Living in Misery

It is strange how much music can affect me.

I'm listening to the song "Living in Misery" by Kill Hannah, and I feel a passion boiling underneath my skin. I want to scream until my lungs collapse and my voice is gone. I want to cry and break something. I want to create beautiful art. I want to grab someone and hold on tight. I want to tear into an empty page with the weight of a thousand restless words.

To say this song is massive is an understatement. Some bands try to make epic songs and they come off as cheesy or forced. It has been a long while since I've heard a song this moving. The slow start. The slow adding of instruments. The children's choir at the end of the song. The perfect capture of despair and hope. Light and dark. The feeling of utter failure, yet the need to go on. To hold on.

Look in my eyes
And tell me just what you see
Schools that look like factories
A slowdance to our own heart beat

Look in my eyes
As missing children fill the street
Joan of Arc and Josephine
You can hear them sing...

We are living in misery
But we have to hold on...

Oh shit, another one?

In my effort to do anything that isn't my Hungarian Politics paper, I am updating again! Also, I am feeling in the writey mood, and this helps me write regularly.
So, here's a quick question - how do blogs become popular? I suppose they don't become popular by whining about their personal life and stuff, so maybe I should alter my blog to target a wider audience? But then, how would people ever find my blog? I don't even have the foggiest idea how people read this blog. Is there a way for me to get some kind of...visitor counter?

So, maybe I should start some kind of super pretentious music blog. Those are popular, right?
It would be like whenever I write for Chimes because I usually just use those articles as a vehicle to make snide remarks about indie kids. And apparently, I developed quite a reputation for myself in indie-circles at Calvin. Several of the indie-hipsters are on this trip, and one of them confided in me that they were all a bit curious as to how meeting me would be, because I was always super angry and bitchy in my articles and trashed the music they liked. And apparenty I am super militant/aggressive in class. Also, they saw me at a party this summer. I was leaving, and they saw me crash into a tree. And then fall into the road. And mostly just make an ass out of myself.
But much as I am not into the vast majority of indie music and the hipster lifestyle doesn't really appeal to me, the people are still super nice. Music isn't as defining a lifestyle choice as some people make it out to be. So, hooray for that?

And speaking about music, I know that Ska is dead and that the vast majority of ska bands were terrible/won't stand the test of time (or even the test of a decade or so), but goddammit, I think Less Than Jake is still one of the best bands out there. Sure, they are more punk than ska, but the point is still valid.

One final thing, here is a link to my last.fm site, so that you can see what I've been listening to. I think Last.fm is pretty much the coolest idea in the world because it lets me see what stuff I've been into recently and what my most listened to bands are. So, everyone should get a Last.fm, and then you can friend me!

http://www.last.fm/user/Avalost

A few notes on my Last.fm - I am currently waiting for Porcupine Tree to overtake Placebo for 2nd place (I don't think Kill Hannah will be dethroned anytime soon). I'm happy that Cult of Luna has made such a good showing since typically their songs are a lot longer than other bands'. Innerpartysystem is sitting at #12, but I only got their cd a day before I came to Hungary, so it is pretty amazing that they shot up in the charts so fast, especially since their cd only has 6 tracks on.. Finally, Rapture (the metal band, not that other band called The Rapture) is sitting pretty at #13, but that is a testament to how fantastic they are because for the longest time, I only had 1 of their cds.

Farewell (parting is such sweet sorrow)

In 2 short hours, I will be leaving for the Grand Rapids airport. From there, I will end up in Detroit, Amsterdam, and finally Budapest.

In a stroke of good fortune, I was able to see one of my favorite bands last night. Kill Hannah played at the Intersection with The Medic Droid, Innerpartysystem, and The White Tie Affair. It was one of the best shows I've ever been to. The first three bands were essentially synthesized dance rock, which was super fun. And KH put so much passion and energy into their show, it was phenomenal. I almost cried when they played "Home". I also got a poor quality photo with Greg Corner (KH's bass player), a couple with the guys from the Medic Droid, and talked briefly with Chris Wallace (singer of the White Tie Affair) as he mingled in the crowd after their set.
In all, it was fabulous, with the exception of all the teeny-boppers. But I suppose I was that age once also (although, I didn't smoke/wasn't a slut). I ended up buying both the Innerpartysystem and The White Tie Affair's cds, so I'll be able to have a dance party in the airports when waiting for flights.

Well, time to double-check that I didn't forget anything.