Up All Night: A Paternity Leave Soundtrack
Three weeks in and Jenny and I have developed our routine in
re getting Rosie to sleep. It involves putting the sweet little nugget of joy
in her crib, where she sleeps in three to four hour stretches, wakes up to
feed, and goes right back to sleep! What a perfect baby, amirite?! Haha. Just
kidding. She rarely sleeps, and when she does, the only way she will stay
asleep for a two-hour stretch is sprawled out on my chest in the IKEA chair
next to her crib. We do this from about 9PM to 3 or 4 AM or whenever I can’t
stay awake any longer and I’m assured Jenny at least got a few hours of
meaningful sleep in between feedings. Basically, it’s just like in the movies.
It’s like every parenting stereotype you’ve ever heard. Thinking about having
kids? You best be able to easily adapt.
On the plus side, it’s brought Jenny and I closer together.
We’re like a couple of doughboys in the trenches, fighting for survival.
Constantly trying new methods and tricks in an effort to get our daughter to
sleep on her own. Our mantra is this: Three Months. In three months, everything
will be much, much better. She will be out of her fourth trimester where she’s
basically still a fetus and will have blossomed into a cooing, smiling, toe-sucking
toddler. That’s the dream, right?
Anyway, these long stretches of serving as a human bassinet
have given me a lot of really rewarding daddy-daughter bonding time with the
added perk that I get six hours to catch up on reading all the great books I
have lying around the house. Just kidding. I’ve been trying to finish Dune for weeks and every night I take it
to the little makeshift end table next to the chair and every night I just sit
there and play FTL: Faster Than Light or 2048 on the iPad (it’s not all for
nothing, however, because I am now REALLY good at those games).
Right before Rosie was born I invested in a
cheap-yet-wonderful Bluetooth speaker that serves as the bedroom’s stereo
system. Since I can’t very well listen to the Hold Steady at 2AM with a
slumbering infant sprawled across my torso threatening to wake up at the
slightest twitch/sound. So I’ve loaded up my iPhone with the quietest music I
could find on my computer. It’s quite actually quite nice once you get past the
exhaustion. Here are some of the greatest hits.
Vashti Bunyan – Lookaftering
Jenny loves the soulful, folky ladies and in the first days
we had Rosie, this album was playing constantly. Just so lovely and calming.
Gillian Welch – Time
(The Revelator)
Once the Vashti Bunyan wore out, Jenny started listening to
Gillian Welch nonstop. This album, in addition to Soul Journey and Revival,
is still what plays throughout the day. These albums are so great I’ll even put
them on in the middle of the night.
Iron and Wine – The
Creek Drank the Cradle
It’s hard to find a more sonically peaceful record in my
collection. Iron and Wine was the first thing I put on the phone for these late
night sessions.
Sufjan Stevens – Seven
Swans
I’m not religious, but I love it when musicians examine
their faith in song. On Seven Swans
Sufjan Stevens filters the Bible through his personal life and where they
intersect. It’s a gorgeous, deeply personal album that subsists almost entirely
on banjo and huge vocal harmonies. It’s actively unadorned compared to his
extravagance “50 States Project” albums Greetings
from Michigan and Illinois (I
culled the quietest tracks from those albums and they usually round out a
particularly nice hour of ouri evenings).
Papa M – Whatever,
Mortal
Whatever, Mortal
is a masterpiece from David Pajo, one of indie rock’s most legendary
journeymen. His work with Slint, Tortoise, and the For Carnation established
him as a pro, but his solo work as Papa M, Aerial M, and as Pajo is where he is
at his best. Whatever, Mortal is his
best album. It filters the post-rock leanings of his former bands through a
folky lens and the results are breathtakingly lovely and honest.
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
Duh.
Sun Kil Moon – Benji
Last but not least is a massive chunk of Mark Kozelek’s
complete discography from Red House Painters to Sun Kil Moon to his self-titled
efforts. This is bedtime music for weirdos. His music is the bulk of what I
listen to because it’s the quietest and his discography is absolutely
fascinating. His latest album, this year’s Benji,
is pure, unfiltered, rambling storytelling brimming with heartbreak and
tragedy. Going from the straight-forward folky tunes from Red House Painters’ Songs for a Blue Guitar to this new raw
shit, you get an interesting portrait of this dude.
