EPs and Housing Issues

"I know you're pretty pissed, I hope you still let me kiss you" etc.

Two things of interest happened to me today: 1. I found out where I will be living when I start University in a few weeks and 2. I got the new Stars EP

Two first because it's more fun: I've long been a fan of the EP. There aren't enough of the things. Dear every band, do an EP or two. With EPs you get an equality of songs that doesn't exist in any other format. On most albums people will pay more attention and listen more to the songs near the begining (understandably just because albums take time to listen to and you don't always have it) and any singles taken from it. With EPs though, they're short enough that all songs can be judged on equal merit. Uh, unless any singles are lifted from it which does happen and is silly. I'm all for non-album singles but they should be a standalone thing.

The EP allows for an album like "arc" of songs [slow opener, mid tempo song, more intense song, climax, cool off for example] but without the time consumption, so it requires less effort on the part of the listener. For this reason alone I can't believe EPs aren't more popular. You'd think the mainstream pop kids would be all over such a format. But no, it's left to the left-of-center and the ever-so-slightly-obscure (and of course the Very Very Obscure and everyone in between) to really utilise the form.

Stars, as you should be well aware by this point, are a Canadian indie pop five-piece who formed in Toronto and currently reside in Montreal. After a series of small releases they got Indie Big with Set Yourself On Fire and followed it in 2007 with (my favourite of their albums, though the fans disagree with me) In Our Bedroom After the War.
Why do I love Stars? A few reasons: They're frequently unabashedly romantic and sexual, Torquil Campbell and Amy Milan are both excellent singers and I enjoy bands with multiple lead vocalists, the instrumentation is always interesting ranging from guitar lead pop-rock to lush electronics to a lone piano...

"Listening to Stars feels like being young and in love" is what I expect to say about this band once I'm old enough to say that without it being ridiculous. Actually that's a neat segue: There's a track on their new Sad Robots EP called "14 Forever" which, over a skipping, tapped beat and a piano that grows into a rush of full percussion and keyboards, addresses and acknowledges the joy and ridiculousness of youth. "Ten thousand drunken kids in a field can't be wrong" Torquil declares breathlessly through an old radio. He knows that he is joking and that there is some truth to his joke.

My favourite track here is called "A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife". It follows the floaty, piano-led ambi-pop intro track and starts with a swell of keyboards before an insistent little beat sneaks in, soon joined by live drums and Torquil describing a series of incidents over a few days at the height of Summer whilst keyboard lines descend in the background. The explosive chorus of "Til the next day!" has Amy joining in and a big fuzzy wall of noise backing them up. It sounds like taking a deep breath of cold air on the top of a hill as the sun rises. It sounds like being alone and perfectly peaceful in a large, noisy crowd. It feels good.

The six track set ends with "Sad Robot" itself which sees Amy singing softly in French over an acoustic guitar [up close] and cold, synthetic ambient noises [far away]. It's lovely, more than anything else, and very touching even though I don't understand a word she's saying. [Update: My mutli-talented friend Sophie has translated a few of the lyrics for me, it's sad, pretty stuff but I think it works just as well if you don't understand it. Amy's voice does a lot of the work for you.]

Which is Stars all over: Not always precise, but always effective and always affecting

Meanwhile in the real world: I'd been panicking about my University accomodation because other people I know who are going to Birmingham had been told and I had not. Today, I finally recieved an offer. It's not where I wanted to be but it does seem alright and (Drumroll!) I have my own toilet. That puts me in a relatively small percentage of the world's population, you know. Even a relatively small percentage of University students it seems. I will make sure to never take this for granted.
Anyway, I move in on Sunday the 21st. I now have a definite date to countdown to. Countdown seems the apropriate term, too: Leaving home to live alone for the first time is a lot like leaving Earth for planets and places unknown. I think there may even be a Simon Armitage poem that uses the same analogy?

Probably. I steal everything I write [today's post subtitle is a Hold Steady reference in case the top line didn't tip you off]

See you at the weekend, Internet.