There are some things that are more significant than others in your life. For sure, those things include albums. Nirvana's Nevermindturned twenty last autumn, and never have I felt depressed over music, as I did then. During that time, the music world changed. Now, there aren't any bands, which could actually shake the entire universe.
However, I could feel comfort, when I've had the chance to enjoy a true classic in recent memory. Or actually in a period, which I can remember. That true classic is Turn on the Bright Lights, the debut album of New York post-punk rockers Interpol. I was fifteen, when I heard TOTBL for the first time, and as years have passed, my appreciation towards it has grown. Although, I'm not able to concentrate solely on listening music as I could as a teenager, there hasn't been another album, which shaped my music taste as drastically since then.
Because of TOTBL it was easier for me to start listening to "difficult music". You see, there is a reason why early Interpol isn't played on radios. It takes time to grow on you. It takes time for you to appreciate the every nuance, which makes everything complete. It takes time to realize that it actually isn't that depressing.
Yes, after the first time listening to TOTBL, I felt depressed. I was thinking of which songs to listen to, when I was done, and one of them was Green Day's Wake Me up when September Ends. Those sad songs changed quickly into cheerful ones. It was like I lived the entire winter within those 49 minutes.
So what makes the album musically special? In this case it would be the uniqueness of each band member. Carlos D, has been voted to be the second best bass player in the world, for me he is the best. Sometimes it seems like there isn't a clear structure in his playing, and it probably isn't the easiest to practice. My friend once said that Sam Fogarino drums in a way, which sounds like his banging songs of his own. Daniel Kessler's guitar playing is simply fierce and passionate, but still so focused and subtle. Last but not least, Paul Banks' voice. The voice, which you can recognize anywhere you go, even underwater. Yet each individual's talent fuses perfectly together without losing the touch of their own. Everyone contributes to the song writing, excluding lyrics. Those playful lyrics.
Taken from Leif Erikson:
She feels that my sentimental side should be held with kid gloves But she doesn't know that I left my urge in the icebox She swears I'm just prey to the female, Well then hook me up and throw me, baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked.
Shortly TOTBL is the reason, why I can listen to indie pieces, which don't make much sense at first. But that's how I learned not to "judge a book by its cover". It is the first album outside my comfort zone, which I hold precious. So precious that I made a presentation out of it a couple of years back, and wrote a very in-depth essay of six pages for school (if anyone wants to read it, message me).
Last autumn my musical crush was Zola Jesus. After the Nevermind exhibition, I went inside a record store, and they had her new album playing. That's when it really hit me. I guess it was because of the good speakers, which were able to showcase the bass, which I think is important for her songs. There wasn't any other choice, but to get myself a ticket for her London gig, which was set two months after. Super stoked I was.
Just some hours before the gig, I checked who was the support. It was some teenager from Austria, then the excitement was gone. Apparently, EMA is quite a popular artist name, so the support act was actually a bit older and American.
In fact she was this extremely tall indie amazon princess- liked rocker, who could have starred in Xena. She had this captivating stage presence with music, which made you really concentrate on and a few dedicated fans, who seemed to drive the front audience mad.
Then something happened that I had never believed an indie act would do. Let along an indie support act.
I remember hoping that the guitar pieces she threw into the crowd wouldn't hit the camera. I managed to talk about it with her after the gig, and apparently it was her first time to wreck a guitar, which was a cheap one. She felt ashamed about it, as she realized how dangerous it was. I'm pretty sure though that people were rather excited of heavy pieces flying above their heads.
What could I say now about Zola Jesus' performance, except for that I didn't want it to stop? Well, she was tiny, and whenever she jumped into the crowd, it was hard to see where she was. Maybe now and then you could have spotted a glimpse of her hair.
It was cool to watch how concentrated she was in singing, and then all of the sudden she could turn into this Tazmanian devil with her crazy moves.
It was a great evening of music, but what made it perfect was to literally look back and see a familiar face; there was this guy standing behind me, who during Austra's gigwas in front of me. That was the moment, when London became small. Me and my friend got to know him and his sister, who both of them moved from South Africa to London to work. They taught us this little trick what to do during gigs; when everyone else is standing, go down and it will feel like you've dived into another world. X
It's funny that after spending a year in The Netherlands, I left with one luggage. Now after spending half a year in London, I left with two. During my exchange year I didn't visit home at all, I didn't even want to. But London made me want to go home for a while, only after two months. We were talking about this with Maria, and wondering if it was about the person or the place. Probably both.
But one thing I'm sure of... I'm happy to be back! Here are some reasons;
1. No more dealing with noisy kids.
2. I can have pork and beer in the fridge again.
3. Fresh air and nature. It's not even cold, as I'm wearing the same clothes I wore in London, and yet I'm sweating.
4. It's affordable to keep the houses warm.
5. Thick walls, so you don't need to listen to your neighbors' life stories.
6. Being surrounded by people, who understand social awkwardness. Or actually not being surrounded by people at all.
England vs Spain football game and see some of the top players or baby shower?
I've never been to a baby shower, I wouldn't be home for Christmas, which meant I wouldn't see the big tummy of my sister-in-law at all and feel the baby kick. And I needed some fresh air, peace and quiet, so a visit to Finland it was. It had to be a surprise as well, since I wanted to see how it would work out with only my father knowing that I was going there.
It was a bit stressful since I would have either been ringing my mother's door bell after midnight or stayed the night at my friend's place in Tampere and get home the next morning. My friend had to go to work early so the latter didn't work out.
But let's get back to the start of the trip. Just getting to the airport here in London takes ages. First you have to take the underground to get to the right bus stop, which takes 40min or so and then the bus to the airport which takes about 90min if the traffic jam isn't awful. And it seems that RyanAir in London is the only one, which really follows the 100ml in your hand luggage rule. No one checked them in Eindhoven or Dublin. So you can imagine there were a lot of people including me, who had to wait for a longer time at the security check due to those +100ml bottles. Time was running out for the gate to be open. I got there on time to just remember that it's RyanAir; they're always late with boarding.
That's when I also remembered that hearing people talk Finnish at airports isn't the prettiest thing to listen to. You also know when Finnish people are on the same plane with you is when a woman orders 3 beers. I'm used to that, but imagine the steward thinking 'tea' first and going 'oh my God' after hearing it correct the third time.
My friend was at Tampere's airport to pick me up, for which I'm thankful for and also we haven't seen each other for almost 1½ years. We had less than an hour to catch up and pick up some food, before I got on the train to home sweet home.
I can't believe I went on for a year in The Netherlands without visiting home, and now not even 3 months had passed by in London, I was already leaving the city. Wonder what the reason could be for that...
Anyways walking from the train station to my mom's place was refreshing; once again the fresh air, the peace and quiet during the night. I was back in a city which sleeps. My home.
Coming up with the plan how to make my mom open the door was last minute and goes as follow; basically I just called the home phone, and told her that a friend of mine had left a package outside her door that she needs to take it inside.
You can just imagine her reaction when she saw someone standing outside her door in the dark. Worst case scenario was someone being hospitalized. Either one of us.
On the next day Saturday it was time for surprise #2. My mom called my brother to ensure they were at home. They had a peephole on their door and I had to cover it and hope they'd still open the door. My brother's reaction was 'Hui, what are you doing here?' and my sister-in-law 'WHAT?!' when she thought she heard my voice.
That was the end of secrecy! And I think the surprise worked.
The plan for the evening was to go to a Thai party. All I remember was the spicy food and the everlasting beauty contest.
the buffet table was 4x bigger than this
beauty contest judge
On Sunday our church's nun had made lunch for us. That meant a lot of salad and pork for me! Salad because English people eat shit and pork, because of my Muslim landlord. Was too full to eat much later at the baby shower, also felt really tired but still enjoyed it.
my sister's comment on fb; 'jaleh... shouldn't you be in london??' 'oh my lil sister... full of surprises'
no vacation without thinking
And I was glad that not many came to ask how everything was. Now I understand my sister, who never wants to meet with anyone when she comes to Finland. Explaining the same things over and over again..
Start of a new week meant also a visit to school. Talking with my teacher of next spring and the future in general made me less distressed. The fact that on our first year only 2 out of 50 passed the computer skills test and being told that's it's not compulsory to pass, then later on our last year told that it is, made me really angry and stressed. Just think that not getting the 1 study credit meant no graduation, but luckily there wouldn't be a chance for that. Also hearing that being uncertain of the future is completely normal, eased my feelings. The main tip was not to be hungovered during a day off, but.. Hahahah.
In the end when she told me that when you're in your thirties your highlight of the day can be a wildlife documentary on TV. That's when I started to get worried of the future again.
A German friend of mine, Sarah who was also in The Netherlands with me was doing her exchange in my school was the only friend I met with. Or actually the only person I told that I was in Finland. I didn't say goodbye to her when I left for London, and she's leaving soon to LA to be best friends with Christina Aguilera so I had to meet up. But of course when your at school it's inevitable to run into school mates.
After answering many questions we went to Coffee House (Dutch people like to think it as Coffee Shop), and Sarah complained of me buying ice cream during that cold weather. Which leads to the fact that if you need to complain about something, go to a German person. They're professionals in that field.
They feel you, they understand.
I had a good time catching up with her, and I'm glad she's fallen in love with Finland and Jyväskylä. I hope to see her in paparazzi pictures with Christina.
Being more relaxed now, I wanted to spend the last days doing nothing, but to listen to the latest album of Arcade Fire and watching the short movie 'The Suburbs' based on the album. The theme fitted those moments, since it's all about childhood and changes in life; my brother and sister-in-law were just packing their stuff to move to another city. Last chance to be at their student apartment. So at the same time I came at a bad time, as people were yelling at each other and feeling stressed. It was like I brought London with me. Hmph.
Another thing I was glad of was the chance to play the air guitar to the whole Nevermind album, if you read my Nevermind, you depress me article, you'd understand. You'd also realize the funny moment when I left their apartment for the last time, I got my birthday gift in advance;
Seven years late. But still love it, and now for the first time I officially have two copies of one album.
The most pleasant thing though was to feel the baby move a lot on my last day! We were thinking that he hates me, because he didn't move at all during the other days, even though I yelled 'HALOO' to him ;) But he warmed up at the last moment!
Glad I didn't go watch football.
Ps. this is my 97th blog post. 100 is up soon. Any ideas what I could write about? You could either leave a comment here or in In Jallu's Words Facebook page.
