~Sufjan Stevens (All delighted people)
This year has been, unsurprisingly, a whirlwind. So much so that it’s difficult for me to quickly pinpoint the highs and lows. Amidst worldwide turmoil and tragedy, it always feels a little narcissistic to look back and evaluate our years with a giant, broad-sweeping thumb-up or thumb-down as if a year can be reduced to that. Did we have success? What does that even mean? Did we love, laugh and have adventure? Did we learn new things? Did we take care of ourselves? Did we waste too much time on the computer? I always end up feeling I could have done better in every category, which is probably normal, and, though I eschew New Year’s Resolutions (because even the best laid plans for me are difficult to follow through with when the rubber meets the road), it is fun to think about general goals and dream about the year to come. As a teacher, it seems more natural to do this in August than December, but c’est la vie.
This year began with barista-me cursing every rich non-tipper in an outdoor stand at a mall (in the winter) and ended with me a full-time, salaried and benefitted high school teacher in one of the best first teaching jobs I could have asked for. Along the road there was a brutal, but valuable, four months of student teaching to finish my second master’s degree, a month-long jury duty service during my summer “break”, two outstanding and unique weddings of two dear cousins in opposite corners of the US (and five other awesome weddings), four trips to Portland (which restored my sanity) and lots and lots of grading and planning and teaching. There were definite joys and deep pains, as we all experience in our years, but, compared to the train-wreck that was 2009, this past year can be credited with Katie getting her groove back, which is probably the best gift of all.
As is customary, I bought a LOT of music this year. A lot. Sometimes it’s easier to reflect upon and remember my year through the music that was most dear to me, and this year is no exception. Every year, I hear about music through different avenues. In 2006, for example, a road trip to Ashland, Oregon with the illustrious Kellie and Kristin introduced me to The Flaming Lips and Sufjan Stevens, and 2008, the year I worked as camp grandmother with a bunch of youngins, I heard Bon Iver and Beirut for the first time. La Blogotheque and random whims at the library were my main sources for new tunes in 2009, and this year was the year of experimentation with $5 downloadable albums on Amazon (mostly successfully) and KEXP songs of the day.
Small, yet fun and significant, memories come flooding back to me when I remember patronizing the Hawthorne Fred Meyer in Portland this summer with the amazing Katie V to buy the new Arcade Fire album and then listening to it all the way back home and all the way to Kansas City to visit my friend Adam the next week. Or, the time Max played Local Natives for me while we worked behind the coffee bar at a live music show at QCafe. During a hot summer day’s lunch break from jury duty, I ran into Mt St Helens Vietnam Band (hailing from my college) across the street at city hall performing, and I even (sortof) met the lead singer of the National at my cousin’s wedding in Massachusetts this July and proceeded to fall in love with their new album (and the Bloodbuzz Ohio music video that was shot in part by cousin). Phantogram, Caribou and Gorillaz were some of my main choices for “pump-up” music on the dark, cold, dismal fall mornings as I drove to work at 6:30am wondering if I could muster any enthusiasm for the day. Perhaps the highlight of my music year was having my mind blown at the Sufjan Stevens concert in October with my high school buddy Kelly. Too much awesome to describe. Sufjan was a staple of the end of my undergrad years and it was a definite bucket list experience to see him live. So, I suppose, when viewed through the lens of my music purchases, this year sounds better than I remembered at first blush! Below is the list of this year’s purchases (with special * for the ones I highly recommend):
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Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane over the Sea
Foals – Antidotes *, Total Life Forever
Beach House – Teen Dream *
Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
National – High Violet *
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Self-titled
Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz, All Delighted People EP *
Belle & Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
David Grey - Foundling
Mt St Helens Vietnam Band – Self-titled, Where Messengers Meet
Caribou – Swim *
Menomena – Mines
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
Ray LaMontagne – Til the Sun Turns Black
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs *
Bon Iver – Blood Bank
The Smiths – The Sound of the Smiths
Camera Obscura – Underachievers Please Try Harder, Let’s Get Out of This Country
the dodos – Visiter *
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Broken Bells - Self-titled
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Yeasayer – Odd Blood
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest *
Vampire Weekend – Contra
500 Days of Summer Soundtrack
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Narcissism fin.
I wish you a happy, healthy, meaningful and adventurous year filled with learning, growing and standing up for what you believe in! Happy 2011.
