tune-in Tuesday

Welcome to Tune-in Tuesadays! It's a weekly post feature the artists and songs that I've had on repeat! From local in Minnesota bands to local in someotherwhere, and any artist in between,  I'm certain that you'll find something you like too! I'll post in 1 to 3 catergories:

• new
• new to me 
• renewed

This week I've taken a renewed interest in My Brightest Diamond a sometimes solo artist and sometimes band from New York, New York. Shara Worden is the lady in the lead (born to musical evangelist parents and raised outside of Detroit, MI)  Read the full history and bio here (her musical pedigree is substantial, but her talent speaks for itself.) 

I first discovered My Brightest Diamond 2 years ago after finding a free download on Last.fm. I listened to the songs: Something of an End and Inside a Boy on repeat every night. There was something in her melancholy melodies that carried me off from the dirt pile of my life and into a realm of quiet imagination. (Those are some pretty clever words, eh?!) Rediscovering those tracks begged me to take another listen and to dig a little deeper into the bands history and theme. I fell in love at first with the sounds and obscure lyrics (that often paralled my own obtuse imagination and acute trauma's of life) but when I saw the theatrical back bone, I melted/

You can find All Things Will Unwind on iTunes or from the Asthmatic Kitty Records site here where they also give a detailed and articulate review. Also, take a minute and watch this video for the track High Low Middle. Well, kit's and kittens I hope you dig My Brightest Diamond even a third as much as I do because it's been on repeat all day for me, and I'm still not sick of it. Who have you been listening to lately?

tune-in Tuesday

Welcome to Tune-in Tuesadays! It's my new weekly post feature the jams I can't get enough of! From local in Minnesota bands to local in someotherwhere I'm certain that you'll find something you like too! I'll post in 1 to 3 catergories:

• new
• new to me 
• renewed

Since this is a new feature you might see it change a bit as I tweak through it in the next few weeks but nonetheless I hope you enjoy, my darlings! I'm going to start by featuring Aiming for Aurora (AFA) who are not only fantastic musicians but awesome guys too. I saw them at the 7th St. Entry in Minneapolis last Friday and like always it renewed my love for these kids!

I first met them a few years ago when I was in college as a freshman baby. The band, and the adorable Mandy (who has been an icon of inspiration in my life since) were trying to sell tickets to their show that night. I was suckered in by their charm. 2 years later and I'm still smitten by the melodies, driving beats, and lyrical smoothness that these guys create. Kelsey Chewning, the lead vocalist has that kind of spark that fans really connect to and the band as a whole are some of the most relatable kids I know. If you're in the Minneapolis or St. Paul area and haven't heard Aiming for Aurora before then head over to their Facebook, get a listen and I'm certain you'll fall hard for them. They finally released their first full album this summer and this is their video for Paper Made Stars (from the new album). 

For more info check out their official website and make sure to tune-in next Tuesday to hear more! Ps. If you get curious dig around their Youtube channel. They've got some hilarious videos and promos from the last few years! 

         lyrics:         
Like the earth shaped dimples in the palms of your hands
everything is spinning while Im sliding back as far as I can
From the dirt under my nails you can tell where I’ve been
You believe in what you want and Ill believe in whatever I can

Your smile is so full of holes
Lately I’ve been digging way too many of those
If everyone’s a liar will I ever know what makes you so beautiful?

like a dark sky swallowing my paper made stars
I know that you’re hiding, and I know where you are
You see the dirt under my nails but not the blood on my hands?
You believe in what you want and when you cant then you pretend

follow fast and disattached
while I sense hesitation I can also feign this backtrack
I dont know much, but I know what I need
If everyone is fallen, then I don’t wanna be

on a personal note: the truth is

Darlings, December has arrived much the way that a bird changes direction to keep the wind beneath her wings. To myself I wonder, where did November go? She was here and in a moment was gone. Alas, this new month is welcomed because with it comes the tying of loose ends and resolution of another year gone by.

With regard to my own sin-struggles and current failings, this is damaging the sanity of our home. Over the summer, when I first came to visit I was welcomed, ushered in by the Spirit if you will. I knew this was a place of healing, and truth and deep peace. I knew this would be a home of war; I didn't know that it would be against one another. Some time in the last month a door has been opened and evil things have been twisting us up. Instead of fighting in Victory over our sinful nature we are fighting with each other. I have my own drafty doors and windows in my soul and heart.

Wolf

In these last few weeks since I last posted anything of substance there has been an

e b b i n g   &   f l o w i n g 

in my life and as I sit here feeling confused (yet resolved at the same time)

 I wonder what you'll make of this;

regret, in flakes cold and somber fall over choices made in hazy lamps glowing light

do we know what we are doing? I doubt it. 

we are just tumbling, tumbling
                                                   tu

                                                        m bl

                                                                     li             

                                                                         n         

                                                                               g

maybe if I loved you enough, maybe this dicrotic, necrotic heart-beating 

wouldn't have so easily broken us

but instead, we onward move through time and the spaces of our hearts

w            o             n             d             e             r              i               n             g

where do we go from here? I said, where do we go from here?

this is the point of going back, but never to the 

start
fast forward
and suddenly, the end is before us like a CLIFF
we are just falling, falling,  fa
                                               l

                                                      li 

                                                             n

   g

understanding 

escapes like a last breath

from between barely parted lips turned blue by rigamortis. 

lines, vulgar, we crossed much like eyelashes after sleepless nights

shared under secretly hidden, paper made stars. 

words, deeply cutting separate.

from dust did we come, and dust to which we return  it is to dust to which we remain, remain, remain.

fear, dulls our senses til we in a stuporous rage inflict insensitive attacks

arrows, flaming and destructive tear a way through the tangled vines we find ourselves wrapped in

we are beyond tangled, tangled, tangled
                                                   ta

                                                        n

                                                 gle            

                                               d         

                                                            up.  
dotted lines, on a map remind us that no matter which path we take, we're always walking in someone else's footsteps. each dashed and dotted marker makes memories resurface. we've been here before. 

l            i             n             g             e             r              i               n             g.