So lift off love.

2008 started off rather sluggishly for me – little could get me back into the groove, new albums were passing me by, me waving them off disinterestedly – until Mr Berninger came along. It is now month number five: the earth moved; waves crashed; and I found a new favourite band.

Boxer, The National
May 22, 2007

The National, I am ashamed to say, taught me a few lessons.

I had stumbled upon The National’s Boxer often enough while browsing through quite a number of best of 2007 lists, but had been dismissing it due to the… manly, rough-tough, pugilistic implications in its title (which I eventually came to know, is anything but). But I suspect it was also precisely that, that made me had a go at it in the end.

The tunes on Boxer are anthemic yet restrained; powerful yet subtle; but all finely polished with lead singer Matt Berninger’s deep baritone, who takes up singing duties in the band because “he’s taller, blonder, and older than the rest”. They probably also conveniently forgot to mention that he looks pretty hot. Ahem.

Anyway.

The tracklist seemed to be arranged as such: the opening tracks like the almost-epic “Fake Empire”, lead single “Mistaken for Strangers” and fast-paced, stalker-ish “Brainy” were strong enough to make one immediately sit up and take notice; the album then slowly drifts off to safer (and milder) territory, only to have it pick up momentum again with the fabulous and affecting “Ada” before ending on a high with the hauntingly melancholic “Gospel”.

After a few listens, I had only this equation (which I doubt does them all any justice) in mind: Sufjan Stevens + Editors + Doves = The National.

… in short, Boxer is one brilliant album.

And I have been hooked ever since. Hooked enough to even dig into the band’s history and go back in time to listen to their earlier albums, which were all equally smashing as well. I am always late, am I not?

So there, folks:
Lesson learnt 1: do not judge an album by its name. Ever.
Lesson learnt 2: bah, so what if the band name is not google-able?
Lesson learnt 3: do not stop – continue The National music education with Alligator (2005), Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003), and their self-titled debut album (2001).

The Seldom Seen Kid, Elbow
March 17, 2008

It is about time that Mancunian band Elbow return to the music scene – this time with The Seldom Seen Kid, their previous effort Leaders of the Free World being three years ago.

Standout tracks include opener “Starlings”, which seems to start off seemingly breezily before it attacks with jarring orchestral blasts which needs some getting used to; the “Summertime”-sampling “The Bones of You” (frankly, it reminds me of the computer game Diablo); and the lovely “Mirrorball”.

However, I feel it is the mighty and stomping track number four “Grounds for Divorce” that makes up an integral part of this album – it sets up the overall direction and feel of this album, somehow making it slightly different from their previous effort.

Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie
May 12, 2008

Lead single “I Will Possess Your Heart” could be the only reason why I have Death Cab for Cutie’s latest album Narrow Stairs in this list for now. There were some concerns that the song was too long, clocking in at 8:35 minutes, but I thought its introduction leads up nicely to the heart to the song.

The new album, with its many slow songs, looks to be a grower – only time will tell. Still, I think the best from the band is still 2003’s Transatlanticism – it is certainly not easy to top that one.

Other upcoming releases for 2008:
Coldplay, Doves, Islands, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Morrissey. See Metacritic’s release calendar here.

Picking apples, making pies.

I think I can be considered relatively fortunate: you can read me like an open book and (hopefully) find that which you do not seek.

Puzzle pieces dangle out of nowhere; empty words echo off the clean, white walls; meaningless bits let fly from the sands of time; and still they cannot be effectively assembled together to produce – for example – a wacky time machine that disintegrates at the sight of melting clocks, or a broken toy soldier that launches into song at the verge of loneliness.

In other words – this is all pure, utter codswallop. How very fascinating. And because I do not wear skirts, I do not get dates. Who could have figured this one out?

It's you, and it's May.

Water, water, everywhere: droplets, gushes, drips, disappearing fleetingly into the little black holes on the floor.

When you are not struggling to hold the cap of the shampoo bottle open, gleefully blowing bubbles from the soap dispenser, or nonchalantly making tiny tidal waves with your toes – letting the water run its course down your body, trickling and marking their brief journey on your skin – you pretty much surrender yourself to the fascinating and subtle workings of your subconscious mind.

Maybe he will again give me that fifty-ringgit question argh when should I go watch the movie this weekend or the next I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain I think I want nasi lemak for dinner later will need to text them for this request should I wait or just pick New Zealand oh need to surf on to their blogs later cannot believe they are like 27 or 29 and I am like-

… huh.

I cannot remember.

Good lord, I do not know of anyone else who has to perform a quick mental calculation to determine or be reminded of his or her age (while in the shower, no less).

Maybe I need some Special K.

Confused heart.

I need order in my life – a pinch of predictability, a dash of know-how, a bit of regularity – which, in the end, all pretty much adds up to A Whole Load of Stability.

Or so I hope.

In my world, the cute petrol kiosk cashier knows my name; my credit card applications get approved at instant-noodle speed; my inbox automatically subjects spam email to total annihilation; good fantasy novels drop onto my lap for free; recently-released movies are beamed right to my screen; the useless shuffle mode is made away with to satiate my humdrum music preferences.

And so, it is always a whole album at one go, from the first track right down to the last. No intermissions, no interruptions, no skipping, no clipping – just press play and let it flow.

Then you will realise, just who matters the most.

(For now, according to my last.fm charts – it is The National. Ah, major love.)

Make the moon a mirrorball.

A limitless series of chains; a long, winding pack of dominoes – all precariously set up and ready to fall, pushing events into a ceaseless motion. There are times when green comes first before red, and not just in the dictionary.

They called it 2006’s Crash.

If he did not give away the rifle as a token of appreciation,
if she did not kill herself when hope is lost,
if they did not lose their child to SIDS,
if all was well and as it should,
if they did not have their wedding on that day,
if she had not chosen to wear red,
if he had read her handwritten note right there and then,
if all was really well and as it should,

then when exactly did things start to go wrong?

I have weird memories of you.

A six-year-old sounds like a sage when he makes known his musings:

“Sometimes lies are more dependable than the truth.”

So, this is what we do: we tell ourselves that everything is going to be all right while all around us, the world is changing – lashing winds and starless skies; rising prices and restless wars; a whirligig of a lonely planet spinning out of control.

No black without light, no day without night.

Can there ever be truth if there were no lies?

And most importantly of all: is there anything we can do about it? We could only do so much but perhaps our fate is already written in the stars. Maybe we are led to walk down a path of deceit; maybe we are victims of circumstances; maybe we have to lose in order to win.

Or maybe it just is not meant to be.

Honestly – reading two sci-fi classics back-to-back is really no easy feat. Are they supposed to make you still mull over them weeks later?

At lightspeed.

It really is so, so, easy.

FitzChivalry Farseer. Drizzt Do’ Urden. Artemis Entreri. Nicholas Sayre. Alex Rider. Artemis Fowl. Raistlin Majere. Tanis Half-Elven. Strider/Aragorn. Richard Rahl (maybe).

And now, Ender Wiggin.

I am surprised I have yet to be bestowed with a “Most Likely to Fall in Love with Fictional Characters” superlative on Facebook.

I think I need to start writing again.