3 posts tagged “asobi seksu”
Just in from seeing Asobi Seksu at Local 506.
Oh, Asobi Seksu, could I love seeing you more? I seriously doubt it.
Books, movies, music; what's in your top 5 right now?
I haven't really watched a movie, top or otherwise, in several months, so I'm not going to submit anything in that arena. Right now, I'm reading Scott Poulson-Bryant's Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America. I have been thinking a lot recently about an unfortunate "hierarchy" to which I have become aware in gay dating circles. How certain races become more desirable, and others less, and how all of this affects and is affected by internalized images of beauty and worth. I definitely still have much to read on the subject(s), but Poulson-Bryant's tome is a really good start, since I have been working from the inside-out. So that's definitely in my top 5.
Other media darlings that are in my current Top 5:
The Cocker Spaniels - "Withstand the Whatnot"
Come for "The Only Black Guy at the Indie-Rock Show," stay for everything else. I just discovered The Cocker Spaniels this week, but have already listened to this album 5 times. Good stuff. "Little Africa" and "Why Do I Bother?" are two more gems amongst many.
Asobi Seksu ("Citrus," or the self-titled album)
Brooklyn-based "shoegaze" rock band that knocked my socks off this past weekend at the Troika Music Festival. I've been letting Citrus settle into my music collection since I acquired it late in the summer, and it's continued to bubble up every now and then. To be honest, I didn't expect to be blown away by Asobi Seksu when I saw them, but I knew by the music that I would have an excellent time. Like I said, I didn't expect to be blown away. And I'm going to see them again in December, which can't come quickly enough.
TV on the Radio "Return to Cookie Mountain"
I too was a lover before this war, and by god I will hang on to that as long as humanly possible. TVotR is, to me, one of those bands that make music for people who are convinced that the world is a vampire (and it tends to be), but they are essentially optimists, which creates an interested space between nihilism and exuberance. Think not? Give a listen to "Wolf Like Me" or "Province."
Paul Klee
I am preparing for an audition this week, and one of my monologues references Walter Benjamin analyzing Klee's painting "Angelus Novus." Knowing nothing about either of these men, nor the painting, I set off in search of context. I found Benjamin, discovered Klee, and fell into the wings of "Angelus Novus." Ain't research fun?
What are your plans for the weekend?
This weekend, there is a sprawling music fest called Troika, happening all over parts of Durham, NC. Over the four nights of this festival, 40+ bands will play nine venues, ending in an 8-hour marathon set at Durham's 305 South. Tonight, Asobi Seksu is wrapping up Troika, once they hit the stage at 12:30am. Already, I have seen Dirty Little Heaters, Midtown Dickens, Des Ark, Jennifer O'Connor, Portastatic, Okkervil River, Bull City, Maple Stave, Rooster for the Masses, Joe Romeo and the OC Volunteers, Man Man, and The Mountain Goats.
Ah, live music.
And, I saw Amy Sedaris at the Durham Armory last night, but that was not part of Troika. Just some of the general goings-on in this secretly-hip town.
