Emblems
matt pond PA
2004
Indie / Chamber / Cello / Favorite
When I started Album/Week I was in a deep period of hunting for and listening to new music. I was solely focused on what I hadn’t heard and therefore had diverted my attention from what I already knew and loved. Matt Pond PA was one of those loves…
Simply put, mppa is probably my favorite musical artist. I remember taking a field trip to Princeton Record Exchange while in college and taking a chance on a used copy of The Green Fury for $5. I bought it because I was intrigued and impressed by the instrumentation – mppa regularly featured a cellist (at the time Eve Miller) in their songs. Like so many people, the track Measure 3 made me stop and smile, but this post is not about that record, as good as it is. Or the one after that, The Nature of Maps…
This is about Emblems, which I considered mppa’s magnum opus at the time (their next record, Several Arrows Later, is even better!). Emblems is an exceptional record. It features one of my top 2 mppa tracks (Grave’s Disease). Every song high quality. There’s a cohesion and looseness to Matt Pond and his bandmates, a confidence in the songs they’re performing.
Emblems is/was also a great signifier in my life. Living at home post-college, I couldn’t find it anywhere in CT. I was, however, going to New York for a day to attend orientation for the graduate school program I would be attending at NYU in the fall. I remember riding the Metro-North train to Grand Central, hoping I could find the time to find a record store and check the mppa section to see if they had it. I met someone in the program who was also a fellow music lover and after the orientation ended we walked to Union Square and entered the vast Virgin Megastore (RIP). They had a matt pond PA section! Incredible.
And Emblems was in stock. Thank goodness I packed my discman for the trip.
Matt Pond PA was and has been really the only band I’ve really evangelized. I told everyone I knew how good they are, how amazing Emblems was (and is!). This is a record that has followed me and has been a constant and a comfort in my life. Drives to Vermont, a cross-country roadtrip with a best friend, nostalgia, thinking of nature, thinking of my life, thinking of Matt Pond himself and his bandmates, my friends, my experiences, my wife, my family. All of it.
Emblems is one of a few records that has shaped who I am. Everyone has a few of those, right? I think? The music just hits you on a different level than everyone else. It’s what makes music and records so special.
Standout Tracks – The Butcher, East Coast E., Grave’s Disease, the entire record is quality!
See you next week.