Robots Rock

Sometimes things don't go out of style. They may change a little to reflect the times, but they never lose their essential integrity. Sometimes they seem antiquated, but they still manage to keep up. For me, it's Daft Punk.

These guys never seem to age in a way that isn't graceful. They have their personalities (the creative disguises they use in public) and the instruments they use (drum machines and synths), and they know how to use both to delight their audience. At first listen their songs may sound repetitive, as does most electronic music outside the Top 40 pop genre, but the way they mix different melodies together really is inspired.

Personally, I can't stand still when I listen to this. It's like the banging synths and the pulsing beats are living inside my body, pounding my bones, dancing in my nerves. The music transcends its form and becomes a pure feeling, and evolves into an expression.

Headphones

I was walking home tonight, listening to some music on my big Sony headphones (they double as earmuffs in the winter), when I caught the eye of a man about my age with taped horn-rimmed glasses and headphones like mine. As I got closer, he stopped and took off his headphones and said, "Let's swap." I put mine on his head and he put his on mine, and we stood there in the middle of the sidewalk looking at each other. I realized then that he would try to know me based on the music that happened to be playing, and that I would do the same. He got to listen to the best part of 23 Hanashi by Yoko Kanno - when the dissonant notes finally fall into place and become something consonant - and I felt the beat of Paradise by Mickey Factz reach down and defibrillate my heart. We took our own headphones back, and he said, "If you're ever walking around with your headphones on like this, we should do this again," and I feel adamantly the same.

This is the kind of thing I always want to happen, but rarely ever does. I'm glad he was brave enough to take off his headphones and stop me, because I have a wonderful memory and something to look forward to as I run around the world with my own soundtrack pumping in my ears.

Sparkling Diamonds

If you haven't already heard of Marina and the Diamonds, the Welsh-Greek (I never use the word) singing sensation, you're about to. If you already are a Diamond disciple, high five.

Marina Diamandis has an amazing range that dips down into warbling guttural bellows and soars to falsetto boasts, an ear for hipness, and (most importantly) a lot to say. I have been impressed with every single song on her album The Family Jewels, but I will go in depth on a few tracks I especially love.

Oh No!
The first single I ever heard, and my introduction to Marina and her style. After getting linked to the video from Nylon, I pretty much watched it for a week, stopping only to eat and tear apart my closet searching for something resembling anything worn in the video. No luck.

Although the style and the attitude caught my attention first, what stayed with me were the lyrics and the themes of the song. As an utter romantic, I balked at first to "don't do love, don't do friends / I'm only after success." But after the first initial hump, I saw the song's other message: self-reliance. "I know exactly what I want and who I want to be...I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy..." As a career girl down on my luck, this was inspiring. It was the get-up and go I needed to get me back on the job hunting train.

In actuality, Marina's songs on this album are chronicling her rise to stardom. She learns to deal with her insecurities about putting herself in the public light, she struggles to overcome what other people think of her ("OH MY GAWD, you look just like Shakira / No, no, you're Catherine Zeta / Actually, my name's Marina."), and she takes big risks not knowing whether the payoff will be worth it. Oh No! is about what happens when you realize you have to sell your soul to reach certain levels of fame, and the question of whether or not you will do it. Will we go all the way? This reminds me of a great Bollywood movie, Fashion, where an ambitious small-town girl does whatever it takes to become an internationally famous runway model. She gets everything she ever wanted, but also gets an abortion and wakes up in a strange bed with a black guy after a night of coke-addled hysteria. But I digress.

Honestly, the second verse and following bridge hit me the most:

One track mind, one track heart, if I fail, I'll fall apart

Maybe it is all a test, 'cause I feel like I'm the worst, so I always act like I'm the best

If you are not very careful, your possessions will possess you

TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal

I feel like if I don't get a job and get something to work on, I really will fall apart. Without a focus, what do you do with your time?

Oh No! is great if you know how to live in moderation. If you have a direction, you can pursue it, but you can also decide to leave your integrity intact.

I Am Not A Robot
This song is a revelation, like many others on the album. While listening to it, you wake up and look at yourself differently. You are not a robot after all.

This song is about being detached from the rest of the world, about the way Marina would behave in relationships (The Sun, Feb. 5 2010). It's about bridging the impossible divide between an outward appearance and how you feel on the inside. "Better to be hated than loved for what you're not."

I generally believe that it's better to be yourself and alone than surrounded by people sharing in a lie. That's easy to say when you have friends, but as I take more and more time to do things that I actually like and that express my personality, I find I need the validation of my friends less and less. While Marina appeals to others to teach her "how to feel real" and to "turn her power on," you can really do it yourself. I like singing this to myself while looking in the mirror, and listening to what my reflection says.

Numb

Numb is about the end of Marina's journey: she's reached the Emerald City of fame, but has no emotional connections or friends. After devoting herself wholly to the pursuit of fame, she reaches her goal and realizes it's empty. In her search for the "golden light" she plunges herself farther and farther into the dark. "And I will wonder why / I get dark only to shine."

We all have situations like this: the great career that makes marriage impossible, the creative spark that alienates everyone around us. If these situations are focusing on relationships, it's because 1) I am very relationship-oriented and 2) this is another song about Marina's relationships. "I'm no good to anyone / 'Cause all I care about is being number one." She lost everyone in her skyrocket to fame, and now is shining and falling back down:

And I light up the sky

Stars that burn the brightest

Fall so fast and pass you by

Spark like empty lighters

Stars, Banners, and Bombs.

It's almost over, but it's been a very good Independence Day for my family. I'm usually not a very outwardly patriotic person: I'm not one of those who wave American flags and proudly sing the national anthem. My relationship with the country is just a little too complicated to be that blatant.

However, you can't deny that there are huge advantages to living in the United States, and I enjoy those advantages, so it would be disrespectful of me to not take a moment and think about how glad I am to be living in America.

One thing I have an issue with is patriotic American songs. It's totally fine to write patriotic songs, but I find the usual stereotypical country-rock pseudo-ballads uninspiring. We've all heard stories of Jimmy and Suzie from Oklahoma or Nebraska, who lead simple lives and have big dreams that they may never see come to fruition, but who love their land and their family and their country like they love God. I've heard that story way too many times, but it seems to be enough for most other people.

My 4th of July traditions usually consist of two things: watching V for Vendetta and turning off whatever preprogrammed music comes with the local fireworks display (usually patriotic marches and "God Bless The USA") and playing the 1812 Overture while the fireworks go off. I only watch V on the 4th, because it's just enough time that I forget what happens and have to be reminded of the kind of integrity and patriotic love that goes into that story. Consequently, the 1812 has become this proud statement of strength and patriotism to me, as it was for the Russian people when it was written.

If I had stopped there, it would have been enough. But there's another song that describes my feelings about nationalism and identity even better: "Anthem" from the Broadway musical Chess. It concludes the first act of the show, and the new world chess champion from the Soviet Union is about to defect to England to be with the woman he loves. Since the world championship was between the USA and USSR, it was seen as a proxy for international politics rather than as a simple game, so the Russian's choice to defect immediately after winning causes a frenzy among reporters. They ask him if he will denounce his motherland, and he replies very simply:

No man, no madness, though their sad power may prevail

Can posses, conquer my country's heart - they rise to fail

She is eternal: long before nations' lines were drawn,

When no flags flew, when no armies stood, my land was born

And you ask me why I love her, through wars, death and despair

She is the constant, we who don't care

And you wonder, will I leave her, but how?

I cross over borders but I'm still there now!

How can I leave her? Where would I start?

Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart,

My land's only borders lie around my heart!

I am a believer in a school of thought called constructivism, which believes that no social construct can be taken as a given in any context. The idea of nationalism is interesting because the political borders of sovereign nations are constructed by the people that live in those countries. You can't see the border between countries, but they are enforced according to a social contract between two governments. So, like Tommy Körberg says in "Anthem," our home has endured ages before we fought wars, drew lines and "created" it. And it will be in our hearts wherever we go, as long as we believe in it. Take your sovereignty upon yourselves - your homeland is truly indestructible.

What makes your heart beat?

Welcome to my blog! If you're coming from one of the style communities I frequent, welcome fellow critic! If you came here following the link in my Facebook profile, thanks for noticing! And to anyone who finds this blog by another source, welcome welcome welcome.

If you're wondering about the significance of the blog title, here's a quick description: dokidoki (ドキドキ) is a Japanese phrase used to describe a palpitation, most often the sound/feeling of an intense heartbeat. It happens when you experience something that moves you - love, excitement, and ultimately inspiration.

This blog is an exploration of inspiration. I want to share with you what makes my heart beat out of my chest, what makes it want to soar and sing, what makes me grow and question and absorb and learn.

Here's an example:

I am a sucker for pop songs like this. The beat that starts in your toes and sets them tapping, the bass that makes you swing your hips, the guitar/synths/vocals that make it impossible not to smile. Put together in a tasty package of biscuit backup musicians and sassy polka-dot clad dancing front women, I absolutely give in to delight.

This song speaks to me because it's talking about the pure emotion of dancing to a great song - something I can't help but do. It even inspired a piece I wrote for a poetry slam. When I watch The Pipettes sing and dance, a little flame of hope burns in my chest that someday I'll be able to start the girl group I've always dreamed of starting.

That's a good start for now. See you all again soon!

K