Summertime

Am trapped at home today because John had a job in Sacramento, and his car is still in the shop. I shouldn't really say "trapped," because, in fact, I've been having a great time grooving to my tunes. I just downloaded the new Lemon Jelly album, '64-'95, off of eMusic, and it's phenomenal. Ok, I'm only three tracks in, but I'm already feeling it hard.

I've also been diving into eMusic even more deeply, especially by exploring the message boards that I just recently discovered. When I first signed up for this subscription service back in January, I was dubious, and at one point I even elected to cancel my subscription. I don't really know why I felt I had exhausted what eMusic had to offer, because it's my new smack. The site is run by music critics and musicians, and on a monthly basis, they offer up some of the most interesting writing on a variety of genres. I would never have given a second thought to music collected under the Inspirational umbrella, but after reading Mike McGonigal's pieces on Sacred Harp Music and gospel-era Sam Cooke, I downloaded some of his suggestions, and was just blown away. This is what discovering music should be like: epiphanic and thrilling.

Anyway, this is how I'm doing my summer. I'm allowing myself to soak in a temperate bath of great tunes. It's almost making me forget that the temperature in our home on most afternoons hovers around 90 degrees.