Living the dream. One mistake at a time.

It's been a while since I have done a music post, so I decided to do another one with some recently released music by Youth Lagoon.

Youth Lagoon’s first album The Year of Hibernation was one of my favourite albums of 2011 and we went to his concert in Botanique in Brussels. This amazing concert was set in its intimate Rotonde, which is the smallest stage there with a capacity of just 250. It was just Trevor Powers (aka Youth Lagoon) on synths and Logan Hyde on strings.

photo by Charlotte

Photo by Charlotte

His new album, Wondrous Bughouse, will be released next month and seems to offer something different. The recently released songs ‘Mute’ and ‘Dropla’ seem richer, more upbeat and less subdued. It seems as if the new album will be dealing with more positive themes, although the lyrics are still tender. The songs are less pre-occupied with following the path of the first album in its slow build-up and percussive climax, but instead does the opposite by starting heavily and ending more delicately. Personally, I prefer his old ways. Yet I’m excited to hear the full album and I’m hoping he will visit Belgium or The Netherlands once again.

Then there's a series me and Charlotte got into last week: GIRLS. (We watched the whole first season in two days, oops.) It's mainly about a couple of girls in their beginning- to mid-twenties who are figuring out who they are and what they are going to do. It's written by Lena Dunham who plays Hannah in the series and who's being cut off financially by her parents after living on their costs for quite a while. She then decides to confront her boss at her unpaid internship to start paying her, which eventually leads to losing her job there. Take a look at the trailer for a sneak peek!

I think GIRLS beautifully represents the lives of some of the twenty-somethings of this generation. At times I recognize myself in Hannah, having lived on my parents' costs for some time, doing unpaid internships, the self-doubt, and doubting if I'll find the job I'll be happy in. But nevertheless, I'm trusting that eventually I'll find the job I want, maybe not right now, but I'm looking forward to gain experience and learn by doing internships. I'm glad my parents have supported me through university, through being unemployed, etc.. On the other hand, since I knew Charlotte and I were going to Amsterdam, I have worked a job which isn't really my thing, but which allowed to make the money I needed to live on my own. Without the support of my parents.

A lot of people from my parents' generation (born in the 60s) were married and had children at my age (23), and I can't imagine myself being married or being a father at this age. Many of them were already working a couple of years, had a steady job - which a lot of them might still be doing 30 years later.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm lost, due to my studies and due to the current economy, which fuels my fear of not finding the job I want. I think GIRLS does a great job at showing this. And it's just plain funny. Nevertheless, it's sometimes hard to sympathise with the characters: all of their traits are shown, which makes them both sympathetic and unlikable at times. Hannah, for instance, can be very egocentric, rude, patronising and she often thinks she's better than everyone, while at the same time feeling so sorry for herself. Another thing which bothers me is the fact that Lena Dunham seems to have this obsession to show her naked body and how she seems to enjoy making her audience feel awkward. The nudity just doesn't add something to the series and it feels as if she's trying too hard to stand out. The last episode (S2E5) was a bit too much in both these regards and some plot elements were downright unrealistic, such as Hannah quitting from yet another job. I'm afraid GIRLS is losing its edge and the first season seemed way better than the current, but we'll need a few more episodes to tell.