It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.
In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.
Revise Your Maps is the second solo record from Perhapst, aka John Moen (The Decemberists, Maroons). It is a delightful folk-pop record, smooth and refined in some places, rough and jangly in others.
Here is Wilamette Valley Ballad, which got stuck in my head for a couple of days recently:
Other especially strong tunes are Revise Your Maps, Sorrow & Shame, and Still (Mt. Zero).
The more I listened to the record, the more I wanted to know more about the man who made it. So here is John Moen to tell us about his favorite book, record and drink:
A Good Read:
My favorite book is The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. Because I felt the need to loan it out, and read it at the same time, I now have two hardcover copies on my over-burdened bed stand. The author is (at least some of the time) a Portland guy which makes it all the sweeter, but this isn’t just a case of local pride gone to a reader’s head; this is actually one of the best books you’ll ever read.
It is a Western, of sorts, and a strangely violent look at sibling relationships. A great story told by a very smart and extremely funny writer – I found it hard to make time for others once I had started reading. Luckily, for those impatient folks who seemed to need my participation in their lives, I finished the book much sooner than I desired.
It is so good that you may even buy it twice. I highly recommend The Sisters Brothers.
A Good Listen:
It’s hard to say how good a record really is, when you get hooked as a teenager… I first heard Emergency Third Rail Power Trip by The Rain Parade when I was a hormonal 16 year old, and it made me feel great! By “great!” I mean totally depressed and introspective to the point of inspiration.
I am still inspired by the same record these days and continue to rob it’s “vibe” when writing music of my own. The album is true downer pop written by guys from the eighties taking on the sounds of the sixties. To my ear, the record is incredibly melodic, a tapestry of textures, and also imperfect in all the right ways. I will be buried with a copy… on Saturday.
A Good Drink:
Jack and Coke. My favorite. Yummy.