So I got a bunch of stuff done and took a late lunch, and after eating I went to the Virgin Megastore in Union Square. I picked up the Yes New York compilation, because I am shameless and it was $10 and there were a bunch of tracks on there I wanted to hear (Radio 4, Rapture, LCD Soundsystem). And then I went over and listened to the Broken Social Scene album, which at first confirmed my MP3-aided suspicion that it really wasn't that good, and then the drums on track 2 kicked in and it's like, fuuuuuuuuck. (Now how to convince my respective drummers that a distorted drum sound rocks hard?) And for some reason I started thinking that really, living in New York (especially Brooklyn) right now, we are living through a moment, which as stupid and clichéd as that may sound is still something we will be asked about and envied for later; that despite all the trendiness and hipster ennui bullshit, it's still really fucking exciting, and that I am listening to and seeing and playing with some great bands right now. It's a moment, and it's pretty cool.

And then David Byrne walked by.

Do I know what he was doing in the Virgin Megastore at 3 on a Tuesday? No I do not. But it was definitely him. (He passed by the listening booths and went to the magazines and read the Wire, if you're curious.) And it felt...well, it felt cool, but it also felt, maybe only in retrospect, weirdly like an omen. I dunno--you think about the moment, David Byrne walks by, you get the brief sensation that your brain has conjured him out of whole cloth and the bonus features from Stop Making Sense, and you wonder what the hell is going on, and then you buy your CD and go into Union Square and read some liner notes and think about arrangements and FX boxes and songs and songs and songs, and walk through Manhattan and feel right in place.

And fuck, I gotta say, I am on a songwriting tear right now. I mean--shit. Some good pop tunes are coming from my brain right now, moment or no.

So I guess I'm in a good mood right now, and I am very much in love with music and the sounds we can make together. But Ted Leo still sucks.

UPDATE: Kristie suggests that David was there to pick up Liam Lynch's Fake Songs. "I've done a salsa mix!"

Oh, and the Witnesses suck too. They really, really suck.
posted by Mike B. at 4:14 PM 0 comments