Brooklyn <3

It's been no secret to anyone who has talked with me in the past couple of weeks: I love Brooklyn. Granted, after the chaos that befell just before my departure from Manhattan, any place might seem a pleasing refuge. But falling cranes and closed off streets aside, I think I would be happy to be in Carroll Gardens regardless of the way in which I left the tiny hovel that my last apartment was. Strolling down the sun dappled sidewalk, light filtering through the trees, my friend commented that he felt as if he was in some sort of film set, an idyllic, homey place. And for the most part, it's just about as close to that as you're going to get. I love that when I get out of the subway, I see parents playing with their kids in the yards in front of their houses. I love that there are yards and houses! I love that the trees and plants aren't cordoned off into an architectured park and that the air is filled with birds (and perhaps the distant hum of the BQE) as opposed to being rent by the sound of drilling and construction. I love that it doesn't feel like being in the city, and yet the city is still right there. The calm and space is a most wondrous feeling. I think I'll stay in Brooklyn forever.

music for all occassions

Sometimes it is necessary to add a bit of exuberance to your life, like, for example, on a morning after an un-restful night's sleep when getting out of bed, much less getting myself all the way to work and facing the issues of the day, seems a magnanimous feat of willpower. At times like this I often seek the company of musicians like Sufjan Stevens or perhaps a band like the Shout Out Louds, whose robust cheeriness is pervasive and helpful in willing a change of mood. I never thought I'd add Sigur Ros to this list, an Icelandic band whose poignant and somewhat morose music, has, in the past, nearly brought me to tears. But thanks to Bob Boilen's All Songs Considered and my morning addiction to the NPR music page, I was introduced to the new sound of Sigur Ros. While still retaining the incisive subtlety of the music I'd heard previously, the track featured on the show, Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur, is infinitely more lighthearted and upbeat, so much so that it entirely altered my outlook towards the day. And though mornings can often be so brutal, a great song and thus an unexpected change to a sunny disposition can make all the difference.

Frightened Rabbit

When, blog after blog, I find myself reading about the potential record of the year, even though it's only the beginning of June, it's something to pay attention to. Especially when the first thing I read links them to the National, one of my favorite bands, and whose album Boxer was by far my favorite of last year. Frightened Rabbit is a band from Selkirk, Scotland whose music evokes the landscapes of a National song and the pop sensibility of Okkervil River twinged with a Scottish brogue. Marked with hype, at first I wasn't thrilled with what I heard, but after listening to a few songs, I was entranced. After a couple subway listens, I haven't quite gotten the intricacies of their lyrics, but it's definitely left me wanting more. Their new album "Midnight Fight Organ" is definitely a highly recommended summer listen.