I do realize that the name of this album might suggest or even promise to feature at least several animals. And with its generous capacity to contain not only the expected obnoxious pigeons and obedient trained dogs, a concrete jungle like New York City might lead you to believe that a secret wild life community have more than just the seasonal meeting in the park.
But it was Winter time, and I could not have been expected to do much outdoors. Humans after all, just falling short of the very sensible "hiber nation", need warm comforts, songs, fluffy scarves and love to make sense of keeping up the good work in this kind of cold. And this season's Caramel Brulée lattes were the kind substitutes to those who could not afford these previously mentioned luxuries. But, despite the cold, and obvious lack of animals out on the streets, I shall introduce you instead to the wild life that did inspire this title. A melodic zoo in my head really.
'Strawberry Fields' played in my head as we travelled over the Atlantic towards New York. "Nothing is real," I sang along to the Beatles song. I was equally entertained by Miike Snow's 'Animal'. (I missed his gig in New York a few months before). But on this particular visit, I looked forward to a certain animal collective, a band called The Freelance Whales. I went to their gig in Webster Hall where I briefly met Charlie and his Miniature Tigers (cool band). And after fun and dancing, I was delighted to see that Röyksopp would be playing at that very same venue the following January (a Norwegian animal of another kind). In the morning after the show, I was introduced to sugar cookies that were much sweeter than Zoo cookies. (I ate a Polar Bear sugar cookie at Starbucks. They are the cutest hand made cookies to date).
Were I to design a carousal for this trip (a magical one; a flying machine which could transport anyone anywhere), you could choose to sit on either a beetle, or a snow-covered poor Leno, a miniature tiger, a whale or a sugar cookie polar bear.
So that was what was going through my head in the making of this title.
A song. Well, a couple.
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| So first I was off to Webster Hall in East Village. It has been a Night Club since 1886. I wondered just how close I was to some of the original ornaments in this Night Club. I was pretty close to watching the Freelance Whales though. A fact: I was quite down about a friend's absence that night. It was a friend who initiated this venture in the first place. |
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| And who have performed here previously? Justice, the Killers, Madonna, Linkin Park, etc. etc. etc. The Recording Studio, which forms part of the building, is where incredible artists have previously recorded their albums. (Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Julie Andrews, Bob Dylan, etc. etc.) New York: it happened here. |
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| And so the wild night out made me collect even more animals for the zoo in my head. Poor Leno and Mr. Oizo joined in. |
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| On the second attempt, I woke up and opened my windows. The ever beautiful Manhattan before me. After getting up and going out, my morning started with an outrageously glazed donut breakfast. Pretty, pretty wild. |
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| Yellow school buses transported so many kids to the central part of Manhattan. It reminded me of school trips to the Zoo. We never had trips like that where I am from. |
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| But the excitement was about the ice rink. |
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| The animal in me, was hooked on the trees in New York. Most branches were dressed in lights, which I found real cute. But the great Christmas tree in front of the Rockefeller was something else. |
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| And while a young professional kid skated a solo on the ice rink, a young obnoxious pigeon flew solo towards the Condé Nast building. |
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| Through the Looking Glass toy camera, it appeared that I was walking next to a Park. Oh! Illusion! |
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| Toy. Taxi. |
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| The Californian Redwoods of the concrete jungle. |
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| Time and again. |
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| The day ended with special sparkly lights. The Miniature Tigers song 'Dark Tower' played in my head. Before I left for Lexington Avenue again, I discovered one last animal for the day. A fluffy bird in one of the sparkly branches. |
What a magical little trip it was in December of 2010. And what songs! *(Thank you Miniature Tigers and Freelance Whales for the beat I got to walk to after I left Webster Hall that night).
*t
