Every time you close your eyes

A week ago I would have said I didn't much care for the Arcade Fire, a bunch of weirdos from Canada (the cool country North of Mordor). Things can really change in a week. I can't get enough of them now. Today. I've been playing two of their songs over and over again. They're passionate and uplifting, despite a tragic core to their lyrics. Their album is rather aptly named Funeral.

~

My grandfather's funeral was today. He passed away yesterday. He was almost 90. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. His only wartime injuries came from a car accident nowhere near the front, during the Chinese Aggresion. A major came to the church and gave him a smart salute, I'm told. I couldn't attend - exams. Funny, my dad called up a week ago saying that my grandad (his father) had managed to drive the car , much to the consternation of my grandmother. He lead a good long life, and was a good man. I liked him. I'll miss him. Especially the next time I go to Trivandrum.

~

I've been sleeping excessively. Then I heard Rebellion (Lies), which has the mysterious lines:

Sleeping is giving in,
no matter what the time is.
Sleeping is giving in,
so lift those heavy eyelids.
...
Every time you close your eyes
Lies, lies!



So I must be wakeful.

Do check out the rest of the lyrics to this song: [ lyrics]

Note: There is no connection - lyrical or musical - between these songs and my grandfather.

The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) [mp3]

The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) [mp3]

I Hate Myself for Hating Them

I've fallen in love with the Strokes' music. It was a slow process, but it happened. I read a fan somewhere saying that she could listen to these guys sing the phone book. I've very nearly at that stage. This band cuts right throught me right now, with Julian Casablancas' voice speaking to the grittiest corners of my soul. The guitars swirl and collide like a psychedelic traffic jam. The words ooze out like molasses, and I am engulfed. And surprisingly, I get the lyrics.

Here's a sample:

from Ask Me Anything

I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to give
Got no reason to live
But I will fight to survive
I've got nothing to hide
Wish I wasn't so shy

I'd like to watch
I'd like to read
I'd like a part
I'd like the lead

But
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to say
I've got nothing to give
Got no reason to live
But I'll kill to survive
I've got nothing to hide
Wish I wasn't so shy

from On The Other Side

I'm tired of everyone I know
Of everyone I see
On the street
And on TV, yeah

On the other side
On the other side
Nobody's waiting for me
On the other side

I hate them all, I hate them all
I hate myself
For hating them
So drink some more
I'll love them all
I'll drink even more
I'll hate them even more than I did before

Don't ask me why I relate to these lyrics. I just do.

Cheers!

The Strokes - Ask Me Anything [mp3]

The Strokes - On The Other Side [mp3]

The Strokes - Fear of Sleep [mp3]

Poprocks #1

Hubris! To mislead people into thinking that I am a hardcore Rocker. A Serious Music Listener. A Purist. An Aficionado of the High Culture. All hubris.

I'm a pop person. Poppity pop pop pop. With the hummable tunes and the toe-tap taalam.

It's just that pop has been pretty bad for the past decade or so. But in the 60's 70's and 80's, it was rather nice, wasn't it? The songs you hear on the radio, on a mixtape, at a school dance. They give you that warm fuzzy embarrassed-yet-pleased feeling.

Therefore, for the edification of family, friends and sundry, I shall do a regular series of posts on the bubblegummy sidewalk of Popular Culture. I have quite a collection of songs from artists I "ought not to like", one-hit-wonders and so on. These I shall proceed to share.

[For the anti-MTV and classics-only types: fear not. I shall continue to intersperse these posts with selections from my ever-expading Rock Pantheon.]

This collection is from a folder on my hard disk I've named The Ash Mix. My cousin Asher has the best collection of 80's and 90's (and 00's) pop I have ever seen, and I wrote a CD chocfull of tunes from said treasurechest.

White Town - Your Woman [mp3]

Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's [mp3]

Men at Work - Down Under [mp3]

Presidents of the USA - Lump [mp3]

En Vogue - Free Your Mind [mp3]

Jewel - Who Will Save Your Soul? [mp3]

Sneaker Pimps - Six Underground [mp3]

Too Old to Rock and Roll

Not me. Ian Anderson. Don't get me wrong. I am one of those sorts who actually likes Jethro Tull - all the fruity folksiness, the flutes, the flitteriness, and the fine, inspired music.

We in India may be a part of a booming economy, and our wish of being mentioned in the same breath as China (rather that Pakistan), appears to be coming true. But one thing that hasn't been Bangalored is rock and roll. Live acts from Westernesse.

Live acts under half a century old, that is.

So I went for the Tull show.

A word of advice for my anglophone compatriots: I suggest you stick to Slayer T-shirted Iron Maiden-loving Madras-ites. At least they have verve. Avoid moldy old hippies attempting to prance around.

Mr Anderson (no Matrix jokes please, I've just eaten) did that raised-leg-Krishna-playing-the-flute routine. Several times. I was expecting him to. But what I was not expecting was an out-of-breath flautist gasping out his beautiful lyrics. (And the prancing, did I mention the prancing...)



To be fair to memory and history, I'm posting a few Tull tracks, to remind everyone that this was a unique phenomenon in popular music, in almost every way possible - the dense lyrics, the horses hags and hobgoblins - you know. They also recorded one of my all-time favourite songs: Skating Away (On The Thin Ice of a New Day). Jethro Tull is one of a select group of bands that I took a while to get into, even though everyone else picked them up quite quickly. This list features Radiohead, Dave Matthews Band, Grateful Dead - all acquired tastes. And somehow, they are among my most cherished acquisitions, from the days before playlists.

Well, do you ever get the feeling that the story’s
Too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody’s on the stage, and it seems like
You’re the only person sitting in the audience?

Skating away on the thin ice of the new day.

Some picks from the Minstrel's finest:

Skating Away (On The Thin Ice of a New Day) [mp3]

Locomotive Breath [mp3]

Thick as a Brick (Edit #1) [mp3]