This week’s Time piece is all about Twitter, and storytelling on it. For some strange reason, I didn’t want to write it when it finally came time to do it; I found countless other things to do instead, putting it off until the very last possible moment; even the rewrites yesterday after getting notes from my editor, I was very “Oh, I’ll save that until last because, oh God” for some reason. It’s not that I didn’t know what to write, but that I just found myself entirely daunted by the idea of writing a long piece this week. Strange but true.
Well, The Weather Outside is Frightful
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
People struggle against wind and drifting snow in Stockholm on December 5, 2012. Forecasters have issued a class 2 storm warning for central and southern Sweden, saying that Stockholm may face up to 30 centimetres of snow in the next 24 hours. AFP PHOTO / ANDERS WIKLUND / SWEDEN OUTANDERS WIKLUND/AFP/Getty Images
As weird as it seems, I feel almost jealous.
366 Songs 339: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
I don’t think I’d ever heard this (“trad,” as the music books would call it) song before this version by Belle & Sebastian, but I adore it for its gentleness and the harmonies that appear in the latter “Rejoice/Rejoice” refrains. A quiet moment of holiday cheer for a day that’s been far, far too busy for my own good (I still have work to do; this is me taking something approaching a break).
Here’s Sufjan Stevens doing another version:
So Make Some Noise/We Are The Boys
From the Guardian’s Photo Blog:
Children scurry around on East Broadway Street in Sweetwater, Texas, to gather candy tossed from the Christmas parade floats on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/The Abilene Reporter-News, Joy Lewis)
So wonderfully atmospheric, and just a little bit scary, too.
366 Songs 338: Last Month of The Year
“Planets are SPACESHIPS All”
And The Waters Run Red
From “The Observer’s 20 Photographs of The Week” at the Guardian:
A girl looks at the red algal bloom at Clovelly beach in Sydney. A huge red algal bloom along vast stretches of south-eastern Australia’s coastline resulted in beaches being closed and turned swathes of usually pristine ocean milky pink.
Once again: Nature, people. Just kind of amazing, really.
366 Songs 337: Xmas Cake
A relatively recent discovery for me, but I love the echoes to traditional Christmas music this one has (The sleigh bells and backing vocals at 3:07 are my favorite, especially as the backing vocals lead into a joyless “fa la la”), even as the subject matter is far more depressing and dark than the stories of Santa and goodwill that you’d expect from this time of year.
366 Songs 336: Christmastime
“It’s Christmas again, December is here…” as Aimee Mann sings in this somewhat delicate, prettily melancholy song that marks the beginning of a musical Advent Calendar on this here blog. Yes, between now and Christmas Day, it’s all holiday music all the time because, my friends, I love this time of year. And so, instead of the usual 366 Songs ramblings, expect Christmas Songs with little-to-no commentary. Just enjoy the most wonderful time of the year, dammit.
(Worth noting: This song gets first go not simply because of the “December is here” line, but because of the line that follows: “Hasn’t it been a wonderful year?” There’s something about Mann’s performance of that line that makes me unconvinced that she means it, and that always appeals to me. This year especially; it’s really not been a wonderful year, has it…? 2012, you’ve been trying to kill me and those I love all too often, it seems.)
366 Songs 335: Lazy Line Painter Jane
In a strange way, this song reminds me of McAlmont & Butler’s “Yes” – It’s the jangly guitar and the fact that this song just builds, just grows into an epic that’s irresistible and so exuberant and filled with a particular joy. I love the way it becomes so repetitive, the organ becoming a spiral of riff until it falls into the final notes and everything ends. This is one of those songs that never fails to make me happy, and make me want to dance, as silly as that may sound. This is the sound of the best of Scotland in my head, in many ways; I was never a massive Belle & Sebastian fan, but I shall always, always love them for this.