Beyonce – Start Over
Her voice on this is ridiculous.
Yeah. What she said. DAMN, Beyonce, you nailed it.
Somehow I hadn’t seen this video until today (thanks, Heather!) but holy mother of crushes, the things I would do to Matt Beringer. (Sorry, Matt Beringer’s very talented wife.) I’ve been lucky enough to see The National seven times (and twice from sidestage, life dream complete!) but I love being reminded of their sheer talent in this video. Also, Matt’s love for wine. (SEE? SOULMATE!) Counting the days ‘til I see them at Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 11th.
Move over Toddlers & Tiaras. This woman’s Yorkie is wearing hair curlers. (Taken with instagram)
Current status: Wedding recovery mode (Taken with instagram)
This week has been a disjunction of emotion. I’m unsettled, but can’t put my finger on exactly WHY. I just feel a general sentiment of disappointment. There were events I was looking forward to that are now no longer happening, there are things coming soon (sooner than I’m prepared for, even) that I’m dreading, things that make me wake up and think “Oh right, that’s two weeks away” and proceed to weigh on me. It’s like the programs running in the background of your iPhone that eventually drain your battery, I feel like that’s what’s going on in my life right now. No specific complaints, but damn, I could use something to look forward to.
Probably because of this – or contributing to this? – I’m overly reminiscent on days past. There’s been a few recent reminders of things that held (hold) significance in my life; anniversaries of good moments that now make me melancholy. The whole thing seems to be a shame, and I’m likely being too sentimental.
But while I’m wallowing (or near-wallowing) in something far less than dispair (treading water in malaise?), I’m allowing myself a moment of sentimentality and playing this song and listening to these lyrics that make me think of times past, of a certain situation, one that I’ve still not yet escaped.
I want a print of this to remind me of, well, the things that I too often forget.
There’s a line in the Phoenix song ‘Rally‘ that I’ve always loved:
Remember the time we talked about everlastings,
Don’t you know we’ll both fall to pieces too.
This past month, it seemed especially fitting. Not quite sure why…maybe because June is my birth month it made me feel more introspective about life and the eventuality of it all. But for the first time, I’ve felt, for lack of a better word, expendible. The impermanence of everything has weighed on me more than ever before, so that the whole concept of anything being everlasting seemed to be a novel concept. We all fall to pieces eventually. (Wow. Hadn’t meant to start off this month’s mix with a huge downer, especially since ‘Rally’ is about hooking up.)
Moving right along, shall we!?
This June Mix brings with it something new; namely, I’ve looked at it more as a Mixtape vs. a mix CD or playlist. As such, it has that quintessential indicator of a mixtape; namely, two sides. So I’ve included an audio reminder of days past, a tape flip sound that my awesome friend Ryan McManus has always included in his mixes and one he is kindly allowing me to borrow.
In terms of the songs included, there’s some oldies (like ‘Rally’) and Sufjan Stevens’ Chicago. I especially adore the live version of Frightened Rabbit’s “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms”; listen to 4:30 for a line that many often miss (“I am still in love with you, can’t admit it yet”). The newer stuff – Beirut’s ‘East Harlem’ and the very Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-y ‘Same Mistake’ – show off both of those bands’ strengths. I couldn’t make a summer mix without including a Bon Iver song; by the end of the year I’m guessing that every mix will include at least one song off of his eponymous, magnificent (to quote Justin himself) new album.
The rest I’ll let you discover on your own. Enjoy!
Download “everlastings: aubs june 2011 mix”
SIDE A
1. Up, Up, Up – Givers
2. Rally – Phoenix
3. Fire Away – Dawes
4. Same Mistake – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. Clutching Stems – The Ladybug Transistor
6. Vocal Chords – Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
7. Fireworks – Polock
8. East Harlem – Beirut
9. [flip]
SIDE B
10. Calgary – Bon Iver
11. Circle – J. Mascis
12. Flight 180 – Bishop Allen
13. Without Permission – The National
14. Someone Like You – Adele
15. Chicago – Sufjan Stevens
16. Fix You – Coldplay
17. Good Arms vs. Bad Arms (live) – Frightened Rabbit
Happy Fourth of July!!
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