2. Listen to an album you wouldn’t normally listen to at least 5 times; from the last song backwards.

A long day of hard work had burned me on both of my good ends. Logic disappears. The numbness in my fingers as I’m writing this. What I need now is a bit of relaxing music to ease the strain.

Part of the reason I chose this one is because I love music and I love to review albums individually.

Cruising up from down under, the said-to-be mighty album from Grammy winner Childish Gambino comes the “Awaken My Love!” album-effort. I always vowed myself to be open-ended to new and innovative music. After a couple of listens, this documents my experience:

The swing, the mood, the vibe and; oh my soul- the basslines, are all so tasty. As I listen from back-to-front, the three last tracks are so chill. Usually an album starts with the up-tempo stuff, so it’s interesting to hear it from this side on. “Stand Tall” is one trippy song, messing around with a flute and violin, and a couple of other instruments I cannot name by word of mouth. “The Night Me and Your Mama Met” is an instrumental effort, with a strong bassline that leads me straight into chilltown, with a funk guitar plucking away at greatness. Third-to-last “Baby Boy”, is a 6/8 and slow-tempo song, defined and refined by the Childish’s transcending voice, with a talking-track put over an expanse of melodic athleticism. Some great variation of elements in the song “California” that reminds me of the weird efforts of Gorillaz especially. It’s like Damion Albarn had a tequila with house music on an island paradise’s beach while watching Fast and Furious. Some fun organ playing with flutes on this track too. A choir appears in support of Gambino’s manic high-pitched Prince-esque voice on the stylish track “Redbone”. Reminds me of a song called “…Like Clockwork” by Queens of the Stone Age. The funk returns on “Riot”. Reminds me of a band The Mars Volta. Weird stuff. It sounds like Jar-Jar Binks singing after swallowing air from a balloon. “Zombies” is serious, serious Gorillaz-sounding :D. It’s a very contagious song. Love it. An excellent groove, mood and drum playing on “Boogieman”. The funk is strong with this one. The vocals are particularly amusing. A tight drum and bass groove on “Have Some Love” is making me sway to the bridge and chorus’ backwards rhythm. My favourite song so far. Interesting- the album opens with a child’s music box. The album works very well backwards, to be honest. “Me and Your Mama” switches to an intense vocal performance from the team, then back to a psychedelic triplet mish-mash of lazy drums, sleepy bass and hesitant ambient keyboards.

Some very interesting and new things going on this album. Some great new, innovative and experimental sounds. Childish’s voice is very unique. It makes me think of a mixture of Bruno Mars, OutKast, Usher and probably a few other well-known names. The witch-doctor-ish cover weirded me out with its glaring dead eyes.  I liked the album the more I listened to it.

What I had learned from this task was to truly listen.

The next task is:

Go for an extended walk in my neighbourhood while listening to my mother talk .

Thanks for reading!

1. Climb a tree and sit in it for a little while. Document your experience.

2018/02/13

I climbed a tree today. The tree in my back yard, in fact. After walking across my yard and finally sitting down on the tree, the past came to mind. I realized that it has been more than six years since I climbed that tree. It made me realize how fast time can pass once you let the consciousness of it go. A lot has happened in six years. It felt like my entire life was leading up to that one moment I sat up there, like a detective's board filled with cross-referenced dots and ropes leading up to one culprit.

The dogs next-door barked at me once I climbed. The last time I was there, those dogs weren't in the neighborhood. Once seated, I listened: cars thundering down the nearby streets, a group of men cruising and chuckling in conversation, swallows chattering. The sun was dimly lit as clouds obstructed its illumination.

The concept I extracted from this experience was climb.

This will be the additive to my next adventure:

Listening to an album you normally wouldn't listen to.

Thanks for reading.