{"id":2802,"date":"2017-11-11T13:10:35","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T18:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2802"},"modified":"2018-04-01T23:04:14","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T04:04:14","slug":"thoughts-on-rides-pulsar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2802","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on Ride\u2019s “Pulsar”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been thinking quite a lot about Ride\u2019s new single “Pulsar<\/a>\ufeff<\/span><\/a>” since its surprise release last week.<\/p>\n

(Via Google)\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

pul\u00b7sar <\u02c8p\u0259l\u02ccs\u00e4r\/><\/i><\/p>\n

noun: ASTRONOMY<\/i><\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/span>a celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to one thousand pulses per second.<\/i><\/p>\n

Much like pulsars send out waves of radiation into the universe, musicians emit waves of sound into their surrounding atmosphere. There is little guarantee that their music will be heard, and of those that do hear it, there is no guarantee anyone will comprehend it, much like the people who first encountered pulsars didn\u2019t quite realize what they were seeing.<\/p>\n

These days, music can live far beyond the lifespan of its creators and reach a much larger audience thanks to things like sheet music and audio\/video recording, but there is something undeniably special and lucky about being alive at the exact right time and place to experience music coming into existence, much like the luck of being in the exact right situation to witness celestial events. Even if your gaze is trained in the right direction, if your mind is not open to new experiences, you may miss out on the magic being born right before your eyes. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival. Stravinsky\u2019s Le sacre du printemps in Paris (and the riot that followed). Beethoven\u2019s 9th. Halley’s Comet.<\/p>\n

Ride has straddled the line for me between popular music and art music for some time. Simplicity is deceptively difficult, and these guys are masters at crafting a pop song that feels natural and inevitable, like it has always existed (Twisterella, Cali, Vapour Trail). But, it\u2019s the complexity and the unexpected twists and turns of tracks like Seagull, Nowhere, Drive Blind, and more recently, Weather Diaries and Integration Tape that are what really intrigue me about this band. I wasn\u2019t aware at first that the band had attended art school, and it was only relatively recently that I learned more about the depth and breadth of their artistic and musical knowledge. But even as a kid, I could sense that there was something different in this music that attracted me, something I responded to before I could even articulate what it was. I may not have fully understood what I was witnessing in the musical landscape back in the 1990s, but I certainly haven\u2019t taken my eyes and ears off it since.<\/p>\n

My first listen of “Pulsar” was, sadly, on my iPhone speaker – I was too impatient to wait the six hours or so until I was home from work. I liked the track, but didn\u2019t have any real thoughts about it other than “what a gorgeous fuzzy racket!!” It wasn\u2019t until I heard it turned up loud on better equipment that I grew to love the track, and reading drummer Laurence Colbert\u2019s comments on his Facebook page about the inspiration for the song really gave me an appreciation for its complexity.<\/p>\n

Like an onion, “Pulsar” has layers, sonically and lyrically. I already interpret it in multiple ways, and I\u2019m sure more ideas will reveal themselves in time as my perspective grows and changes, but what a wonderful metaphor this track is for the band. In a crowded field of stars, it\u2019s easy to miss the glowing, vibrant energy of this group. You have to know where to look and be open to hearing something new. If you\u2019re reading this, you\u2019re one of the lucky ones to be living in the right time and space to witness the pulsar that is Ride, live. And while the finished product is a full band (+ Erol Alkan) effort, I think there\u2019s something beautifully poetic about the fact that the genesis of this song came from Loz, the literal pulse and heartbeat of this group.<\/p>\n

Transmission received, guys. And it\u2019s a stunner.<\/p>\n

Ride – Pulsar (YouTube)<\/a>\ufeff<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been thinking quite a lot about Ride\u2019s new single “Pulsar\ufeff” since its surprise release last week. (Via Google)\u00a0 pul\u00b7sar <\u02c8p\u0259l\u02ccs\u00e4r\/> noun: ASTRONOMY \ufeffa celestial object, thought to be a rapidly rotating neutron star, that emits regular pulses of radio waves and other electromagnetic radiation at rates of up to one thousand pulses per second. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[238],"tags":[240],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/img_0207.png","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6365,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6365","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":0},"title":"Reflections: #NowhereAt30","date":"October 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I saw a flurry of activity on my Twitter feed as fans around the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of Ride's debut album, Nowhere. I browsed the #NowhereAt30 hashtag over breakfast, reading story after story of how this album has touched so many lives. One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IMG-2633.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1987,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=1987","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":1},"title":"Reflections: Ride, Terminal 5 (New York City), June 4, 2015","date":"June 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"January 2016 This is not a review, as I am not a rock critic. Even if I was one, there is no way that I could be objective about this particular\u00a0concert, or about this particular band. Since discovering Ride's music in 1992, my mental image of them had developed almost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/tn_IMG_1039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2643,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2643","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":2},"title":"A message for my fellow gig-travelers","date":"June 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Do people think it's weird that you travel, sometimes great distances, to see live concerts? Do you derisively get called a fanboy or fangirl? I sometimes get a reaction akin to, \"I can't believe you'd fly\/drive all that way just for a concert!\" Once, I got that statement while sitting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Surprised-Koala3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5681,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5681","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":3},"title":"Pitchfork Midwinter and “the sky of timelessness”","date":"February 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Upon arriving in Chicago earlier this month, I got a text from my good friend Debbie, breezily instructing me to \u201chave an amazing time!!!!!!!\u201d Just 36 hours later, my head was swimming with everything I had seen and heard, and I will always think of the words \u201camazing time\u201d differently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG-6215-e1551394064788.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6432,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6432","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":4},"title":"Rhythm, Compatibility, and Riley’s In C","date":"February 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever noticed that when we talk about people we really love being around, it\u2019s easy to speak of our connection in rhythmic terms?\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re on the same wavelength.\u201d\u201cIt\u2019s like they\u2019re tuned to the same frequency as me.\u201d\u201cShe and I vibe so well together!\u201d\u201cHe and I, we just click.\u201d\u201cWe\u2019re\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tempImageKJFwMs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6556,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6556","url_meta":{"origin":2802,"position":5},"title":"The Third Thing: the ‘Sound’ of Interpersonal Synergy","date":"December 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I don\u2019t listen to podcasts very often, but one that I do subscribe to is Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast all about \u201cthe stories behind the world\u2019s most recognizable and interesting sounds.\u201d Host Dallas Taylor often asks his guests the same question: What is your favorite sound? It\u2019s a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Off topic"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/IMG-2413-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5QIia-Jc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2802"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3068,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2802\/revisions\/3068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}