Aphera Music

I was in a bad mood a couple nights ago and texted a few people to have them suggest a cure. My favorite response came from Paloma. Half of her texts made me feel worse; for example, she texted something about how every hour you spend in front of the television increases your risk of dying by something like 10 percent. Doubtful, maybe, but since I had just watched HP6 the night before, this assertion was really no help. But the effects of such texts were completely washed by others revealing her idiosyncrasies, ‘I also watched the Matrix every night it’s been on in the last 2 weeks. Now vying w Howl for my most-watched movie of all time.’ Only for Paloma and maybe my youngest brother, Alexander, would Howl’s Moving Castle, be their most-watched movie of all time. Somewhere between learning about polar bears being left-handed and reading Salinger’s alternate obituary in The Onion, I started to feel better.

Anyway, here is my stab at a cure for the winter blues. This is also a response to Paloma’s request for some ‘this-is-no-time-for-lethargy music.’ I am pretty sure I’m not the only one feeling this slump. The most recent episode of 30 Rock was titled ‘Winter Madness’; in other words, Tina Fey’s take on Seasonal Affective Disorder. Apparently February is the last month during which individuals in the Northern Hemisphere will usually experience symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder – so I learned when writing two papers on SAD last semester.

Here are some excellent tunes so cheer up. This is especially for the guy at work who said he’d gone through our playlist twice already and needed more. This is also for the girl who I sent one of these tracks to – you told me that you ’LOOVED!’ it. I promise, you’ll feel the same way about the rest of these.

photo by Ravi Bhalla

PLAY TRACKS

‘The Sun’  Portugal. The Man

‘Dog Days are Over’  Florence + The Machine

‘O.N.E’  Yeasayer

‘Take Care’  Beach House

Costa Rica may not have offered insight into a new music craze – at least not after one week. But pairing some kids from LA with a few tediously long bus rides resulted in a new repertoire of tunes to begin the year. Whatever the source, here is Aphera bringing you quality noise. Also, circumaural headsets seem to be all the rage.

best shot taken in Costa Rica

PLAY TRACKS

Freshly Baked

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros: 40 Day Dream

Miike Snow: Animal

Blasts From the Recent Past

Yeasayer : 2080

Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver : Hazelton