we are the ones with the parts and the motion / we fill up the sky and we burn with devotion

[vanitashaze]

When I first heard "La Familia" off of trinityofone's Four Quartets playlist, I was not impressed. Being a rather good classical singer myself*, I tend to, eh, look down on those artists who have childish, or nasal, or talk-singing voices - one of the reasons that I still cannot get into the Mountain Goats, despite their obvious brilliance - and Mirah was like, okay, yet another girl-soft indie songwriter, move on. But I am so glad that I gave her another shot, because really, she's kind of brilliant. Gorgeous imagery, songs about sex & complicated relationships, and boom-boom bass lines? I'm listening to Advisory Committee and am completely hooked, with eleventy million fic ideas spiraling off each song. (Chief among them: a rather angry "Cold, Cold Water" McKay/Keller fic dealing with this.)

Also, the comments at SongMeanings are so cute.


*And yes, that was the sound of my horn tooting you heard.

Comments

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

I think the first Mirah song I listened to was "NOLA," which she recorded to raise funds for LGBTQ families and other survivors displaced by Katrina. It's a lovely song; I resisted listening to more of her work for a while because I'm not usually into singers with voices like hers, but what I have heard by her ("100 Knives" and so on) is beautiful. (On the other hand, I'm convinced I could put together a fanmix for a lot of characters on The Sarah Connor Chronicles just from the Mountain Goats and the Weakerthans, and a little old-school Liz Phair.) I've been reading astridv's meta posts about Jennifer Keller and fandom, and I agree with everything she says. If I recall correctly, astridv's other SGA OTPs are John/Rodney, Rodney/Sam, and Rodney/Teyla, and I've really liked the stories astridv has recommended at her journal. Her comics are great, too; there's one in progress right now that's about Jennifer and Teyla and aftermath of "The Seed." On a slight tangent, whenever I've thought about Jennifer/Rodney lately I've called to mind this sga_santa story by someone who's also a John/Rodney fan, for someone who's a John/Rodney fan too: "Most of the Time..." (http://community.livejournal.com/sga_santa/178968.html?thread=2164760&style=mine). The recipient said in her feedback: "I really like how you dealt with the does-Jennifer-like-him-the-way-he-is-or-does-she-want-to-change-him question (an issue that has been, um, troubling fandom). The question is really, 'does Rodney like himself the way he is,' and the answer is yes, most of the time--and therefore so does Jennifer. She wants him to be happy." And the author replied, "I was excited when I saw that it was you I had the assignment for, because I think we both have the same level of 'okay, I just LOVE this, but I still love John and Rodney, too.' I really wanted to... not so much 'fix' the perceptions that I think they portrayed so poorly on the show itself, but more... show the stuff that I think was going on behind the scenes. I honestly think it's less about Jennifer wanting to change Rodney than genuinely thinking that his being so socially inept sometimes is exactly why he is so grouchy and antisocial at times." Which is my take on it, too!

And since I'm thinking about her... another good, much shorter story involving Keller is "Four Ways Torren Emmagan Didn't Grow Up on Earth, and One Way He Did" (http://bluflamingo.livejournal.com/93819.html?style=mine) (different AUs are femslash or gen with background het, all of them poignant/sad).

[vanitashaze.livejournal.com]

Hmm. That's an interesting way to look at it; I don't think I've ever quite heard the argument being put thusly, but then again, McKay/Keller that's McKay/Sheppard-friendly (or, more usually, vice versa) is about as rare as a unicorn. Possibly rarer. A-Sascha-Baron-Cohen-film-that-doesn't-make-fun-of-any-ethnic-group rare. I recall reading Four Ways... and loving it, but this might be the opportunity to revisit!

For some reason, I can't find "NOLA" anywhere online - YouTube has failed me, oh noes - but to be honest, I'm not very impressed with "100 Knives". Maybe I'm just missing something, but part of the reason I like Advisory Committee is that it's so... angry, almost, or possibly crueler, such a lovely and brutal contrast to her soft voice. Sometimes, when I hear an album or a song, something just clicks together, and listening to this one was like, oh. This is Jennifer Keller, still sweet but older, wiser, more tired and bitter. A Pegasus Keller; possibly a Last Man Keller. It's a really interesting sensation, actually, because the songs are giving more definition to the character, the character is giving more definition and context to the songs, I'm seeing them both in ways I never would otherwise, and... Well. Maybe it's not that interesting, to someone else, but it is to me. You know Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? When Brick is talking about that "click" he gets when he's finally drunk enough? It's like that. This wholly visceral sensation, when things just... fall, right into place. And it's possible I'm babbling, but oh well.

On a slightly unrelated note, I cannot wait until astridv updates that comic. What she's begun with is so intriguing.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

McKay/Keller that's McKay/Sheppard-friendly (or, more usually, vice versa) is about as rare as a unicorn. Possibly rarer.

It really is! I did just read this fic (http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/161794.html?mode=reply&format=light#cutid1) about "The Last Man" in which John/Rodney was the main pairing and the writer also treated Jennifer/Rodney warmly and plausibly, with respect (I think it helps that the author likes Jennifer, too).

I've liked a bunch of bluflamingo's stories, though (as usual) I often forget to comment with feedback at her journal!

"NOLA" starts at 6:09 in this podcast (http://vault.mastanmusic.com/website/mmh/MMHour_027_pt1.mp3) (direct link to mp3 file); that's the only free venue I've found for the song.

I think "100 Knives" is the only song I enjoy on You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This; I've always found it kind of bittersweet, with some interestingly conflicting emotions running up against each other in what's said and not said, and in the contrast between Mirah's vocal/instrumental arrangement and the lyrics' content. The bass lines in Advisory Committee aren't my thing, but I really love the lyrics and the end of "Apples in the Trees." On the whole, I felt deeply oogy about "The Last Man" as an episode (for starters, Jennifer basically dies of consumption in a hospital bed! she's this super-doctor, yet we don't see that she even gets to attempt to think of a cure or anything before she kicks the bucket!), but I know what you mean about how songs and characters sometimes helping frame each other in new ways. A while ago I put together a character/pairing mix (not linked at my journal yet) for someone, and I found it surprisingly fascinating... there are songs I've unexpectedly come to associate with characters and pairings and scenarios, and it can be really satisfying when a song suddenly keys open a door like that, or when that association sets a certain imprint on how you listen to the song.

[vanitashaze.livejournal.com]

for starters, Jennifer basically dies of consumption in a hospital bed! she's this super-doctor, yet we don't see that she even gets to attempt to think of a cure or anything before she kicks the bucket!

I think what they were going for is that she didn't notice it until it was too late - maybe it was just the television-episode pacing, but it seemed to me that she was dead within a matter of weeks, if not days.

She does do conflicting well, that Mirah. And oh, yeah, bluflamingo! I'd forgotten about her. Didn't she write some lovely Katie Brown pieces as well, or am I thinking of someone else?

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

That may be the case with respect to TV pacing; it's the passivity of Jennifer's fridging that really got me. (With respect to "The Last Man" and SGA's problems in general and in S4 in particular, I agree pretty much 100 percent with hth_the_first's review (http://hth-the-first.livejournal.com/68017.html?mode=reply&style=mine) of "The Last Man," which is thorough and concise and well worth reading.)

bluflamingo's written a gen Katie Brown fic and a few Katie Brown / Laura Cadman stories, yeah! (My own favorite Katie fic is puritybrown's "Night Bloom," (http://puritybrown.livejournal.com/382076.html?thread=1247356&format=light) which is a gen short about Katie after Atlantis, and what friendship Katie and Teyla struck up while she was living there; the author wrote it for halfamoon. I love the focus on the women themselves, unmediated by men; it's one of the things I've loved about halfamoon.)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

also, yes, I'm really looking forward to astridv's next update of that comic! eee!