Mine was a driving vacation, a chance to listen to music uninterrupted, enveloped in my moving audio bubble, along miles and miles of highways. I discovered numerous compelling songs that will be presented here in the weeks to come, but it was the album, The Suburbs, by Arcade Fire that I continually returned too. The disc explores the environs where many of us grew up in–and what much of this and many countries have become–the homogenized beige living space with little connection to space and time. The endless boredom, hours wandering, wasted time, a longing to escape and the realization that there will be nothing to return to.
“Now our loves are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last.”
There are so many good songs of differing styles that my faves change from day to day. Here is a punk rave-up called “Month of May” and a song of suburban sprawl (“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”). The title track “The Suburbs” was heard here on this site in June, so I’ve included the beautiful coda to that song that ends the album. One of the albums of the year, these are the Songs of the Day.
“Month of May”
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“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
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“The Suburbs (Continued)”
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I did the same thing, listened to it in it’s entirety, driving around the suburbs. Empty Room is my favorite as it builds up steam and explodes.