Ah well. That might be the end of it. Just lately, with personal stuff to think about, I’ve found myself uninterested in the cut and thrust of Social Media. Twitter’s a nest of transmit only vipers, and appallingly designed; Facebook’s overloaded with advertising nobody needs; Instagram used to be refreshingly just about pictures, now it’s a mess; I have no idea what Tiktok is for; and nobody much has time for blogposts any more.
Cancel out and pass on. Like literally everybody I know, I’m horrified by the behaviour of our current government, and impotent in the face of their egomania. They think they’re Masters of the Universe, and all we can do is wait for them to discover what happens to anyone who believes that. All we have left is the vote, and by God we need to use it.
Meanwhile: Twitter account deactivated, Facebook reserved for gig news and dialogue with friends, and my blog page cleaned up. Political comment deleted. I might kick off in Facebook from time to time, but I’m sick of the shouting, and online publication always leaves me feeling... unclean, somehow.
The only stuff to write about that makes sense is the music, and the songs. Those are non-negotiable. Sacred, even. I’ll continue to write those posts, because life is for learning and that’s what interests me, and if non-one chooses to read... well, I understand. We’re all distracted, aren’t we?
It was because of those distractions that I haven’t listened to much new music recently. I’ve been playing and recording, in my fumbling way, but somehow I forgot to crank up the CD player as often as I should.
That’s how I missed Look Long. I bought it, because it was the Indigo Girls and they’d been quiet for a while, but somehow it got put on the shelf unheard, and I only just tripped over it a couple of weeks ago.
Gosh.
Look Long is everything I’ve loved about these two since I first heard Closer To Fine and Kid Fears, way back in the 1980s. I love their harmonies, and the instinctive interplay of their voices, and their intelligence, and the way they write songs about something rather than just replaying the last love affair.
And their band. I like surprises. Psychedelic guitars. Soft country harmonies. Arpeggiating pianos. Funk. Layers of string. Unexpected hooks that keep you from sleeping at night. In a good way. Distant echoes of The Beatles, even.
Wikipedia describes Indigo Girls as ‘folk rock’. I dunno where they get these categories from but I’m here to tell you there’s more to Look Long than that. I’ve yet to find a track I want to skip.
#lovelykeys @carolisaacs