the year of the ox

falling all over onesself to jam the cd into the car deck for the ride home from the show, the first overwhelming sensation of joy is to hear the instantly-recognizable thematic bedrock of "to the moon" weaving itself through the ethereal strains that lead into the first track--"born". it takes a moment while you form your thoughts, and you are recalled of the days when artists shared with you an emotion, and a sense of place, through their music. it's a record. an album. singular. yes, there are 13 tracks, and they come up individually from your player should you need to summon them that way, but you realize right from the start that this record is so much more than that, and so much more than the sum of its parts. yes, you'll be compelled to stash it on your iPod for the indignity of shuffle play, but you know it's also going to HAVE TO BE it's own playlist so you can pull it up in an instant from the convertible while you're rocketing to nowhere and feeling like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to go there.

by the time that "to the moon" cossetts "abandoned" on its other side, you're somewhere new. and then you're blown away by the SOUND of it. beautiful. ethereal. expansive. how can human beings create this all out of nothing? it's still the same car, and the same road, and the same world, but it's somehow larger and more wonderful all of a sudden. (oh, that flute!)

jen kearney and the lost onion have delivered the goods. this is a record that's gotta be had. no, you might not be able to get yours personalized by your favorite member(s) of the band unless you come down to the blue shamrock tonight for their next show, but even so it's guaranteed to please.

oh, and btw--if you haven't started to figure out what a hidden gem is right here in beautiful melodic downtown (and thereabouts) shangri-lowell, then just LISTEN and contemplate that all this was put together between the cozy and intimate confines of Carl's Attic, and the inimitable and inimitably excellent Wonka Sound. (you know it's important if i'm using capital letters). how many places in the world have a resource like this, even if they don't have a top-notch performance space for the artists after they have created gold in bob's studio?

i have no idea when the rest of the world is going to catch on, but as long as i'm not being unreasonably jostled to stand front and center for all of it, then i have absolutely no complaints about the otherwise unfairness of the universe.

jen, wow.

just wow.