seantime

Life is certainly strange at times.

Imagine, for a moment, that you were invited by your favorite recording artist to a rather intimate venue, and after having wanted to see her live for over 4 years, you drive nearly 3 hours to watch her do a 10-minute set, and then afterwards you were too nervous to approach and talk to her. That’s what happened to me.

Being a Norwegian pop sensation, it’s been rare that Marit Larsen is ever in the US. Having no idea that she was in the Bay Area and preparing for a US debut, I was caught off guard by her twitter messages stating that she was visiting radio stations and doing some small concerts in the area. I was obviously a bit sad that she was in the Bay Area and it seemed impossible to actually buy tickets to any of the concerts, which were promotional. So I posted a despondent tweet, wherein I learned what the @name thing does in twitter. The fact that she responded to my tweet caught me off guard; that it was an invitation to a performance was stretching the realm of credulity. (Unrelated, but she has a US website now, too.) Despite the location being in Sacramento, this would be one of the few things that would compel me to spend 5 hours driving to see. Sacramento is kind of far away from the peninsula. I guess it isn’t that far from, say, Oakland. I didn’t really expect her to respond again when I said I would be excited to go (even gods forget their promises to little people), but she did, so it was on.

Ms. Larsen’s music set was pretty great, 3 songs from her second album. Her performance was about what I expected, which is to say that she is incredibly charming and ebullient. You don’t love her for strong vocal chops, but she’s still a great singer with a unique voice and amazing, polished songwriting skills. But if you’ve been reading this blog, you probably know that already.

Granted, given my lack of being a disciple of the cult of celebrity, expecting me to perform in this instance would be like expecting a freshman benched all season to pull through on game-winning free throws in the NCAA finals.

And granted it’s hard to talk to celebrities, especially ones whose albums you’ve listened to literally hundreds of times (only partly because you were too lazy to switch out CDs in your car), because then they become real.

Also granted that Marit Larsen is female, and girls are kind of scary to talk to.

Additionally, granted that there was also a really strange social interplay going on, because I might have been the only person there to see her perform and not some dude who won American Idol (I had no idea who Kris Allen was, not having had a TV and not keeping up with American Idol in any case, but now I know that I’ve heard one of his songs on the radio a few times), so there was this social pressure to not act too excited; and I wasn’t sure if maybe it would be really out of place to be chasing her down in between sets or asking for her autograph when everyone else was all casual-like and in all probability really didn’t know who she was. Celebrity, I suppose, is partially in the eye of the beholder; I’m straining my brain trying to think if there’s any entertainer that I would have wanted to meet more than Marit Larsen.

Even granted she kind of disappeared quickly after her set and then only appeared in the audience right before the guy’s set, and ran out before the end of Kris’ set, I still feel kind of dumb that I didn’t get to talk to her, and was too nervous to approach her, for example, in between Kris’ songs.

Upon some introspection and a day-long deconstruction of the events of Tuesday, April 13, 2010, what I was left wondering was what did I really want? In one sense, I got out of it exactly what I wanted, which was to see Marit Larsen perform live. And there was already the icing on the cake that she responded to me on twitter. People I admire have a strong sense of integrity and humility in the presence of fame or power — that is, being true to oneself despite the seductive pull of circumstances — and Ms. Larsen demonstrated that in abundance.

Even now, I’m not sure if the primary emotional response I feel for not talking to her is regret or bafflement. I mean, I have a fairly strong dislike for the cult of celebrity, and am afraid that the lure of fame might corrupt those whom I admire, but I can’t but feel somewhat that there was a missed opportunity. Yet, my expectations were mild, and they were met that day.

In many ways, my life is absolutely ridiculous. Life had been handed to me on a silver platter, but I balk because it wasn’t gold. Almost everything I’ve wanted, I’ve been able to get. In terms of struggles, physical or otherwise, my life’s been a cupcake. I’ve been able to go to the college I wanted to, get the jobs I’ve wanted to. I’ve learned from top professors, I have first-rate friends. I’ve never been materially wanting or hungry.

Yet, those who know me know that I tend to complain a lot. It might be true that how one views life is how one experiences it, but I do not think it is as easy to change one’s outlook and perceptions as most people do.

Maybe I’ve become what I’ve tried to avoid. I’ve been given privilege without expectations and have been aimless with my abilities. After being admitted to Stanford for undergrad, my goals have been vague and formless. Of the things I want, I can get, but maybe I don’t know what I want. I’m not talking just about the girlfriend thing here, or just the fact that if I really really wanted to talk to Marit Larsen, I could have and should have.

Basically, I’ve been guaranteed a very comfortable existence with a minimum of effort or hurdles. I won’t ever be particularly wealthy, nor would I want to be, but the life trajectory that my parents put me on will all but keep the stream of honey flowing. And the disturbing thing is that, short of the apocalypse, this won’t ever stop. So where does the motivation come to do anything?

There has to be meaning at some point, a devotion to some purpose or some desire that causes one to not stagnate, to not be too comfortable in one’s station. There has to be some expectation that what we do is worthwhile, confirmation that our work will be appreciated, that what we strive to do is correct. I’m afraid that I might miss another opportunity like Tuesday’s, none the wiser from experience. Worse, I’m afraid that I might not care enough to change. And I think that would be more pathetic than what transpired that fateful day.

It’s been awhile, but Marit’s evidently crushing it in Europe these days. “If a Song Could Get Me You” has topped German and Austrian singles charts, and I think will do the same in Switzerland soon. Also, “Under the Surface” was chosen as the best Norwegian song of the decade.

But the biggest news is the new “Under the Surface” video. Seems kind of bland and makes about as little sense to me on first viewing as the original, but it’s still a new video. Marit might be getting too popular now, but we’ll see if she ever expands into the US market.

• Taking the GRE tomorrow. I don’t think I’ll do too well on it, hopefully will get about the same as last time. It sucks that the scores expire. I’m already in grad school. Why do I have to take it again to apply to Ph.D. programs?
• There’s a conundrum about what sort of messenger bag/backpack situation I should use given that I’ll be living off campus next year. Carting around books, hw, laptop, and activity gear is going to be a major (back) pain (you know, from carrying all that stuff around). So far, I’m eyeing either a Timbuk2, Waterfield Designs, or Spire bag, depending largely on how much money I really want to spend on a bag.
• Finished reading the New Testament. I’m not sure if I want to go through the effort of reading through the Old Testament. It’s a lot longer.
• I think I’ve accumulated too much stuff. Moving every once in a while is nice because it forces me to throw things away. Unfortunately, never enough. I’m all out of boxes somehow.
• If Windows 7 and the Lynnfield Nehalem processors come out soon enough, maybe I can build a new desktop and get rid of this old one, which would save me a box. A new laptop would be nice, too.
• There are a bunch of clips of Marit Larsen singing “Lucky” with Jason Mraz. Pretty adorable.

A “real” music video of “If A Song Could Get Me You”:

• I’m pretty much a total failure at real analysis.
• Marit Larsen wrote “we have taken to having meat parties in the bus” on her myspace blog, and I laughed.
• I watched Elana Altman dance the “Tall Girl” part in “Rubies” last night, and I think I’m in love.
• Having bad dreams suck. They’re never scary like nightmares anymore, so much as depressing or sad. They really take the pleasure out of being asleep, which is basically the only sanctuary from the vagaries of life.

Some cool peoples on youtubes uploadeds the clipses.

“I’ve Heard Your Love Songs”

“If a Song Could Get Me You”

Duet with Dierks Bentley – “Beautiful World”

The Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 11 December, 2008 will feature our favorite musician.

http://nobelpeaceprize.org/concert/

Also, here is an English-language review of The Chase. I’m not sure how anyone comes up with this type of language. I also kind of resent anyone calling Marit a “Scandinavian Taylor Swift.” In my opinion, Swift still has miles to go before she can rival Ms. Larsen.

Nordic roots pop starling Marit Larsen scored her second Norwegian number one with “If a Song Could Get Me You,” the utterly charming lead single from her sophomore outing The Chase (which itself debuted atop her country’s album chart.) In a typically starry-eyed twist on the song-about-a-song concept, the tune finds Larsen proposing to write a song in whatever style it will take to win her beloved’s affections: “I could try with a waltz/I could try rock and roll/I could try with the blues.” There’s no doubt that she’s capable but, as it turns out, she doesn’t spend much time with those styles on The Chase (though “Steal My Heart” and “I’ve Heard Your Love Songs” are both waltzes, and lovely ones too; respectively dainty and sumptuous). Conspicuously absent from that list are pop and country, the two genres that most closely encapsulate her general musical approach. Larsen began her professional career as one half of the teen pop act M2M, and she hasn’t strayed too far from that group’s trendsetting brand of earnest, accessible bubble-folk — growing into her twenties may have helped her develop a satisfying emotional complexity to accompany her penchant for pop melodicism, but her intrinsic sweetness remains resoundingly undimmed. Meanwhile, her lavish sentimentality, narrative lyrical bent, and colorful instrumental choices (mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and dobro, along with more Baroque, orchestral touches) suggest a link with country that was evident on her solo debut and is even more pronounced here (sometime between the two albums, Larsen started a low-profile sideline stint playing in the Oslo-based traditionalist bluegrass band Elwood Caine.) Of course, there’s not necessarily much of a gap between classicist songwriter pop and country music in its chart-friendly contemporary incarnation. It doesn’t feel like a stretch, for instance, to describe Larsen as a Scandinavian Taylor Swift, considering that her differences from the rising country star have more to do with geography and vocal inflection than anything musically substantial (though she has a not-insignificant seven years on Swift, experience-wise.) Much like Swift‘s own sophomore album, which was released around the same time, The Chase is an expertly crafted musical statement that balances rootsiness and polish, leavens its maturity and poise with undeniable flashes of youthful brio, and displays considerable mainstream appeal regardless of genre classifications. Indeed, it exudes confidence, not just musical and writerly, but — this album’s most striking difference from its predecessor — emotional as well, as Larsen chides an indecisive new lover (“Is It Love?”), announces her plans to walk out on a sleeping, unwitting partner (“Ten Steps,” whose sanguine empowerment marks a complete reversal from the crippling paranoia of the debut’s “This Time Tomorrow”), and reflects calmly on the existential strangeness and unsettling simplicity of post-breakup life (“This Is Me, This Is You”), all with an assertiveness and aplomb worlds away from the passivity and hesitance that permeated Under the Surface. Even as it deals with some difficult situations, then, The Chase is far from a downer; and when things are working out in Larsen’s favor — as on the light-hearted title track and preposterously giddy new love ode “Addicted” — it’s absolutely effervescent.

(K. Ross Hoffman, allmusic.com)

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dcfixzrkldae

Review of Under the Surface from same person:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jcfixqudldfe~T1

It has always been assumed that Marit Larsen rests on the pinnacle of pop music perfection. Her voice,  instrumentation, and melodies: all are leaps and bounds above the rest of the trifling crowd. And then my sister tells me about Lenka. She’s not yet close to dethroning Marit, but this Lenka girl is uncomfortably good. I’ve been listening to her on repeat for the past three days.

While Marit’s music is a divine combination of folk, pop, and Disney, I can hear in Lenka’s the best parts (in my opinion) of many contemporary pop singers: Feist, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Regina Spektor, KT Tunstall. All in all, Lenka’s eponymous debut album is extremely addictive, and will probably share time with The Chase in my car CD player.

http://www.myspace.com/lenkamusic

On a brighter note, here is a live version of “Ten Steps”:

I’m pretty much smitten by her on a daily basis. Supposedly this is her second single off The Chase.

Three videos of “If a Song Could Get Me You” from Marit Larsen’s second album The Chase. I’m obsessed with her, but who can resist such catchy music?