#prison boxing

and when my friends say

Sunday, Seattle

The first song that I heard from Cataldo was "Don't Lose The Feeling", and I proceeded to listen to it for the next three months intermittently*.  This was in the same period in which Bon Iver, Bon Iver was released and I listened to "Holocene" and Prison Boxing in partnership through at least two term papers (average 56 hours each).

Cataldo is set into motion by Eric Anderson, accompanied by various others.  Of Prison Boxing, a mysterious author (presumably Anderson) writes: 

"Prison Boxing, then, is something of a contradiction - a warm, uplifting heartbroken record.  Or perhaps it's contradictory only to the extent our personal histories are a contradiction, a conglomeration of moments of great joy and great sorrow.  It's a document of how we must all pick ourselves up, and through the shared strength of our adopted families of compatriots, not forget life's sadder parts, but claim them, own them, and transform pain into, well, at least bitter sweetness."

Anyway, Cataldo is from Seattle, which is pretty cool as it is relatively close and sad as they don't seem to be playing close any time soon.  

*Every day  

[More of Cataldo's eloquently written bio]

I just realized that Cataldo is from Seattle.  My island is cool sometimes, in that it is often close to other places.  

<a href="http://cataldo.bandcamp.com/album/cataldo" data-mce-href="http://cataldo.bandcamp.com/album/cataldo">Cataldo by Cataldo</a>

[All of the images are from Cataldo's Website] 

Anthropology is a clumsy word.  The concept is strange - my speech defining it to friends and relatives stewed for the first two years of university before it became legible.  

Don't Lose That Feeling isn't about anthropology.  The narrator is dreaming, passing through an abandoned memory, meeting a lost romance.  Throughout, as if in a dream, there is an overall feeling of almost-thereness.  Everything is about to come together, to resolve, and in that moment it is the only thing that exists.  

The dream is a lost connection, something we regret but cannot take back.  A need for resolution that can only be felt.  

It is a feeling similar to this, that founds our consuming need to understand our origins.     On the surface, it's something that seems unimportant (I will never be able to legibly explain my contribution to real life).  But thousands of years ago, under the foundations of our apartments and offices, a human felt what we feel. 

I was suggested Cataldo by my very good and very Iowan friend Isaac. I don't know what "very Iowan" means but I'm sure it's right. 

By the way, my friend Isaac has an excellent taste in music. My taste in music looks up to his taste in music. He also has a tumblr that you can check it out here: http://isaacoswald.tumblr.com/. 

I think this was the first song that got me really interested in listening to more of Cataldo's music. How could I not like it with lines like: "And I say with purity and candor, 'I've missed you." May not look like much with out listening to the song, but trust me it's great. Also, fact, it taught me to use the word "candor."

You should check out the rest of the Prison Boxing album on Spotify.