Music Review

Ah, the assignment I've been waiting four months for. It was hard to pick just one album, but I have to give the runners up some credit. They are just as good as the album I chose, but I didn't really want to write about them. But you should still listen to them because they are really good. In no particular order: Coconut Records' "Nighttiming," Born Ruffians' "Say It," Belle and Sebastian's "Write About Love," Matt & Kim's "Sidewalks," and Girl Talk's "All Day." Right there, you have indie acoustic-ish, indie alt and kind of random, soft indie rock, overly catchy synth and lyrics, and a sweet mashup. But I digress. **If you don't want to read my full song commentary, read the following paragraph and the last paragraph. I won't take offense.**

When you first hear of the band Los Campesinos! they sound like a cool Mexican mariachi group (a campesino in English is a peasant). Alas, they are not. They're something even better. They are a wonderful indie pop group from the UK. The band formed in 2006 at Cardiff University in Wales, but none of the seven members are Welsh. Los Campesinos! is made up of Ellen, Gareth, Harriet, Neil, Tom, Ollie, Rob and Aleksandra. They are all known to perform with their real first names and then "Campesinos!" as their last names (like the Ramones, kind of). Sound good so far? It gets better. The name of their EP I'll be reviewing is called "Sticking Fingers Into Sockets." Everything is written by Gareth or Tom. Without further ado, the songs.

It opens with an extremely catchy yet kind of dark song (We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives), with a nice synth-y riff that walks down the scale and has some supporting drums, and even a glockenspiel played by Gareth. Gareth's lead vocals are really substantial, very British with a little harmony and chorus help from Aleksandra. The lyrics provide the subtle darkness with lines like "there's red stains all over the place/but they're not blood they're cherryade." This is my favorite song on the EP. "It Started With A Mixx" comes next and this one has the best lyrics: "trying to find the perfect match between pretentious and pop" and "it started with a mix/I think it always will." It has some really nice violin plucking, guitar and bass guitar. "Don't Tell Me to do The Math(s)" has some cool glockenspiel work and another catchy guitar riff, with bits of fitting violin sprinkled in between. "Frontwards" is alright, by this time on the EP, everything was beginning to feel a little repetitive. Aleksandra and Gareth have really good vocal chemistry. The fifth song "You! Me! Dancing!" is considered to be the band's hit, but it wasn't my favorite by a long shot. It starts off with slow guitar, then builds to muffled guitar and finally full guitar, glockenspiel and drums. Gareth's voice was alright in this, but true to the name, the song makes you want to dance. The last song "Clunk-Rewind-Clunk-Play-Clunk" is just to play the EP out, it sounds like a nice jam to be played at the end of the credits of a happy movie.

Well, if you've stuck with me this far, thanks. Los Campesinos! is a nice blend of indie pop, random instruments (like glockenspiel), delicate female vocals and solid male vocals. All in all, I give Sticking Fingers Into Sockets 7 out of 10. It was good albeit a tad repetitive-seeming. As I was listening (especially to "Frontwards" and "You! Me! Dancing!") I was reminded of another indie pop UK band with a slightly more grunge sound, Johnny Foreigner (Gareth actually did a song with them called Criminals- click here to listen to that). If you wanted to see them in the US, too bad. They were just here at the Metro, with Johnny Foreigner coincidentally. I'm bummed too. I hope this wasn't too long (actually it probably was). But I had a lot of fun writing it. Have an awesome break guys, and don't forget to listen to Los Campesinos!

*edited* Winter Poem

Holding Arctic Air

The sky is thick and gray, a heavy wool blanket

Draping the world in chills and shivers, instead of warmth

Muffling cautious boots on the sidewalk

And almost all is white and quiet

These flurries that we say are unique and beautiful

Spin down from the clouds, exotic dances around our faces

Landing gently on eyelashes, jackets, ponytails and gloves

Little pieces of kaleidoscope wonder melting on pink tongues

Snowflakes are not beautiful, they are awkward

Clumped together randomly like they are huddling for warmth and waiting for the Lincoln bus

Which arrived in a squeal of wet wheels and dirty slush

A leftover present from your faithful neighborhood snowplow man, free of charge

Oh, and when we walk our streets at night

Naked trees wearing nothing but thin frosty coats

Glaring yellow bulbs stand guard on the hard wet curb

We slip and fall on that invisible ice, shrouded beneath dirty footprints

Frigid air bites and freezes the end of our noses

Raw pink, and we inhale a rush of brisk exhilaration

There's something giddy and magical about winter nights

Holding arctic air in our numb hands, palms up, fingers outstretched and we feel so alive

Looking through fogged up windows transforms the streetlights angelic

Clean white halos against the dark night canvas

Pure beacons of warmth in a cold Windy City

Glowing through the night

Jay and Nick

Ah, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway, the best of friends. Or are they really? Let's take an in-depth look at their relationship [ick I sound like a trashy magazine].

Nick Carraway: an honest bondsman. He's kind of cynical, he comes from relative money but not huge amounts of money, went to Yale and is pretty sure of himself. He does not seem to fit in with all the East Eggers: they are all super rich and pedigreed, while he's from somewhere in the Midwest, Minnesota I believe. But he is cousins with Daisy and friends with Tom, so that will make him a key player in the chapters to come.

Jay Gatsby is an entirely different story. No one really knows where he comes from, so instead they make it all up. He's apparently a distant relative of Kaiser Wilhelm, or his parents died and left him a lot of money, but Jay tells Nick himself of his background. He was born in the Midwest, orphaned and left money and educated at Oxford. Or so he tells Nick, which doesn't necessarily make it true. But even though Gatsby is fabulously wealthy and has a huge house in which he throws parties in every other day, yet he lives in West Egg, the Egg with the less prestigious reputation of rich people. So everything is not what it seems with Mr. Gatsby.

Their relationship starts when Nick moves in next to Gatsby, but it is a while before Nick is invited to one of his parties. They meet in an odd way and strike up a conversation. Everything is all right, and Gatsby seems like a cool guy, kind of ordinary, served in the war, the usual [except of course, for his mysterious past]. All is well. Gatsby invites Nick to go fly in his airplane with him, male bonding, yippee. And then Nick learns why Gatsby is really interested in him: Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan. They themselves have some history, and Gatsby has never stopped loving her. He knows Nick and Daisy are cousins, and Nick learns from Jordan Baker than Gatsby wants Nick to invite Daisy and him over, but is too cautious to ask because he might come off as rude. Nick does not mind and does it, and that's about where we have gotten to in the book.

Our initial impression of Gatsby is not what we thought it was. However just because he did one manipulative thing does not make him a bad person, really. I think we as the readers don't really know what to make of him at this point in the story. As for Nick and Jay? They are still forming a nice relationship, albeit with some mystery and tension. How will the story end? Well fellow classmates, we'll just have to keep reading.

The Trick of Writing [not a winter poem]

Edline says we are writing a winter poem but the sheet says we are writing about the trick of writing. So I'll compromise: I'll paint a nice wintry scene for you all, and then I'll write about writing. It sounds fair to me.

Picture this- you, sitting inside your warm house, a mug of hot chocolate by your side, an orange fire crackling in the fireplace. Snow is falling from the thick white sky, as if the whole world is under a wool blanket and the flurries are just part of the material. Outside, the wind blows and you see people walk by with red noses and flying scarves, but you are safe and warm. Winter. I can't much explain my love for it other than it's really comforting, and the wreaths and lights are beautiful downtown late at night, and going ice skating by the Bean is fun. Winter is that time where, I think, you feel you can do whatever you want, because with the snow and the cold air comes a giddy feeling of freedom and excitement unlike any other season. So without any further ado, the trick of writing.

Writers are modern day magicians. Save for the fact they can't make food out of thin air [although I guess, neither can the magicians, food is the first of the five principal exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration- huge Harry Potter fan, anyone?], writers cast spells over the readers, draw them into a world of new and wondrous proportions and keep them trapped there until the final events have unfolded. Writing is a type of magic. Okay, call me corny, but I like to write. A lot. The whole idea of this imaginary world where the author had complete control over, it fascinated me. But enough about me, onto the tricks.

For me, the word "tricks" implies some deceitful means of achieving the result you want. Or it could also mean tools of the trade, tips you need to know to be a successful writer. I prefer the latter definition. The trick of writing, you see, is just that: to draw the reader in. Once you've gotten your reader hooked, keep them on their toes. Make the story interesting. Make the reader want to keep reading. That, I think, is the most important trick of writing. Make them want to stay in your world.

But how do you get this enticing beginning, this worm of an opening paragraph to reel the reader in like a hooked fish? Many ways, at least that I know. A question, the end of the story, a random plot, dialogue between the characters- the options are virtually endless. Forgive me for not listing more, it's almost nine and I haven't started geometry.

Sorry this was really long, but I hope I fulfilled the requirement adequately. So good night to all, and happy second night of Hanukkah! :D