Everything's a Miracle

I have no idea where this post is going. Just a forewarning. I don't think it will involve music. I apologize for the lack of musical things. But this has been on my mind.

Balance is something that I've been thinking of. Metaphorically speaking, and literally. Now, anyone who knows me decently knows that I like metaphors, and well, they don't always work. So the fact that I'm thinking metaphorically should tell you that what I'm saying might not make sense. I'm honestly not sure if it makes sense to me. But think about this:

A seesaw works on the principle of leverage. Yeah, odd. But just hang with me. A seesaw is classified as a 1st class lever, meaning that the fulcrum, or balance point, is located in between the input effort and output load. When two people of equal weight sit down on the seesaw, everything is perfectly balanced. But what happens when one of the two people messes up something? You see, with the fulcrum located perfectly in the center of the effort and the load, and when the effort matches the load, nothing occurs. The lever is at equilibrium. The movement of both sides is 0, and therefore, the net movement is 0. Perfect equilibrium. By the way, please excuse the following images. I threw them together quickly in photoshop to illustrate my point.

So, seesaws. And messing up. Say one person places his legs on the ground and pushes. The creates an imbalance in the equilibrium of things. Suddenly, side A is moving up. What does side B do? Well, because this is a lever, side B has to move down. The movement of A is, let's say, +5. In order to maintain that equilibrium, side B must move away from the equilibrium by a magnitude that's the exact opposite of side A. So, side A has a movement of -5. (+5) + (-5) = 0. Equilibrium is maintained. Balance is still obtained. Equilibrium may not be obtained, because there is movement, but balance is maintained.

You see, a lever requires a perfectly straight, immobile, inflexible piece of material. No hinges, no elasticity. If one side moves away from equilibrium, the other side has no choice but to move away. With hinges, or elasticity, one side could move higher, to a different state. The other side could then remain immobile by resisting, or could even push up with side A. But it wouldn't be forced down in response to side A's movement up.

Wouldn't that be amazing? Maybe not. But I can think of a few cases where it has happened like that. And a few cases where I would prefer if things were like that. Situations where an unexpected movement from one side didn't require the other side to act in the opposite way. Perhaps in these cases, its for the better. I just wish that it didn't happen that way. Christ, of course, is a bit different. He operates with that hinge in place, if you will. We can move closer to him or farther away, but he only moves in one direction: To us. Because he loves us. I feel it necessary to make this point, even though, in this post, I'm not referring to that. Either way, what I'm saying is, sometimes, I wish things had hinges. I wish that one side's movement didn't force the other side to move in the other direction. I really wish that. But that's how it works, sometimes. The only way to change it up would be to break the seesaw. Then, the two sides could join the seesaw back together however they wanted. But then again, that wouldn't be a lever, would it? Levers, levers, levers. Literally, you serve as a way to entertain kids.

I hate levers. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Bright eyes and Subtle Variations of Blue

WARNING: THIS POST IS FILLED WITH AMAZINGLY HAPPY LYRICS ABOUT HAPPINESS, LOVE, ROMANCE, FLOATING, ECT. IF YOU WANT TO BE EMO, GO AWAY! IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY, STICK AROUND!

Its not very often that I fall in love with a certain musical assemblage. However, this has not only happened, but its happened 3 times. I owe it to a man by the name of Adam Young. It started simply enough, with a recommendation by Jefe, who referred to them as "Death Cab with more synths". While I completely disagree with this, it doesn't matter. I check them out Thursday night after Bible Study, and was hooked not even halfway through the first track, "On the Wing". By "them", I technically mean "him", however, it could technically be either of the two. You see, this absolutely amazing musician has three musical projects. The main project, the focus of this blog, is known as "Owl City". The two others are "Swimming with Dolphins" and "Port Blue".

I suppose, before I go on about Owl City, I should briefly explain the two others. Owl City is my favorite of the three projects, but I'm not sure which to peg as numbers 2 and 3. Swimming With Dolphins is a very very electronically influenced project, complete with heavy vocal distortions and intense synth beats. Port City on the other hand, is completely and utterly instrumental. I'm not even going to attempt to describe it. Instead, I'll post how Adam himself describes it.

Port Blue is music that can be heard playing in elevators, hotel lobbies, airports, museums and restaurants inside my head. It is the soundtrack to my dreams. If I wrote music for movies, this is what my film scores would sound like. Much of the aesthetic of Port Blue is not what lies in the recordings but rather what is extracted from them.

Dreamscapes. No vocals.

In my opinion, there is a huge lack of imaginative, unconventional music being created by artists today and what little there is, goes widely unappreciated by the masses. Port Blue is my attempt at re-creating the music I want to hear and the emotions I want to feel.

I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoyed creating it. If by chance you ever feel as though you've come to know these songs, please consider yourself a friend because in a manner of speaking, you know me. This music is my heart and soul. This is who I am. With that being said, I am so very glad to meet you.

Taste the sky. Dream in color.

Honestly, I'm absolutely blown away by this guy. And I haven't even gotten to his music yet. Seriously! I mean, his description of Port Blue is my entire philosophy on music. Conveying how he feels without words. Amazing. Who am I kidding? Port Blue beats SWD. Not to say anything bad about SWD, but Port Blue is just absolutely amazing. Yet, for some reason, it still gets beaten by Owl City.

So yes, Owl City. Owl City is essentially the music that I love the most. Often time minimalistic. A simple drum track, a background noise, a synth-y base, and a synth riff. As I write, I'm listening to "Air Traffic". There's a simple drum beat going, an arpeggiated synth riff, and piano chords played in simple whole note patterns that mimic the chords being arpeggiated. Other times, it kicks it up, using more complicated drum riffs, multiple layers of synth, and various other noises to fill in space. He even throws in the occasional acoustic guitar riff. But its never too much. Never. The lyrics are never belted out, but rather calmly sung, fitting in with the rather relaxing music. Not to say that they'll put you to sleep. There's definitely upbeat music as well, and I love it just as much, if not more, than the down tempo songs. I suppose, you have to types of songs.

The album kicks off with "On the Wing", starting with a simple reverberating noise, with a simple arpeggio kicking in, followed by a riff, then the drums, before fading into a series of chords with the lyrics. The lyrics, as with all of the songs, are mostly romantic lyrics, coming close at times to giving various people sugar induced commas. Other times, they are poetic. "On the Wing" tends to lean more towards the poetic side. The song changes tempo a few times, kicking up and slowing down at all of the appropriate times. This is a sign of things to come. None of the songs are really limited to a single tempo. They can change to fit the mood of the song. Songs can drop from multiple layers of synth down to just a simple series of chords with a light accompanying riff, and jump up to a multitude of layers, all conveying the feeling that you're floating. Honestly, what a way to kick of the album. Going head first, busting out all the tricks.

"I am floating away, lost in a silent ballet. I'm dreaming here out in the blue and I am right beside you, awake to take in the view".

"Rainbow Veins" continues. Honestly, this song gets pretty sugary. Well, good thing I like that. I can't help it. I realize that there's a lot of bad in the world, but honestly, God is there. You can't just focus on all of the bad. Be joyous. Maybe that's why both myself and Adam Young here love happy sappy music. I realize that some may find lyrics such as "Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains, and I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins" as a bit too corny or sappy, but it fits so perfectly. The music is just so happy sounding. You'd know what the guy was thinking even without lyrics. The highlight of the album comes with the "breakdown" as I'm tempted to call it (there's my hardcore showing again), one of the few times that the album gets complicated with a single layer, busting out into a nice synth lead solo, not too fast, but enough to really get me ready to go.

"Super Honeymoon" continues the sugary-ness, with its upbeat tempo and overall happiness. It slows down again with "The Saltwater Room", my favorite song of the album, and apparently, according to playlist records, the most popular songs he's written. It features a nice little acoustic riff, which is then mimicked by a synth, as Adam's vocals come in. The album keeps going on before slowing down at the pre-chorus, and then launching into a full scale(though still downtempo) duet(I really need to figure out who does the other vocal part. 'Cause she's amazing, and appears in a few more songs). Its about love, I'm not gonna lie. But the "dueling" vocals between the two blow me away. Its not a complicated song, and there's not much to look into musically, but its still absolutely amazing. I honestly can't particularly describe it. Its just.... amazing.

Now, at this point in time, I think I'm going to have to stop rambling so much about the awesomeness, as I've only covered 4 tracks of 12, and I'm about the length of my previous actual post(the ABR one), which covered various tracks from 2 albums.

"Early Bird" continues the album, bumping up the tempo again. One again, another electronica breakdown gets thrown in, with a rather amazing synth bass beat going on, which is personally, one of my favorite segments of the album(going up again a part from the final track, vying for my favorite moment of the album). "Air Traffic", as I mentioned earlier, slows the tempo down again, before jumping into another album highlight, "The Technicolor Phase", a lyrically simple song that for some reason stands out a lot. Seriously, I can label a lot of reasons why this project stands out so much, but at the same time, so much is just intangible. "Sky Diver" keeps the tempo down, albeit, a little further down from "The Technicolor Phase", which is more of a midtempo song.

"Dear Vienna" is another highlight, another positive upbeat track with synth beats galore, simple yet amazing drums, and amazing vocals. I don't think I've commented much on the vocals yet, but seriously, Adam has some vocals on him. There is, I believe, some slight vocal distortion(it is electronic music, seriously, so its expected). However, even without the distortion, the vocals are amazing. I dunno. I'm honestly just starting to get lost in this music. More on that later.

"I'll Meet You There" and "This is the Future" are two more slower tempo songs, the last of them. "This is the Future" is especially noteworthy because of its distinct lack of synth. Not that they aren't there. No doubt, there is synth, but there's more piano only tracks, showing that Adam isn't only a talented synth player, but he can break it down and play only the piano, and play it proficiently at that.

"West Coast Friendship" ends the album with another upbeat song. Another one of my favorite parts of the album occurs near the end, with a bit of a key change, giving the song almost like another revitalizing shot of life. Although it was in no way, shape, or form, about to die, its still a welcomed addition, almost acting as a second climax.

Seriously, I haven't loved an album this much in quite a while. The closest thing that I can compare it to is "And Then There Were None", but honestly, that was just a fun album. I'm still not sure what its about. Its mostly just an album to have fun with. But this album seriously just makes me happy. Seriously. And Adam himself seems like an amazing person. He's officially near the top of my list of people that I want to see in concert. In fact, he might be up at the top. I'm disappointed to say that I won't be seeing him play any time soon. He's on tour with Relient K(ugh, I want to go so bad!!!!), but on the west coast. He's also got a few shows with his other project, Swimming With Dolphins, meaning that a few times, he'll be playing twice. Opening as Swimming With Dolphins, and co-headlining the same show a few times with Lydia. Ugh, amazing! Seriously, check into this. Its amazing. Please, do yourself a favor, I mean, look at this guy's influences!

God, Optimism, Photography, Air Travel, Vegetarianism, Vintage Fashion, Australian Accents, Swimming Pools, Abstract Art, Wave Race 64, G-rated Movies, Pizza, Romance

While I'm not a vegetarian, nor do I like Vintage Fashion, God and Optimism are amazing. And then, pizza, romance, g-rated movies, and Wave Race 64? Wow, Wave Race 64. Talk about old school. Dag. I suppose I'll end with Adam's description of Owl City. I really like it.

If your household appliances wrote love songs while you were away on vacation, their cheerful blips and bleeps would pour out the windows, sweep through the neighborhood like candy-coated tidal waves, and you would return home to find crowds of people standing on your lawn, clapping and singing along to the happiest pop melodies imaginable. Welcome to Owl City.

I repeat, go listen. It should make you feel happier.

And by the way, in case you haven't figured it out, I give this album a 10/10. The best album I've listened to in a while. The last record that I called amazing was Underoath's Lost in the Sound of Separation, back in early early September. And I only gave it a 9.5/10.

Owl City Myspace
Port Blue Myspace
Swimming With Dolphins

The Saltwater Room on Youtube