Mixtape 26: January 2006

1. Akron/Family – Raising the Sparks
2. Devendra Banhart – Quedate Luna
3. TV on the Radio – Satellite
4. The Flaming Lips – The W.A.N.D.
5. Jana Hunter – A Bright-Ass Light
6. Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe in Anything
7. The Pharcyde – Ya Mama
8. Liars – Let’s Not Wrestle Mt. Heart Attack
9. Belle and Sebastian – Funny Little Frog
10. Clinic – Tusk

* * * * *

Slowly but surely, I'm learning to never say "never." Never say "best" either, and for Christ's sake, stay away from "definitive." Of course, I've got no one to blame but myself; I wrote, after all, that "what was never and cannot ever be up for debate is that "The Purple Bottle" is the best song of the year. I didn't hear every song on every album released in 2005, and yet I can personally guarantee this statement's veracity. It's not so much an opinion as a provable fact. Nothing came close."
What a dumbass.
I mean, of course "The Purple Bottle" is a great song. At times, I've found it utterly transcendent. But why did I have to be so goddamn certain? Was I trying to be cute, feign arrogance? I can't say--the me who wrote that is utterly different from the one typing this. I can't hope to understand his intentions. But someone's got to take responsibility and I suppose I'd have a hard time convincing anyone else to do so. It was my statement, and the blame lies with me. We'll see if I can avoid repeating my mistake, and it occurs to me at this point that referring to Akron/Family's "Raising the Sparks" as "the REAL best song of 2005" (as I planned to do) would probably fall under that heading.
Still, it's how I feel, at least right now. It's how I felt when on the morning of January 2, 2006 I gently considered my future, a park bench at the edge of Madison Square, the cold somehow acting as a conductor of electricity. I don't like to think about music in these terms--it tends to sound, I don't know--no, I do know: lame. But the truth of the matter is I gave "Raising the Sparks" a shot and decided then and there that transcendence or symbiosis, whatever you want to call that Click where everything falls into place, was as valuable an ally as I could ask for. Whether achieved through music, drugs, meditation, prayer... but the revelation wouldn't stick. I felt stupid even thinking it.
"Raising the Sparks" closes Akron/Family's portion of the Akron/Family / Angels of Light split LP, acting as a recap and summation of the effort so far.* It begins with approaching drums, faint but growing, gathering steam and foreboding power like a harbinger of civil war. It explodes into a complex but rollicking guitar melody, a verse which itself undergoes a slow and steady build until it disintegrates into drunken stomping singalong, an iridescent chorus of blending harmonies and inhuman caterwauling, finally blending with the returning guitars and then emptying back out into nothing, leaving you to consider only the band's insistent plea to "Raise the, raise the, RAISE THE SPARKS."

* I love writing about music. I think it's useful, both for me as a writer and for whoever reads this (though no one does). That said, some songs cannot begin to be summarized in words, and demand to be heard. A download of "Raising the Sparks" can be found here.