Geographer – The Guest
Where the songs on Geographer‘s 2012 release Myths had a swinging angularity, new single “The Guest” has a pillowy build. Strings and horns crescendo in a way that makes the track worthy of an end-credits roll on a movie where you were actually rooting for the happy ending instead of rolling your eyes at its predictability.
Geographer’s third LP Ghost Modern drops today.
In M|H’s weekend feature, focus your audio, I’ll be looking at some of my favorite songs. Some I haven’t listened to in years, some I keep in regular rotation, but all having in some way informed my life, my taste, and and how I view music.
Pete Yorn – For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)
Pete Yorn hit the scene at the end of my junior year of high school with his debut musicforthemorningafter and lead single “Life on a Chain“. I loved it upon hearing it with its bluesy base, but my favorite song from the album has always been “For Nancy”. I listened to this album throughout the rest of high school and got to see Pete Yorn play at the 2002 Y100 FEZtival on the main stage. He played in the afternoon so I was able to get close and he was an amazing performer.
As the years went on, musicforthemorningafter fell out of my regular rotation, but when I was living in San Francisco in 2009 I rediscovered it while using the mp3 player I had bought and loaded up during my sophomore year of college. I’d had it on shuffle and “For Nancy” came on while I was on the bus in the Marina headed to work at the Exploratorium. After listening through the song I took my player off shuffle and listened to the entire album, remembering why I’d loved it in the first place.
In M|H’s weekend feature, songbook, I’ll be looking at some of my favorite songs. Some I haven’t listened to in years, some I keep in regular rotation, but all having in some way informed my life, my taste, and and how I view music.
Passion Pit – Little Secrets
In late 2009 I lived in San Francisco and interned for 826 Valencia – non-profit writing and tutoring center fronted by the Pirate Supply Store that brought in money for the center. In the bay is Treasure Island, former home to a World’s Fair exhibit and a naval base. Once a year the island plays home to the Treasure Island Music Festival, and while I worked for 826 we set up a booth and hawked our wares (eye patches, pirate flags, what have you). I worked the night shift, so during the day I was free to roam and enjoy the bands. One of those bands was Passion Pit.
The first time I heard Passion Pit had been a few months earlier at a friend’s house, soundtracking his post-breakup beard removal. I loved Manners, and was excited to see Passion Pit play. While I knew they were fun and made generally happy music, I had no idea that they’d be able to move the crowd as much as they did. It was a perfect sunny day on the island, and the crowd was cheerful and engaged. When “Little Secrets” came on, though, the whole festival exploded. Even in the best of circumstances, there’s always that smattering of people in the crowd who are just too cool or too afraid to dance and sing along. However, for a few minutes, I literally could not find a single person who wasn’t smiling, swaying, singing. Hands were in the air, getting higher and higher. I’m sure someone, somewhere was standing arms crossed, but not anywhere near me. It’s incredibly rare to see a thousands of people transform for a common purpose in a matter of seconds. Hearing “Little Secrets” live that day is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.
Mixtapes|Heartbreaks 