"Joyful, gooey, and personal," is how Caroline Polachek describes Chairlift's new record Moth, and I think those three words basically sum up this song.
The joyful part is pretty obvious - the beat just goes. The personal part is Caroline's voice imploring, “Close enough to you, I can't get, close enough, close enough." I'm think the gooey thing is that I can't get it out of my head. Maybe I'm pushing this too far?
I was about to chalk up 2015 as a lost year for music, until Kate Miss released her 2015 "Best of" music playlist. Yess!! It's amazing. This song is stuck in my head most of the time, the harmonies are so pretty. This lyric is also particularly sweet: "Tell me now what do I have to do to make you hold my hand."
It was said in the YouTube comments, but Aurora is a mini-Sia. Maybe a mini-Sia crossed with Robyn, since Aurora is a 19-year-old Norwegian blonde? Anyway, she is so cute and charming in this NPR Tiny Desk concert, asking the audience if it's ok if she sings loudly. What she really sounds like in this song is a new incarnation of First Aid Kit.
It's been so long since I've written here. I couldn't even remember my password on the first try. And then I did and Squarespace looked completely different, I could barely figure out how to post anything. But here I am! I've missed writing on Gosh Gee Golly (but I have been doing quite a lot of writing here and here).
Joe had the brilliant idea that I write a post to announce our engagement! That's a good reason to bring the blog back, right?
It happened last week on a little hike at the National Arboretum. If you were there that weekend, and saw a couple sitting on a bench drinking Clicquot out of orange champagne flutes with tears streaming down the girl's face, that was us. Also, our dog was there, so she was a witness.
And since it's Tuesday, Tunes Tuesday, I'm picking this beautiful Jessie Ware song that I have on repeat: "I only wanna team with you/ We could dream it all/ Don't wanna stop the thought/ With you and I forever."
Once again, I love end-of-the-year lists. I read that the singer from Wye Oak had a quasi-R&B side project and I thought this is something I need to listen to now.
Dungeonesse 'Dungeonesse' out now on Secretly Canadian Amazon http://smarturl.it/dungeonesse // iTunes http://smarturl.it/dungeonesse_itunes // Indies http://smarturl.it/dungeonesse_indies Directed by Ariana Natale Dungeonesse Artist Page http://www.secretlycanadian.com/artist.php?name=dungeonesse Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Dungeonesse Twitter https://twitter.com/dungeonesse Dungeonesse - "Nightlight" from 'Dungeonesse' out now on Secretly Canadian
This one is on repeat. The background is pure 80s, but her vocals give it some gravitas, don't you think? There's a wistfulness to this track that stops it from totally floating away.
Best-of-the-year list time is my favorite time of year, so if only for posterity, I am writing one for my own blog. Here it is:
Book: I couldn't put down Detroit: An American Autopsy. You'll shake your head in disbelief just about every page. Charlie LeDuff doesn't pull any punches, even when he's writing about his own disfunction. What will happen to Detroit? How will this story end? I also was surprised that Bourdain pretty much rehashed the book in his Detroit Parts Unknown episode, but at least LeDuff was along for the ride.
Honorable mentions: The Interestings, The Light Between Oceans, David and Goliath, Beautiful Ruins
Music: I felt kind of behind on new music this year, so I am going with what I know. Sorry haters, Vampire Weekend is a crowd-pleaser for a reason. Their latest, Modern Vampires of the City, seemed heart-felt. I played "Step" about a million time, but that's not my favorite moment. That has to be the spoken word lyrics on "Finger Back" that goes: "Should she have averted her eyes and just stared at the laminated poster of the Dome of the Rock?" This is just the best for some reason I can not articulate.
Honorable mentions: Tegan & Sara's Hearthrob, Lord Huron's Lonesome Dreams, Thao & The Getdown Staydown's We The Common, Jessie Ware's Devotion and for single, Wale's Bad, not the Rihanna version.
Concert: This is cheating, but Coachella. I can't believe we went. I wrote here about all of our adventures, including falling in love with Father John Misty and nearly getting squished by a giant snail.
Politicians: Our leaders continued to let us down this year at nearly every turn, so I am turning to Canada for some dark comic relief. Put aside Rob Ford's crack scandal for a moment, and let's just focus on his pratfalls. Running into a camera, inexplicably collapsing when attempting to throw a football, dropping candy just out of reach of children at a parade — here's one person who actually does need a reality show.
Blog: The Racked.com universe!
Fashion: I like that the Topshop section at Nordstrom Pentagon City exists, that the Brooklyn Flea made it to Washington, and I thought that Thread at Union Market was ambitious, lovely, and unlike anything in D.C.
Personal: I left Mount Pleasant and moved in with Joe to a groovy little (emphasis on little) apartment on H Street. I loved living in Mount Pleasant with the best roommate ever, but I was excited for Joe and I to start a home together. I counted down the months from January until July. We fell in love with our place and the neighborhood, from Hunted House to Boundary Road.
After three years and some change of growing my hair out, I pulled a Miley and chopped it all off. I think my hair likes being short. Don't know if the world likes it, but who cares.
I took barre classes and yoga classes and tennis classes and quit my gym.
I've challenged 10 bartenders in D.C. to make cocktails on the spot with crazy ingredients like quail eggs, Four Loko, and marmite for my WCP column Remixology (!) and I've been so amazed at the results from these creative folks. So impressive and unflappable.
I still need to pinch myself about Racked DC, I can't believe it. It's been amazing and I can't wait to hit the ground running in 2014. I made some tough decisions over the past two years, knuckled down and did work, got some very lucky breaks, and help from folks around me, and maybe that's the secret, huh? Just stick around and keep plugging away.
