AUTHOR: Cameron Fairchild
MONDAY
10:00 AM –
Josh Ritter, “The Temptation of Adam.” Alison recommended this the night before. I accidentally listened to it several times as I was waking up.
The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Jr Jr, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, and Avatar. Some random stuff I cycled through. Couldn’t sleep and could barely wake. Went to choir.
2:00 PM –
April March, “Chick Habit (Album).” More awake. Got my hair cut. That was a mistake. April March was not a mistake. I discovered her through the movie But I’m a Cheerleader which is a great film that the song “Chick Habit” is central to. Also it was in Death Proof, apparently. I guess she’s an American singer who also sings in French a lot? So that was pretty cool. She sounds like she’s from the 60s, but is not. Woah, she worked on Ren and Stimpy as an animator? Wikipedia wouldn’t lie to me about that.
7:00 PM –
I fell asleep watching Vine compilations. Whoops. So I start working on final papers I’ve been putting off, and I listen to Raymond Scott & His Orchestra. This guy actually is from the 60s, and a lot of the compositions on his album This Time With Strings definitely reflects the kind of heightened cartoons and musicals he would compose for. Once I’m done with that album I move onto a Spotify playlist of covers of the Persona 5 Soundtrack. Persona 5 is a video game that is very close to my heart, and a solid chunk of its appeal comes from its great soundtrack. Writing with wordless music is the only way I can actually focus on what I’m writing while listening to music.
8:00 PM –
Walking over to a friend’s apartment. Listening to the albums Lazaretto and Boarding House Reach, both by Jack White, formerly of the White Stripes. He’s great.
9:45 PM –
“Dinosaur” by Kesha, “Dinosaur” by More Giraffes, and “Juranoid” by Hevisaurus. Hevisuarus is a Finnish dinosaur metal band. My friend Emily really likes dinosaurs, so that was a whole thing.
11:00 PM –
The Temptations, Hell-On by Neko Case, Kate Bush–walking music.
TUESDAY
2:00 AM –
Red Dwarf and Blackadder. 2 AM is the best time to watch old British sitcoms.
7:00 AM –
Kate Bush some more, especially her album The Dreaming. My friend Thomas recommended her years ago and I have not been able to get her song “Suspended in Gaffa” out of my head since.
11:40 AM –
We’re watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail in my Arthurian Romance class, and if that’s not a perfect indication of where I’m at right now I don’t know what is. This movie was my whole adolescence. It’s maybe the most perfect comedy ever made.
WEDNESDAY
2:00 AM –
I fell asleep for…. Most of Tuesday so now it’s Wednesday and I’m still working on Blackadder in its first season. The first season of Blackadder is bad. Don’t be a completionist. I should be working on papers.
11:00 AM –
Working on papers listening to Boz Scaggs’ “Silk Degrees.” Hell yeah.
12:00 PM –
Still trying to write this paper, listening to Jamila Woods’ “HEAVN.” Spotify has finally learned to stop only recommending Broadway cast recordings and is now recommending people based on my interest in Janelle Monáe, instead, which is a welcome change. This album rules. Everything is great. Also listening to Dan Auerbach’s “Keep it Hid” and Kimbra’s “Primal Heart.” I’ve got 3.5 pages of words. Is it cohesive? There’s no time to think about that.
2:00 PM –
I’ve got like 5 pages of words now and am gaining momentum so I’m taking an ill-advised break to play the new God of War. This game is frustratingly long and I wish I no longer had final papers so I could actually sit with it. I could have finished them first but what sense would that make.
5:00 PM –
Going to the library to print a rough, roughdraft of my final for tomorrow, listening to Oneohtrix Point Never, specifically their soundtrack for Good Time, that Robert Pattinson movie from last year that was really good.
7:00 PM –
I technically made progress on my papers so now I’m watching The Iron Giant. For whatever reason it’s a lot easier for me to make/waste time for animated movies. The Iron Giant is a masterpiece. I haven’t seen this thing in years. When the robot said “Superman” I openly wept.
8:30 PM –
I listened to the song “The Movie Song” by The Record Company approximately 20 times. I got 2 more pages of my essay out of it! 7 out of 9. Repetition is key.My essay is about why King Arthur is Jesus, in case you were wondering. Just have to write the conclusion and a couple lengthy paragraphs about why Arthur-Jesus is so mean to women.
9:30 PM –
More God of War.
THURSDAY
7:30 AM –
Listening to the only podcast I like, Blank Check with Griffin and David. It’s basically a movie review podcast, but Griffin Newman (the star of Amazon’s new Tick TV show) and David Sims (a film critic for the Atlantic) delve into the complete works of notable, commercially successful directors, applying formal criticism, film history, and auteur theory to their readings of filmographies of filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, and the Wachowski Sisters. Also listening to the Neon Night EP by Blackbird Blackbird. It kind of sounds like if you extended one of those really quiet, calm, ineffective phone alarm sounds to song length.
11:30 AM –
We almost but didn’t quite finish Monty Python today. You ever get interrupted in the middle of a movie and it’s like being abruptly, instantly shaken awake? I hate that feeling.
8:00 PM –
The Arthur-Jesus paper is done so I realize I’ve been listening to Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out” on repeat for like, way too long. Also some music from my Daily Mix 2 which is like, a lot of 70s stuff. Can I link my Spotify in this? Not to like, plug myself too much but I feel like some of the context will be lost if people can’t actually see my Daily Mix 2.
There. I did it.
9:00 PM –
Heading to the 10:00 PM showing of Hereditary at the AMC 11, listening to this guy Rashad Becker’s “Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. I and II.” This stuff is super weird and basically not music but also oddly calming.
FRIDAY
12:00 AM –
Hereditary is not oddly calming. Holy sh*t. Go see Hereditary, it’ll destroy you. In like, a good way, but also a bad way? Indescribable. Also listening to Boney M. on the way home because their song “Sunny” was used during a commercial and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Also realized this is the band behind the best worst song of all time, “Rasputin,” which I love dearly.
10:00 AM –
More Boney M. and now something called Moscow Apartment. If there is one thing I’ve learned in trying to explore different kinds of music and get out of my comfort zone, it’s that a lot of bands have really stupid names.
12:30 PM –
Picking my second and final final paper up. God find me 1200 more words so I can get out of this year. Listening to Vampire Weekend. Can you believe these guys haven’t done a new album since 2013? Did they break up? I don’t know. Vampire Weekend is also a dumb name. “Giving up the Gun” is a perfect song though.
4:00 PM –
Been writing this paper w/o music but I do keep singing the chorus from Sia’s “Chandelier” to myself over and over and over again.
4:24 PM –
Both my papers are finished! That’s not a media thing, but this is a big moment for me.
7:00 PM –
Listening to what Spotify tells me is the Top 40 USA. It’s still a lot of Drake. Idk.
9:30 PM –
I got my Twin Peaks series Blu Ray in the mail the other day so I’m watching the “Missing Pieces” from “Fire Walk With Me,” which is a 90 minute collection of deleted scenes from the Twin Peaks movie.Even the menu screen is a masterpiece. Everything David Lynch does with Twin Peaks is amazing.
11:00 PM –
I think I’m gonna start watching Wong Kar Wai’s “Chungking Express” which will take me through to the end of the week. Thanks for coming with me on what I assume was not a too-terribly exciting journey!
CAMERON FAIRCHILD | Should probably, like, read a book? | KXSU Arts Reporter