Speaking of meteors flying into the earth's atmosphere, enter the video for James Blake's gorgeous new single "Retrograde" off his soon to be released record, "Overgrown". In the video, a blazing light falls to earth while a lone motorcyclist arrives at a house and discovers people frozen in time inside, as well as a woman giving signs before the meteor hits.
The images work because Blake's darkly somber voice often sounds like someone who floated off alone into space to write songs about his life on earth before plummeting back to pick up where he left off. And the chorus isn't far from those isolation themes: "I'll wait, so show me why you're strong. Ignore everybody else. We're alone now."
Nothing tops the lush keyboard build 3/4 of the way through the track, rises to near explosion, and then sighs away as you can finally let go of that breath you've been holding.
It's gotten very cold the past few weeks in Michigan. Wind chills in the negatives, plenty of snow, tough running conditions. I had plans to run 100+ miles per week the last two weeks but conditions limited my mileage. 3 hours running would normally garner 22+ miles, but with all the sliding around, I was only getting a fraction of the mileage for the time.
Mostly it's been fun. Snow is soft when there is good footing, so the downhills are great to blast down. Hardly anyone else is out there, so you have fresh powder to track. I saw a fox in The Arb and deer in Cedar Bend, just me and the forest creatures. The snow dampens all other sounds, so you seem to have the world in your hands out there. But it's tough to keep going. So I've turned to new music to keep me motivated through the 2+ hour runs.
Along the way, I've discovered Dan Deacon's LP 'America'. Electronic music, not dance necessarily, but with a range of influences and interests, from Philip Glass to Can. I happen to love both ends of this spectrum, so I totally dig his music. It takes on a language and soundtrack that perfectly matches the long, snowy runs that are so much enveloped in your head and at the same time connected with the harsh world around you.
