For me, web development work tends to happen in intense periods of productivity. I might sit around for hours before the productive patch hits and then I’m off to the races, sometimes coding through the early hours of the morning.
On occasion, as the hours tick by into the a.m. and the sky starts to lighten, I fall into a groove. In my experience, this happens with most creative endeavors. I play guitar and paint, and the experiences are more similar than dissimilar, regardless of the medium. The band Phish, which I used to follow around the country a shocking 15 years ago, calls it “surrendering to the flow.” It’s a cool thing when it happens.
I love when I’m able to get into these creative sessions with a kick ass soundtrack as well. Sometimes, if the two are synced just right, it feels like you can connect with the furious creativity of a great album in a deeper way than you would be able to typically.
The last week I’ve been doing some development work on CraftCoffee for the first time in a while, and a few incredible albums have fueled my creativity.
Special thanks to:
Radiohead - In Rainbows (both disks) - the best band of my generation
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea - the band that inspired me to write this post
The Decemberists - Hazards of Love and Crane Wife - I don’t like your new album, but I’m giving you a pass since both of these are so amazing
Take a listen to Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea if you can and just imagine the intense, visceral creativity that must have been spinning around Jeff Mangum as he created that masterpiece of grotesque imagery, life, death and love.
Click to listen to Holland, 1945 at HypeMachine.com
Holland, 1945
The only girl I've ever loved
Was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive
One evening 1945
With just her sister at her side
And only weeks before the guns
All came and rained on everyone
Now she's a little boy in Spain
Playing pianos filled with flames
On empty rings around the sun
All sing to say my dream has come
But now we must pick up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on
And now we ride the circus wheel
With your dark brother wrapped in white
Says it was good to be alive
But now he rides a comet's flame
And won't be coming back again
The Earth looks better from a star
That's right above from where you are
He didn't mean to make you cry
With sparks that ring and bullets fly
On empty rings around your heart
The world just screams and falls apart
But now we must pick up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on
And here's where your mother sleeps
And here is the room where your brothers were born
Indentions in the sheets
Where their bodies once moved but don't move anymore
And it's so sad to see the world agree
That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies
All when I'd want to keep white roses in their eyes
-
mikehorn posted this
