I don’t know if I can think of a band whose sound fits their band name as perfectly as Memoryhouse. Close your eyes and try to imagine what a band called Memoryhouse might sound like. Now play “To the Lighthouse.” See what I mean?
How does every Memoryhouse song sound different and the same at the time? What kind of strange powers are these? The hypnotic shoegaze lullaby of Denise Nouvion’s voice is the antidote to whatever it is that you have forgotten to remember. She will make you long for places and people you never even knew; it’s like a warm blanket on a cold day.
And what version of “To the Lighthouse” is my favorite? You know how it is when you open up the old photo albums and three hours later . . .
Sleep the summer chill
In sheets of linen
Hush the static sound
Of time dispersing
“To the Lighthouse”
Suddenly seeming
These eggshell ribs
Are caving into your hands
Can't sustain this breathing
It weighs on my chest
These lungs are filled with water from the tide
From the tide
And I
Watch them go by
Can't define a purpose
Though hands set adrift
In eyelids, cobwebs forming
Realize through the vapor
Some strange trembling gift
In sleep, I dream of houses in the sky
In the sky
And I
Watch them go by
Sometimes I'm pulled away
From my own misery
Your hands cover me
Eyes drift slowly
Sleep the summer chill
In sheets of linen
Hush the static sound
Of time dispersing
Sometimes I'm pulled away
From my own misery
Your hands cover me
Eyes drift slowly
Sleep the summer chill
In sheets of linen
Hush the static sound
Of time dispersing
About the Song of the Day:
Another form of my favorite form of cycles are song-cycles—song-cycles of great albums, and of course song-cycles of mixes. I have made cycles of mixes for friends for years—Mix-tapes in high-school and college—Mix-cds in grad-school and beyond. Now that cds have lost a bit of their shine in the wake of streaming services, I’ve struggled to find my footing with sharing mixes with friends. My goal here is to share songs that culminate in mixes—one song a day until a mix is completed. I will then post the complete mix and then begin a new cycle.