It was Request Tuesday on Tariq's show today, and the theme of the show was musical escapism, which got me thinking about how I used music to get away from things in my own life. When I want to escape, it’s all about the repeats. I like to put on a familiar album and just loop it. Sometimes if I’m in a more desperate mood, it might even be just a single song.
I put out the request to Tariq today for him to play a favourite artist of mine, Chad VanGaalen. I first caught on to his sound when he released Infiniheart back in 2004. I found the album in the basement of a college radio station and fell in love with his lyrics and ability to use regular household items as musical instruments. Even now, I love to sit down with a blank canvas and start painting to the sounds of “Clinically Dead” or “Kill Me In My Sleep.” There’s something about his music that gets me into a familiar rhythm even when the lyrics are sadder than I am.
Hawksley Workman is another big favourite of mine. He was the first musical artist I ever interviewed so I have a real soft spot for him. That’s not just because he’s a talented artist, but because he’s got a lot of insight into what it takes to be a musician in Canada. His sense of humility combined with his prolific talents make it easy for me to want to listen to his tracks any time I can. “Goodbye to Radio” is one of my all-time favourites but I will give a nod to “We Will Still Need A Song.” Both good tracks to escape to.
But not all of my escape songs are slow. The Lovely Feathers, out of Montreal, always gets my heart feeling better. The band has a great sense of beat and there is a charisma to their songs that works well with my desire to play songs on repeat. Check out “Pope John Paul” and “Long Walks” if you want as little something to escape to.
To listen to my escape songs, I’ve made a playlist with all the songs mentioned in this blog post.
(Jenifer Norwell is an intern with CBC Current Affairs, on loan to CBC3 for the day to see how we roll down here in the basement of the Vancouver Broadcast Centre.)