Couleurs

Airport Run

Hot, delicious May afternoon air, muggy and reflective, baked off the runway as I made a turn on the long, curving track of asphalt next to the airport, late day runs are always the best, myself, alone with my rhythm on the pavement and the raucous green weeds in the ditches, neat hedgerows and secret houses, speeding pickups and darting birds my only company. Just when I though for once life had distilled into something manageable, I rounded the blind spot under tall White Pines and there you were, smiling, running towards me, I suppose I knew you were going for a run as well, we live together, work together, eat together, for the moment at least, or perhaps that was just my memory of the future. Now that I recall a bit, we set off together, you laughed when I said I'd wait for you, go at your pace, I smiled and took off at a fast enough clip to escape society, 40 minutes ago seems like decades, when your caught up in a run. So we passed each other now, you laughed and gave me a swift smack on the butt as we crossed path's, I stiffened a bit with happiness and surprise, I don't love you, but I like you, I wanted to so much to be friends, like spring wants to be summer, but, like summer wants to be fall, things change without reason nor warning, and I'll probably never see you again.

We shared a warmth of friendship without pretense, without expectations, without awkwardness, that I long for so much these days. Last I heard your roaming the jungles of Central America, sounds like a made up half dream for a suburban Connecticut girl, but you did it, and god dammit if I'm not a little bit jealous. I'm tired of school, tired of restraining my true craziness to fit this urban wilderness, I want to run out to the airport again with no watch or destination; remember when we ran barefoot out to the point, stripped down naked and slipped on slick green seaweed into the gaping gray maw of the sea? The water was fucking freezing and I wish I could feel that alive every day, eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm, tired, run when I'm energetic, swim when I'm uncertain. Uncertain about the past, the present and the future, I miss the farm, planting something with my hands and being damn tired enough at the end of the day. my hands too calloused and rough to caress the problems of the world.

Out there on 485 acres of Maine coastline, I felt like those aboriginals you read about in middle school in National Geographic who have no other words to describe themselves with expect as "the people", you know, I feel so blessed, but also so hollow, I'm tired of being optimistic about mediocrity, enthusiastic about routine, ambivalent about chaos. I want to embrace uncertainty like it's the only thing that matters, like going sailing with Jacob, laughing as we dragged the little sloop up some muddy tidal stream with the current ripping at 10 knots lout in the channel, riptide in the July afternoon sun, 5 bajillion tacks to make it back to the harbor, upwind and upcurrent, seem like much of of life these days. We let the wind steer our ambition nowhere in particular, just forward, talked about school, politics, girls, life. Your so certain, just a kid but steady and kind, I know that just by your smile.

I like giving you a hard time because I know you can kick it right back at me, I lean way out over the rails as the boat heels hard in an afternoon gust, salt spray licks the edge of my week-old stubble and sea foam whips up swirling eddies in our wake. I chide you a bit about all the girls who checked you out at our recent sailing meet at the girls camp up the coast, but I hesitate as I see your normally bulletproof confidence waver, you say your not sure your really into those girls, I want to tell you its ok, I know what that feels like. We bring the bow around on a sharp windward jive and soon we are hauling ass, flying back into the cove, the boat shudders and lurches with momentum and soon we are stumbling up the landing to the boathouse, weather-beaten sails in hand, drunk on the possibility of nothing and everything being OK in the end.

Best Of..... opinionated speculation.

Here's an informal idea I had a while back at making up a few lists of "Best Of the 2000-2010" music. By no means accurate, all-inclusive, or even that well researched, but here goes:

Best Beat Makers/Producers: [Hip hop and R&B]:

9th Wonder, Jay Dilla, Dr. Who Dat? [Jneiro Jarel], Moka Only, Flying Lotus, Shingo Suzuki.

Best of the "New-Wave" Electronica Scene:

Neon Neon, Chromeo, Calvin Harris, The Ones, A Touch Of Class Records, DFA Records.

Best of French Electronica Scene:

M83, Justice, Surkin, Para One, Strip Steve, Institubes Records, Ed Banger Records.

Best of French "New Wave" Electronica Scene:

Valerie, College, Anoraak, Tesla Boy [OK, I think they are Russian, but I'm lumping them in this category because their sound is so similar], Digikid84, FutureCop! [English, but same reasons for including them as above].

Best of Australian "New Wave" Electronica Scene:

Cut Copy, Grafton Primary, Theater of Disco, The Presets, Sam Sparro.

Best of Australian Tech-House Scene:

Shazam, Bang Gang Records, Cassian, Bag Raiders.

Hip Hop:

Erykah Badu, Ohmega Watts, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, J-Live, People Under The Stairs, Moka Only, Jay Dilla/Jaylib, Gangstarr, Hieroglyphics, K-OS, The Notorious B.I.G, Kanye West [Late Registration and College Dropout], Zion-I. Sure I'm forgetting lot's here!!

Scandinavian Indie Electronica [how's that for a category!]:

The Knife, Kleerup, Miike Snow, Royksopp, Skatebaard, Air France.

Dirty/Glitchy Beats/Breakbeat Producers:

Flying Lotus, Onra, Jay Dilla, Moka Only, Mike Slott, Alex Metric, Hudson Mohawke, Dam- Funk, All City Dublin Records, Warp Records.

Downtempo/World/Ambient Electronica:

Thievery Corporation, Massive Attack, Amon Tobin, Kuba.

Tech-House/Electronica Remixers:

DJ Classixx, Treasure Fingers, Kill The Noise, Van She, The Twelves, Alex Metric, VHS or BETA.

I was reading an article on NPR today about Baltimore-based experimental electronica musician Dan Deacon and he had the following comment which I thought merited a little discussion:

""I just wanted to make a record that wasn't escapism," he says. "Like, I didn't want to write another record that was devoid of meaningful content. I feel like there's a lot of that going around, especially within dance music — a lot of it is just, you know, music that's written exclusively for abandoning reality in an altered state of mind. And I think an altered state of mind is very important, but in a responsible sense."

Exactly. I'm so tired of people over-analyzing dance music. It is meant to be a unique and open experience for the listener, and it's not so much about the meaning or lack of meaning in the lyrics, or some subtle, arcane aspect of the production as it is about how it makes you move/feel. So much great dance music is actually quite complex, which is what makes it great, and different from much of what I think the general public considers "dance", ie boring and repetitive computer-generated breakbeats and synth progressions that go nowhere. The cheesy, guido-inducing "big house" production of DJ's like Guetta or Armin Van Buren might fill shows at strove-lighted mega clubs, but they do little to pique the interest of the more experienced and discerning listener. Take Scottish producer Mylo, for example. His 04' record "Destroy Rock And Roll" is one of the better recent dance albums out there, along with Calvin Harris' debut album "I Created Disco." Are they experimental opus's of creative bliss? Certainly not. In fact, i'd say my only real criticism of them is that they can be a little too formulaic at times. However, this works perfectly for the sounds and quality they are looking to achieve, and if their music doesn't want to make you dance, you probably have some impaired motor skills or something.

Just like prodigal beat maker J Dilla catalyzed the underground hip hop scene with his beats, these artists have electrified the modern dance scene into something both light and deeply consequential. Most importantly, they manage to produce music that is catchy without being cheesy or over-produced, fluid without being boring, funky without being weird. This is sort of like the people who try and tell me Animal Collective is "accessible and danceable." With the exception of a few tracks like "My Girls", which differ significantly in beat structure and style from most of their work, their music is NOT what I would call danceable or accessible. This is not to say it is insignificant. Far from it, its like if the creative improvisation ability of Phish or Widespread discovered synth's and trippy vocal effects. What I m saying is that while successful modern dance like 'The Ones', Calvin Harris, or Mylo might be somewhat formulaic, their sound is undeniably catchy and fresh, which, in my opinion, are the only things that really matter in dance music.