Soundscape #9: In Your Cubicle No One Can Hear You Scream

Damien Hirst. The Acquired Inability To Escape, 1992.

There's a printout tacked on my cubicle wall that says "Six Tips for Happiness"; my favourite is the one that says "give yourself permission to be human." It's a little new age-y no doubt but I guess when we reject what we feel (pissed off, sad, fucked up, angry) as immature or unimportant, or simply that "it will pass," you have to wonder which part of you is still "human."

Looking around my little cage, there are articles like "Breath and Stress Reduction" and "10 exercises to do at the computer," scribbled phone numbers to bookstores and music stores (read: escape routes) right above my phone, work/production schedules though my work calendar only has every Tuesday filled out... with the music releases for that week.

Whether we like it or not, cube life is increasingly becoming the standard OS. You can set the clock just by the things I do throughout the day. Granted the routine supposedly provides a stability for our lives so that we can take the time to venture "creatively" outside our comfort zones but I'm so fucking tired from the day-to-day that the routine has somehow become a crutch I keep tripping over. I find myself planning my entire life around work and often saying no to friends who want to meet up for dinner simply cos it's a weeknight and I'm just too fucking tired.



Track Listing:
1. (0:00) Tegan And Sara - Monday Monday Monday (Buy If It Was You)
2. (3:15) The Arcade Fire - Wake Up (Buy Funeral)
3. (8:50) Manic Street Preachers - La Tristesse Durer (Scream To A Sigh) (Buy Gold Against The Soul)
4. (12:57) British Sea Power - Something Wicked (Buy The Decline Of British Sea Power)
5. (15:69) Bedhead - Exramundane (Buy Transaction De Novo)
6. (18:73) The Decemberists - Everything I Try To Do, Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right (Buy Billy Liar EP)
7. (22:76) Jarvis Cocker - Cunts Are Still Running The World (Upcoming Solo Album)
8. (27:24) Radiohead - No Surprises (KROQ Breakfast Acoustic Session)
9. (30:83) Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same (Buy With Teeth)
10. (35:37) Secret Machines - Nowhere Again (Buy Now Here Is Nowhere)
11. (39:53) Bright Eyes - The Center Of The World (Buy Fevers And Mirrors)
12. (43:96) The Postal Service - Recycled Air (Buy Give Up)
13. (48:25) Radiohead - Fitter Happier (Buy Ok Computer)