Music Review

The Slip - Eisenhower
Eisenhower was released November of 2006 and was The Slip's fourth studio album.  Though considered a fairly obscure indie rock band, The Slip had a few songs off this album that gained popularity.   The most well-known track, "Even Rats" was featured on Guitar Hero for the PS2. "  "Life in Disguise" played on Grey's Anatomy.
The Slip's music has an indie rock feel, with simple melody lines and a guitar-vocal focus.  It appeals to my personal taste because unlike some experimental, hard-edged indie rock bands, the Slip's music is neither hypnotically simple, nor too busy; most of it is locked into that perfect balance of melodic interweave and mellow instrumental backing.
Though I think all of the music on the album does a superb job of balancing each musical element (melody, guitar riffs, instrumental, and occasional percussion), there are a few tracks that I cannot stop hitting the replay button on.  I would love to talk about them all, but here's my favorite:

Airplane/Primitive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zidnKcGc6A

The track starts with echoing guitar strums, reminding me of just about every Explosions in the Sky song.  Then enters this wonderful experimental drum beat at 0:18.  About thirty seconds of guitar-percussion interplay and then the vocalist enters.  "It's the day before the rest of my life".  The melody line is simple, with hints of background singer singing low harmonies later on.  Each time the singer leaves, the instrumental grows.  At 1:20, explosive guitar chords.  At 2:10, an electronic riff dances up and down an exploding percussion-guitar backing.  Perfect build up for the chorus at 2:30 in which each element culminates like a driving force.  It gets cut off short by the bridge at 3:00, where the song resets itself with a small guitar solo lead up.  Now there's a mellower feel, instrumental takes over, a folky wind instrument soars over the new beat.  Our good friend on the lead guitar returns at 4:30.  Vocal comes back shortly thereafter and the tempo speeds up.  Then the band's characteristic four beat drum intro leads us back into the chorus at 5:10.
After I got over how much I loved the musical interweaving, I listened again for the lyrics: 

"Airplane primitive
Saw it and thought it was some kind of bird
It landed, he made up his mind
Can't live knowing that there's some other world

Where men fly up in the sky
Strapped himself to the wing for a one way ride
And in the air, above the clouds
There his soul stayed when his body fell down"

Have you ever thought that maybe there's something out there that would draw you so strongly that you wouldn't be able to live without it?  Take Alex Supertramp.  He couldn't "live knowing that there was some other world" outside of his middle-class, college-bound life.  He had to find himself.  You could say he "strapped himself to the wing for a one way ride" and eventually found himself in nature, where "his soul stayed" even when his body died. 

Alone

People sometimes ask, "What is your biggest fear?".  And, there was a time when I would answer "being alone". 
Human connection is so essential.  We're all hardwired to need and even crave others' attention.  We need acceptance. 
This need started to take over back in middle school.  I wanted to be liked.  I would do all sorts of things to achieve this.  I started by conforming: eating Apple Jacks in the morning instead of raisin bran, because raisin bran is not cool.  Cussing loudly in public.  Sitting on the wall during recess because only the little kids played four square.  All these things went against my natural tendencies and yet I continued doing them because I feared being alienated for not following the group.  I wanted everyone to like me, so much so that eventually I lost myself. 
I can't pretend that these weren't happy days of my life.  Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I still ate apple jacks and sat on the wall and was friends with everyone.  I liked to be liked and I still do.
But much of my adolescence has been spent battling that side of me.  The one that is ashamed of expressing my true thoughts because I'm scared of how that will affect other people's opinions.  I still find myself doing it and to some extent we all do.  No man is an island.  No one truly means it when they say "I don't care what others think of me".  
Yet losing yourself is not the answer.  If we are truly to search for the truth, in ourselves and in life, we must accept that sometimes we will not make human connection, sometimes there will be silence. Sometimes, we will be alone.