Look, folks, I know what you're all wondering. And the answer is yes: my calves are so strong and chiseled from all this walking in New York City.
Now for the stuff you don't care about as much:
1) The new Flaming Fire website is here! It's a huge improvement over the last one, complete with latest updates (including an embarrassing video of me screwing up our new song at the first gig that I purposely didn't post here) and new photos! I'm even in a couple of the photos from the SUNY Purchase gig, which was one of the most fun experiences in my life, thanks for asking. Go check it out to learn more about what I got myself involved with.
2) That said, because of some scheduling happiness - and by "happiness" I mean "horrid devastation of the abyss" - Flaming Fire has taken the week off, which means... You guessed it! I had Wednesday night off. Which means... You guessed it! I could go to my first ever Re:Write Review Wednesday night meeting!
Okay, so maybe you didn't guess it.
I've been wanting to attend one of these meetings for nearly a year now, though it's only been weighing on my heart for the last four or five months. As I said in a previous post, I've already submitted "Group Therapy" to them, as well as an entry for their contest. And I had an entry to their contest for their first issue, which didn't win but got published! And the editor is one of my good friends, Aurora, from my very first year at NYU. And I was at the official release for the Re:Write Review's first issue to see Aurora and others so some readings.
In short, I've been wanting in on this group for a while.
I read the short story "The Secret Desires of the Cats," which is posted in an earlier form on this blog, which got a surprisingly warm reception, considering the great quality of the other pieces read before mine. Also, I read right after the very talented writer Joel Ealy wrote a remarkably profound account of his cat's recent passing, which took me right back to the moment that we had to put Zack down. In short, they were very supportive and offered helpful constructive criticism (unlike certain high school English teachers I had), and isn't that everything one could want from a writing group? The guys and gals - including the hilariously awkward and brilliant playwright Kristin Froberg, whose dialogue writing is simply precious - are easygoing and effortless to pass time with. I have only good thing to say about these people, as you can see, and I hope Flaming Fire has another Wednesday off sometime around the corner so I can do it again.
So, with no further ado, Re:Write Review's website will take a spot along with my other links posted along the left-hand side of the blog. If you want to check it out, go for it. The guidelines for submission and their new contest are there, so if you want to set your muse free, there's one possible outlet.
One minor problem with both these groups, Flaming Fire and Re:Write Review: both have enough religious overtones to make me fidget. Is being religiously inspired not as terrible as my mother thinks it is? No, never!
3) Yesterday, while I should have been studying for a midterm depending on your definition of "should," I was watching the Dodos in Williamsburg. As you might remember, their record "Visiter" (spelled wrong on purpose) was my #1 CD of 2008. Well, they've released a new CD, "Time to Die," and are now on tour promoting it.
Am I legally allowed to post this picture? Aw, who cares, anyway?
Because the show was so amazing, I thought I'd share some thoughts about it. Made amazing not the least because I bumped into another freshman year friend at the show, Abby Garnett, Kevin Garnett's white, blonde cousin. As for the performance, it was borderline transformative. Guitarist Meric Long owned the stage, though amid the energy that the band shared was an exceeding, nearly classical discipline. Actually, that's one of my favorite aspects of the Dodos, other than their driving rhythms: their nearly symphonic treatment of their grooves and the long forms of their pieces. "Paint the Rust" was an incredible rendition that send vibrations coursing through the body. recent addition Keaton Snyder drew my eyes the most, I think, possibly because he plays the instrument I've been studying for nearly eight years now. Plus, he was kind of playing the vibes and drums at the same time, three mallets on the drums and one on the vibes. That was pretty cool. This show has to rate in my top 5 for the year, by far. Definitely better than TV on the Radio's concert at the Fox Theater in Oakland, even though everyone knows I adore TV on the Radio.
All in all, the show had the same successes and pitfalls I see in "Time to Die." While keeping their charismatic interplay between drummer Logan Kroeber and Meric Long that defined "Visiter," there's something lacking. It came through in the show and it comes through on the CD: the new songs lack the same kind of drumming variation and smooth forms that produce grand composition arcs. In short, it just doesn't feel as natural as "Visiter." This was so evident in the show that I found myself wishing that they would stop playing music from the new record and stick to the old. For example, the most energetic piece of "Time to Die" is definitely "This is a Business," but when they played it live, it lost the punch, as if their energy was being put into maintaining the form. "The Season," however, which was the final encore, hit 100,000 times harder, and it wasn't even the hardest hitter on "Visiter."
Could it be that the Dodos just don't have the new tunes under their fingers as well as the old? It would make sense - John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet was the same way when I saw them. But the same thing is true of the record: it's just not as smooth and thus not as authentically energetic as "Visiter" was. Perhaps the Dodos should have waited a little longer before recording this one to give the drums and the song forms time to define themselves better. It sounds to me like the pieces are still trying to find their shapes, though they're in an adequate enough state to perform. Still, "Time to Die" feels somewhat incomplete to me, like a sentence without a period at the end
But don't let this take away from how great the show was. The show was truly wonderful, and you should all be jealous you didn't see it. Also don't let this take away from the album. I'm listening to it right now, in fact, so it is by no means a bad record. But "Visiter" raised the bar too high, I'm afraid.
Now I'm off to walk in New York City some more to work on those calves. Yet another thing for you to be jealous about.
-Sam goldsmith
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