I have this vague recollection of meeting Miranda July in passing up at KXLU sometime around late-1997 or early-1998. She was wearing a cheerleading skirt and carrying what looked like a toy piano. The music director at the time looked a bit harried, like he wasn't really sure on how to deal with an indie performer who wasn't an indie rocker. College radio at this time was staid. There were the indie bigwigs: Pavement, Built to Spill, Stereolab, etc. Then there were scores of emo bands developing emo-pop, just about ready to abandon short-sleeved plaid shirts for white belts. And there were piles of lo-fi 7" singles containing something that sort of resembled a pop song, but it was kind of hard to tell because it all just sounded so fuzzy and cramped. Miranda July was completely different from anything heard on a station that prided itself for being, well, different.
When The Binet-Simon Test was released, my fellow DJ Estelle and I could not get enough of it. I think that my favorite was "Medical Wonder," a piece about an experiment gone awry. The writing was clever and the delivery was captivating. However, what really got me going was the fact that every time I played this track, at least two people would call on the request line and say, "Take this off and play some Pavement." People only seem to call to complain and only seem to complain when they cannot handle something outside of convention. Today, Miranda July has a shelf full of awards and more glowing reviews than one can fathom.
I thought about this when I saw Me and You and Everyone We Know last night and realized that every bit of hype surrounding this film is well-deserved. I'll be the first to admit that I cannot sit still through a movie, but this one had me clinging to the arms of my chair while staring gape-mouthed and thinking, "I know that feeling." It's a universal story told in an original fashion that deftly mixes comedy and drama.
I felt inspired after leaving the Nuart last night. Partially, this was because the movie was *that* good, but mostly this was the result of piecing together the anecdote of the first few paragraphs herein with July's current success. Sometimes what seems strange to the masses is what will eventually make an impact on the masses. I guess the moral is follow your heart and the rest will follow. It's not an original sentiment, but following July's story relates it in an original manner.