Jul 25 2007
Out And Over The Iridescent Grid
As those of you still with me here will have noticed, due to all my traveling, the focus (for lack of a better term) of this blog has shifted away from one of its formerly primary issues: music — new, old, classic, required listening, et cetera, et cetera.
Unfortunately, I know for a fact that I've actually lost readers because of that. And while unfortunate, frankly I could care less since I'm essentially in the midst of living my dream of traveling the world for a few years in search of surf (and clarity).
This is not to say that I still don't absolutely adore music of virtually every kind, and I've been fortunate to learn of some great new artists on this side of the world that I would have otherwise never have heard of. However, the one band that has been fascinating me for the past 1-2 weeks since I returned to Singapore from Indonesia is The Dismemberment Plan.
DP was around for about a decade, from 1993 to 2003, but they did a reunion tour of sorts earlier this year to the joy of their viscously loyal fans (of which I count myself, although I did not get to see them). And given their relative "cult" status, they never really achieved mainstream popularity and never realty made any videos (but for various, and shoddy, live recordings on YouTube).
However, Eric over at Can You See The Sunset From The Southside? - a former pro musician who himself has an absolutely outstanding taste in music and I would highly recommend to read on a regular basis to hear many of his current musical favorites — was able to attend, write about, and record the first of two DP reunion shows at The Black Cat in Washington, DC (DP's home town), the first on 27 April 2007, as well as the second show on 28 April 2007.
Eric has posted free MP3's for download on his site from that show. I would recommend you listen to all of them, but pay attention in particular to "The City" — one of the greatest melancholy breakup indie-rock classics of its time, as well as "The Ice of Boston" — probably one of the most clever, quirkiest flip-side of that same sort of melancholy.
You should, of course, listen to the entire set — Timebomb, Gyroscope, Girl O'Clock, etc. — but kudos to Eric for posting them, and boo on me for not referencing it sooner.
The movie is Dune and refers to Kyle McGoughlin’s (sp) character i believe.