Sure, “curmudgeon” might be a term typically used to refer to an old person, but in that context, “old” is like, 60 and up. Up until that point, human beings are immune to the biologically proven onset of bitterness that coincides with a unique aural sensitivity to only annoying sounds, and they’re free to be as open, generous, and kind as they like. Some are more inclined to exercise their options, but as an example of the former, take Leyland Kirby, who recently turned a mere 40 years old (keep in mind that he’s been releasing music since at least his mid-20s).
Instead of (or perhaps in addition to) doing the traditional thing and accepting gifts from friends and acquaintances, he’s just released We Drink to Forget the Coming Storm, a 40-track album available for “forty days and forty nights” as a free download over yonder. According to Kirby, the album was recorded “through the darkest night hours during periods of disillusionment,” and without the bother of second takes, so the whole thing is reminiscent of a less decaying Theoretically Pure Anterograde Amnesia, another more-than-three-hour-long album, which he released under his Caretaker moniker back in 2006. In other words, don’t expect anything too musically elaborate, but I imagine it’ll work just fine as a score for studying, sleeping, or staring out your raindrop-covered window… again, for over three hours. Try not to worry the neighbors.
But wait, it’s not our birthday, is it? In that spirit, those wishing to pay a chosen amount for We Drink totally have the option to; for the record, Kirby recommends the “price of a birthday whisky.”
• Leyland Kirby: http://leylandkirby.bandcamp.com
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