A few thoughts regarding Camera Obscura’s My Maudlin Career
May 15, 2009
It is an important part of any young boy’s life to listen to Camera Obscura. Before they can tie a Windsor knot or carve a ham or put their arm around a young lady at the movie theatre they should go out and pick up a copy of My Maudlin Career. It is a sensible step towards the stout system of manhood. It is rightfully recommended that the young boy first listen to the album in a safe secure environment. At some point during the course of these 11 songs, the resulting emotions may teleport him into the Eisenhower-era where he will want to kiss his mother on the cheek and borrow his father’s Chevy to escort the neighbor’s daughter to the homecoming dance. If this happens, do not jostle the young boy too violently. Only jostle him rhythmically and keep in mind, he is young. This is sound advice. If you are a father or a mother thinking of raising a young boy to become an all-star third baseman- keep this in mind.
As for my first listen of My Maudlin Career, it happened in a van driving north alongside the west coast. This is also a recommended listening environment. The album chirped from the stereo speakers and I inhaled it through my ears like a bumble-bee landing on a daffodil pedal outside my window. We stopped to get gas and the songs still spilled from the not on/not off setting your van ignition can have where the stereo still works. I was so hypnotized I almost entered the gas station’s mens room with no shoes on. If you add Camera Obscura to the west coast to a few days of not showering or shaving you may get a similar result. I think I was also hypnotized into buying a Golden Gate snow globe.
Since that first listen, I have heard the album while jogging in warm weather, while hanging out with girls who danced along reminding me of Uma Thurman, and while reading an article about how The Cleveland Cavaliers will most likely win an NBA championship. In each instance I felt as though, just maybe, Camera Obscura has built a time machine. In efforts to elaborate on that thought, I have had difficulty.
The album, the band, and the effects they cause have left me wishing hitchhiking was still safe. They have left me feeling as though it is better to walk barefoot and towards a swimming pool than any other way. They have left me with a feeling of contentment that the world is so large that, with a little help and handiwork, you can find something enjoyable and that maybe someone somewhere else will never enjoy what you are enjoying, but their enjoyment is out there in the oh so large world too and that is as important to them as Camera Obscura can be to young boys or to Uma Thurman or to me and you.
