American Rivers

You must not be afraid to enter the unknown

Because you are always entering the unknown

Each moment is new. I wanted to love you

Oh, the good times

Yes, the good times

They aIn’t coming back again

It’s such a burden

To remember them

Whenever nighttime 

Comes creeping in

I start smiling like I’m wearing skin a size too small

And  the secret shadows start to dance across the wall

I shut my eyes, and the whole world drops dead

But now, my dear, I’m seeing you instead

Oh, the good times

Yes, the good times

They aIn’t coming ever coming back

It’s such a burden

To remember them

When these memories— 

Attack

Your gleaming tombstone teeth, and your cheshire cat grin

And the hordes of well-dressed people trying to do you in

I shut my eyes, and the whole world drops dead

Lay my brain down

On a pillow of feathers

Egret feathers

Eagle feathers

  Lay my brain down, down

Down

While glaciers give birth to calves, the size of Manhattan

  Lay me down, down, down.

What is there to do but what we’ve always done?

Lay me down on a bed of feathers 

Lay me down where I can see herds of bison

Kicking up dust on the prairie

What is there to do but what we’ve always done?

  Lay me down where I can see wolves roaming the landscape

Owning it; howling

The eerie space between landmarks

Out west, you can see for miles

Lay me down

Ravens calling

Vultures circling

Lay me down

What is there to do but what we've always done

Even if we can turn the world upside down

Do we think it will wait for us?

A pack of wolves

Streching out across the prairie

Their howls are electric

Sing to me their song as best you can

You were so beautiful

But overexposed

Blinding light reflecting

Off all of your clothes

I couldn't make sense of you

Your shape or your sound

Couldn't tell day from night

When you were around

I can picture your face

Breaking into a smile

In spite of the madness

Hounding you all the while

Lookin' me over

With those dark, moody eyes

Letting go of your demons

Casting off your disguise

Surrendering to me

Countin' all of the stars

Burning above us

I was really inspired by the ‪#‎PeoplesClimateMarch‬ yesterday. It reminded me that this fight isn’t just about the future of polar bears, penguins, and pika—although these are issues I care about mightily. This fight is about so much more than that; it touches all of us. It’s about whether kids in the United States can play at playgrounds without breathing dangerous levels of smog. It’s about whether families who have farmed the land for generations will have to give up the only life that makes sense to them. It’s about whether the world’s poorest become refugees and whether indigenous people can continue to subsist on the earth's bounty. In short, it’s about what kind of world we leave our children. If you are inspired as well, please tell EPA that you support the Clean Power Plan. Having interned there, I know people’s comments really do make a difference.

Hustle Bones by Death Grips (from the Money Store)

Ghost by DJ Rashad (from Just a Taste)

Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich (from Nonesuch Retrospective)

I Want to See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson (title track)

Ocean Between the Waves by The War on Drugs (from Lost in the Dream)

The Art of Peer Pressure by Kendrick Lamar (from good kid, m.A.A.d city)

Big Love by Fleetwood Mac (from Tango in the Night)

Joga by Bjork (from Homogenic)

Cock/ver10 by Aphex Twin (from Drukqs)

Sunday Morning Coming Down by Johnny Cash (from The Legend)

Let U Know by DJ Rashad (from Double Cup)

Fourth of July, Ashbury Park (Sandy) by Richard Shindell (from The Courier, Bruce Springsteen cover)

Compare to finals playlist from undergrad:

Heartbeats by The Knife (from Deep Cuts)

Kill Your Co-workers by Flying Lotus (from Pattern + Grid World)

Passion by Blackalicious (from Blazing Arrow)

4 by Aphex Twin (from Richard D. James Album)

What You Doin’ by Clams Casino (from Instrumentals) 

Drips/Auntie’s Harp by Flying Lotus (from Cosmogramma)

Machine Gun by Portishead (from Third)

Caprock Canyon (May 11, 2013)

Birds:

American Avocet

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

Ash Throated Flycatcher

Wilson's Pharlope

Lark Sparrow

Painted Bunting

American Kestrel

Red-Winged Blackbird

Mississippi Kite

Chipping Sparrow

House Wren

House Finch

Northern Cardinal

Turkey Vulture

Mammals:

Bison

Ransom Canyon, TX

Birds:

Spotted Sandpiper

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

Lubbock Lake Landmark

Birds:

Great Horned Owl

Western Kingbird

House Finch

Chipping Sparrow

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Birds:

Cave Swallow

Turkey Vulture

Mammals:

Mexican Free-tailed Bat

Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Birds:

Canyon Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Top Albums (Artist, Album, Key Track)

Bob Dylan, Tempest ("Long and Wasted Years")

Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid m.A.A.d City ("m.A.A.d. City")

Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas ("Crazy to Love You")

Frank Ocean, Channel Orange ("Super Rich Kids")

Swans, The Seer ("Apostate")

Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light ("Hey Jane")

Liars, WIXIX ("Who is the Hunter")

JJ Doom, Keys to the Kuffs ("Retarded Fren")

Jack White, Blunderbuss ("Love Interruption")

Beach House, Bloom ("Other People")

Nas, Life is Good ("Loco-Motive")

Burial, Kindred (title track)

Grizzly Bear, Shields ("Sleeping Ute")

Dirty Projectors, Swing Low Magellan ("Impregnable Question")

The Tragically Hip, Now For Plan A (title track) 

Honorable Mention: The Mountain Goats, Mount Eerie, Bruce Springsteen, Dr. John, Neil Young with Crazy Horse, Actress, Flying Lotus (and Captain Murphy), Sigur Ros, Clinic, Killer Mic, Roc Marciano...

Top Discoveries (Albums not released in 2012 that I first listened to this year).

• Paul Simon: Graceland (“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”)

• Bruce Springsteen: The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle (“New York City Serenade”)

• Prince: Dirty Mind (“When You Were Mine”)

• Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (title track)

• Gravediggaz: Six Feet Deep (“1-800 Suicide”)

Paul Simon, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

Kendrick Lamar, m.A.A.d City

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Scar Tissue

Prince, Purple Rain

Bob Marley, Easy Skanking

Bob Dylan, Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Live at Royal Albert Hall)

Prince, When You Were Mine

Lucinda Williams, Passionate Kisses

The Beatles, I'll Get You

Philip Glass & Beck, NYC: 73-78

Prince, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

Paul Simon, Dazzling Blue