spynotes ::
  May 31, 2006
Shuffle

The spa was lovely. I arrived, somewhat harried, thanks to a late train, but someone was waiting for me at the entrance to take me back to select my nailpolish. She then escorted me to a room with two chairs attached to noisy soaking tubs. My friend H. was already in one of the chairs. While we soaked our feet in hot, rose-scented whirlpools, we caught up on our lives. They brought us wine and massaged our feet with scented lotions and hot towels. It was over all too fast and soon we found ourselves in another room with dryers on our toes. Mine are now a pale, lavender; H�s are fire engine red. We both felt glamorous.

Afterwards we walked through my old neighborhood, crossed under the el tracks and over the river and on to my favorite French bistro, which H had never been to. We dined on fancy French food and drank lovely citrusy French viognier surrounded by tables of Francophones. It was a lovely relaxing and kid-free evening.

On the way home, a girl of nine or ten sat with her parents and held her doll up to the window so she could look out. I looked out my window too and enjoyed the sign that read THE HO DEPOT and wondered who took the Me out of Home Depot. It was particularly apt, because before there was a Home Depot on that site, there was a parking lot that was, in the evening, full of hookers looking for work.

* * * * *
I zoned out and listened to music on the way home. I�ve been on kick of listening to pretty songs by female singers. Usually on the slow side, often with lyrics that require close listening (which I seldom give them, as I am chronically prone to ignore lyrics altogether) and generally accompanied by acoustic guitar, with or without other instruments, these songs cross many genres and styles, but bear a spiritual connection, of sorts, to one another.

Aimee Mann � sultry rock. When I was in high school, a friend of mine was crazy about Aimee Mann, who at the time was the female half of the band �Til Tuesday. I thought they were okay, and I generally agreed with this friend�s taste in music, but I thought he was a little over the top in this case. After hearing Mann�s 2002 album, Lost in Space however, I�m inclined to think he was just playing more attention. I mentioned �Invisible Ink� a week or so ago, saying that the song reminded me more of a lied, for its harmonic complexity and its narrative development. The same can be said for many of the songs on the album, each a jewel.

Julie Miller � hip country. When I played back the first CD that Smed sent me a month or so ago, I kept thinking about Julie Miller, whom I hadn�t listened to in a while. One of the beautiful things about getting mixes from people is that it feels like the opening of a conversation. A song or an artist makes you think of something else and you want to include it in a musical reply. Miller�s songs have a definite old-timey American feel yet a rock sensibility. She constantly sends me chasing to check on the origins of her songs � she mostly writes them herself, but many have the feel of an old classic. And her sad songs will make you weep in a very good and cathartic way.

Cristina Branco. Branco is a Portuguese singer of fado, a traditional song genre. Like many contemporary fado singers, she does both traditional songs and a sort of hybrid, less structured genre. This latter is evident on her most recent album Sensus. Both styles are lovely. I do not speak Portuguese and can�t understand much (if anything) of what she is saying without reading liner notes. But I think this woman has one of the most beautiful voices I�ve ever heard. I was surfing the nether regions of our satellite tv channels one night and landed on some world music videos on LINK. Since I teach world music, I like to have a look at these programs every now and then. Branco came on and I was riveted. When she finished, I dried my eyes and wrote down her name. I was thrilled to see that she�s performing at Grant Park in Chicago this summer (August 2, for my Chicago area readers). I will be there with bells on.

Sam Phillips � her last album, Fan Dance, in particular. I�ve long been a fan of Sam�s. She�s started out as a gospel singer and moved to rock with and pretty much hasn�t looked back. Her voice actually reminds me a bit of Aimee Manns, a supple and slightly smoky but controlled alto. �Trying to Hold on to the Earth� is an old favorite from (I think) her first rock album. But something about the spare, sometimes elliptical prose on Fan Dance and a musical simplicity that belies its depth has caught my ear. A perfect example is the lovely �Talking Pictures.� Clocking in at under two minutes with a guitar and weird warbly organ as accompaniment, the song captures the bittersweet experience of remembering one�s past by looking at photos, �The places I go are never there.�

Edith Piaf � French cabaret. Do I really need to justify Piaf�s inclusion? She sings as if her very soul exists through the music. It�s not a pretty voice like Branco�s; it�s an experienced voice. And here I actually can understand the words. I may even sing along.

Miriam Makeba � South African singer. Another woman with an amazing voice. I pulled out her recording of Mbube, because I was telling AJ a little of the history of �The Lion Sleeps Tonight,� which we often sing as a lullaby, with assorted interjections by a rather adorable lion puppet in AJ�s possession.
� � � � �

AJ�s favorite music at the moment is anything off the CD that freshhell sent us. He listens to it while he cleans up his room in the morning. He listens to it while he�s sitting in the bathtub at night. If he can get away with it, he�ll listen to a few tracks at naptime too. This morning he was playing a game of Invisible Baseball to �Outta Space,� which he proclaimed the perfect sonic accompaniment for this particular game where AJ is all the players and no equipment is required. His favorites oscillate between �One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater (he likes the People Eater�s voice the best and does a mean imitation of the line, �I wanna get a job in a rock and roll band� that has me rolling on the floor) and �Interjection.� We�re going to have to get this boy some schoolhouse rock videos. He is so ready.

� � � � �

AJ and The Girl Next Door were playing in AJs wading pool yesterday afternoon when a freak thunderstorm swept in and we were driven indoors. The two of them were playing quietly in AJ�s room, so I took the opportunity to head down to my office for a minute to check my email. A few minutes later, AJ arrived at my side.

�What is it, AJ�
�I want to teach The Girl Next Door to read, but she doesn�t want to learn�
�Well, maybe she doesn�t want to do that right now. Or maybe it makes her feel bad that you can do something that she can�t.�
�But I want her to do it! It�s so fun!�

But they apparently gave up on the reading idea. A few minutes later, they�d turned on AJ�s CD player and were dancing to �Linus and Lucy.� He believes in voting with his feet.

4 people said it like they meant it

 
:: last :: next :: random :: newest :: archives ::
:: :: profile :: notes :: g-book :: email ::
::rings/links :: 100 things :: design :: host ::

(c) 2003-2007 harri3tspy

<< chicago blogs >>