I have the pleasure of knowing some really creative folks whose drive, imagination, talent and humility inspire me and make me excited about art, music, writing and (especially) collaboration.
My friend Tak recently asked me to take a listen to the album he had just completed and to write about my experience of it. I can't get this music out of my head lately, so it was an easy task. Here's what I wrote:
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The Pawnshop Manual's debut album, Parcels and Polaroids, is a meditative self-reflection that explores a particular kind of desire: to make changes and connections in an isolating world. Five Inch Step invites an awakening to the superficiality of our interactions that Falls Over Whole (Believing Through) then depicts. We've Become Here (Believing In) swells with an intense longing that evokes deep empathy in anyone who has found themselves bouncing between hope and despair. A gentle instrumental begs for simplicity and focus in a world of contradictions, and the sweet duet that follows, the title track, delivers that focus with its revelation that “all that I need is here.” 4:37am (Things That Follow) is an energetic, clap-along song that makes you want to play it loud and sing it with your friends on your way to somewhere you can't wait to be. It celebrates hope, happiness and togetherness. A slowed-down refrain from We've Become Here brings the album to a contemplative close.
My friend Tak recently asked me to take a listen to the album he had just completed and to write about my experience of it. I can't get this music out of my head lately, so it was an easy task. Here's what I wrote:
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The Pawnshop Manual's debut album, Parcels and Polaroids, is a meditative self-reflection that explores a particular kind of desire: to make changes and connections in an isolating world. Five Inch Step invites an awakening to the superficiality of our interactions that Falls Over Whole (Believing Through) then depicts. We've Become Here (Believing In) swells with an intense longing that evokes deep empathy in anyone who has found themselves bouncing between hope and despair. A gentle instrumental begs for simplicity and focus in a world of contradictions, and the sweet duet that follows, the title track, delivers that focus with its revelation that “all that I need is here.” 4:37am (Things That Follow) is an energetic, clap-along song that makes you want to play it loud and sing it with your friends on your way to somewhere you can't wait to be. It celebrates hope, happiness and togetherness. A slowed-down refrain from We've Become Here brings the album to a contemplative close.
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You can download Parcels and Polaroids on a pay-what-you-wish basis from The Pawnshop Manual's website or on iTunes, or buy the actual cd. The website offers multiple ways to experience the music and interact with the artists involved in the project, including other talented local musicians as well as album art designer and photographer Eric Anderson. Also check out Tak's own blog, T's Contrapunctus, for his analysis of new and exciting things happening musically around the world.
So here's to the people whose desire for things to be different in the world takes the shape of creative projects.
The rest of us lead richer lives because of it.
*Johnathan Larson, La Vie Boheme
