I awoke at 3 am and that was it. My sleep was over. I laid awake for hours, mentally shaking an invisible, frustrated fist at the darkness. It wasn't the first such night; it won't be the last.
In moments of calm coherence, I thought to myself, "Think about Lemon Crash, think of something to say." I've been trying to say something for weeks, wanting to come up with something clever and meaningful about it, pairing it with relationships. Europa String Choir's Lemon Crash, you see, is one of these oddball albums that few know about yet ranks as one of my all time favorites, and I continually feel a need to spread the word. Not quite classical, and not rock, it straddles a weird line between the two that is perfectly comfortable territory for the group, who, with like minded peers such as Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Kronos Quartet, mix in instruments that fit in multiple genres, play with typical rock abandon, yet approach their music with orchestral grace. ESC's two guitars, violectra, and Warr Guitar yield an unusually lush sound.
But that's the thing. That's as far as I can get. In being one of my favorites, it sits closer to me than I can comfortable speak about, occupying a space that is almost sacred. It's a safe-haven album - hectic times call for Lemon Crash soothing, lulling beauty. And lately life has been hectic.
In speaking about Lemon Crash, I wanted to mention the power of growing lineups. Europa String Choir began, like any relationship, as duo, and grew over time to be a trio. The trio, as I have always been fond of thinking, is a powerful, strong unit. Triangles have great strength over their three sides because no one side can easily be crushed - all three sides divide up the stress, supporting the structure of the unit. Each side, however, is responsible for more work. We can see this in most rock trios, where each member has to make up for what an additional member might have provided. I can easily point to Rush here - a band of great musicians to fill the space between them with strong, supportive music, and it's a relationship that has worked for nearly 35 years.
Article comments
1 - Josh Hathaway
Well let's start with the important stuff first: congratulations to the trio and best wishes to the soon-to-be added line segment in your family's geometric shapeshifting. Damn. I tried to stay with you to see if I could make the metaphor work and wound up embarrassing myself. That's fuckin' shocking, so I'll try again. Congrats to you all and best wishes.
Onto the music: I've had that same struggle, the struggle to find a way to relate my love of an album in a way that will make sense for someone else. I've been feeling particularly evangelistic lately. I've been rattling on about this for days now and it's not likely to stop any time soon.
2 - Tom Johnson
Thanks, Josh. I really have been stressing about figuring out some way to announce this in some music-related way, and it's a couple weeks later than I'd intended because of it. Dorky but true.
3 - Glen Boyd
Congrats on the impending new arrival. I never ended up having any kids, because well you know, first you have to convince a woman to have actual sex with you....
That was a joke, by the way.
Getting back to the music, though. What I've found if that sometimes you can just be too close to a record to really write about it effectively. You have to be able to seperate yourself in these instances, and sometimes thats just not possible. I've never written about Born To Run for example for this very reason.
That said, I think you did a nice job here. And the baby analogy works just about as well as anything would I would guess.
-Glen
4 - Mat Brewster
Congrats Tom. And some nice insights into a band I'd never heard of. I'll try to check out the band, and well, I'll leave you and your kids alone :)
5 - Tom Johnson
Thanks Mat (and Glen, of course!) The discs are a bit hard to come by, but if you keep an eye on Half.com and Amazon, you'll see them pop up from time to time. Worth seeking out for sure.