Monday, December 31, 2007
#17 The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass
The One AM Radio is the brainchild of Hrishikesh Hirway. He programs most of the drums and ambient noise with his computer and his live show consists of a rotating cast of characters. I have seen him live 3 times and the instrumentation was drastically different each time. His songs can be extremely soothing even when they tough on subjects that would normally evoke the opposite reaction such as heartbreak and loneliness. His use of many different instruments makes for a very diverse album. I did not listen to this album enough this year and should probably be placing it higher (already moved up 4 spots while making my list). Hrishikesh writes some of the best lyrics I have ever heard and something about them seems to reach me on a personal level even when I don't necessarily relate to the lyrics. I highly recommend diving into the One AM Radio catalog. Go buy this album. You won't regret it. I know you don't have it, what are you waiting for?
Highlights:
Cast Away
The Echoing Airports
In the Time We've Got
Favorite Lyrics:
“I go to airports
and wait by the gate for arriving flights.
I go to airports
to watch the lovers reunite.
I go to airports.
In every city they're the same.
The lonely airports,
echoing with all the shouted names
of loves who've been caught sight of,
returned from miles away,
from tiny lights
receding into the night
at the end of the runway.”
“the sound of the hull against the waves is not around to lull you to sleep nowadays.
you just lie awake, listening to the gulls in the bay.
breathe in salt air as you stare at the ceiling,
trying to recapture the feeling of being married to the sea,
but your vision gets so watery.
every night you dream of the same underwater scene,
but safe beneath your sheets,
you'll never find your way back to that peace.”
