Skov Notebook

zoekeating:

Every piece of music starts with some strong feeling that I get swept up in (I’m sure it’s the same for most artists). To put this feeling into music I have to lock myself in the studio, immerse myself in that feeling and go explore the bleeding edges of it. It’s messy: I cry, laugh, dance, go a little crazy. When I appear every now and then to go to the bathroom or make tea (I tend not to eat when I’m in this state) I probably look a little wild eyed and disturbed. This state is precious and fleeting, so I try to avoid email or talking to anyone so as not to break my bubble and lose it.

Before our son was born it was relatively easy. I could turn off email without my world falling apart too much and my husband would leave me alone, knowing that I’d be fun again in a couple days. But nowadays emails increasingly demand to be answered and how can I ignore my son when he sees me, yells “Mama!” and runs into my arms?! So I have to do my best to efficiently work through whatever I’m experiencing in order to be normal again in time for the family dinner.

Anyway, on Wednesday I had the feeling and I acted on it. This one is vaguely about standing on the top of a mountain and being irresistibly drawn towards the edge. What if I leap? Will I fly? Will I fall? Will someone catch me?

It’s not done, but I want to share it anyway. I don’t normally like to play music for people before it’s finished because to me those tiny endless details that take weeks to polish are what take a piece of music from ordinary to special. That said, there is always something compelling about my rough first pass, when I’m just feeling it and not worrying about technique or sound mix or how it will be perceived. I think that’s one of the reasons why I love performing so much, because I get to feel each piece of music anew every night. So before I flesh this one out, polish it, turn it into something album-worthy and give it a proper title, here is the last 48 hrs in musical form.

Officially pining for the new Zoe Keating album.

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Nice quiet, brooding folk track from Mirel Wagner called “Is This What Love Looks Like”.

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Waxahatchee is like early Liz Phair meets Kimya Dawson. Or something… I don’t know, just listen.

The Breeders play Cannonball on Jimmy Fallon.

It is impossible to overestimate just how much of my teenage grunge/punk boy infatuation was focused on the Deal sisters. I mean, they were hot (but not in a cheesy way), they were alt rock stars, they were from my home state of Ohio. I was utterly smitten. I remember seeing them during the Last Splash tour, up front in the “mosh pit” as we called it back then. The drummer played so hard he broke his drum sticks. He tossed them into the crowd and one of my buddies caught one. I wonder if he still has it…

Anyway, normally I’m leery of reunion tours and “getting the band back together”. At best, they give you a nice little nostalgic cuddle. At worst, they’re just sad.

But the Breeders were a tumultuous group at the best of times, and their infighting, especially between the Deal sisters, is the stuff of legend. And what I see when I watch this video is not some pale, lifeless reconstruction of times gone by. What I see is a group of artists who have been through a hell of a lot, individually and collectively, and have finally gotten to the point where they can just get up on stage and enjoy playing together. Simple as that.