Many thanks to this wonderful blogger (not hyperbole, amazing stuff) for tipping me to Riceboy Sleeps, the newest collaboration of my favorite band Sigur Ros and another of my favorite bands (who happen to be Sigur Ros’s accompaniment) Amiina. It is a wonderful album and well worth the purchase.
This particular track, in my estimation, is perfect. But that perfection requires context. Modern life requires complexity. The amount of information we ingest, the layers of meaning, our physical and digital personas all require constant attention and feedback. We are beholden to complexity; the simple life is not as simple as it used to be. So, on a personal level, I use music to frame that complexity and use it to my advantage. If channeled properly, this complexity can be amazingly productive (and exhaustive), the alienation of isolation being mitigated by the sheer enthusiasm of doing something.
And then there is the music we listen to while we do something.
This music bridges those dark nights of the soul, scaffolds thought to emotion, soul to action. It is the glue. And this is the track that does that for me (at least it has been for the last week or so). I have provided an image as well. Something I like to focus on and think of nothing else, to merely stare and dissolve all worry. I recommend listening to this track and doing the same with an image of your own. It is the purest form of meditation, that concentration and discipline involved of being lost in something other than yourself. It can be profound.
First the music:
MP3: Riceboy Sleeps-Indian Summer
Then the image. It is Seoul. It is quite possibly my favorite image in the world. I did not take it, but it perfectly captures that spirit of possibility in that town as dusk settled and everything came alive. All the rough edges were smoothed away. Brilliant.
Enjoy and all my best for the weekend.