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MBG: Bodies of Water

MBG: Bodies of Water

Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink is the name of the album, Bodies of Water is the band. And this is for all of you readers who just really really want to hear about “CHRISTIAN!” music from Relevant. I don’t mean to be snotty, but a wise person once told me that “there are those who make music about the Light (worship, or “christian” music) and then there are those who make music about what they are able to see because of the Light.” (it’s a quote from T-Bone Burnett, and Calvin College’s Ken Heffner shared this with me last summer) BOTH are good, and BOTH should continue. Typically, I find it more interesting to see what kind of art is being made about the world that the light created (ex. see most any other ReleBlog post that I make…). But here is one of those rare bands that seem to be able to blend the two possibilities together. This music is like audio joy. If the Polyphonic Spree weren’t so gimmicky and outrageous, they’d be more like Bodies of Water. Combine that gleefulness with Danielson’s indie-christian-quirk, and Bodies of Water emerge as Secretly Canadian’s most recent signee to get excited about. The album is out today (2/22), and it is worth buying.
For my latest Music Blog Guest (MBG.), Bodies of Water’s David Metcalf reveals the possibilities that he might be a hippie. Read on dear reader:


Dylan: Alright David, I need to know what you favorite music has been as of late.


David: Pentangle – Basket of Light. It’s good throughout, but the first song ‘Light Flight’ is very exciting. There’s this 5-5-2 meter that sounds bizarrely natural. There’s a good clip of them playing it on a 1970 BBC special here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=d9gCN9-Jnfg


Dylan: Your provision of youtube links is heartwarming. And that music is beyond groovy. Now, what’s the best show you’ve been to lately?


David: There was a band we played with at the Silent Barn in Brooklyn called Jolie Laide, and they put on a great show. They had the right sort of energy. Also, No Little Kindness did a great show at T’s Bowl a month or so ago. It was part hippie rage, part dance party, part meditation.


Dylan: What about the best memory from Bodies of Water’s last tour?


David: We played at a festival in Durham, NC, and upon arriving we found that one of the women that worked for the festival had prepared vegan indian food for everyone that was playing that night. She was a chef that would be hired by rich families to go to their houses and make all their meals for a week or so. Anyhow, this food really hit the spot. Actually, there may be a better memory. In Philadelphia we left our show and went to the top cheesesteak stand in the city and got these ridiculous cheese fries. They were all crammed in a cup and then the cheese was injected into the fry gaps in the cup. From there we went to a pretzel factory that opened every midnight and we bought pretzels right as they came off of the belt out of the oven. They were being shipped all over the place, but these guys sell them to people who come up to the front door of the factory. They are absurdly cheap – 20 cents for one or 100 for $10. Something like that. Two or three will fill you up. These are not small pretzels! They were hot, soft, and delicious.


Dylan: Oh man. I’ve been to Philly twice. It’s always a wonderful/hideous experience with the local food vendors. They’re not kidding around with those cheesesteaks. So good! Is there a philosophical or theological thought you’d like to share with the ReleBlog?


David: A couple of weeks ago, I let my bible fall open and randomly set my finger down on a verse. It was Jeremiah 24:7 – “I will give them a heart to understand that I am Yahweh, and they shall be my people and I will be their God when they return to me with all their heart.” Later that same day I began reading ‘Contemplative Prayer’ by Thomas Merton, and found that the epigraph was Jeremiah 24:7! I don’t think this is a coincidence, and yet I have yet to wrap my brain around it. I don’t know if this is useful for anyone who may read this interview but it has been in my mind and you are asking me about myself, so there it is.


Dylan: I’m picturing Lily Tomlin as the existential detective holding up the coincidences folder in front of you. So what else are you reading right now, what are you learning?


David: A lot of clarinet related material – I’m learning to play the clarinet. I have only had it a week, but I feel like it’s coming along. My face muscles get tired so quickly, though. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Playing the high notes is tough. I have never played in instrument that required a specific embouchure. It is a novel experience…there’s a really satisfying feeling to having such a direct physical effect on the sound you’re making. Your muscles can bend the sound around and change the overtones. Fantastic! I am not good at it, but I am into it.


Dylan: What are you wearing right now David?


David: Saucony courageous tennis shoes (grey), levi’s 517 blue jeans (32-34), grey t-shirt (my friend Patrick made it for me – it says “democrats, no – republicans, no”), navy blue nylon-type (i checked – it is polyester thinsulate and olefin?) jacket (j crew), glasses (-4.5), Guatemalan friendship bracelet, I have a string and a rubber band as proxy wedding rings (I tragically lost mine some time ago). I don’t look like a hippie. Some sort of trash-sorter maybe, but not a hippie.

Dylan: Oh heavens no, not a hippie. No sir.


David: Speaking of hippies – Meredith and I were sorting through the boxes in our attic and came across all of the hemp jewelry Meredith made in junior high school. We put hemp collars on all of our dogs. They look okay.

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Go see Bodies of Water in your town, I’ll be at their stop in Chicago to report:

02/01/08 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo w/ Castanets
03/08/08 Norman, OK – The Opolis w/ Phosphorescent + Bowerbirds
03/10/08 Denton, TX – The Cavern w/ Phosphorescent + Bowerbirds
03/17/08 Atlanta, GA – The EARL w/ Citay + Sons and Daughters
03/18/08 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle w/ Sons and Daughters
03/21/08 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Sons and Daughters
03/22/08 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom w/ Sons and Daughters
03/23/08 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s w/ Sons and Daughters
03/24/08 Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs w/ Sons and Daughters
03/25/08 Montreal, QC – La Salla Rossa w/ Sons and Daughters
03/26/08 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace w/ Sons and Daughters
03/28/08 Chicago, IL – Double Door w/ Sons and Daughters
03/29/08 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater w/ Sons and Daughters
03/31/08 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive w/ Sons and Daughters
04/01/08 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge w/ Sons and Daughters
04/03/08 Seattle, WA – Neumos w/ Sons and Daughters
04/04/08 Vancouver, BC – Richard’s on Richard’s w/ Sons and Daughters
04/05/08 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge w/ Sons and Daughters
04/07/08 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall w/ Sons and Daughters

“And now that I have wept tears of despair
Please let me cling to you
And now that I have died to myself
Please let me see your face
And since my longing took a desperate turn
I feel you near to me
And now that my voice cries with regret
I draw you into me.”

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