Dark Was the Night

I'm a little obsessed with music. I'm not going to go as far as to say I'm like John Cusack in High Fidelity, where I'm so distracted by music that I lose sight of what's happening around me, but I do tend to form soundtracks for occasions and moments most normal people wouldn't really think of. Like a Driving Along the Ocean mix, or a Rain mix, or my Evening mix (it's very specific).

Music speaks to me, that's my point. I really listen hard; to the melody, the time measure, the instruments (did you notice that for such a great rock band, Keane uses no guitars?) Pandora is great for this type of obsessive music appreciation; I can hear a song I really like and create a station from it, and eventually I will start to create this genre of music with no name that is very personal. I learn about some really great artists and albums that way.

When I first heard Bon Iver, I thought, I've had this song in my head my whole life and this guy is singing it now. It didn't take long before I'd created a Bon Iver station on Pandora. It opened up a whole new can of worms: a little compilation album that has been all I've listened to for two weeks running. Dark Was the Night is an AIDS benefit album with some really innovative stuff.

On my first listen to the two-disc set, I fell in love with Hey Snow White by the New Pornographers. It became my battle cry every morning when I got to work:

Hey Snow White, It's gonna be all right, It's gonna be all right
Hey Snow White, It's gonna be all right, It's gonna be all right
How can you win some, how can you win some
How can you win some, how can you win some
When the company goes public
You've got to learn to love what you own

There are some amazing duets: The Dirty Projectors with David Lynch, Feist and Ben Gibbard (that's right, that was my head you heard exploding; trust me, they're even better than you imagined when they harmonize).

Anyway, check it out. I've waxed poetic long enough.