006. Feist's 'Pleasure'

12 augustus 2021

Hi.

Today I'm checking Feist's 'Pleasure'. I notice the cover art first, then the millions of plays. I start the first track.

I notice I'm not digging the indie sound quality too much - I'll probably grow into it. I like the intense guitars that come in halfway. I like the final chorus. It's too underproduced compared to my picture going in I think.

Second song. I think my initial disliking is caused by the overall lack of bass.

I drifted away to thinking about my friends. That might be a good sign. I anticipated this would be a dry studio record, but it turns out to be a more live-ish album.

Third song. I'm contemplating what I should be listening to.

Is this a good way to spend my time? Shouldn't I be listening to the classics?

Anyway. I enjoy the opening guitar riff. I'm now starting to think that these production choices might be on purpose, haha. That shifts my perception. Ok. halfway, 2 mins. Sick.

I notice I want to do something else. I notice that I'm blaming my chair. Nevermind.

I enjoy how this goes into the chorus. There's no real shift, just an enclosing of the living space. I enjoy the drum production, and how it opens up again. I enjoy the interplay between the sections. Yeah, I like this song.

Fourth song.

I'm thinking about how strings of timelines keep getting woven, even though identity is in such a meddling state at the moment. I feel things are blurring, but maybe they were never clear and it's in our age that it's surfacing. I don't enjoy this wording, the fact that I call it "our" age. It seems too selfish. But ok, granted, it's the slice of time we are currently inhabiting.

I have had a lot of opportunities, and feel like I failed to notice them at the moment. I feel like I could have gotten more out of my situation in LA. Interestingly, this song is called lost dreams. Hm.

I should be paying more attention to the songs, sorry.

Fifth song. Good start. However, if I may resume please, this is about me after all - I'm not sure you're even reading this - I think I'm just about done with moping. Or, maybe I'm not. Maybe my body wants to stay in an eternal state of moping. Maybe moping is what I do. I think all these posts attest to that. Why is that easier? I like the rawness of this track. This is a good one too. I'm reminded of, hm, what's his name... This guy that did Ogre. The sloppy acoustic guitar playing I mean.

This song's inspiring me to pick up music again. Good song.

ooooh, it suddenly breaks format!!! Fuck I love that. Around the 5 min mark.

Nooooooo. Okayyyyy

Sixth song. Now where in good quality land. Fuck me. Ok, that's really cool. I LOVE BREAKING FORMAT. Yea, this is cool. I'm just listening. I'm a bit done apologizing. Hold up, what the fuck happens at 4:30? Ok, this is starting to fuck with me.

Seventh song. What do you think of this one? I like the cool pad work here. I honestly now appreciate the stylistic difference of the vocal treatment, though I have to admit it's a balsy move. Yea, I now enjoy this. Ok. Dry synths with the wet hand claps. Oh, it generally seems to throw curveballs at the end I see. Interesting way to end songs honestly.

Eighth song. Not quite as smooth a transition compared to the preceding tracks. It's good though. Ok, yeah - I enjoy the chorus here.

I'm thinking about how the thing that might be keeping me here is my attachment to personal connection. I feel that need is getting satisfied here, at the bottom. If I could somehow manage to take my friends with me, up...

I'm pausing here, just a sec - I need to go to the lavotary. I'm not sure I even spelled that right.

Anyways, on with the program. Resuming at 3 mins. I notice I'm looking at the timer when songs seemingly end. I minimize the Spotify window. I love how the track builds from the voice-over back to the end. I like the feedback.

Uh wow. I just flipped off my neighbors and the track just stopped dead in its tracks. Coincidence?

Ninth track. I notice that this transition didn't sit too good with me either. It felt like just slapping two things together. I like the song an sich though. I'm really enjoying the diverse sizes of instrumentation.

Maybe, I want to be good at everything. I'm thinking about distinguishing brands of basses and orchestral instruments. I want to do everything!!! I want to be a good cook, healthy, excel at my work, build great things. Jesus that went downhill. I mean, fuck. I want to want to prioritize my work above all else. I'm a workaholic falling out of love.

This transition flows better. I notice we're close to the end. I feel that I'd like it to be over, just to cross it off the list maybe.

Interesting that when you depart or approach a point, you really long for arriving or going back. When you're in the middle of it - all seems well. There's something in here.

I understand why Tennyson likes this, this track feels very tennyson-esque, the vocal cadence and fluctuations mostly, combined with the rhythm of the backbeat.

Ah, last track. I recall the song "be simple" from a couple of ones back. Maybe that's what this is about. I'm not even really listening to the lyrics, I think they might give a clue. It feels like the protagonist goes back to garage band days. That somehow makes it really sweet. I have a sweet feeling. Interesting, going into this project completely blank.

There's no breaks. All is chaos. But we can somehow bundle time and energy to create shit like this - how cool is that?

Ok, conclusion time. I really loved the transitions. Tracks were solid. Going in, I was expecting a full-blown produced record. I found it really cool that it played with this. I'm not really familiar with her older stuff, just maybe a single of a previous record, so I was not sure if I wanted to go along with the garage aesthetic.

Interesting. This is somehow, well no quite literally - saving the bass frequencies not for a section but for a song on the album. That's commendable. More of that, please.

I found that this experience, just listening to a full album again (with the idea that some people really enjoyed it), gave way to some points about myself.

Quick in between, a thought pops in that tells me I need to buy a suit. My mind shifts to my friend and his peer group, and how I really want to escape that situation.

I'm sorry, where were we?

Reading back... Yeah, hm. My arm hurts a bit from the vaccine. I gaze glass-eyed into a tree. Ugm, yeah - my mind wanders. Particularly with listening to an album, I get finicky at some points. Perhaps that's normal. But fuck, something in me wants to be pleasured just 24/7. Do you have this feeling? Why else am I switching between things so quickly? I'm sorry, I don't like swearing.

Ok, let's round this up. Good album. I don't like ratings. Listen to it and judge for yourself. It's worth a listen at least.

P.M.