The Temper Trap

The Temper Trap:
I have to admit, I don't know a lot of indie bands. Frankly, I don't really know what I have in my iTunes.

That was a lie.

I do know what I have in iTunes--except they don't happen to be English songs (KPop and JPop...go for some culture shock with Alice Nine [アリス九號。] and KAT-TUN !).

Band: The Temper Trap
Genre: alternative rock
Discography: "Conditions" 2009 (plus a remix album)

But anyways, I do recommend you go on the Wikipedia page, since I think it can explain the band better than I can. Basically, it is an Australian band whose members met in college. I'm not sure if I should call them indie, afterall, they just debuted with their first album, but their single "Sweet Disposition" has already won numerous awards. To top it off, it has been featured in commercials (Project Runway) and movies (500 Days of Summer). I believe they also performed at Lollapalooza this summer. This makes me want to cry, since I wish I knew about it and went.

I'm not exactly sure what Wikipedia meant by "atmospheric sound" or what grand guitars are, but I absolutely love their instrumentals. (They remind me of U2! Yay!) I think that the band and its style won't appeal to everyone. A lot of my friends listen to popular music (I put my hands up in the air sometimes), the Beatles and other acoustic-y and strum-y guitar songs, and rock. No one I know nods at me knowingly when I mention U2 (they give me the same face they gave me when I mentioned chocolate candy canes to them last year) or share the same love for Modest Mouse as I do. Of course, Temper Trap is neither U2, nor Modest Mouse.



(Ugh. I spent about an hour times 3.2 trying to figure out that player above...) I'm recommending the whole album because it is just so awesome (in my opinion, of course). Tracks 1, 2, and 4 (3, 6, and 9 on the album, respectively) are singles, and "Fools" I just love. Check out the lyrics--they aren't about love exactly, nor are they weird, weird lyrics. The songs tell a story, and though the messages are easy to understand, there's always a deeper meaning to them if you think about it.

Overall, I really like the "atmospheric" sound to them, if that's what it means. They don't use a lot of synth or whatever, but they use some, and it really adds a nice touch. The lead singer's voice is pretty nice as well, with a strong nasal sound.

Thank goodness I'm not doing a video review. I think I would've blubbered and blabbed about the same things over and over again. And if anyone's interested, you guys should check out Passion Pit and Robyn too.(Sleepyhead by Passion Pit and Robyn's Body Talk Pt. 1 album. -smiley face-)

-JYT

Jay and Nick

Mr. McCarthy: I am currently working on a jazz piece by Gershwin that I hope to put up soon. Just by-the-way.

I think that in an alternate universe, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway would've been the best of buddies, and in the words of Iemaan, like a fat kid and cake. In many ways they are similar, except this pairing doesn't quite work out. (Haha, I sound like I'm talking about Jay and Nick's gay love-child. So wrong...)

I haven't read far, but already Jay seems extremely suspicious in the way he lies about his past (oh yes, San Francisco is in the Middle West--I would expect more from an "Oxford man"), in the way he and Wolfsheim somehow have "gonnegtions", and exactly how he earned his money. In comparison, Nick says he is the most honest man he has ever known, and while that is debatable, in this case this statement is not hard to believe.

Similarly, both Jay and Nick are the "new moneys" trying fit into an "old money" society. Both of them seem to draw people towards themselves like lighthouses in a storm. Nick calls himself a "politician", while we know from Nick that Gatsby tends to observe his hectic and lavish parties from a distance (most likely hoping Daisy and Tom would show up).

However, so far, it is obvious that Gatsby and Nick's so-called friendship is fake. Gatsby wants what he doesn't have (Daisy) no matter the cost, and he intends to get her through Nick. And so he does, and after an extremely awkward moment their love seems to be rekindled. (Though personally, I don't think it's going to work out...)

A Winter Poem

(Pretend this is morning, not night.)

when the world turns white
i think i am in a different
dimension
but it is just white powder
that has spilled over
everything
the sky
the ground
the trees
i know
even though i haven't
left this hearth of mine

i like to think that
the trees are carefully lined
in whipped cream
the roads drizzled
in chocolate syrup
the houses decorated
in multi-colored sprinkles
i don't know
but i rush out
in my pajamas
to observe this
peculiar new taste
on my tongue

and what sort of fetish
has overtaken me?