Halloween Inspiration

For the last 2 years I've had this great idea for a Halloween costume. This is big, because I'm terrible at thinking up costumes. But 2 years ago I was inspired. Sadly, I haven't been able to celebrate Halloween for the last 2 years. The first year because I'd just moved to some tiny town in the middle of nowhere in China and didn't know anybody, so I sat around eating candy and watching scary movies. The next year, I was living back in Beijing, but I had to go back to my tiny town in the middle of nowhere for my company's 30th anniversary. This was actually pretty exciting because it turned out to be a huge extravaganza concert full of celebrities like the ones you see on CCTV all the time. Here's an example:

I even got to go on stage at one point and pretend to be Brazilian and receive an award since our customer from Brazil couldn't make it. So I guess I did technically dress up that year and go to a party. But I don't count it.

So this year, I'm back in the US for Halloween and finally able to celebrate. As I mentioned I got my inspiration 2 years ago and was so excited about it I decided to tell friends. The first year, a couple of my friends in Japan stole the idea. Then last year, my roommate stole the idea. Finally this year I can do it. You can thank Friendly Fires and their Skeleton Boy video for the inspiration. Watch the 2nd verse for the costume.

This is actually a great band with some awesome songs. Their 2nd album, Pala, came out this year, and while I think it's better overall than their eponymous first album, there are more stand-out tracks (like this one) on the first album. Also recommended are Paris and Jump in the Pool from the first album and Blue Cassette from their second.

Swedish Girl Power

I'm not sure how I managed to go 10 days without posting something. I haven't been doing anything. I'm unemployed. In fact, during that time, I've been listening to a shitload of new music. Unacceptable.

On a more acceptable note, I'm in America! Yay! Which means youtube isn't blocked and videos load quickly. So I have no excuse not to give you good music. We'll start with this gem:

I do love me some Swedish music, and lately, I love me these ladies. The all-girl band Those Dancing Days released their second album earlier this year, and Keep Me In Your Pocket is probably my favorite track off of it. Though I do also highly recommend Help Me Close My Eyes and I Know Where You Live Part 2. Not sure if mentioned this earlier, but I rate every track I listen to on my iPod. Those are the 3 5-star tracks on the album, but everything else gets 4 stars, so really, you should listen to the whole album. FYI, it's called Daydreams & Nightmares.

Other Swedes I like include: Jose Gonzalez, Robyn, Little Dragon, Fever Ray, The Knife, Maia Hirasawa, Lykke Li, The Tallest Man on Earth, and my friend Carl. That last one's not a band, it's just a friend of mine named Carl who's Swedish, but I like him.

ROSTAM - Wood

My friend Jen sent me this song on facebook the other day. It took me a few days to get to it, and forever to load cause of the Chinese government, but it was worth it. Maybe it just fit my mood today, but I fell in love with it. It starts out great and gets even better when the vocals come in.

FYI, he's the pianist for Vampire Weekend, and apparently has a side project with the singer from Ra Ra Riot called Discovery. Anyway, enjoy!

tUnE-yArDs

I was talking to the infamous ベス the other day as she's planning a trip to LA, which just so happens to be my home(-ish). She's headed out there at the end of the month, and I am of course very sad that I won't be there to see her. However, in the spirit of helping her enjoy her time to the fullest while in the City of Angels, we were discussing shows and venues for her to see shows while she's there. I did a little snooping around the internet and was actually a bit disappointed with the poor show of acts in town while she's there. There's a shitload of great stuff the week before and after she's around, but I was having trouble finding anything really good to recommend. Just as I was ready to give up on my search, though, I came across gold. And gold is as follows:



I started listening to tUnE-yArDs when her first album came out a couple years ago, and at first I thought she was pretty weird. I kept listening, though, because her voice is so powerful and moving that I thought she deserved to be heard. And it all worked out, because the more I listened, the more I came to love her. She released her sophomore album earlier this year, and the first single off of it is Bizness, which is above. I think this is possibly her best song to date, but there are a lot of great tracks on both of her albums.

Just for fun, here's Fiya, one of my favorites off the first album.



I've never seen her, or heard her, live, but I imagine she's just as raw and powerful, and this is something I wouldn't want to miss. So if you happen to be in the Greater Los Angeles area on November 1st or 2nd, go see her. She's playing at UCLA (I'm guessing Royce Hall) on the 1st, and at the Music Box in Hollywood on the 2nd. And I imagine ベス will be there, and she's awesome, so you'll also get to hang out with her which is an added bonus.

I really hope you already knew about this

Just a disclaimer, I'm a bit drunk while I write this. But I guess that's what happens when you go over to a Chinese family's house for dinner and they pull out the baijiu before you even start eating. If you don't know what baijiu is, don't ask. Consider yourself lucky. And hope you never find out. Unless you come visit me. Then you should just trust me.

OK! Time for music. That's what we're all here for anyway, right?

I listened to the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album this week. It's called I'm With You. I am a fan of theirs, and I highly doubt that I'm the first person you're hearing about them from. And if I am, what is wrong with you? The album is actually really good. I really enjoyed it. One song in particular sticks out to me, and that's Brendan's Death Song. When I first heard this song, I got through the first couple bars and decided to listen to something else. But then once I sat down and made my way through the whole song, I was sad I hadn't listened to it earlier. Not only is it a beautiful song, but it kind of encompasses how I feel about death, and was especially poignant since my grandmother just passed away. It's the type of song I'd want played at my funeral, and embodies the way I want to be remembered when I'm gone. It's beautiful. So enjoy it.

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

So I was back in the states recently and made it out to New York during my trip. I was walking home one night with my friend Adam who I'd just had dinner with. As we passed by a restaurant on our walk, I heard a familiar sound and when I paid a little bit of attention, I realized it was Constant Surprises, a song which happens to be my favorite song by the band Little Dragon. If you don't want to take my word on how good it is (you shouldn't) listen to it now.



I told you, didn't I? So I love this band, and hearing this song made me realize that it had been a while since I heard anything from them. Their second album came out a couple years back, and despite how much I loved their first album, I found their second album disappointing. So, I went online to see what they were working on, only to find that I was already like 3 months late on getting their latest album, Ritual Union. I wasted no time in obtaining this album, and I was not at all disappointed. In fact, I think it's probably their best album yet. This entire album is really freaking ridiculously good. I've been listening to it on repeat since the first time I listened to it, standing in line at the airport and dancing to myself.

The Swedish-born Japanese vocalist Yukimi brings so much soul to this album through her voice. It's no wonder Jose Gonzalez chose her as his back-up vocalist and his girlfriend. My favorite track from the album, Please Turn, comes right in the middle of a string of solid tracks (Brush the Heat, Shuffle a Dream, Cristalfilm) which I listen to on repeat still. Also, if I were a stripper, I think this is the song I would dance to.

This is a test.

This is a test to see if I can embed a video. But it's a good video you don't want to miss cause Alex Winston was love at first listen. I've got a special place in my heart for quirky girls with weird voices, and Alex officially replaced Joanna Newsom when I heard her. Though to be honest, Joanna will probably make a comeback at a later date. And she'll never really be completely replaced anyway.

So now comes the testy part. If this works, you should be able to see Velvet Elvis below, which is Alex's new and awesome single.



And below this, you should be able to find a remix of Locomotive done by Beach Fossils, who I think are just alright in general but have done an awesome job here.



Props to my friend James for teaching me how to do these videos.

Let's see how this works...

The other day I was talking to my friend ベス and she recommended to me that I start a music blog. Now, this is something I've actually considered doing in the past, as I love music and I love sharing music. The problem is, I don't have much to say about the music I love other than that I love it. So I figured I'd probably have nothing to write. Despite this, ベス convinced me otherwise. She also named my blog. Props to ベス.

I'll mainly be using this blog to recommend music I like, not really do any reviews, so you can expect to see phrases like "awesome," "mind-blowing" and "ridiculously good" a lot. I also travel a lot, so I may mix in some fun stories or facts with the music. Or maybe other random thoughts. We’ll see.

So with that, let's do the first recommendation!

Theophilus London - Wine and Chocolates
The goal was to put the video in here from youtube, but it seems to keep freezing and refuses to post when I tried, so instead, you just get this link: http://youtu.be/-U9KIjBuRBM

This song is ridiculously good (I told you it'd be coming). In fact, everything this guy does is ridiculously good (first post and it's already in there twice. Get used to it). He kind of reminds me of TV on the Radio, so if you like them, you'll probably like him. Except he raps.

He's straight out of Brooklyn, which obviously means he must be awesome. At least, that's where I'm told all the cool kids are these days. Everyone I know in Brooklyn is pretty awesome, but I don't think any of them are actually from Brooklyn, so I'm not sure it counts.

Anyway, he just released a new album (Timez Are Weird These Days), which is great. But even better is his EP from earlier this year (Lovers Holiday) which I'm pretty sure is gonna make it onto my Top 10 list for 2011. So don't stop with just this song, go find more.