Department of Eagles – Archive 2003-2006 7.7

For those of you obsessed with Grizzly Bear, here’s a good way to get your fix. Mixed with the fully formed songs are equally (and sometimes more) enjoyable sketches. The sketches give some view into the workings of the larger songs. You hear vocals and pianos with varying degrees of fidelity. Serving as both interludes and glue, they help give some structure to the short (30 minute) long album.

Daniel Rossen’s voice first emerges in the great introduction song “Deadly Disclosure”. It sounds so good it might as well be a Grizzly Bear song. Multiple sections come together to create a beautiful picture.

My personal favorite is “Brightest Minds”. Oh, if everything on the album sounded this good, this would’ve easily been my favorite of the year. A nervous energy (in my opinion, the best, most productive kind) permeates your mind. Pop music could learn a lot from this, the smart lyrics, and the peppy tempo. 

Either way, if you’re starved for more Grizzly Bear and the albums he produced for others isn’t enough, you could do far worse than this concise collection.

What do you think you have to do to live a meaningful + authentic life in 2k10?

Yeah house, don't conform to society's so-called "standards"

Each morning when I wake up I think of what the answer to how to live a meaningful and authentic life will be. The answer doesn’t dramatically differ from year to year, those basics remain the same. And now that the year is almost over, I left wondering whether or not I learned anything from the year. 

                One thing that happened this year was everybody got more negative. There was a lot of hate vibes floating around not just in these interwebs but in real life.  So I’d say to have a meaningful and authentic life in 2010 you had to be positive. I mean, there needs to be someone to combat this negativity. And when somebody did seem to truly love life (that double-rainbow guy) everybody laughed at him. Sure, maybe it is a bit ridiculous enjoying a rainbow THAT much, but he really was appreciating everything around him. Being a little overly optimistic is better than being overly cynical, a problem I used to have in a big way, before I overcame it somehow. 

                Authentic and meaning I feel is very geography-specific. New York this summer had beautiful, gorgeous weather. I spent a great deal of my time at the beach, which sort of inspired me to name this blog out of that positive experience. Beach-going and swimming might not be important for everyone, but just being able to zone out for a few seconds under the water makes you more authentic. You bob up and down allowing the current to move you. No longer are you in control, you’ve given yourself up to the larger currents in life. Authentic means you occasionally surrender to larger forces, allowing the environment to shape you rather than you imposing yourself on the environment. Despite this belief I’m still a fan of heating and air conditioning. 

                2010 meant being dissatisfied. People complained so much I couldn’t even talk to friends about politics, music, or literature. They’d just tense up and say “I don’t want to talk about it.” Nobody felt happy. Being authentic means avoiding these little personal dramas. Realize you don’t necessarily have control over others. I’ve seen countless relationships break up due to control issues.

                I guess to have an authentic and meaningful life is to be content. It is the understanding that no matter what your problems are, they are minor in comparison with the bigger picture. So when I see things like “these are your problems” and it’s a sad looking Goth kid, and seeing a picture saying “these are their problems” and they are homeless, you should count your lucky stars. Be thankful. 

                Listening to good music doesn’t hurt either.  But realize that maybe not everybody sees eye to eye with you. That’s alright. Make heart waves, not hate waves. I know this is something that is universal but I feel it makes life so much easier for me. 

-Note: original question asked by those seekers of truth, the LOLZ dolls found here:

Enlighten Your Mind!

Panda Bear’s New EP “You can count on me”

Before I had been worried about Panda Bear’s still upcoming album “Tomboy” but this EP has reassured me. The previous EPs made me worry that perhaps he had sort of lost his edge, since I enjoyed but did not truly love them. A few things made me change my mind.

One of those things was the concert he had on Governor’s Island, which truly was a great time to be had. During that concert he actually played a few songs I hadn’t been familiar with through either leaks or live bootlegs. Both of those favorites appear on this painfully brief EP.

“You can count on me” sounds like a drunken, happy campfire chant. The bizarre rhythm and hand claps only confirm this. A guitar which actually resembles a guitar makes this a particularly enjoyable track.

But the real winner is “Alsatian Dam”. I remember for the concert they had the visuals set to sort of roller coaster which fits the direction of the music pretty well. This is a really sweet, touching song. Part of me hopes that on the album this song gets stretched out for another 8 minutes or so. Pop music never sounded so good. 

I’m actually pretty happy that as these EPs get closer to the undisclosed release date, they are improving in quality. Maybe he’s just working on them through audience reaction, so we’ll get the best possible material once the album comes out. My only hope would be that this album actually comes out this year; I’d be very bummed out to have to wait until 2011 for it.

Hopefully we can count on him.