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Happenings

Last night Summer, Timmy, and I went to Somerville, MA to see Low and His Name Is Alive. Due to various delays (if you've ever been passenger to my driver in a place I don't know well, you get the idea) we missed a portion of the latter's set, though what we did catch was quite good. The band kind of sprawled over the stage, one member sitting on the stage floor the whole time, others changing positions and wandering about. The music itself was as good and tight as you'd expect from a 16-year-old 4AD band. Prior to the start of Low's set, who should enter the building but J. A. C. McGrath (Carleton College '05), with whom I had the pleasure of catching up after the show. As he took his seat with us in the theatre, silence fell and Low took the stage, kicking off with some of their more spare songs, then gradually filled out the sound as the songs progressed. Of course, even then the ensemble consisted of one guitar with heavy reverb, one bass, and a drum kit consisting of cymbals, snare, and a small timpani, played with brushes and timpani sticks, over which the guitarist and drummer added excellent male-female vocal harmonies. None of us was very familiar with Low, but as I expected their "slowcore" sound required a pretty heavy attention to musical details and melody--very tight, and marked by slight deviations--a dash of syncopation here, a guitar crescendo there--which really supplemented the melody well. After playing through much of the material from their new album--I recognized "Monkey" and "California" particularly--they returned for a three-song all-request encore marked by my favorite of their songs, "Sunflowers." There are other little details which deserve mention, such as their "light show" (which consisted of a multicolored disco-ball setup place stage right before the encore) and the theatre itself, a classy setup with a mezzanine (where oour seats were located), opera boxes, plush curtains, and all that jazz. All in all it made for a worthwhile experience. On the way back we took the interstate through Boston proper so Summer could see the highway system in all its glory.

Also I don't think I mentioned that last week Summer and I went to a Deerhoof concert with fellow neuroscientists-in-training Luke and Kristen, and assorted others. Deerhoof were also really good, although the sound is much more difficult to desribe--very syncopated and "spastic" as I've heard it called, but still marked by strong melodies. The show was definitely a vie boheme sort of thing, as one of the opening acts sang childish songs using hand puppets, one of the opening acts was a modern dance troupe who performed accompanied by a slide show, and between sets we were treated to artistic short films by Martha Colburn, which I really enjoyed. Enough on that, though.

Otherwise, I'm feeling mostly better albeit a bit stressed; last weekend we attended another bridal show, and somehow even a wedding that's over a year away can make my pulse pick up a bit. This more recent show, however, was light years ahead of the other one, and some of the vendors were really friendly--particularly the two whose products/services we were least interested in (a fertility organization and a bank pushing mortgages on new homes).

I'm enjoying class and trying to look at the big picture more this semester by keeping up with course outlines and studying from alternative sources. I don't think I have much more to say right now except that I'm also looking forward to the weekend and the Big Game (even if it doesn't feature my team...I can get behind the Seahawks). I'm just glad the Patriots are out of it. I think we're going to Timmy's for the game, which likely means that Saturday I'll spend some time on my outlines. Who knows.

I think it's time for me to attend to other things now. More later.