i need to go back to the island (a soundtrack).

ok first let's get things straight. i DID get frustrated/fall asleep when i tried to watch the first disc of lost with qualler last year. i witnessed a very entertaining plane crash scene, but then i saw a polar bear and lots of attractive-yet-mildly-scruffy people looking confused and i tuned out. deal with it. it's not for everyone, right? so i went on with my life, accepting the fact that i would not be a lost fanatic. i was fine with that.

but then this three-season-summary special called "lost: the answers" was dvr'd by a certain someone. and then that same person happened to dvr the mindscrew of a season finale. and now i am lost in lost. for a brief recounting of what has brought me to the dark side, i have included some new free songs by artists i once could care less about and now have me saying "yowzers" and also have a connection to the main culprit in question:

--> "lost to the lonesome" by pela

song: i remember listening to their very generic last album, so i wasn't too excited to listen to this song. but upon repeat listens, this yelpy pop-rock gem gets under your skin and you end up biting your lip and rousing along with the steady tempo. and there's even that damn wavery organ sound i usually hate gliding effortlessly through the song like it's its job or something.

lost: just like pela, i remember nothing but blandness for lost when qualler and i attempted to delve into it. i mean, i'm in the minority of people that wasn't completely bored by cast away and i still could not stay interested in the island drama. but coming back to it so many months later, suddenly all the pieces fit. i still don't think it's as legitimately deep or moving some do, but that season finale was some damn fine escapist entertainment. like a perfect pop-rock song.

--> "don't lose yourself" by laura veirs

song: mega-attention to any blogulutioneer who can get easily obsessed with female artists (you know who you are). it's so subtle and under-the-radar that if you don't pay enough attention to it. but the tension in her voice and her skittery drum pattern is jam-packed, just itching to get out and do something dangerous. cover that with a shimmery-yet-shaky gloss and you've got sleeping angst dwelling within a pleasant pop song.

lost: it all makes sense. i admit that i simply did not give lost the attention i should have. i was expecting an wham-bam lost-on-an-island romp and when i was given nothing but questions and bad acting, i drop kicked it like a diseased puppy. and now that i know things do get wrapped up (even if it's much later or even hasn't happened yet), i think my next attempt to go back and lose myself in seasons 1 and 2 will be far more successful because i can know there will be nuances to catch. cheap, i know, and sure i'm probably not a "real" fan, but whatever, i does what i do and i can't change it now.

--> "i believe in you" by yacht

song: it's a lot more musically playful than is probably appropriate for a lost soundtrack, but the lyrics cut home to me more so than the aforementioned drama-drenched parables. sure it's cute and about magic, but really it's about not using one's strengths and why people volunteer to do this more often than they probably should. not terribly original and more idealistic than i've ever been and will ever be, but songs with these kinds of themes can come up, surprise me, and hook into my skin (seriously) if they're in the right context, like a goofy electro-pop record.

lost: it's all about timing and placement. i've watched tons of shows/movies that are amazing character studies but never really push the limits of what a plot can do/be for its audience. i can totally see now how lost has done this more successfully than any other show/movie in history. it's practically revelatory. once again, nothing very remarkable being said in lost (or at least that i haven't caught onto yet), but its form is what i believe in and have become deeply involved in. they move along a plot or drastically change a character at exactly the right point. just like the yacht song comes in at the perfect point in a basically just-for-fun record to hit home, lost has come at the right point for me in my tv-viewing experience and is doing all the right things.

This entry was posted by chris, on Tuesday, May 29, 2007. You can leave your response.