dance
I’ve been listening to a lot of new music lately. I used to listen to new music everyday. When I lived in Seattle I was a DJ for Hollow Earth Radio, an internet radio station that plays independent music created in the Northwest. In Seattle, there are a lot of houses that put on cheap and free shows. I would spend many a night in the basement of some house, eating delicious potluck dinners and listening to the best music I have heard anywhere. The one thing that seemed to be missing was some good dancing. There are a lot of shoegazers in Seattle.
When I moved back to California, my lifestyle changed drastically. There was a TV, there was lots of food, there were practically no places you could get to without driving. There was no room to dance, and no good speakers, or shows, or weekly trips to the radio station. There was no one to put music on in the living room during dinner, and no cooking dance parties in the kitchen.
(sidenote: music and videos after the jump!)
It is a sad world that I’m living in. Without the music, I began kind of a recluse. I hardly ever talked to friends. I never went out to do fun things. I wasn’t happy. I watched a lot of TV. I gained a lot of weight. I was sad most of the time. Depression. Sleeping. Ugh bad. icky. blah.
The good news is that I’m getting out of it. A couple months ago, my dad asked me to DJ his wedding, and since then I’ve been seeking music out a lot more. I find a new artist and let Pandora go on a tangent. I check in with elbo.ws, a music blog aggregator, and Largehearted Boy, who offers free and legal downloads daily. I also started a music swap with my good friend Sean, and we tell each other good songs to check out. Since he’s in med school, it’s a quick, down and dirty way to keep ourselves connected. I feel like we’re on the same wavelength when we’re sharing music discoveries.
The dancing part, I’m still working on. But the music has dramatically increased my daily amount of happy. It gives me energy. It keeps my spirits high. It gives me something to sing along to in my head. I’m not tired of my music collection constantly, and not reminded of better times everytime I put my itunes on shuffle. It also makes me reach out to my friends more, since music builds community. People who sing and dance together, have fun together, and love each other. That’s just it.
Here are a couple songs I’ve found recently that I really like:
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What?? Our kitchen dance parties weren’t good enough for you? ::mope::