Every year is eventful in its own right. Last year was a time where I finally felt rewarded for my hard work. This year, without going into too much detail, has tested my patience in every area of my life. So, I can safely say that I am happy that 2009 is ending and I can only hope that 2010 is better; not only for me, but for many others that I know that have also had quite a trying year.
I know there's still over a week until 2009 comes to an end, but I figured I'd do this now (I have nothing to do right now anyways :P).
So I'll try and include some of last years categories...but we'll see what I come up with.
3 activities:
Apple Picking - Quinn Farm: I would have to say that this was probably the funnest group activity of the year. Twelve people assembled to go and hunt for apples. This was followed by group cooking at a friend's place and soccer in the park. Definitely will do again (or so I hope).
As a runner up: Laser Tag - this was also a lot of fun. I managed to assemble 22 people for my birthday. It's just too bad that the game is only 20 minutes :)
Skating: I befriended a french exchange student this semester and she suggested we go skating (CEPSUM has free hours). I haven't gone skating regularly since I was about 9. Once I got the hang of it again, I really enjoyed it. So I shall continue this activity :)
Brazilian Percussions: This was an entirely random occurence - In mid-march, a girl in my biomechanics class asked if I wanted to try a free drumming class. I said ok. She and her 2 other friends decided to join, so I joined and have continued since then. I always thought if I played an instrument it would be the drums. I just didn't know I'd be playing samba :P Overall, an interesting experience.
3 Best Food Discoveries:
Cafe Byblos – Metro Laurier
Apart from trying Iranian food at my friend's place back in grade 9, this is the first time I've had any. As per the suggestion of a school friend, a troupe of 6-7 went to try their dish called "Le dizzy", made only on Sunday's. So, the food you get is enough for 2 (or 1 very hungry person) and it is also very fun to eat.
You have a stew that comes in a a big gourd. You strain out the liquid, which you eat with dried pita bread. The remaining food is mashed and then poured onto a plate. With your new mush, you take fresh pita bread and spoon some on with picked eggplant and other fresh herbs. It's realllllly tasty and I definitely suggest it.
Mazurka - Metro Sherbrooke
I generally love perogies. But dude man, this place is awesome. Maybe my judgement was skewed by the fact that I was starving (so was my friend) after a 4 hour long walk. But starvation alone cannot skew my food judgement!
Appetizer: marinated herring with some potato salad, beet salad, onions, etc. Usually, fish flakes apart. This fish was still chewy and just completely absorbed the marinade flavor. It was just *insert speechless, yummy, happy sound here* and my friend agreed. The soup that came with our combo was Dill Pickle soup. Sounds strange, I know. But this was also mouthgasm. I am determined to make it one day. As for the main, it was the vegetarian combo: 2 perogies, 1 potato pancake, 2 cheese blintzes and lots of sour cream on the side (this is not a meal for dislikers of creamy/dairy things). To end, we got tea. Haaaaaa. We left there completely satisfied, not too full and just generally happy (the waitress probably thought we hadn't eaten for days, since we finished every single thing, including the lettuce). Then decided we should make an eastern european feast (hasn't happened yet, but it will!).
Ramen - Metro Place d'Armes:
I like noodles in broth and I love Tampopo. Anytime I think of ramen, I think of Tampopo. So when I ate at Ramen (2X now), I was very pleased to find that the consistensy and texture of their noodles was exactly how the movie described it should be. Soft enough, but still retains enough structural integrity such that it's not mushy. In addition, the broth is tasty (Well, I had the soy broth. Miso is the other option) and they have vegetarian options. It was also a total mind warp to hear a chinese waiter with a french (from france) accent. Hoorah.
3 Best Tea/Chill Places:
David's Tea - Metro Mont Royal
There are actually 2 locations in Montreal, but I haven't been to the Pare one yet. In terms of chilling, probably not the best place. It has that kind of cold, ikea/deco/modern feel (it's painted all white). On the other hand, their tea selection is quite premium. In addition to traditional teas, they have a lot of flavored teas. I am a fan of Pumpkin chai, Creme caramel rooibos and coffee puerh (there's still so much to try though!)
Cha Guan - Metro Villa Maria:
The first time I went there, it was for a free workshop/tea tasting in the summer time. They had excellent iced teas and the workshop was also very interesting/educational (but I don't have the supplies to reproduce that :P). I went back later with a friend and decided to actually have tea and chill there. It was fun to sit on the floor and they're also very generous with their boiling water refills. It's rather small, but it has a nice quaint/homey feel. I haven't bought any tea there (though, I just received a very nice gift from a friend from there, with a choice of 4 teas). But, from what I can see, it is a bit pricy.
Cafe Dervish - Metro Berri-UQAM:
These dudes specialize in chai (I realize chai means tea, but I'm thinking of masala chai-ish types). They have many different kinds, spanning from traditional masala, to some kind of ethiopian blend. Their teas are made fresh, on the spot - with the choice of moo milk or soy milk. Each mug is about 5-6$, so it's not something you'd have often, but it's certainly tasty and comforting for those cold autumn and winter nights. As a side note, they have some quite premium food (all vegetarian, with the choice of veganizing your order). I particularly enjoyed their jamaican sandwich, which had faux turkey with jerk spices, lettuce and plantains and it was served on naan bread (yes, naan!).
3 Best Movie Discoveries
Cidade de Deus
I had heard about this movie before from a few people, but never saw it till this year. It is indeed a very good movie - definitely violent, a tad grim. Excellent soundtrack and it was fun for me to hear the brazilian portuguese accent.
Sin Nombre
I went to see this with 3 friends in the spring. Takes place in Honduras + Mexico. Another one of those violent and grim movies (do I see a trend...? nah, it just happened). Also a good soundtrack.
Taqwacore - The Birth of Punk Islam:
This here be a documentary on the beginnings and evolution of punk islam. Some of the groups were inspired by the book called the Taqwacores. It showed the islamic punk scene in the United States, as well as their travels from state to state. It also showed the reaction to punk islam in Pakistan (one of the groups went there). There were definitely some very funny parts. Overall, a very good documentary.
New General Entertainment:
The Big Bang Theory:
One of my friends suggested that I watch it. One thing that's good about this show is that you don't need to see all the previous episodes to understand what's going on. Each episide is kind of a single unit by itself (or what you need to know is easy to follow/determine). It basically follows the lives of 4 nerdy graduate students working at a university. So naturally, the humor is quite nerdy, but also very entertaining.
30 Rock
Paw sugguested I watch this show. So I started watching and then watched all the seasons within the span of 1-2 weeks. The humor is very quirky/off beat. That's the only way I can describe it.
True Blood:
This is the only other series I started watching this year. It's really cheesey, like really stinky winky cheese (talking bout some kinda 10 year old blue cheese). But that's what makes it entertaining. Most of the people on the show are stupid (as in making stupid decisions, getting themselves into stupid situations, and saying some of the cheesiest lines :P). There are 2 characters I like however - Eric and Lafayette (they are both badass). So this is the kinda show that you can watch when you don't want to expend too much brain power.
Music:
So here's the thing with music this year...I haven't listened to a lot of new bands. I either listened to stuff I already had or listened to some really old music or complilations (like Putumayo). I can't really suggest much off the top of my head, even in terms of new releases from bands I know. Generally ok, but nothing really mind blasting as far as I can remember. Maybe my 2009 mood is dampening my musical excitement :P
3 songs that happened to stay in my head
Massive Attack - Paradise Circus:
I found out about this new release while reading pitchfork. This song has been playing almost consistently for the last 2 days (itunes says 105 times. It was on loop while I was cleaning today...). Suffice to say, I'm very excited about the new Massive Attack album in general (and would be very happy if they toured around here). What I love about this song?
1) The beat - very chill, but layered. I really like the sound of the bass, though i'm also fond of the clapping.
2) The vocals - soft and smooth
It took 354 days, but I think I found my favorite song of the year.
Vampire Weekend - Horchata
Another pitchfork discovery. This song is hells catchy. One of my friends said it sounds like a christmas song, except they're talking about horchata (an excellent drink, I might add). I am also excited about their new album 'Contra' coming out Jan. 12 :) They've been very good at preventing leaks.
MC Serginho - Pocotocopo: (actually scratch that, most of the songs from the Rio Baile Funk : Favela booty album):
So this year, I've been to what...about 3 brazilianish parties and at all of them, some baile funk was present. I never knew what the songs were, just that they were catchy. Recently, my friend downloaded the stuff (how she found it, I dunno). In anycase, this stuff is incredibly catchy and also very very dancy :).
Despite the general crapitosness of this year (that's not to say there was no good stuff whatsoever), I am intent on ending it well i.e.: I shall try my best to be christmassy and in general good spirits and resolve as many things as possible, so as to not transport 2009 grimness into 2010.
So here's to the end of 2009! Merry Christmas and may 2010 bring health and happiness to you all, as well as success in all your endeavors.
Haven't blogged much in a while, but I thought I'd pop in for a bit to express my love for the new track "Paradise Circus" by my fave trip-hoppy dudes Massive Attack. It will be on the upcoming album "Heligoland" in Feb. 2010.
Now I just hope they tour :D
The actual video is NSFW. But you can look it up.
Now I just hope they tour :D
The actual video is NSFW. But you can look it up.
I was looking through some of my video faves on youtube and was reminded of how much I loved this song + this concert last Halloween :)
1...2...3....scream, GO! :D
Probably one of the best concert moments of all time (for me at least).
That's it :P
1...2...3....scream, GO! :D
Probably one of the best concert moments of all time (for me at least).
That's it :P
Made a new video last night with the song Zina Marina by Gogol Bordello. Not at all what I had initially intended to use as a song, but I think it's more appropriate :)
I think this video has more appearances than any of the others ones. It is also the longest.
Enjoy :)
I think this video has more appearances than any of the others ones. It is also the longest.
Enjoy :)
Yeah, I'm on some kinda blog roll today. But this is short!!
Vampire Weekend released a new song called 'Horchata'. Now, the drink (which is a type of mexican rice drink w/ spices), is AWESOME.
The song is pretty catchy too :D
On a side note, I finally had some time to make another apple dessert (up to now i've only made pancakes and bread). It's a type of German Apple cake called Einfacher ApfelKuchen, the recipe for which I got here
Though, I used rice milk instead of milk and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup from 1 cup.
Dude man, I can only describe this as a combination of egg tarts and apples in taste (both of which I love :o).
Mine turned out like this (I think you have to flip it, but I didn't, haha. I think it's good either way):
Vampire Weekend released a new song called 'Horchata'. Now, the drink (which is a type of mexican rice drink w/ spices), is AWESOME.
The song is pretty catchy too :D
On a side note, I finally had some time to make another apple dessert (up to now i've only made pancakes and bread). It's a type of German Apple cake called Einfacher ApfelKuchen, the recipe for which I got here
Though, I used rice milk instead of milk and reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup from 1 cup.
Dude man, I can only describe this as a combination of egg tarts and apples in taste (both of which I love :o).
Mine turned out like this (I think you have to flip it, but I didn't, haha. I think it's good either way):
Also, on an entirely different note, I would like to see this movie:
I heard about it while watching Oprah (my mom called me from my room to see) and I understand why she did :) I have done many of the processes that he talks about in the movie (or at least from what I can see in the trailer). Some of which are really damaging to your hair and scalp (degrees of which depend on your hair type). So, for those of you who don't know much about how people with curly hair style their hair...here's a bit of info.
Here's a timeline of what I've done and I've included photos of all the corresponding hair pictures I could find:
Braid extensions total (since 2001): 14
Weave total = 4
Relaxed hair periods total = 4
Total treatments (virgin hair + touch ups) = 10
What follows is the explanations for some of them.
RELAXERS: a creamy product used to permanently straight your hair; its active ingredient is usually a strong alkali (like Sodium Hydroxide, pH of about 10-14). Sometimes a weaker alkali is used, such as Ammonium Thyoglicolate (I think a pH of 8-9). The natural pH of your hair is about 4.5-5.5, which means it's slightly acidic. So, the base a relaxer penetrates the cortex layer of your hair and breaks the bonds that give your hair is curly pattern. The relaxer stays on your hair for a certain amount of time (usually 20 minutes from the time of application), then it is rinsed and neutralized.
There is also something called a texturizer, which is a weakened version of a relaxer. So it just loosens your curls rather than straighten them completely. But, I think it contains the same basic ingredients.
Some problems:
1) People often leave the relaxer on for longer than 20 minutes (i.e. after all of it has been applied, then they count 20 minutes). This can result in chemical burns (it's very important to protect your scalp as much as possible when doing a relaxer, especially with a more alkaline relaxer). In fact, relaxers can generally lead to hair loss due to the application of such harsh chemicals.
2)Improper care of your hair after relaxing: As your hair is a weakened state (its bond have been broken), you have to continuously maintain it by always moisturizing and applying deep conditioning treatments. You also can't tie your hair too tightly as it will promote breakage of your hair. Without proper care, your hair will dry out and break. Hair breakage happens especially at the temples and around the nape area of the neck (at least in my experience - though it can be generally widespread).
In fact, hair breakage often occurs at the junction between your relaxed hair and new growth because the textures are so different. You try to detangle your natural hair and then reach the bone straight hair, and snap. That usually means you need a touch up on your new growth.
4) Your hair texture might not be suitable for relaxing: This is my case. My mom's hair is fine and wavy. My dad's hair is coarse and very tightly curled. My brother got coarse + big curls. I got fine + very tightly curled hair. So, after trying relaxers of various strengths a number of times , I've determined they never work for me. My hair breaks without fail, despite my attempts to properly maintain it.
5) Relaxers stink: When you're having the process done, dude man, it stinks...like 100 stink bombs. That's probably enough to deter me from doing it again, too.
Also, by the way, if you want to go back to your natural hair after relaxing...you have to grow it all back again :P Which means, grow out the relaxer and chop off the straight stuff (or just let your hair progressively break off...which is what usually happens to me. Except the first time, my mom chopped it off...not so cool for an 8 year old to have 2-3 inches of strangely styled hair).
Other ways to straighten curly hair: Blow dry + flat iron. The problem with doing this on a regular basis is that after a while, your hair will eventually either i) lose it's ability to curl in the same way ii) have general heat damage, leading to extreme dryness and breakage.
Non-chemical styling methods:
EXTENSIONS
1) Braiding: Braided extensions can be a great way to add length and color to your hair without the need for any chemicals. The stylist will basically add pieces of hair (whether fake or human) by braiding it with your own hair. You can have either single braids or cornrows (or combo of the two). I've had both done and generally liked them.
The problems:
i) You can't exactly wash your hair properly. Washing your scalp is entirely possible. But your hair is trapped in more hair and it's hard to completely wash. Though, i've had better experience washing hair with cornrows.
ii) Traction alopecia: more hair loss! The reason is that when you add extensions to your hair, especially if the stylist braids tightly, stress is applied to your scalp. Over time, with continual use of braided extension styles, your hair starts to thin in that area.
I'm trying to remedy that problem!
2) Weaves
In this process, the stylist cornrows your hair either in concentric circles or just in horizontal or vertical rows, then sews on tracks of hair (either fake or human - human looks nicer and lasts longer/has less of a tendency to tangle). You can either have a full weave (covering your entire head) or a partial one while integrating parts of your own hair (usually the front). So, here you can have wavy, straight, super curly hair. Whatever you like and it's not braided.
Problems:
i) The hair washing thing again. Though this time, you have an even harder time accessing your scalp since it's all covered by hair. It also take a while to dry.
ii) Hair loss!: the first time I had a weave done was in fall 2004, by the suggestion if a stylist after she noticed I had some thinning in the front due to doing single braids many times. She said it would give my hair a break. My initial impression of weaves was not so great - I felt that it made me look strange, as if I were wearing a helmet and then hair attached on top of it. But anyways, at the time, it did help my hair - I noticed less thinning following that style. My latest weave style was noticeably less helmetty (done by a different lady) but, I've experienced more thinning - which is rather upsetting :( So weaves = hair loss too.
There are a number of other natural styles people can do, like twists, afros, dreadlocks (though be careful with stress too...kind of like the single braids). You can also add clip on hair pieces to your hair.
Through all my hair experiments, I've definitely had regrets (that last relaxer in 2005-06 shouldn't have been done :P), but I've learned something from each of them. I would like to try to work with my own hair (so as to minimize hair and scalp damage), but I've found it hard to find something that's relatively simple to do and that looks nice. So the quest continues.
Anyways, following that lengthy text about hair styling - all this to say, I think the documentary would be interesting to see :D
I heard about it while watching Oprah (my mom called me from my room to see) and I understand why she did :) I have done many of the processes that he talks about in the movie (or at least from what I can see in the trailer). Some of which are really damaging to your hair and scalp (degrees of which depend on your hair type). So, for those of you who don't know much about how people with curly hair style their hair...here's a bit of info.
Here's a timeline of what I've done and I've included photos of all the corresponding hair pictures I could find:
Braid extensions total (since 2001): 14
Weave total = 4
Relaxed hair periods total = 4
Total treatments (virgin hair + touch ups) = 10
What follows is the explanations for some of them.
RELAXERS: a creamy product used to permanently straight your hair; its active ingredient is usually a strong alkali (like Sodium Hydroxide, pH of about 10-14). Sometimes a weaker alkali is used, such as Ammonium Thyoglicolate (I think a pH of 8-9). The natural pH of your hair is about 4.5-5.5, which means it's slightly acidic. So, the base a relaxer penetrates the cortex layer of your hair and breaks the bonds that give your hair is curly pattern. The relaxer stays on your hair for a certain amount of time (usually 20 minutes from the time of application), then it is rinsed and neutralized.
There is also something called a texturizer, which is a weakened version of a relaxer. So it just loosens your curls rather than straighten them completely. But, I think it contains the same basic ingredients.
Some problems:
1) People often leave the relaxer on for longer than 20 minutes (i.e. after all of it has been applied, then they count 20 minutes). This can result in chemical burns (it's very important to protect your scalp as much as possible when doing a relaxer, especially with a more alkaline relaxer). In fact, relaxers can generally lead to hair loss due to the application of such harsh chemicals.
2)Improper care of your hair after relaxing: As your hair is a weakened state (its bond have been broken), you have to continuously maintain it by always moisturizing and applying deep conditioning treatments. You also can't tie your hair too tightly as it will promote breakage of your hair. Without proper care, your hair will dry out and break. Hair breakage happens especially at the temples and around the nape area of the neck (at least in my experience - though it can be generally widespread).
In fact, hair breakage often occurs at the junction between your relaxed hair and new growth because the textures are so different. You try to detangle your natural hair and then reach the bone straight hair, and snap. That usually means you need a touch up on your new growth.
4) Your hair texture might not be suitable for relaxing: This is my case. My mom's hair is fine and wavy. My dad's hair is coarse and very tightly curled. My brother got coarse + big curls. I got fine + very tightly curled hair. So, after trying relaxers of various strengths a number of times , I've determined they never work for me. My hair breaks without fail, despite my attempts to properly maintain it.
5) Relaxers stink: When you're having the process done, dude man, it stinks...like 100 stink bombs. That's probably enough to deter me from doing it again, too.
Also, by the way, if you want to go back to your natural hair after relaxing...you have to grow it all back again :P Which means, grow out the relaxer and chop off the straight stuff (or just let your hair progressively break off...which is what usually happens to me. Except the first time, my mom chopped it off...not so cool for an 8 year old to have 2-3 inches of strangely styled hair).
Other ways to straighten curly hair: Blow dry + flat iron. The problem with doing this on a regular basis is that after a while, your hair will eventually either i) lose it's ability to curl in the same way ii) have general heat damage, leading to extreme dryness and breakage.
Non-chemical styling methods:
EXTENSIONS
1) Braiding: Braided extensions can be a great way to add length and color to your hair without the need for any chemicals. The stylist will basically add pieces of hair (whether fake or human) by braiding it with your own hair. You can have either single braids or cornrows (or combo of the two). I've had both done and generally liked them.
The problems:
i) You can't exactly wash your hair properly. Washing your scalp is entirely possible. But your hair is trapped in more hair and it's hard to completely wash. Though, i've had better experience washing hair with cornrows.
ii) Traction alopecia: more hair loss! The reason is that when you add extensions to your hair, especially if the stylist braids tightly, stress is applied to your scalp. Over time, with continual use of braided extension styles, your hair starts to thin in that area.
I'm trying to remedy that problem!
2) Weaves
In this process, the stylist cornrows your hair either in concentric circles or just in horizontal or vertical rows, then sews on tracks of hair (either fake or human - human looks nicer and lasts longer/has less of a tendency to tangle). You can either have a full weave (covering your entire head) or a partial one while integrating parts of your own hair (usually the front). So, here you can have wavy, straight, super curly hair. Whatever you like and it's not braided.
Problems:
i) The hair washing thing again. Though this time, you have an even harder time accessing your scalp since it's all covered by hair. It also take a while to dry.
ii) Hair loss!: the first time I had a weave done was in fall 2004, by the suggestion if a stylist after she noticed I had some thinning in the front due to doing single braids many times. She said it would give my hair a break. My initial impression of weaves was not so great - I felt that it made me look strange, as if I were wearing a helmet and then hair attached on top of it. But anyways, at the time, it did help my hair - I noticed less thinning following that style. My latest weave style was noticeably less helmetty (done by a different lady) but, I've experienced more thinning - which is rather upsetting :( So weaves = hair loss too.
There are a number of other natural styles people can do, like twists, afros, dreadlocks (though be careful with stress too...kind of like the single braids). You can also add clip on hair pieces to your hair.
Through all my hair experiments, I've definitely had regrets (that last relaxer in 2005-06 shouldn't have been done :P), but I've learned something from each of them. I would like to try to work with my own hair (so as to minimize hair and scalp damage), but I've found it hard to find something that's relatively simple to do and that looks nice. So the quest continues.
Anyways, following that lengthy text about hair styling - all this to say, I think the documentary would be interesting to see :D
I stumbled upon some new music in the last week and a half or so. While I haven't had a change to listen to everything, some songs have really stuck in my head.
The one that really stands out is "Voggubarnsins Mál" by Smárakvartettinn Á Akureyri. It was included on a compilation disc by Jonsi (from Sigur Ros) & Alex (Jonsi's boyfriend) called "Raindown My Favorite Songs".
It appears to be an icelandic hymn. I find it very soothing and peaceful - perfect for this weather (which happens to be cold and damp). I wish I could find a clip on the internet for it, but it seems to be rather obscure...
The rest of the CD is alright. There are some nice songs on it, though the above is still my favorite. Not all the songs are like this. In fact, I find the mood changes from one song to the next. Some are really old, like "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn, "I can't believe you're in love with me" by Billie Holiday and "Parlez-moi d'amour" by Lucienne Boyer. I really like the Lucienne Boyer song as well...very old style french music :)
Other things that I have listened to recently:
Vitalic - Flashmob: yay! Vitalic has a new album out. I don't find that it sounds like their previous album, but still good electronic/electroclash music :D
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic: I've been listening to this one a lot lately. It falls into the same category as "Washed Out" for me - mellow electronic with some vocals. I like the CD on the whole, but I think my favorite song is "Run Out" (which I can't find a clip for either :( ).
Anyhow, as the rainy, autumn days are here, I think listening to Type O Negative's "October Rust" would be fitting. Here's ending my post with my two favorite songs "Love you to death" (I particularly like the ending where he repeats "am I good enough"):
and "Green Man":
Until next time :)
The one that really stands out is "Voggubarnsins Mál" by Smárakvartettinn Á Akureyri. It was included on a compilation disc by Jonsi (from Sigur Ros) & Alex (Jonsi's boyfriend) called "Raindown My Favorite Songs".
It appears to be an icelandic hymn. I find it very soothing and peaceful - perfect for this weather (which happens to be cold and damp). I wish I could find a clip on the internet for it, but it seems to be rather obscure...
The rest of the CD is alright. There are some nice songs on it, though the above is still my favorite. Not all the songs are like this. In fact, I find the mood changes from one song to the next. Some are really old, like "Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn, "I can't believe you're in love with me" by Billie Holiday and "Parlez-moi d'amour" by Lucienne Boyer. I really like the Lucienne Boyer song as well...very old style french music :)
Other things that I have listened to recently:
Vitalic - Flashmob: yay! Vitalic has a new album out. I don't find that it sounds like their previous album, but still good electronic/electroclash music :D
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic: I've been listening to this one a lot lately. It falls into the same category as "Washed Out" for me - mellow electronic with some vocals. I like the CD on the whole, but I think my favorite song is "Run Out" (which I can't find a clip for either :( ).
Anyhow, as the rainy, autumn days are here, I think listening to Type O Negative's "October Rust" would be fitting. Here's ending my post with my two favorite songs "Love you to death" (I particularly like the ending where he repeats "am I good enough"):
and "Green Man":
Until next time :)
It has been a while since I posted and the time for pretty leaves has come.
Fall is one of my favorite seasons as it's the time for premium sweater weather, nostalgic music listenings, the smell of burning (around halloween, it always smells like that), and crunchy leaves to play in.
I'm also pretty happy that classes have started because the summer was pretty boring (nothing much to do at school w/ it being so empty and all). Hopefully things shall continue to improve :)
I have signed up for Portuguese lessons as well. It's a pretty convenient time to learn it, as it coincides with my Brazilian drumming. Perhaps I'll actually understand what the wednesday teacher says to some of the Brazilians sometimes :) But, I'm just generally excited about learning another language and I'm hoping i'll catch on easily as I know french and some spanish.
Speaking of things related to Brazil, I'd like to share this Capoeira video with you guys. I have seen Capoeira being done before, but I like this song and I rarely see people moving this fast + check out the head slide.
I'm not nearly bouncy enough for it though. I shall just observe :D
On a similar note - a friend of mine posted a cool karate video on Facebook about the style of Karate I practiced. Now I only wish my classes were that cool. It's pretty inspiring how they seem to move so easily with such sharp techniques.
Now it has come to my attention (whilst walking around downtown a few weeks ago) that Montreal has a cheesecake restaurant. This is exciting! I haven't been there yet, but I have been to the cheesecake factory in Boston. So one day I will venture there and explore their various selections of confectionary goodness.
In terms of music stuff, I haven't been to a concert since Osheaga and probably won't be at one in the forseeable future. There is not much coming around and nothing I particularly want to see. Kind of a musical low time you could say.
I haven't been listening to much new stuff either, but I will list a few things I have been listening to lately.
Brazilian stuff:
Putumayo Presents: Brasileiro
I particularly like the songs "Canto das Tres Racas", "Danca de Solidao", "Visgo de Jaca"
Cartola - Cartola (1974)
Alvorada, Preciso me Encontrar, Minha
I found out about this dude because of the Cidade de Deus soundtrack (which is also quite good. The movie is excellent)
Here's a song from the movie:
Os Partideiros de Pla - Metem Bronca
Arengueiro, Tem capoeira, E poeiro E po
Compilations:
Putumayo Presents (in general - been trying out a lot of the Putumayo Compilations lately):
French Caribbean
Ayiti Bang Bang (that's the song that plays with the capoeira video), Mandolin, Rete
Mexico This one is awesome because it's totally old style Ranchero music:
El Tecolote (you can't help but love the laugh at the beginning), La Bruja, Ranchu Gubina
Gypsy Caravan
Diri Diri so kerdjan, Movi Shej sabina
Actually, Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers Vol 1 and 2 are also great Gypsy CD Compilations :)
For non-compilations:
Lately, I've been listening the new Placebo (Battle for the Sun), Muse(The Resistance) and Islands (Vapours) CD's. I really like the first track from Vapours.
There's a band I just discovered called "Washed Out" and I really like the feel of their music. Kinda 80s lo-fi/mellow electronic or so.
He has a cassette called "High Times", but for the moment it's sold out and it's not on the internet either as far as I know...hopefully it'll pop up some time. I would like to hear it :)
And now to end, a blast from the past that I just heard recently:
Until next time
Fall is one of my favorite seasons as it's the time for premium sweater weather, nostalgic music listenings, the smell of burning (around halloween, it always smells like that), and crunchy leaves to play in.
I'm also pretty happy that classes have started because the summer was pretty boring (nothing much to do at school w/ it being so empty and all). Hopefully things shall continue to improve :)
I have signed up for Portuguese lessons as well. It's a pretty convenient time to learn it, as it coincides with my Brazilian drumming. Perhaps I'll actually understand what the wednesday teacher says to some of the Brazilians sometimes :) But, I'm just generally excited about learning another language and I'm hoping i'll catch on easily as I know french and some spanish.
Speaking of things related to Brazil, I'd like to share this Capoeira video with you guys. I have seen Capoeira being done before, but I like this song and I rarely see people moving this fast + check out the head slide.
I'm not nearly bouncy enough for it though. I shall just observe :D
On a similar note - a friend of mine posted a cool karate video on Facebook about the style of Karate I practiced. Now I only wish my classes were that cool. It's pretty inspiring how they seem to move so easily with such sharp techniques.
Now it has come to my attention (whilst walking around downtown a few weeks ago) that Montreal has a cheesecake restaurant. This is exciting! I haven't been there yet, but I have been to the cheesecake factory in Boston. So one day I will venture there and explore their various selections of confectionary goodness.
In terms of music stuff, I haven't been to a concert since Osheaga and probably won't be at one in the forseeable future. There is not much coming around and nothing I particularly want to see. Kind of a musical low time you could say.
I haven't been listening to much new stuff either, but I will list a few things I have been listening to lately.
Brazilian stuff:
Putumayo Presents: Brasileiro
I particularly like the songs "Canto das Tres Racas", "Danca de Solidao", "Visgo de Jaca"
Cartola - Cartola (1974)
Alvorada, Preciso me Encontrar, Minha
I found out about this dude because of the Cidade de Deus soundtrack (which is also quite good. The movie is excellent)
Here's a song from the movie:
Os Partideiros de Pla - Metem Bronca
Arengueiro, Tem capoeira, E poeiro E po
Compilations:
Putumayo Presents (in general - been trying out a lot of the Putumayo Compilations lately):
French Caribbean
Ayiti Bang Bang (that's the song that plays with the capoeira video), Mandolin, Rete
Mexico This one is awesome because it's totally old style Ranchero music:
El Tecolote (you can't help but love the laugh at the beginning), La Bruja, Ranchu Gubina
Gypsy Caravan
Diri Diri so kerdjan, Movi Shej sabina
Actually, Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers Vol 1 and 2 are also great Gypsy CD Compilations :)
For non-compilations:
Lately, I've been listening the new Placebo (Battle for the Sun), Muse(The Resistance) and Islands (Vapours) CD's. I really like the first track from Vapours.
There's a band I just discovered called "Washed Out" and I really like the feel of their music. Kinda 80s lo-fi/mellow electronic or so.
He has a cassette called "High Times", but for the moment it's sold out and it's not on the internet either as far as I know...hopefully it'll pop up some time. I would like to hear it :)
And now to end, a blast from the past that I just heard recently:
Until next time
While listening to "Sunflowers" from the Everything is Illuminated soundtrack, I started fiddling with some clips I have and ended up making an impromptu video.
So here it is:
I do enjoy the old film look...probably a bit too much :P
So here it is:
I do enjoy the old film look...probably a bit too much :P
I went to see Beirut on Saturday, July 11 with Paw and another friend as part of the indoor Jazz Fest line up. It took place at the Metropolis and was a sold out show (when they played 2 years ago at Sala Rossa, it was also sold out. However, Sala has a 250 person capacity, whereas Metropolis has almost 10X that capacity. Way to go Beirut). Apparently, we were also in the company of Win Butler of the Arcade Fire.
The opening band was the Dodo's and I didn't know anything about them and hadn't bothered to look up any of their music prior to attending the show. They did not disappoint though - very good band! During one of the songs, they were joined by Zach and one other person from Beirut to play horns. Also, major props to the drummer who was sick and feverish (the singer said he was shivering in the morning).
Later, Beirut came on stage. As expected, they played a great show. Two things that make me really happy are accordions and horns and they were there in abundance :) The ukelele is also pretty cute :P I don't recall the entire setlist and I am also having some difficult tracking one down...but from what I remember, they played (in no particular order):
Nantes
The Shrew
Elephant Gun
La Javanaise from Serge Gainsbourg
A song in Italian
Postcards from Italy
A Sunday Smile
Scenic World
After the Curtain
Mount Wroclai
Cherbourg
Guyamas Sonara
My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille
La Llorona (for the encore)
I'm sure I'm missing some, but I probably should've written this right after the show and so my memory is a tad fuzzy. In anycase, I loved the entire show - but the highlights for me were "My night with the prostitute from Marseille", "Cherbourg" and "The Shrew". The first and last one, because they're from the new split EP. In addition, the first one, on the EP is largely electronic, but when they played it live, they managed to arrange it so that it could be played on the accordion and it was just a really cool arrangement.
The Shrew is my favorite on the "March of the Zapotec" side and I really enjoyed how in the second half of the song, everyone was clapping. It made it really festive.
As for Cherbourg, it's the song I've been playing most by them lately. So yay. I was also happy for Scenic World, as it's one of my favorite songs in general :)
The crowd was generally funny. At one point, someone held up a sign saying "Marry my Zach!" and he was playing the trumpet and tried not to smile. But he quirked his brows. In addition, someone in the crowd yelled "You're so sexy when you sweat!!!"
Here are some pics from the show, courtesy of Paw :D :
The only bummer about the night was the fact that it finished so early. This is due to the Jazz Fest programming, because another act was scheduled to play at midnight (Artist of the Year). So, they couldn't really stay and play more (their set was only about 1.5 hours at most).
Hopefully next time they come they'll be able to play longer. All in all though, it was a great show, we had great spots and I now have a new band tee-shirt :P
The opening band was the Dodo's and I didn't know anything about them and hadn't bothered to look up any of their music prior to attending the show. They did not disappoint though - very good band! During one of the songs, they were joined by Zach and one other person from Beirut to play horns. Also, major props to the drummer who was sick and feverish (the singer said he was shivering in the morning).
Later, Beirut came on stage. As expected, they played a great show. Two things that make me really happy are accordions and horns and they were there in abundance :) The ukelele is also pretty cute :P I don't recall the entire setlist and I am also having some difficult tracking one down...but from what I remember, they played (in no particular order):
Nantes
The Shrew
Elephant Gun
La Javanaise from Serge Gainsbourg
A song in Italian
Postcards from Italy
A Sunday Smile
Scenic World
After the Curtain
Mount Wroclai
Cherbourg
Guyamas Sonara
My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille
La Llorona (for the encore)
I'm sure I'm missing some, but I probably should've written this right after the show and so my memory is a tad fuzzy. In anycase, I loved the entire show - but the highlights for me were "My night with the prostitute from Marseille", "Cherbourg" and "The Shrew". The first and last one, because they're from the new split EP. In addition, the first one, on the EP is largely electronic, but when they played it live, they managed to arrange it so that it could be played on the accordion and it was just a really cool arrangement.
The Shrew is my favorite on the "March of the Zapotec" side and I really enjoyed how in the second half of the song, everyone was clapping. It made it really festive.
As for Cherbourg, it's the song I've been playing most by them lately. So yay. I was also happy for Scenic World, as it's one of my favorite songs in general :)
The crowd was generally funny. At one point, someone held up a sign saying "Marry my Zach!" and he was playing the trumpet and tried not to smile. But he quirked his brows. In addition, someone in the crowd yelled "You're so sexy when you sweat!!!"
Here are some pics from the show, courtesy of Paw :D :
The only bummer about the night was the fact that it finished so early. This is due to the Jazz Fest programming, because another act was scheduled to play at midnight (Artist of the Year). So, they couldn't really stay and play more (their set was only about 1.5 hours at most).
Hopefully next time they come they'll be able to play longer. All in all though, it was a great show, we had great spots and I now have a new band tee-shirt :P
I recently finished reading a book called "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Farquharson. Basically, a journalist for the National Post living in Toronto embarked ona 366 day mission to make one "green" change each day. The book is about 270 pages and is quite cleverly written, making it quite an enjoyable and easy read. For each month, she lists all the changes she made and goes in detail about some of them, as well as the accompanying experiences.
While doing the challenge, she kept a blog called Green as a Thistle, which she still runs today. While some of the changes are definitely hard to do (unplugging your fridge and not using your oven, especially if you're not living alone and the rest of the inhabitants refuse to play along :P), others are quite do-able. There were also things I didn't know about at all, such as this great site called Free Rice. You basically play a word game and for each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to countries in need. I linked you to the FAQ, so you see how it works :)
What was also great about the book is after ending her challenge, she decided to see how many changes she kept - which was about 75% of them. This means that it may not be so hard to incorporate some of these into everyday life (which is quite inspiring :D at least to me). While I already make some effort to greenify myself/surroundings, I definitely think I can do more. So, I'll try and use some ideas from her book to see what else I can do.
Here is the total list of things she did.
Of them, I currently do (some of hers don't apply though - for example: I do not have an electric heating pad o_O): 64 which is about 18%
Though, I'm thinking of the applicable ones, I probably do at least 30% :P Anyways, we'll see what can be incorporated :D Should be fun :)
Onto LiveMocha: It's a site that provides 21 free language courses (and other courses you have to pay for). In addition, for the writing and speaking exercises, they are peer reviewed by other users from around the world. You can do the same.
So, since signing up yesterday, I've greatly enjoyed helping people out with their English and French. I also enrolled in a Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese (Brazilian) course. The first 3, I've had some exposure to. The last, none at all - which explains why I suck in it :) I've also noticed that the Brazilians really like correcting people (or at least me), because my audio submission received 53 comments (of mixed rating :P). I had to turn off the comment notification because my inbox was being massively flooded. I do thank them for their eagerness in helping. The other language submissions received on average 3-4 corrections (though, I got no help from the German speakers :P).
You can also add friends and check others' profiles n such. Oh yeah, and do live chats, if you so wish (I haven't yet).
The site can be rather addictive (well, if you like languages and helping people out). So make sure not to spend too much time on it :P
So, that's it for today. If nothing else, I encourage you guys to play Free Rice :)
While doing the challenge, she kept a blog called Green as a Thistle, which she still runs today. While some of the changes are definitely hard to do (unplugging your fridge and not using your oven, especially if you're not living alone and the rest of the inhabitants refuse to play along :P), others are quite do-able. There were also things I didn't know about at all, such as this great site called Free Rice. You basically play a word game and for each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to countries in need. I linked you to the FAQ, so you see how it works :)
What was also great about the book is after ending her challenge, she decided to see how many changes she kept - which was about 75% of them. This means that it may not be so hard to incorporate some of these into everyday life (which is quite inspiring :D at least to me). While I already make some effort to greenify myself/surroundings, I definitely think I can do more. So, I'll try and use some ideas from her book to see what else I can do.
Here is the total list of things she did.
Of them, I currently do (some of hers don't apply though - for example: I do not have an electric heating pad o_O): 64 which is about 18%
Though, I'm thinking of the applicable ones, I probably do at least 30% :P Anyways, we'll see what can be incorporated :D Should be fun :)
Onto LiveMocha: It's a site that provides 21 free language courses (and other courses you have to pay for). In addition, for the writing and speaking exercises, they are peer reviewed by other users from around the world. You can do the same.
So, since signing up yesterday, I've greatly enjoyed helping people out with their English and French. I also enrolled in a Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese (Brazilian) course. The first 3, I've had some exposure to. The last, none at all - which explains why I suck in it :) I've also noticed that the Brazilians really like correcting people (or at least me), because my audio submission received 53 comments (of mixed rating :P). I had to turn off the comment notification because my inbox was being massively flooded. I do thank them for their eagerness in helping. The other language submissions received on average 3-4 corrections (though, I got no help from the German speakers :P).
You can also add friends and check others' profiles n such. Oh yeah, and do live chats, if you so wish (I haven't yet).
The site can be rather addictive (well, if you like languages and helping people out). So make sure not to spend too much time on it :P
So, that's it for today. If nothing else, I encourage you guys to play Free Rice :)
While matlab does some optimization for me, I figured it'd be a good time to do a little update, as it has been a while.
About 3 weeks ago, the drum school I joined in March had a show celebrating the 4th anniversary of its existence. I'm really happy I went because prior to that I hadn't really heard how all the instruments sound together (well, when the people are playing well. In class, everyone is learning, so you're not so sure...haha).
They were joined by other artists who either played with them (guitar, singing, etc), or played when they were taking a break. I only recall Isaac Neto. It was very enjoyable. Everyone at Club Lambi was dancing (and very well I might add). Definitely a good way to get into the festive summer spirit (eventhough it's not summer just yet...)
There were two songs they played that I recognized, as did two friends that joined me that night. So, out of curiosity, I searched for them when I got home.
1) Sergio Mendes - Magalenha
2) Mas que Nada which was done originally by Jorge Ben Jor and later covered by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66', and later by Sergio Mendes with the Black Eyed Peas quite recently.
The original and the brasil 66' one are like of loungy/slow, so I'm linking to the BEP one because it's more upbeat and resembles the speed that they played at the most I believe. But as far as I remember, at the show they did not sing in english :P
The following week, I participated in a 4 km walk with them supporting the Societe d'Alzeimer's in the South Shore. It was my first time ever performing with them, but I'm also really happy I went (despite being quite nervous). I was able to follow for the most part, though there were some things I hadn't learned yet. My teacher was really cool about it, showing me some things along the way, or just saying not to play something when we clearly hadn't covered it (everyone else there had started before me...at least in august, or before).
The only thing about walking and playing is the drum tends to bump your knees and produce bruises :P but it's ok, they go away and I've had worse injuries, bahaha. I was also happy to meet other people in the group that practice on different days :D Also, the walkers seemed to really enjoy the music. So, good news all around.
One thing that I was told not to play, but that I found cool - I later found out was also done by Sergio Mendes and brasil 66' in a song called Batucada (Batucada = a drum troupe):
Only the part before 1:00 was done, or at least part of it...where basically the head teacher did a beat and then the drummers had to respond. The crowd also had to respond by clapping. :D
Another interesting thing about this song -> I tried out this class on Sunday called Zumba - it's a mix of aerobics and many dances, such as salsa, merengue and a bunch more(I'm trying to get back into physical activity, eventhough the doctor said it'll take a total of 10-12 weeks for my ankle to heal -> 5-6 weeks left or so. But anyways, this isn't too high impact. I tried to do some karate stuff at home...and yeah, not such a good idea >_< it hurts quite a bit, lol :P)
During the class, the girl happened to play the Carnaval Batucada song, but the part after the drums :P Actually, the website lists all the songs that they use during the work out, which is awesome!
So one other song I have in my head because of it (I'd heard it back in the 90s, but had no idea what it was - super catchy):
Carrapicho - Tic Tic Tac
The class itself is pretty fun. I wonder if she'll ever do the dance they do in that video though, haha.
My final music related thing - I've been listening to this song for a little while now: Passion Pit - Little Secrets. It's really dancy :D
I learned about them while browsing one of the music blogs. It said if you like MGMT and a few other bands (i forgot), you should like them. And I definitely like MGMT, so I gave it a shot. This song has some elements that remind me of nintendo games.
It's definitely upbeat. I see where the MGMT reference comes from, but they don't sound as disco (at least not as disco as Electric Feel). :)
The rest of the CD "Manners" is not bad, but Little Secrets is definitely my favorite song.
Apart from drumming, optimizing and music listening, I've also been watching "30 Rock" - my new favorite show. Now I have nothing left to watch because I finished season 3. So I'll have to start watching something else, haha. It's awesomely quirky. I just love Kenneth and the dynamic between Liz Lemon and Jack.
Here's are some of my favorite parts from the show:
"Midnight train to Georgia" (yes, Gladys Night happened to appear on that show)
"Night Cheese"
"The Best of Liz Lemon" (Paw showed this to me just before I started watching the show)
And some stuff from Kenneth:
and last but not least, I saw "Sin Nombre" last Thursday. It's a great movie, albeit depressing.
Here's the trailer:
The music in there is quite good. However, the soundtrack only corresponds to the instrumental stuff...and I'm looking for the non-instrumental (it had accordions!!).
Hopefully a song list will appear soon.
I think that's it :)
About 3 weeks ago, the drum school I joined in March had a show celebrating the 4th anniversary of its existence. I'm really happy I went because prior to that I hadn't really heard how all the instruments sound together (well, when the people are playing well. In class, everyone is learning, so you're not so sure...haha).
They were joined by other artists who either played with them (guitar, singing, etc), or played when they were taking a break. I only recall Isaac Neto. It was very enjoyable. Everyone at Club Lambi was dancing (and very well I might add). Definitely a good way to get into the festive summer spirit (eventhough it's not summer just yet...)
There were two songs they played that I recognized, as did two friends that joined me that night. So, out of curiosity, I searched for them when I got home.
1) Sergio Mendes - Magalenha
2) Mas que Nada which was done originally by Jorge Ben Jor and later covered by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66', and later by Sergio Mendes with the Black Eyed Peas quite recently.
The original and the brasil 66' one are like of loungy/slow, so I'm linking to the BEP one because it's more upbeat and resembles the speed that they played at the most I believe. But as far as I remember, at the show they did not sing in english :P
The following week, I participated in a 4 km walk with them supporting the Societe d'Alzeimer's in the South Shore. It was my first time ever performing with them, but I'm also really happy I went (despite being quite nervous). I was able to follow for the most part, though there were some things I hadn't learned yet. My teacher was really cool about it, showing me some things along the way, or just saying not to play something when we clearly hadn't covered it (everyone else there had started before me...at least in august, or before).
The only thing about walking and playing is the drum tends to bump your knees and produce bruises :P but it's ok, they go away and I've had worse injuries, bahaha. I was also happy to meet other people in the group that practice on different days :D Also, the walkers seemed to really enjoy the music. So, good news all around.
One thing that I was told not to play, but that I found cool - I later found out was also done by Sergio Mendes and brasil 66' in a song called Batucada (Batucada = a drum troupe):
Only the part before 1:00 was done, or at least part of it...where basically the head teacher did a beat and then the drummers had to respond. The crowd also had to respond by clapping. :D
Another interesting thing about this song -> I tried out this class on Sunday called Zumba - it's a mix of aerobics and many dances, such as salsa, merengue and a bunch more(I'm trying to get back into physical activity, eventhough the doctor said it'll take a total of 10-12 weeks for my ankle to heal -> 5-6 weeks left or so. But anyways, this isn't too high impact. I tried to do some karate stuff at home...and yeah, not such a good idea >_< it hurts quite a bit, lol :P)
During the class, the girl happened to play the Carnaval Batucada song, but the part after the drums :P Actually, the website lists all the songs that they use during the work out, which is awesome!
So one other song I have in my head because of it (I'd heard it back in the 90s, but had no idea what it was - super catchy):
Carrapicho - Tic Tic Tac
The class itself is pretty fun. I wonder if she'll ever do the dance they do in that video though, haha.
My final music related thing - I've been listening to this song for a little while now: Passion Pit - Little Secrets. It's really dancy :D
I learned about them while browsing one of the music blogs. It said if you like MGMT and a few other bands (i forgot), you should like them. And I definitely like MGMT, so I gave it a shot. This song has some elements that remind me of nintendo games.
It's definitely upbeat. I see where the MGMT reference comes from, but they don't sound as disco (at least not as disco as Electric Feel). :)
The rest of the CD "Manners" is not bad, but Little Secrets is definitely my favorite song.
Apart from drumming, optimizing and music listening, I've also been watching "30 Rock" - my new favorite show. Now I have nothing left to watch because I finished season 3. So I'll have to start watching something else, haha. It's awesomely quirky. I just love Kenneth and the dynamic between Liz Lemon and Jack.
Here's are some of my favorite parts from the show:
"Midnight train to Georgia" (yes, Gladys Night happened to appear on that show)
Midnight Train To Georgia - 30 ROCK - watch more funny videos
"Night Cheese"
"The Best of Liz Lemon" (Paw showed this to me just before I started watching the show)
And some stuff from Kenneth:
and last but not least, I saw "Sin Nombre" last Thursday. It's a great movie, albeit depressing.
Here's the trailer:
The music in there is quite good. However, the soundtrack only corresponds to the instrumental stuff...and I'm looking for the non-instrumental (it had accordions!!).
Hopefully a song list will appear soon.
I think that's it :)
Thanks to Paw's suggestion, I've finally decided to start a sort of tea blog/review. The link is above with all the other blog links - it's called "Tasty Hot Water". The first post describes more or less what I feel like doing with it :)
As for "Actors" - it is the name of the new album by St. Vincent. Paw and I had seen them open for The Arcade Fire on may 13, 2007. The singer used to be part of the Polyphonic Spree (another good band, albeit incredibly cheerful). Anyways, they were really good and I also very much enjoyed their first album, so decided to check this one out.
It is different from the first album in some ways. She still has the same kind of mellow, haunting voice and nice beats. Anyways, definitely an album to check out.
Here is the single and probably my favorite song so far, called "Actor out of work"
I must commend those people for their awesome anger and crying skills. I wonder if the used onions to make them cry...
I recently heard this song (friend sent it to me). It's by Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan Dreams. It's soooo cute :O the twinkles and her voice.
While looking for a different song, I stumbled upon an Armin van Buuren remix of "Human" by The Killers. It's quite good :D
Apparently there's a CD with a bunch of remixes of "Human". I guess I'll check it out sometime and see if they are as good as this one.
Also, I'm in a little bit of a reggae mood thanks to hearing a Bob Marley song on Saturday (I was at a Philipino Youth Fundraiser. One of the local acts covered "Zimbabwe"). As usual, it's groovy and quite summery. So here you go.
As for "Actors" - it is the name of the new album by St. Vincent. Paw and I had seen them open for The Arcade Fire on may 13, 2007. The singer used to be part of the Polyphonic Spree (another good band, albeit incredibly cheerful). Anyways, they were really good and I also very much enjoyed their first album, so decided to check this one out.
It is different from the first album in some ways. She still has the same kind of mellow, haunting voice and nice beats. Anyways, definitely an album to check out.
Here is the single and probably my favorite song so far, called "Actor out of work"
I must commend those people for their awesome anger and crying skills. I wonder if the used onions to make them cry...
I recently heard this song (friend sent it to me). It's by Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan Dreams. It's soooo cute :O the twinkles and her voice.
While looking for a different song, I stumbled upon an Armin van Buuren remix of "Human" by The Killers. It's quite good :D
Apparently there's a CD with a bunch of remixes of "Human". I guess I'll check it out sometime and see if they are as good as this one.
Also, I'm in a little bit of a reggae mood thanks to hearing a Bob Marley song on Saturday (I was at a Philipino Youth Fundraiser. One of the local acts covered "Zimbabwe"). As usual, it's groovy and quite summery. So here you go.
It's been a while. Almost a month. My classes are over for the semester and much to my delight I passed all of them (even the pesky math class I thought I kerplonked!).
Fixies:
I had intended to restart karate and join a dancing class, but unfortunately that did not happen. Last wednesday I sprained my ankle while testing a fixed gear bike. Long story short - my pants got stuck in the gear, my foot was still in the toe clip, and since the pedals were still turning, my foot bent forward.
This is how my foot looked that day:
It kinda looks like I have a tumor on my ankle :P
And this is the bruising that appeared two days after (it got even darker the day after):
Luckily nothing is broken. It is still somewhat swollen, some bruising remains and it is quite sensitive to touch. I can walk! but I probably won't be able to do any karate or that dance class for a few weeks. *shakes fist for foiled plans*
Twilight:
On Sunday (May 3), I saw Mogwai at the Metropolis with Paw. It is my 3rd time seeing them and I think her 4th. Mogwai never disappoint. This time we sat on the balcony due to my foot and we also thought it would be interesting to see the concert from that angle as we usually stand right up front and experience of the seizurific lights.
The opening band was called "The Twilight Sad". They're somewhat hard indie rock with a thick scottish accent. I was pleasantly surprised by how great they were. I can without a doubt say I liked every song. My current favorite is "That summer, at home I had become the invisible boy".
Here is a music video someone made with the song and moments between Humprey Bogart and Lauren Bacall:
The drumming reminds me a bit of the drumming in "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Very nice :)
One cool thing about sitting on the balcony is you get to do people watching. At one point a fight broke out (which I really didn't expect at a Mogwai show). Though I didn't hear anything, the events seemed to transpire as follows:
A tall, buff dude made his way through the crowd dancing around halfway through mogwai's set. People were annoyed because they were there first and he was moving a lot. So they asked him to move/tone it down. He got upset and started arguing with them. He later proceeding to take off his giant ear plugs, his hat and then he took off his shirt and pushed one of the small dudes. Crowd commotion follows. Metropolis security came and tried to tame the large man. He started pushing them too. I think they managed to handle it though, because things toned down after. It was just really bizarre o_O.
Apart from that, the concert was really great. Though they did not play "My Father, My King", they did play "Two rights make one wrong" and "Like Herod" which are always a pleasure to hear. :D
Incoming Elektronaut
Paw and I decided that we will not be going to the Kinetik Festival after all this year. But all is not lost! We shall still have our industrial music, for VNV Nation is coming in July :D Time to get glowsticks!
Things I've been listening to lately:
Extra Musica - Etat Major - A band from the DRC. The genre of music is called Soukous. It has lots of guitar and nice beats. People can do a very wiggly dance called Ndombolo to this. If you check on youtube, the first video that appears has this song with the very wiggly people.
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor - The music video for the song "Vulture" is quite different from his other ones. Kinda on the BDSM side :P
Camera Obscura - Let's get out of this country Kind of reminds me of "Stars". I like the song "Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken"
Kino - Sorok Shest (46), Noch (night) and Eto ne lyubov(It's not love) Russian rock band from the 80's. From the three albums, my favorite songs are "Sasha", "Film" and "It's not love".
Asobi Seksu - Citrus, Hush Dream pop/rock with unintelligible lyrics. I like "Lions and Tigers" and "Layers" (I really like the drumming in layers).
I'll leave it at that for music :)
Finally, two recipes I tried recently that were awesome (but I made some modifications due to missing ingredients. Still turned out great though).
Mango Coconut Muffins
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of these ones. I made them for a picnic with some friends.
Vegan Chocolate Muffins with Coconut Icing
I made these for a friends birthday.
Oh and if you're interested in composting (but without dealing with the worms/making the thing yourself), there's a great service called Compost Montreal. They serve quite a few areas and are trying to expand. Basically it's 20$/month - they provide a bucket, the bag and collect every tuesday. In addition, you can have as much compost as you like :) So far, I'm quite pleased and am happy to be reducing my garbage even more :D
That ends my long post.
Until next time!
Fixies:
I had intended to restart karate and join a dancing class, but unfortunately that did not happen. Last wednesday I sprained my ankle while testing a fixed gear bike. Long story short - my pants got stuck in the gear, my foot was still in the toe clip, and since the pedals were still turning, my foot bent forward.
This is how my foot looked that day:
It kinda looks like I have a tumor on my ankle :P
And this is the bruising that appeared two days after (it got even darker the day after):
Luckily nothing is broken. It is still somewhat swollen, some bruising remains and it is quite sensitive to touch. I can walk! but I probably won't be able to do any karate or that dance class for a few weeks. *shakes fist for foiled plans*
Twilight:
On Sunday (May 3), I saw Mogwai at the Metropolis with Paw. It is my 3rd time seeing them and I think her 4th. Mogwai never disappoint. This time we sat on the balcony due to my foot and we also thought it would be interesting to see the concert from that angle as we usually stand right up front and experience of the seizurific lights.
The opening band was called "The Twilight Sad". They're somewhat hard indie rock with a thick scottish accent. I was pleasantly surprised by how great they were. I can without a doubt say I liked every song. My current favorite is "That summer, at home I had become the invisible boy".
Here is a music video someone made with the song and moments between Humprey Bogart and Lauren Bacall:
The drumming reminds me a bit of the drumming in "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Very nice :)
One cool thing about sitting on the balcony is you get to do people watching. At one point a fight broke out (which I really didn't expect at a Mogwai show). Though I didn't hear anything, the events seemed to transpire as follows:
A tall, buff dude made his way through the crowd dancing around halfway through mogwai's set. People were annoyed because they were there first and he was moving a lot. So they asked him to move/tone it down. He got upset and started arguing with them. He later proceeding to take off his giant ear plugs, his hat and then he took off his shirt and pushed one of the small dudes. Crowd commotion follows. Metropolis security came and tried to tame the large man. He started pushing them too. I think they managed to handle it though, because things toned down after. It was just really bizarre o_O.
Apart from that, the concert was really great. Though they did not play "My Father, My King", they did play "Two rights make one wrong" and "Like Herod" which are always a pleasure to hear. :D
Incoming Elektronaut
Paw and I decided that we will not be going to the Kinetik Festival after all this year. But all is not lost! We shall still have our industrial music, for VNV Nation is coming in July :D Time to get glowsticks!
Things I've been listening to lately:
Extra Musica - Etat Major - A band from the DRC. The genre of music is called Soukous. It has lots of guitar and nice beats. People can do a very wiggly dance called Ndombolo to this. If you check on youtube, the first video that appears has this song with the very wiggly people.
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor - The music video for the song "Vulture" is quite different from his other ones. Kinda on the BDSM side :P
Camera Obscura - Let's get out of this country Kind of reminds me of "Stars". I like the song "Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken"
Kino - Sorok Shest (46), Noch (night) and Eto ne lyubov(It's not love) Russian rock band from the 80's. From the three albums, my favorite songs are "Sasha", "Film" and "It's not love".
Asobi Seksu - Citrus, Hush Dream pop/rock with unintelligible lyrics. I like "Lions and Tigers" and "Layers" (I really like the drumming in layers).
I'll leave it at that for music :)
Finally, two recipes I tried recently that were awesome (but I made some modifications due to missing ingredients. Still turned out great though).
Mango Coconut Muffins
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of these ones. I made them for a picnic with some friends.
Vegan Chocolate Muffins with Coconut Icing
I made these for a friends birthday.
Oh and if you're interested in composting (but without dealing with the worms/making the thing yourself), there's a great service called Compost Montreal. They serve quite a few areas and are trying to expand. Basically it's 20$/month - they provide a bucket, the bag and collect every tuesday. In addition, you can have as much compost as you like :) So far, I'm quite pleased and am happy to be reducing my garbage even more :D
That ends my long post.
Until next time!
Happy Easter people's. This is the 9th Easter that I've had Sir Bunny Lapin in my company.
My mom put him in the washing machine yesterday, and as such he's slightly disoriented/queasy, but he is slowly regaining composure and will soon be back to his good old self. :P
On to other things!
So, my mom was watching CSI:NY the other day and I heard a song that sound super good, but had no idea what it was. So today I finally found out what it was.
"Until we bleed" - Kleerup ft. Lykke Li
It's electronic music by Kleerup w/ Lykke's voice. Both of them are from Sweden. I decided to check out more of their music in general.
I really like Kleerup's self titled album. It features various artists, including Robyn (remember her hits back in 95/96 :P). It's generally chill - not intense techno electro. Think more of "The Knife".
Another really good song on the album is "Hero".
As for Lykke Li herself, I find each song has a more or less different sound. Her voice is cute and it's not as electronic as Kleerup. Some is more popish. It's nice :)
Another band I've recently started listening to is Trentemoller. This dude is from Denmark (this is looking to be a scandanavian music post it seems).
Anyways, also minimal electro, not many vocals - in fact I think most of the tracks are instrumental.
But this one has vocals :P
This video has a dog in space (like Laika!)
Rediscoveries:
Alright, so leaving scandanavia -> England: After watching "Billy Elliot" the other day, I rekindled my interest in T-Rex. I had heard of them first from Paw, and then got into them again after watching "Breakfast on Pluto". Both of those movies have my fave song by them "Children of the Revolution" on the soundtrack. In fact...it seems they played a lot of songs in movies I like :)
Here's an interesting performance with Elton John and Ringo Star:
Finally -> Mexico! As summer is coming, festive music is appropriate. I had listened to Celso Pina before, but only about 3 songs (Cumbia sobre el Rio, Cumbia Poder, Cumbia Colombiana). I really like the style because it mixes a bunch of stuff - including accordions, which I love :)
I first found out of about them because of the movie "Babel" - cumbia sobre el rio was playing. It was the scene where the dude played by Gael Garcia Bernal is driving everyone across the border and you see parts of Mexico.
As I love all 3 of those tracks, I decided to listen to more. I got the albums Mundo Colombia y Barrio Bravo. I can't really say which tracks I like best, but it's a general festive feel and appropriate for the approaching of summer time :D
One of my friends has also decided to listen to something festive - she's started listening to older Santana...so I might do the same too :) It sounded pretty good, har har har.
Anyways, that ends my long easter music post recap thing.
Until next time *salutes*
My mom put him in the washing machine yesterday, and as such he's slightly disoriented/queasy, but he is slowly regaining composure and will soon be back to his good old self. :P
On to other things!
So, my mom was watching CSI:NY the other day and I heard a song that sound super good, but had no idea what it was. So today I finally found out what it was.
"Until we bleed" - Kleerup ft. Lykke Li
It's electronic music by Kleerup w/ Lykke's voice. Both of them are from Sweden. I decided to check out more of their music in general.
I really like Kleerup's self titled album. It features various artists, including Robyn (remember her hits back in 95/96 :P). It's generally chill - not intense techno electro. Think more of "The Knife".
Another really good song on the album is "Hero".
As for Lykke Li herself, I find each song has a more or less different sound. Her voice is cute and it's not as electronic as Kleerup. Some is more popish. It's nice :)
Another band I've recently started listening to is Trentemoller. This dude is from Denmark (this is looking to be a scandanavian music post it seems).
Anyways, also minimal electro, not many vocals - in fact I think most of the tracks are instrumental.
But this one has vocals :P
This video has a dog in space (like Laika!)
Rediscoveries:
Alright, so leaving scandanavia -> England: After watching "Billy Elliot" the other day, I rekindled my interest in T-Rex. I had heard of them first from Paw, and then got into them again after watching "Breakfast on Pluto". Both of those movies have my fave song by them "Children of the Revolution" on the soundtrack. In fact...it seems they played a lot of songs in movies I like :)
Here's an interesting performance with Elton John and Ringo Star:
Finally -> Mexico! As summer is coming, festive music is appropriate. I had listened to Celso Pina before, but only about 3 songs (Cumbia sobre el Rio, Cumbia Poder, Cumbia Colombiana). I really like the style because it mixes a bunch of stuff - including accordions, which I love :)
I first found out of about them because of the movie "Babel" - cumbia sobre el rio was playing. It was the scene where the dude played by Gael Garcia Bernal is driving everyone across the border and you see parts of Mexico.
As I love all 3 of those tracks, I decided to listen to more. I got the albums Mundo Colombia y Barrio Bravo. I can't really say which tracks I like best, but it's a general festive feel and appropriate for the approaching of summer time :D
One of my friends has also decided to listen to something festive - she's started listening to older Santana...so I might do the same too :) It sounded pretty good, har har har.
Anyways, that ends my long easter music post recap thing.
Until next time *salutes*
After coming out of quarantine this week, I decided to look up peruse Pitchfork (which actually doesn't happen that often). I decided to check out their "Best new albums" section and saw an interesting name: The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit) - The Very Best Mixtape.
It immediately caught my attention...because well, Mwamwaya is definitely an african name (which part? I would soon find out).
So it seems that Esau Mwamwaya (a dude from Malawi, but I believe lives in London) and Radioclit teamed up, took current songs and remixed them. Some songs are still very recognizable, some aren't.
Mwamwaya sings in Chichewa for the most part, though there is some english in there. The songs end up being a mix of tropical/happy/sometimes rockish - it's actually pretty hard to describe, but I generally like it. I think it's pretty cool that african music is making its way again into I guess you could say popular music to some extent? (I just remember it was everywhere in the 80s - Paul Simon, Johnny Clegg, Peter Gabriel, even Public Image Ltd (with their song 'Rise') had africany elements). I just really like the guitar, haha...and well the beat in general :)
Here is the tracklist and in bold my faves at the moment:
1) Kamphopo (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Architecture In Helsinki - Heart It Races)
2) Wena (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Bleksem, music: DJ Cleo - Wena)
3) Tengazako (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: M.I.A - Paper Planes)
4) Chikondi (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Hans Zimmer - True Romance Theme)
5) Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Very Best Remix) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit & Vampire Weekend)
6) Hide And Seek (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Teki Latex, music: TTC - Batards Sensibles)
7) Salota (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya and Blk Jks, music: Cannibal Ox - Life’s Ill)
8] Boyz (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, Akon & M.I.A, music: M.I.A -Boyz)
9) Sister Betina (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Mgarimbe, music: Mgarimbe - Sister Betina)
10) Birthday (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & The Ruby Suns, music: The Ruby Suns)
11) Funa Funa (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit)
12) Kada Manja (classic version) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit)
13) Dinosaur Of The Lost Ark (The Very Best remix) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Ben Brewer, music: Bermuda)
14) Get it Up (The Very Best Remix) (vocals : Esau Mwamwaya, Santogold, M.I.A & Northern Cree, music: Radioclit)
15) Will You Be There (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Michael Jackson, music: Michael Jackson - Will You Be There)
So far the most looped track is definitely 13 though...I absolutely love the guitar in it and I guess just everything about it, haha (after the 30 second intro).
Here are a couple of the songs:
Kamphopo (this one is shot in Malawi. The happy kids are cool :D)
Cape Cod
Dinosaur on the ark
Anyways, back to post-flu catch up! :D
It immediately caught my attention...because well, Mwamwaya is definitely an african name (which part? I would soon find out).
So it seems that Esau Mwamwaya (a dude from Malawi, but I believe lives in London) and Radioclit teamed up, took current songs and remixed them. Some songs are still very recognizable, some aren't.
Mwamwaya sings in Chichewa for the most part, though there is some english in there. The songs end up being a mix of tropical/happy/sometimes rockish - it's actually pretty hard to describe, but I generally like it. I think it's pretty cool that african music is making its way again into I guess you could say popular music to some extent? (I just remember it was everywhere in the 80s - Paul Simon, Johnny Clegg, Peter Gabriel, even Public Image Ltd (with their song 'Rise') had africany elements). I just really like the guitar, haha...and well the beat in general :)
Here is the tracklist and in bold my faves at the moment:
1) Kamphopo (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Architecture In Helsinki - Heart It Races)
2) Wena (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Bleksem, music: DJ Cleo - Wena)
3) Tengazako (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: M.I.A - Paper Planes)
4) Chikondi (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Hans Zimmer - True Romance Theme)
5) Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Very Best Remix) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit & Vampire Weekend)
6) Hide And Seek (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Teki Latex, music: TTC - Batards Sensibles)
7) Salota (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya and Blk Jks, music: Cannibal Ox - Life’s Ill)
8] Boyz (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, Akon & M.I.A, music: M.I.A -Boyz)
9) Sister Betina (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Mgarimbe, music: Mgarimbe - Sister Betina)
10) Birthday (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & The Ruby Suns, music: The Ruby Suns)
11) Funa Funa (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit)
12) Kada Manja (classic version) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya, music: Radioclit)
13) Dinosaur Of The Lost Ark (The Very Best remix) (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Ben Brewer, music: Bermuda)
14) Get it Up (The Very Best Remix) (vocals : Esau Mwamwaya, Santogold, M.I.A & Northern Cree, music: Radioclit)
15) Will You Be There (vocals: Esau Mwamwaya & Michael Jackson, music: Michael Jackson - Will You Be There)
So far the most looped track is definitely 13 though...I absolutely love the guitar in it and I guess just everything about it, haha (after the 30 second intro).
Here are a couple of the songs:
Kamphopo (this one is shot in Malawi. The happy kids are cool :D)
Cape Cod
Dinosaur on the ark
Anyways, back to post-flu catch up! :D
Happy happy joy joy, Paw told me Beirut is coming (July 11)!!!!. I got my ticket yesterday!
I celebrate with three songs of theirs:
An oldie one : Postcards from Italy (live @ Spin)
One in the middle: A sunday smile
A new one: La llorona
aaah how I love accordions and horns :D
I can't wait (also because that will mean this semester will be over. woot!)
PS: Happy St Patrick's Day to all. I was not able to sport my awesome neon green wig today...but I think I shall do so during the parade, muahahaha :P
I celebrate with three songs of theirs:
An oldie one : Postcards from Italy (live @ Spin)
One in the middle: A sunday smile
A new one: La llorona
aaah how I love accordions and horns :D
I can't wait (also because that will mean this semester will be over. woot!)
PS: Happy St Patrick's Day to all. I was not able to sport my awesome neon green wig today...but I think I shall do so during the parade, muahahaha :P
Finally, concerts are starting to appear. This winter has been rather dreary in terms of concerts. In fact I haven't gone to any since seeing 'Stars' last year.
Now, it seems bands are making their rounds in Montreal. Hurrah!
So what's coming up for spring time?
April 7 - Ladytron w/ the Faint @ Theatre Telus
April 17/18 - Yann Tiersen w/ Coeur de Pirate @ Club Soda (absolutely can't wait for this :D)
April 19 - Bell Orchestre @ La Tulipe
April 20 - The Walkmen - La Sala Rosa
May 3 - Mogwai w/ The Twilight Sad
May 15 - Animal Collective @ Metropolis
May 15 - Kinetik Festival Phase 2 - Harsh Industrial(!!!)
May 17 - Kinetik Festival Phase 4 EBM
May 18 - Peaches @ Club Soda
June 2 - NIN w/ Jane's Addiction @ Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto
Now, I certainly won't go to all of these. D: too expensive. But there are some that I'm pretty sure i'm gonna see.
Yann Tiersen - The guy who did the music for Amelie and Goodbye Lenin, among other things. He really makes some magical music :) Coeur de Pirate is also really cute. So I have no doubt it'll be a great show.
I'm considering seeing Bell Orchestre. Some of its members are from the Arcade Fire. I've known about them since 2005 and generally enjoy their music and the price isn't too expensive.
I'm also considering seeing the Walkmen. I've known about them since about 2004 :)
Mogwai finally rescheduled their date here. So Paw and I will be able to see them!
We are also planning to see Phase 2 of the Kinetik Festival as Grendel will be performing.
I don't know Peaches that well. But some of her songs are catchy. So perhaps, if for some reason I have extra cash lying aroung :P
NIN - I have seen 2X before, but word has it that NIN is retiring after this tour. So I think it may deserve a trip to Toronto (hey I've done it once before :P) to see their final gig! At the same time, I can fit in some Toronto perusing or so.
I really like Ladytron, so I'm still not sure if I'm gonna go. I'll see how much work I have at the time. In addition, if I actually do go to Yann- Bell-Walkmen, 3 concerts in a row. My ears will need to prepare :P
In addition to concerts, I've been listening to a bunch of stuff.
One of my favorite releases of the year so far is by Beirut - March of the Zapotec/ Real People Holland. It's a split EP. The first part is similar to his previous work, whereas Real People Holland is a bit more on the electronic side and you can see how Alaskainwinter ended up being the opening act back in September 2007. I enjoy both halves immensely. If I had choose 2 songs on each split:
Zapotec = La Llorona and The Schrew
Real People = My wife, lost in the wild and My night with the prostitute from Marseilles
I only hope this means Beirut will be touring soon in support of this new release :) Seeing them was so much fun.
I've also just recently discovered an artist called Matryoshka. She is from Japan and sometimes her voice reminds me a bit of the vocals of Icelandic band "Mum". The music isn't the same though. Some tracks have really nice piano :)
My favorite tracks from the album "Zatracenie" are "Evening gleam between clouds" and "Tyrant's miniature garden".
Another good listen is M83 - Saturday's = Youth. M83 is kind of ambient/mellow electronic music in some albums. Other times feel like nostalgic alternative music (a la Smashing Pumpkins? kinda 80s/90s alternative feel). This is the most recent album I believe. I also enjoyed Digital Shades Vol 1.
From Saturday's, I generally like the whole album, but I think "Too Late" and "Graveyard Girl" are my favorite. The alt feel is really noticeable in Graveyard Girl.
Miss Kittin and the Hacker came out with a new album - 2. So far it's alright. But i find with Miss Kittin it always takes me a while to like the whole album :) Still a good listen. For the moment, Batbox is still my fave though.
I've also been listening to the Greatest Hits of "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers".
This happened in a funny way - I heard from a friend that Alice in Wonderland was being made into a live action movie. She said that Johnny Depp is playing the Mad Hatter and he looks quite crazy. So I decided to look up the picture and ended up finding the video for Tom Petty's song "Don't come around here no more". In the video he is dressed as the Mad hatter and well the general theme is of Alice in Wonderland. So I decided to listen to the best of.
There are some pretty good songs there. :) easy listening you could say.
Finally, I've revisted A Perfect Circle and Tool after a long non-listening hiatus. I'm glad I still like them - some really awesome songs :D
It is kinda funny relistening though, because the time when I was super into them was 2003 and a bit in 2004. So I've revisited my moods at the time as well...
In anycase, Aenima and Mer de Noms are probably my fave albums from the two, but I still like all the other ones! :D
I guess that ends my music post for the month :P
In other news, I epicly failed at making pupusa's today. Corn flour is kind of hard to work with for it crumbles :P I think I'm going to hunt for a tortilla press...
At least my filling tasted like awesome (refried beans and smoked gouda cheese).
anyways, before I make your eyes bleed further, I bid thee farewell.
Now, it seems bands are making their rounds in Montreal. Hurrah!
So what's coming up for spring time?
April 7 - Ladytron w/ the Faint @ Theatre Telus
April 17/18 - Yann Tiersen w/ Coeur de Pirate @ Club Soda (absolutely can't wait for this :D)
April 19 - Bell Orchestre @ La Tulipe
April 20 - The Walkmen - La Sala Rosa
May 3 - Mogwai w/ The Twilight Sad
May 15 - Animal Collective @ Metropolis
May 15 - Kinetik Festival Phase 2 - Harsh Industrial(!!!)
May 17 - Kinetik Festival Phase 4 EBM
May 18 - Peaches @ Club Soda
June 2 - NIN w/ Jane's Addiction @ Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto
Now, I certainly won't go to all of these. D: too expensive. But there are some that I'm pretty sure i'm gonna see.
Yann Tiersen - The guy who did the music for Amelie and Goodbye Lenin, among other things. He really makes some magical music :) Coeur de Pirate is also really cute. So I have no doubt it'll be a great show.
I'm considering seeing Bell Orchestre. Some of its members are from the Arcade Fire. I've known about them since 2005 and generally enjoy their music and the price isn't too expensive.
I'm also considering seeing the Walkmen. I've known about them since about 2004 :)
Mogwai finally rescheduled their date here. So Paw and I will be able to see them!
We are also planning to see Phase 2 of the Kinetik Festival as Grendel will be performing.
I don't know Peaches that well. But some of her songs are catchy. So perhaps, if for some reason I have extra cash lying aroung :P
NIN - I have seen 2X before, but word has it that NIN is retiring after this tour. So I think it may deserve a trip to Toronto (hey I've done it once before :P) to see their final gig! At the same time, I can fit in some Toronto perusing or so.
I really like Ladytron, so I'm still not sure if I'm gonna go. I'll see how much work I have at the time. In addition, if I actually do go to Yann- Bell-Walkmen, 3 concerts in a row. My ears will need to prepare :P
In addition to concerts, I've been listening to a bunch of stuff.
One of my favorite releases of the year so far is by Beirut - March of the Zapotec/ Real People Holland. It's a split EP. The first part is similar to his previous work, whereas Real People Holland is a bit more on the electronic side and you can see how Alaskainwinter ended up being the opening act back in September 2007. I enjoy both halves immensely. If I had choose 2 songs on each split:
Zapotec = La Llorona and The Schrew
Real People = My wife, lost in the wild and My night with the prostitute from Marseilles
I only hope this means Beirut will be touring soon in support of this new release :) Seeing them was so much fun.
I've also just recently discovered an artist called Matryoshka. She is from Japan and sometimes her voice reminds me a bit of the vocals of Icelandic band "Mum". The music isn't the same though. Some tracks have really nice piano :)
My favorite tracks from the album "Zatracenie" are "Evening gleam between clouds" and "Tyrant's miniature garden".
Another good listen is M83 - Saturday's = Youth. M83 is kind of ambient/mellow electronic music in some albums. Other times feel like nostalgic alternative music (a la Smashing Pumpkins? kinda 80s/90s alternative feel). This is the most recent album I believe. I also enjoyed Digital Shades Vol 1.
From Saturday's, I generally like the whole album, but I think "Too Late" and "Graveyard Girl" are my favorite. The alt feel is really noticeable in Graveyard Girl.
Miss Kittin and the Hacker came out with a new album - 2. So far it's alright. But i find with Miss Kittin it always takes me a while to like the whole album :) Still a good listen. For the moment, Batbox is still my fave though.
I've also been listening to the Greatest Hits of "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers".
This happened in a funny way - I heard from a friend that Alice in Wonderland was being made into a live action movie. She said that Johnny Depp is playing the Mad Hatter and he looks quite crazy. So I decided to look up the picture and ended up finding the video for Tom Petty's song "Don't come around here no more". In the video he is dressed as the Mad hatter and well the general theme is of Alice in Wonderland. So I decided to listen to the best of.
There are some pretty good songs there. :) easy listening you could say.
Finally, I've revisted A Perfect Circle and Tool after a long non-listening hiatus. I'm glad I still like them - some really awesome songs :D
It is kinda funny relistening though, because the time when I was super into them was 2003 and a bit in 2004. So I've revisited my moods at the time as well...
In anycase, Aenima and Mer de Noms are probably my fave albums from the two, but I still like all the other ones! :D
I guess that ends my music post for the month :P
In other news, I epicly failed at making pupusa's today. Corn flour is kind of hard to work with for it crumbles :P I think I'm going to hunt for a tortilla press...
At least my filling tasted like awesome (refried beans and smoked gouda cheese).
anyways, before I make your eyes bleed further, I bid thee farewell.
Howdy!
I decided to make a post about my favorite band of this month - The Magnetic Fields. I had never really heard of them before...but I was perusing an mp3 blog and saw that they had their album "69 love songs". I was intrigued and downloaded it along with their album "Distortion". It took a little while to get into it...I mean it's hard to like 69 songs all at once, on first listen. However, on both albums there are some really stand out tunes and I've been listening to them on repeat for a while.
Wiki says The Magnetic Fields is a band led by New York City singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. Albums released by Merritt under the name "Magnetic Fields" often make extensive use of synthesizers underlying clever lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous.
So the synth's really remind me of the 80s new wave/synth stuff. Think New Order and some of The Cure. The main vocalist Stephen Merritt has a kinda deepish voice too (though not *quite* as doom as Ian Curtis' of Joy Division). But I really like the deep voice.
Anyways, this is not to say that all the music is like that. Distortion follows the synth trend quite well, but on 69 love songs there's more variety. Some is folky, some is synthy and others are just strange.
My favorites from 69 Love songs : Long forgotten fairy tale (reminds me a bit of New Order's - Temptation), The book of love, world love, time enough for rocking when we're old, grand canyon, the way you said goodnight.
From Distortion : Old Fools, the Nun's Litany and Till the bitter end.
But there really is a lot of great stuff in general.
I leave you with two songs, one from each. I'll have to listen to the rest of their albums now :)
I decided to make a post about my favorite band of this month - The Magnetic Fields. I had never really heard of them before...but I was perusing an mp3 blog and saw that they had their album "69 love songs". I was intrigued and downloaded it along with their album "Distortion". It took a little while to get into it...I mean it's hard to like 69 songs all at once, on first listen. However, on both albums there are some really stand out tunes and I've been listening to them on repeat for a while.
Wiki says The Magnetic Fields is a band led by New York City singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. Albums released by Merritt under the name "Magnetic Fields" often make extensive use of synthesizers underlying clever lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous.
So the synth's really remind me of the 80s new wave/synth stuff. Think New Order and some of The Cure. The main vocalist Stephen Merritt has a kinda deepish voice too (though not *quite* as doom as Ian Curtis' of Joy Division). But I really like the deep voice.
Anyways, this is not to say that all the music is like that. Distortion follows the synth trend quite well, but on 69 love songs there's more variety. Some is folky, some is synthy and others are just strange.
My favorites from 69 Love songs : Long forgotten fairy tale (reminds me a bit of New Order's - Temptation), The book of love, world love, time enough for rocking when we're old, grand canyon, the way you said goodnight.
From Distortion : Old Fools, the Nun's Litany and Till the bitter end.
But there really is a lot of great stuff in general.
I leave you with two songs, one from each. I'll have to listen to the rest of their albums now :)
So, I'm having more problems with Matlab and decided to take a break. I was perusing Angelo's facebook and he did one of those song shuffle things, so I'm gonna do the same :P
1) Put your music playlist on shuffle.
2) For each question below press the next button on your media player to get your answer.
3) You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds.
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
My Night with the prostitute from Marseille - Beirut
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
City Girl - Tegan and Sara
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Boys - The Dandy Warhols
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Auf Gott steht meine Zuversicht - Bach (Cantatas 138-140)
In english means "In God is my confidence"
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Green Man - Type O Negative
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Machine Joy - Miss Kittin
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Untitled 8 (The Pop Song) - Sigur Ros
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Lets pretend we're bunny rabbits - The Magnetic Fields
9. WHAT IS 2+2?
Boundaries are open - After Forever
10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
nevesyelaya pesnya - Kino
(in english means "unhappy/joyless song")
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
All I want is you - Barry Louis Polisar
12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Breaking Away - Ratatat
13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Velvet Revolution - Tori Amos
14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Cydonia Complex - Memmaker
15. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Small Children in the background - Mogwai
16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?.
Modern Romance - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I do like this song very much :D)
17. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
The God that Failed - Metallica
18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Untitled 4 (Njosnavelin) - Sigur Ros
19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Long Distance Drunk - Modest Mouse (HAH)
20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fix the Sky A little - 65daysofstatic
21. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
22. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Sinkin' Soon - Norah Jones (I guess I'm gonna drown...)
23. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
There There - Radiohead
24. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Old Flame - The Arcade Fire
25. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Summerhead - Cocteau Twins
26. WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Underwater - Architecture in Helsinki
27. WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
On the Tower - Sondre Lerche
28. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Grass - Animal Collective
29. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Open Arms - Journey
30. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Sacred Darling - Gogol Bordello
31. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Jigsaw Falling into Place - Radiohead
1) Put your music playlist on shuffle.
2) For each question below press the next button on your media player to get your answer.
3) You must write that song name down no matter how silly it sounds.
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
My Night with the prostitute from Marseille - Beirut
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
City Girl - Tegan and Sara
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Boys - The Dandy Warhols
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Auf Gott steht meine Zuversicht - Bach (Cantatas 138-140)
In english means "In God is my confidence"
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Green Man - Type O Negative
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Machine Joy - Miss Kittin
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Untitled 8 (The Pop Song) - Sigur Ros
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Lets pretend we're bunny rabbits - The Magnetic Fields
9. WHAT IS 2+2?
Boundaries are open - After Forever
10. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
nevesyelaya pesnya - Kino
(in english means "unhappy/joyless song")
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
All I want is you - Barry Louis Polisar
12. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Breaking Away - Ratatat
13. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Velvet Revolution - Tori Amos
14. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Cydonia Complex - Memmaker
15. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Small Children in the background - Mogwai
16. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?.
Modern Romance - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (I do like this song very much :D)
17. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
The God that Failed - Metallica
18. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Untitled 4 (Njosnavelin) - Sigur Ros
19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Long Distance Drunk - Modest Mouse (HAH)
20. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fix the Sky A little - 65daysofstatic
21. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
22. HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Sinkin' Soon - Norah Jones (I guess I'm gonna drown...)
23. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
There There - Radiohead
24. WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Old Flame - The Arcade Fire
25. WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Summerhead - Cocteau Twins
26. WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Underwater - Architecture in Helsinki
27. WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
On the Tower - Sondre Lerche
28. DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Grass - Animal Collective
29. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Open Arms - Journey
30. WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Sacred Darling - Gogol Bordello
31. WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Jigsaw Falling into Place - Radiohead
I just finished watching the Miroir Noir: Neon Bible Archives - a DVD by the Arcade Fire documenting their 2006-2007 tour.
I actually just found out about it yesterday while killing time on the net.
The clip is shown on the site dedicated to the dvd
It is also on youtube:
In addition, there's a new track called Burning Bridges which is entirely instrumental. It's a pretty interesting song - in some parts it reminds me a bit of Black Waves/Bad Vibrations but at the same time it sounds very epic. In anycase, I like it a lot.
As for the DVD, on the whole, I really enjoyed it. It's not really just footage of a concert - it's many concerts, backstage/acoustic recordings, them perusing in the streets and just doing various shenanigans. There are also tape recordings of people giving their testimonies of the Neon Bible. What I also liked was the quality of the film - it's kind of an old, grainy, sepiaish texture. So, generally liked the effect.
For the most part, the songs are not played in their entirety (except for Neighborhood #3 (power out) and Rebellion) which appear at the end of the DVD. It reminds me of when I saw them with Paw at Arena Maurice Richard. Despite having seats, their performance was truly electrifying. They all have so much energy, which can be seen here too. When I showed Paw the clip, she said it looked pretty "Destroy", which I agree.
My favorite parts include:
The "destroy" part of the DVD where Cold Wind is playing. I really do enjoy on stage chaos :P
Neon Bible in the elevator (which was released as a clip previously)
The Intervention singalong
The Ocean of Noise dance
If they came again, I would definitely go. Hopefully they'll play a smaller venue and I'll get spots in the front :D
It might prove to be difficult though, for I remember when they played 5 nights at the Ukrainian Federation - all nights sold out and when there were 50 ticket added for each night, there were overnight line ups to get those tickets - In the middle of Febuary!
In anycase, we shall see. So far there are no concerts I particularly want to see. Seems like this Winter might be a calm concert season.
I actually just found out about it yesterday while killing time on the net.
The clip is shown on the site dedicated to the dvd
It is also on youtube:
In addition, there's a new track called Burning Bridges which is entirely instrumental. It's a pretty interesting song - in some parts it reminds me a bit of Black Waves/Bad Vibrations but at the same time it sounds very epic. In anycase, I like it a lot.
As for the DVD, on the whole, I really enjoyed it. It's not really just footage of a concert - it's many concerts, backstage/acoustic recordings, them perusing in the streets and just doing various shenanigans. There are also tape recordings of people giving their testimonies of the Neon Bible. What I also liked was the quality of the film - it's kind of an old, grainy, sepiaish texture. So, generally liked the effect.
For the most part, the songs are not played in their entirety (except for Neighborhood #3 (power out) and Rebellion) which appear at the end of the DVD. It reminds me of when I saw them with Paw at Arena Maurice Richard. Despite having seats, their performance was truly electrifying. They all have so much energy, which can be seen here too. When I showed Paw the clip, she said it looked pretty "Destroy", which I agree.
My favorite parts include:
The "destroy" part of the DVD where Cold Wind is playing. I really do enjoy on stage chaos :P
Neon Bible in the elevator (which was released as a clip previously)
The Intervention singalong
The Ocean of Noise dance
If they came again, I would definitely go. Hopefully they'll play a smaller venue and I'll get spots in the front :D
It might prove to be difficult though, for I remember when they played 5 nights at the Ukrainian Federation - all nights sold out and when there were 50 ticket added for each night, there were overnight line ups to get those tickets - In the middle of Febuary!
In anycase, we shall see. So far there are no concerts I particularly want to see. Seems like this Winter might be a calm concert season.
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