A friend recently gifted me a copy of The Blow's Paper Television album. I'd only heard singles by The Blow before, and getting that much to process at once was a little overwhelming, especially, I decided, since I was listening in the car at 6 in the evening, driving home from work. This is all wrong, I thought to myself. This music is dance music with plaintive or whispery vocals -- it needs to be played at around 11 pm on the way to a club, or 2 am on the way home from a club. Probably more like 2 am.
It's 2 am music.
At home, I have a playlist called "4 am and still awake." It's where I put all my strange spoken word & outsider music – Jandek howling tunelessly about the sun, Ken Nordine speculating about the future of television, all kinds of creepy and desperate soundscapes. They do not make sense at midday (unless you've been up for more than 20 hours already). The soundtrack for desperation and insomnia.
I also have a large collection of Sunday afternoon music, which tends toward the Gillian Welsh and the Neil Halstead – acousticky songwriters with a well-developed sense of melancholy, waiting for sunset and an end to the light. The period extending from two hours after a late lunch (more of a scrounge for snack foods) to the preparation of an early dinner.
Damon & Naomi's "Judah & the Maccabbees," meanwhile, is meant for 11 pm, possibly behind the wheel on an unfamiliar highway, or maybe just tucking up for bed and reading after a long day. Late at night, knowing the stars are out.
They're measuring out time, I think. Soundtracking specific hours of the day.
Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? Who's playing at noon? What's on first thing in the morning? |
