this patch of sunshine

Where be my pot of gold at the end of the translu­cent oil rainbow in the grease slick? Is this even a grease slick?

Rose Mel­berg, for­merly of Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, and late-great nineties sweet­hearts the Softies, just released Cast Away the Clouds, (buy) and it’s absolutely great. It makes me think about all that I trouble so much over, and reminds me that I haven’t lis­tened to a full album in a while. Maybe it’s a bit simple and cutesy (one could accuse the Softies of much the same), but who cares? Simple and cutesy can be good some­times. Notice, under­neath the pretty vocals and lush accom­pa­ni­ment, opening track “Take Some Time” is pretty depressing, and some­what sug­ges­tive of a greater sad­ness under­neath all of Cast Away the Clouds. “Irene” bounces with piano keys set­ting voice aloft, keeping quiet time to soft per­cus­sion — a sweet number that I can’t help but make con­nec­tions to, most recently, Nedelle’s melodies and Keren Ann’s soothing voice. If Rose Mel­berg is in any way respon­sible for inspiring these two with her music this past decade, then I owe her sev­eral kisses and prob­ably some hugs. Makes this entire grease slick worth living.

On a lighter note, I’m going Toki: Ape Spit, meaning yes, I’ve played that crappy Sega Gen­esis video game and yes, it is an awe­some assess­ment of my cur­rent well-being. No, I’m not an ape, just a frus­trated monkey who gets awfully spitty some­times. Go and cheer someone up with a com­pli­ment today — it’s what every zen artist should tell you, but I don’t want to go zen, and this is what hap­pens when the new­ness ends.