Confessions of a Fanboy

Another Saturday spent in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

What a long, strange trip it’s been this week. Aside from homefront anxieties, I experienced the insane and nightmarish odyssey of securing a black, 16GB 3G iPhone yesterday and I haven’t fully recovered from that. The reason I had the money for said purchase is because of all the extra hours I’ve been working and the reason behind all those extra hours is the extraordinary amount of work I have at the day job. I’m not even halfway through the day and I’m already feeling the drain.

I started the morning listening to some podcasts before moving on to some R.E.M., listening to bits of Murmur and Life’s Rich Pageant. They’re both great records and I’ve been in such an R.E.M. mood as of late, but my mind needed something a little less specific so I’ve moved on to Barrett Martin’s The Painted Desert.

The great thing about instrumental music for me is that I can actively or passively listen to it. I can lean in and listen for all the distinct instruments and try to cobble together a specific “story” or I can allow the totality of the composition to surround me and be transported by the larger emotional fabric of it and right now that’s exactly what I need. It’s 84 degrees at 11 AM with 74% humidity (thank you, iPhone WeatherBug). Even though I’m in an air conditioned office, the thickness of the air is pervasive and I can feel its impacts. It will be hotter before the day ends and that humidity will likely hold. A painted desert is starting to sound pretty good to me. Hot is hot, but the fucking humidity is a motherfucker.

The triumphant sounds of “Muhammad Ali” have given way to the mysteries of “Mirage.” The sound and the title seem particularly appropriate for the morning. I have a feeling I’ll have this album on repeat for awhile today.

Filed under: Tags: Barrett Martin, Music of the Moment, R.E.M.