Without giving away too much about his one-to-one project [color]All Good Things[/color], we can say that learning how to hold your breath can be a very useful skill. So we asked [color]Vertical City’s Bruce Barton[/color] to get you in the mood with a collection of songs to help you get the most out of the stuff in your lungs.
Music to Hold Your Breath to… Or Not
Track Listing
1) MILES DAVIS (with Bill Evans, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, and ‘Cannonball’ Adderly)
“Blue in Green,” from Kind of Blue (1959)
Just because.
2) GENE PITNEY
“Every Breath I Take,” from Greatest Hits 1 (1964; single released 1961)
Because it’s always, inevitably, about what gets lost.
3) GAVIN BRYARS
Sinking of the Titanic (1969 – 1972)
Because Jesus’ blood never failed me. Yet.
4) PINK FLOYD
“Breathe,” from Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Because ‘For long you live and high you fly / But only if you ride the tide / And balanced on the biggest wave / You race towards an early grave.’ Profound, eh?
5) THE POLICE
“Every Breath You Take,” from Synchronicity (1983)
Because once you slip away, they’ll never let you out of their sights again.
6) KATE BUSH
“And Dream of Sheep” from “The Ninth Wave,” Hounds of Love (1985)
Because Kate B. burns, and burns, and burns. Because she reportedly said the album is “[a]bout a person who is alone in the water for the night. It’s about their past, present and future coming to keep them awake, to stop them drowning, to stop them going to sleep until the morning comes.” Because, in its wisdom, Wikipedia reports, “It has been largely perceived as being about Death.” Go figure.
7) REM
“Losing My Religion,” from Out of Time (1991)
Because ‘Life is bigger / It’s bigger than you / And you are not me / The lengths that I will go to.’
8) THIS MORTAL COIL
“’Til I Gain Control Again,” from Blood (1991)
Because we live in hope.
9) PORTISHEAD
“Roads,” from Dummy (1994)
Because by the 3:00 minute mark this is what it feels like to not know which way is up or how long it’s been since you did.
10) RADIOHEAD
“How to Disappear Completely,” from Kid A (2000)
Because you never know.
11) JOANNA NEWSOM
“Emily” from Ys (2006)
Because ‘I dreamed you were skipping little stones across the surface of the water / Frowning at the angle where they were lost, and slipped under forever, / In a mud-cloud, mica-spangled, like the sky’d been breathing on a mirror.’
12) PEARL JAM
“Just Breathe,” from Backspacer (2009)
Because, ‘Under everything, just another human being.’
13) MORCHEEBA
“The Sea,” from Blood Like Lemonade (2010)
Because a voice can feel like water. Because a voice can roll like waves.
14) THE WEATHER STATION
“Everything I Saw,” from All of It Was Mine (2011)
Because, well, all of it was mine (to lose).
15) WALK OFF THE EARTH, feat. KRNFX
A cappella Beatbox cover of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” (2013)
Because the world’s chances feel stronger because WOTE exists. Because I can’t get the melody out of my brain. Because sometimes it’s not enough to see trouble coming before it arrives.
Vertical City’s All Good Things is on stage February 22-24 as part of the One-To-One Performance Series. Click here for more information.
And for more on Vertical City, visit their Facebook page.
