It always had to go this way.

I was asleep in a hammock

I was dreaming that I was a web

I was a dream-catcher hanging in the window of a minivan

parked along the water's edge.

I'd say that I was all alone.

Finally got around to listening to Wolf Parade's album Expo 86 and of course, am left absolutely infatuated. I know it's trite to say shit like "they've really matured as a band over the years and it's been a privilege to tag along for the ride" but there, I said it. Not because Expo is better than Apologies (blasphemy!) or Mt Zoomer (not-quite-as-blasphemous!), just that it demonstrates progression, exploring and conquering new territories of sound. There's something mesmerizing about their particular brand of synthpop -- the songs feel optimistic despite intense melancholy overtones and electric harmonies that pierce your soul.

Case in point: In the Direction of the Moon.

Also see:  What Did My Lover Say (It Always Had to Go This Way)

Maybe I'm too vulnerable to cover-art influence, but listening to the album straight up overwhelms me with nostalgia. The kind that gnaws at you until you stop whatever you're doing to go roll around in the grass or build a couch-cushion fort.

Well, that or channel the flood o' feelings into a Wikipedia binge...

Here are some highlights:
Expo 86 refers to the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication in Vancouver (Hellloooo Skytrain). 22 million people attended and some argue it incited "the transition of Vancouver from a sleepy provincial backwater to a city with global clout."

This year's Expo (Shanghai) has been going on since May and ends TODAY. Over 70 million people visited making it the largest in world history. Jackie Chan sings the theme song (lolwut) and the main building-- the Expo Axis -- sports the largest membrane roof construction OF ALL TIME. It spans 100 m with a surface area of 65,000 m2 and it looks like this:

and this-

Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering was the firm put in charge of the project. For good reason, too, they definitely rock abstract geometry and fluid structural designs.

Check out Weltstadthaus in Cologne...

and the MyZeil Shopping Center in Frankfurt.

Sweet.