I confess to a contrarian streak. If someone (especially an authority figure) tells me to do something, I will do the opposite. If everyone says to do something, you can be sure I won’t. This is particularly true in subjective matters. For example, I cannot bring myself to read the Da Vinci Code or watch Jurassic Park. When bands that I like finally hit it big, I unconsciously stop listening to them. Years of yoga practice and introspection have revealed this tendency to me, and I have worked hard to resist it. I try to evaluate books and music based on their objective merits and my own taste.
If my emotional maturity were insufficient to quell the knee-jerk reaction against the sway of public opinion, one would hope that hard experience would teach me to overcome this contrary tendency. After scoffing at the hubbub surrounding a children’s fantasy novel, I read Harry Potter link and was instantly converted to a Rowling fan. After rolling my eyes at the slavish praise heaped on Snow Patrol link, I received a pair of free tickets and found myself in tears at their show in support of Eyes Open. But did I learn? No.
I have ignored the buzz surrounding local artists Fleet Foxes for years. Finally, I checked out the latest album from these KEXP link darlings, and needless to say, I was floored. Then I watched the video for “The Shrine/ An Argument.” Not since Radiohead’s Kid A have I had this feeling of stumbling on something wondrous and new.
The Shrine / An Argument from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo.
At last, I have learned my lesson. Although my determined anti-cool stance has saved me from many a one-hit wonder and manufactured ingénue in the past, the cost is too high. By ignoring the recommendations of KEXP’s noble DJs, I have missed out on years of Fleet Foxes. Who knows what other music I have overlooked simply because it came with critical acclaim? From now on, I will follow the middle path between pop culture cynic and mindless consumer.
From now on, I will listen to my betters. Since my undergraduate days listening to KCMU, our local noncommercial radio station where the music matters has never let me down. Ok, so they have rarely scheduled the shows I like most during the hours I can listen to radio, but in these days of podcasts and streaming archives, that is a petty complaint. The DJs at KEXP know of which they speak, and I will trust them. Cheryl Waters, John Richards, Kevin Cole and all the rest of y’all – thank you. Thank you for Fleet Foxes. Thank you for all the bands I have ‘discovered’ since 1992 while listening to your programs. I will listen more consistently, more carefully and more respectfully in the future.
Music provides a soundtrack to my memories. The right music at the right time can open me up to new ideas, emotions and experiences. At times, it provides an emotional anchor, or act as a spark plug to ignite strength and energy when I can’t seem to generate it myself. And that music, as often as not, comes from KEXP. In a sense, KEXP powers me.
And with the first paycheck of 2012, I promise that I, too, will power KEXP.