No One Could Ever Take Your Face

Last night Christine and I hung out for awhile. We got some food for me first, and then headed to Borders, where I spent an inordinate amount of time contemplating whether or not to spend inordinate amounts of money on CD's that I don't really need. After that, we hit the beach and just walked for a bit while people tried to kill us by setting off fireworks around us (to hear her tell it, at least).

As a creative (or possibly just pretentious) person, it's nice to have someone who understands my faults and feels the same insecurities that I feel. Better than nice, actually, almost sort of... home, I guess. Hanging out with her is like a cool hand on a fevered brow. That's the only way I can describe it. If I had to pick a person that I would want to just hang out with for the rest of my life, regardless of extenuating circumstances, it would be her.

We got in a discussion last night about various physical faults in ourselves (we both have big noses, etc), and for some reason it was really highlighted to me that beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Christine is one of the most beautiful people I've ever met, physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. She believes none of this, of course, even refusing to hear most of it. It got me thinking about the movie "American Beauty."

Most people I've talked to couldn't get past the juvenile acts of Lester (brilliantly played by Kevin Spacey) and his obsession with sex, or the frank depictions of it within the movie. But to me, the movie was less about that than it was a meditation on the beauty of life all around us. Often we get so caught up in the events around (soul-sucking jobs, relationships that suck) that we forget to look around and see how beautiful life really is. We have plenty of reason to be happy, if we really think about it. I think that's the point the director Sam Mendes was trying to make with the whole paper-bag ballet scene: beauty and happiness are where you find it.

Today I pulled out Ester Drang's newest album, "Infinite Keys." I bought it a couple months ago and gave it a listen, but was kind of unimpressed. The same thing happened with their first full-length, "Goldenwest;" I bought it, listened to it, didn't like it. Pulled it out a month or so later and loved it. I was kind of hoping it'd happen with this one, and lo and behold it did. Pitchfork posted yet another well-written but unfair review that stated that Ester Drang "seem to be writing music based on cloud formations." I think this an accurate assesment, but not in the negative way they meant it.

Their first album was a type of hard space pop, but this album takes an altogether more contemplative tone, strongly matching the beautiful and somehow desolate artwork on the album (provided by the amazing Chris Strong). The guitars cascade gently through these songs, at times working themselves into a churning mass that resemble the auditory equivalent of storm clouds, while subtle piano lines and whirring electronics flutter by like cold breezes and Bryce Chamber's voice floats on top of the arrangements, sounding both lost and lonely. Good stuff.

Alright, that's enough babbling for one day. Gonna go catch myself a nap.

The-Addendum-to-Ester-Drang Playlist:
The New Pornographers- Electric Version
Grandaddy- Sumday
Ester Drang- Infinite Keys
Spiritualized- Let It Come Down
Godspeed! You Black Emperor- Yanqui U.X.O.