Summertime Blog
Diary Introduction
Meteorological summer may begin in June, but my summer began on april 30th, which was the day of my
final exam: a large format film photography critique. Going back as far as ten years old, I can recall
wanting summer to start as soon as possible. I would imagine the first day of march as being a time for the
days of summer sun and no responsibility (Save for my fathers incessant wishes for me to read 30 minutes
a day and do my khan academy algebra problems). The day school ends, summer begins, but this list is
not concerned with my own notions of summertime (which often stretch from late april into mid
september) it is a list of Meteorological Summertime, my favorite quantification of summertime. Despite
this, there have been some important pieces of art and expereinces that have shaped this summer from
before june 1st, so I think it is important for me to go through and highlight some of these.
I am a nostalgic man, and today I was reading through old rateyourmusic list entries from summer’s
previous, and one of the things I noticed is I did my best writing last year when I was at my most
emotional and tangential in thought. Life is more stable these days, so the writing is more stable. I think it
is a tradeoff that I am willing to sacrifice.
If you want to read my daily writings, those will still exist on rateyourmusic for you to access. This list is different.
I am trying to get to the bottom of something. Enjoy.
Prelude (May): _______________
Suzanne Ciani
Seven Waves (1982)
Berlin School, Ambient
Ciani is the first of the new and the last of the old: my first album as a postgraduate and my last album
before entering the gym and making my way to the stage. I stood next to an animiation major who was
going into insurance, and two people down from a future NFL football player. Nervousness had passed at
this point, and I was mostly possessed with a feeling of waiting, pure anticipation, annoyance that the
festivities were still going on. I spent a half hour of the speech working on the sunday new york times
crossword to little avail, and I ate my graduation dinner at my place of employment. Driving back, we
listened to seven waves, because it was the thing that sat in the disc player. We listened to it three times. I
fell asleep in the passenger seat.
I love seven waves, it is one of my twenty favorite albums. I found it while digging through 80s new age
tapes on discogs my senior year of high school, staving off boredom and mental illness. I thought a lot
about how this one album connected that past me to this present me, how the balm of my final high school
semester was also there for me at the end of my college career. As an ambient conniseur, I find it
remarkably difficult to turn people onto my favorite art form, but this is one of the three essentials that I
use to bridge the gap between the formed and the formless. As catchy as it is a healing agent.
10,000 Maniacs
Our Time in Eden (1992)
A remarkably important album this summer, as it is the first record from this season that I liked the idea of more than the album itself. It happens every year I really enjoyed my first listen, but I think it was more about the feeling of finding this in the half priced books for $2, excitedly playing it in the car with my girlfriend (this is exactly the kind of album she would like)) and eating at my favorite wing establishment (Roosters). Every preceeding listen (usually in the car, one time driving to akron) felt like something was missing. No real standout tracks, and no consistent wonder, just solid jangly folk pop. I want to visit their 1985 album, an album my father likes more, and an album that is more well revered it seems. Oh well, every summer has to have a path that does not require traveling.
New Super Mario Bros. (2006)
Fantasy, Hub World, Boss Fight, Time Limit, Side Scroller
Accompanying a week in mid may where my main socialization after I saw my girlfriend involved visiting my friends apartment to play this game with the same rotating group of four people. I do not feel like I even enjoyed playing the game that much, the best part was intentionally throwing someone off the map or running too fast so everyone else gets left behind. The game is hard too, it took us about 4 days of playing to get through it. The final bowser level made it all somewhat rewarding, at least. It is not a summer of Fortnite, like most previous summers, so you get oddball games like this. Games are better with friends, even if games like this I only kind of like.
Act I (June): _______________
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground (1969)
Pop Rock
Folk Rock, Art Rock, Experimental Rock
This is where the entry will sit