Fink x Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

In a thought which is completely unrelated to the rest of this blog, it is always a conscious decision for me not to start sentences with "So." I feel like I do it too much. And every blog I write I type "So" as soon as I begin, then delete it go without it. Maybe it's just me. Now on to the story.

One of the most wonderful things happened to me the other night. I was down in Munich for a Haim and Phoenix show. I was actually there for Haim because I was extremely disappointed in Phoenix's new album. Luckily for me they played mostly songs from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (about half of the set) and only like 2 songs off the new album, one of them being Entertainment, which is actually a great song. Anyway point being, I was there for Haim and they did not disappoint. Those girls really rocked it, which was kind of surprising considering the level of poppiness there is in their album.

Aside from the show being all around fantastic, I had been dreaming about meeting Haim for a while now. I was even home talking to a friend about this about a month ago and what I should say if I get to meet them (you can read about that here). Then at the concert I was texting my sister somewhat joking about it, never thinking it would happen. But in the back of my mind, I thought I might try. I managed to be up front for their performance, but moved out of the crowd for Phoenix. This was done chiefly for 2 reasons: reason the first being I didn't want to be squished in with a bunch of screaming 14 year olds, and reason the second being I wanted to see if maybe Haim would come out to watch the set. So I stationed myself in a spot with a great view of the stage, plenty of space, and in direct line of sight to the backstage entrance. About half of the show had passed, and then I noticed Este, the oldest of the sisters, walking out towards the bathroom. I figured she was headed to the bathroom so I'd catch her on the way back and say hi. Which is exactly what I did. But on the way back she had somewhere picked up Danielle, the middle sister. And then the following conversation  (more or less) ensued:

Michael: You guys were fucking awesome
Este: Awww, thanks so much
Michael: Yeah I'm really glad I could make the show
Este: (shining her phone in my face for more light) Wait, have we met?
Michael: Umm, no, but I'm a Jew and I'm from L.A., so maybe?
Este: That's it, we can tell our own.  Where in L.A.?
Michael: Actually Orange County, but I went to UCLA so I was living there for a while.
Este: Me too! (chit chat about when we graduated, etc ensues) So what are you doing here?
Michael: I work for a German company so I spend about half my time here, but I actually live in Singapore.
Este: Oh cool
Michael: Yeah I actually have tickets to see you guys in January
Este: Oh yeah, at Laneway! Well (stops to think for a second), we're there all weekend, so if you want to hang out...
Michael: Yeah, definitely
Este: Do you have a phone?

And then the magic happened. She gave me her number and said to text her and that we'd hang out when they come to Singapore. I should also mentioned that Alana, the youngest sister, came up at one point and we said our hellos too. So my plan is working. That plan being to meet them, fall in love, and marry one of them - preferably Danielle.

Without knowing anything about them personally, they check off some of the big items on my list: Jewish, attractive, musician, from California. Not all of these things are required, but they are all worth extra points. So I guess we wait and see what happens!

I think it's also worth mentioning that the first girl who ever rejected me liked the status I posted on Facebook about meeting Haim and getting their number (that may not be completely accurate, but it was the first that mattered). Maybe this makes me a horrible person, but it gives me a small sense of superiority when this person likes my statuses, especially awesome ones such as that. I bear this person absolutely no ill will, after all this happened over 15 years ago and we don't talk at all, but can't help feeling this way. Oh well. I'm ok with it.

Now to share some completely unrelated music with you. I am a huge fan of Fink, a British singer-songwritery guy. Gold flows from his hands and mouth. And he just released the most incredible thing ever, which is a recording of a concert he did with the Royal Councertgebouw Orchestra for the Queen of the Netherlands. If you've heard Fink before, just the idea of him playing with an orchestra should excite you. And now it has happened. And it is gorgeous. I was actually quite concerned that I had missed this album, as the concert apparently happened in 2012. But luckily it only came out last month so I have not been missing this album in my life for too long.

I'll be honest, I haven't listened to the whole album. In fact I only listened to half of one song on Spotify before going to buy it. I did listen to a couple more, but only because one of my favourite tracks was coming up soon. Since I bought it I can listen anytime, like during my drive to Munich tomorrow when I can't listen to Spotify, so I moved on to other things in Spotify.

That track that I continued to listen for is the orchestra version of Yesterday Was Hard on All of Us, from his most recent album Perfect Darkness. The original is amazing and by far the best on the album, and the orchestra version is just incredible.

 

Seriously, though. Ridiculous. I wish I could have been there. And the album ends with a 10 minute version of Sort of Revolution, another amazing song by Fink. I haven't heard that track yet, but I am very excited. Go buy this album.

Lucius part 2

Just came back from two wonderful weekends that involved more reunions than anticipated. When I was in the US last month I went to see a Lucius show in Washington D.C. and found out that the band was coming to Europe. I absolutely love their new album, Wildewoman (more on that below), but I also know one of the singers from Jewy stuff in high school. This made it the perfect chance to not only see music that I love, but also see a friend I haven't seen in years. And of course a great chance to not spend my weekends in my tiny little town. So with that in mind, I headed to Paris last weekend and Utrecht this weekend for their Saturday night shows.

I thought I'd get to see a friend I studied abroad with while I was in Paris, but unfortunately she was out of town. That didn't stop her from letting me stay at her place, which has to be one of the nicest apartments I've ever stayed in. This girl has impeccable taste. The place was perfect. And perfectly situated. Even her umbrella was amazing. It had wind flap thingies so it wouldn't get blown around and break when it's windy. I didn't even know that was a thing. I will definitely be calling her one day when I live in one place for long enough to ever own anything larger than a t-shirt. Even though she wasn't there, I managed to spend a good chunk of the weekend with another old friend from back in LA who's been living in Paris for about a year now. We haven't seen each other for like 4 years, but I have no shame when it comes to reconnecting with old friends. I'm horrible at keeping in touch, so all I can really do is try to see people whenever we're in the same place, and feel zero awkwardness about messaging someone I actually enjoy if we're ever in the same place. On top of all this I was in Paris and got to eat macarons and beef tartare (which is probably one of my favourite dishes ever) so really a win all around.

Then this weekend was a bit of a whirlwind, but of the best sort. A good friend of mine from Beijing, Mark, happened to be in Germany for work, so we were skyping a couple weeks ago to figure out if we could see each other. He had the weekend free and was flying out on Sunday, so we though we might hang out near Frankfurt. Now, I've heard nothing good about Frankfurt. I've basically been told it's the asshole of Europe. So rather than do that I suggested we drive out to Utrecht in the Netherlands and see Lucius's show there. Then I kept thinking and decided that we should actually spend Friday night on an army base near Frankfurt with a friend from home's mother, who I have never met. This was probably one of the best decisions of the weekend. Her mother and stepfather were amazingly hospitable, cooked us a ridiculous good dinner, and they had a dog. We had the good chats and the good wine until late in the night, and only went to bed because we had to be up early to drive to Utrecht. But before going to bed I checked facebook, only to learn that another friend from Beijing was about to board a plane to Amsterdam. So I messaged her and got her to meet us in Utrecht as well for the night, which led to even more festivities, fun and croquettes. It was a short visit, but we made the most of it and saw Lucius's show, which was awesome. Really a great weekend all around. It's also worth mentioning that Mark and I have now spent time together on 3 continents, and yet never seen each other in America. Kind of impressive, if you ask me.

Anyway enough of the rambling, I promised music so here we go. I posted about Lucius when they released their eponymous EP a while back. They've just released their first album and I can't stop listening to it. I think of them as my Lord Huron for 2013. Not because they sound anything alike, but because when I first heard them (and Lord Huron) it was through EPs which I thought were ok, had a couple good tracks, but overall nothing I was crazy about. But then when their first albums came out I could not stop listening. I had Lonesome Dreams on repeat in 2012 and it ended up in my top 10, and this year it's Wildewoman on repeat (and likely ending up in my top 10 for the year).

I love pretty much every song on the album, but there are 3 stand out tracks to me. The first is Don't Just Sit There, but I already posted it on my last blog about Lucius, so you can just click on the little link above and go listen to it. Other than that one, I love Tempest, which I believe is the 2nd official single off the album. They just released the video for it, so watch it on repeat, please.





Hopefully you're hooked now. You should be. They're basically on every blog I read and everyone has been raving about them. I don't even know how many lists I've seen where they're listed as one of the best acts at some festival, or one of the acts the author is most excited about, or just one of the top bands to watch at the moment. I generally don't read or care about reviews, but I would agree with all of those sentiments.

The last track on the album, How Loud Your Heart Gets, is also one of my favourites, if not my favourite. Actually, what I really love about this track is the guitar in the background on the chorus. I mean, I love the song in general, but for some reason that guitar just gets me and it's what makes it my favourite. I'm not really sure it's a song for everyone, but I love it. I actually can't seem to find a non-live version of it online, so instead here's their NPR Tiny Desk concert which includes it, along with many other musical treats. Enjoy!

Glasser - Interiors

I just spent the last 24 hours trying to rack my brains for something interesting about my life that I could include in this blog post. While I try to keep my weekends pretty fun-filled, the weeks are rather boring. There is literally nothing to do in my town. Except an asparagus museum, but that's all in German and probably only open in Asparagus season (April in case you were wondering, high tourist season for Schrobenhausen, I think the population goes from 16,000 to 16,004). It is a cute little town, though, so my first week here back in July I decided that I wanted to go and explore the city a bit with my camera. I had to be finished by 6pm so I could get to the market or something before it closed (I don't actually remember what I had to do, but it was something that was contingent upon making it to some place before a ridiculously early closing hour). Problem was, I only left the office at 5:30 and didn't think I'd be able to see anything. But, in those 30 minutes, I biked home from work, changed, walked around the entire east half of the old town taking pictures, and still made it to wherever I had to be at 6. That's how tiny this place is.

So that should illustrate how exciting my weeks generally are. I go to work, sometimes I might have a German lesson in the evening, and then I just hang about in my apartment (Now taking TV show recommendations...). But I've managed to get some fun stuff lined up over the next couple of weeks, obviously all music related. I'm headed down to Munich (about an hour drive) 3 times in the next 12 days for concerts. The first one is tonight, with Half Moon Run. Then I'll be seeing Daughter next Wednesday (3rd time this year, and always in different countries!). And finally I'm going to see Haim & Phoenix on the 19th. Phoenix I'm actually not as excited about (unless they play stuff from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, but Entertainment! was a bit disappointing after the WAM), but I'm super excited about Haim. I'm trying to figure out something I can yell at them that will let them know I'm a California Jew and good marrying material. One friend back in the States recommended offering to take them for a Deli Burger at PKD (in case you're not an LA Jew, it's a really popular Kosher restaurant in LA that has a ridiculous hamburger with grilled pastrami on it. Grilled pastrami. It's like Jewish bacon, which means it's better than goyische bacon). Then they would invite me backstage, we'd fall in love, and life would be wonderful. I haven't decided which of them would become my special lady friend, but I'm open minded on the topic.

Ok, enough of that. I wrote about Glasser last January when I had just heard about her and knew next to nothing. Now I know a little bit less than nothing (she's from America), but she has new music in the form of the sophomore album Interiors.

This is the 2nd of the 3 albums mentioned which I had on repeat during my Switzerland trip, and the one that I actually wanted to blog about first. Similar to the other Glasser album, the first track, Shape, is probably my favourite. In fact, if I made a mix of my favourite opening album tracks, this would probably be on it (I think about this mix a lot, I should probably do it. The opening track of opening tracks would have to be Homme by Brazilian Girls off of Brazilian Girls, cause that's basically what made me think of this in the first place). Anywhere, here's Shape.





All kinds of comparisons to be made I feel, which are horrible but I keep doing because that's just what we do. A little bit Bjork, a little bit Grimes (though much better than Grimes. I was so excited for her album, then talk about a disappointment...). Then you get another favourite track of mine, Forge. I feel like this one could be a grower, took me a few listens to really love it.





This one brings in a little Frou Frou, and even a bit of this Japanese artist ACO, who I always think of as the Japanese equivalent of Bjork (explanation: I used to listen to a lot of Japanese music. I barely do anymore, but this is one artist I would still gladly listen to. Go find the album Absolute Ego from 1999 if you can, cause it's awesome. Or even Material (2001) or Irony (2003), all of which are very different albums but also great. In fact, I just checked and she has a new album on American Spotify which has really good reimaginings of some of her older songs, and a couple new ones).

And then one more stand out track towards the end of the album, New Year. I've name dropped enough to pique your interest and already played you two tracks, so if you're still here, then you're probably going to listen to this one as well. As you should.

Let's try this again (Alpine)

In the last week or so I've had quite a few people asking me for music recommendations, which got me thinking that it would be much easier to just give them a link to my blog than try to think of music to tell them about. Because obviously I go braindead anytime I have to actually share any information that's lodged somewhere in my brain. That got me thinking that if I wanted to do that, I would actually have to write in my blog. So here I am.

In fact, I'm going to try something new this time and actually talk about myself before the music. Weird... I realized recently that nobody seems to know what I do or even what country I live in. To be honest, it's kind of fun. In fact some friends and I recently decided that if anyone asks me, I should brush off the question with answers which are as vague as possible. This would lead to the logical conclusion that I'm either smuggling drugs or weapons. I prefer the weapons (and I think it makes more sense given all that time in Africa), but feel free to tell people whatever you like. Or make up something new, that's even more fun.

But, for those few of you who are actually reading, I will now reveal the truth (It's not very exciting, so feel free to skip down to the next paragraph if you like and leave the actual details of my life up to your imagination. I'd recommend it.). I'm writing this from my new company's headquarters in Germany, where I spend about half of my time. While I'm technically based in Singapore, I probably spend less time there than away from there, something I'm quite used to, visiting our other offices around Asia. While in Germany, I have the pleasure of staying in Schrobenhausen, a small Bavarian town with a population of 16,000, which is famous for it's annual asparagus production. It is supremely boring, and so every weekend I leave, which has led to some great travel opportunities in Europe. Also it's amazing how many places you can drive to in just a few hours from here. Which leads into my next topic...

I spent last weekend in Switzerland. Holy shitballs that place is beautiful. If you haven't been, go. It's probably become one of my favorite European countries (I'd just like to point out that my fingers got confused typing "favorite"/"favourite". I'm not sure who I am anymore...). Friday was a holiday so I drove down to Liechtenstein for lunch. I had a couple hours to burn, so I pretty much saw the entire country. It's really tiny and there's not much to see, but it sure is pretty. Then I drove up to Zurich. This is where the fun really began. Because - and I may be repeating myself here, but - holy shitballs Switzerland is beautiful. On Saturday I drove down to Lucerne then into the Alps and made a circuit around Lake Brienz, and pretty much spent the entire time again thinking to myself, holy shitballs Switzerland is beautiful. It's one of these places that probably shouldn't exist. I kind of felt like it couldn't be real. All these cute little European farmhouses spread across green fields with the Alps towering over them, some of them already topped with snow. Actually the only problem with Switzerland is that there are too many tunnels which interrupt the view while you drive. And it's stupidly expensive, but such is life. I need to go back, this time to Geneva to look at all the pretty watches (did I mention that there are watch shops literally everywhere? I kind of love it.)

Ok, enough talk of me. Music. In the spirit of the Alps, I'll share Alpine with you. I basically spent the weekend driving and listening to 3 albums on repeat, one of which is Alpine's debut, A is for Alpine. Actually, it wasn't my favourite of the 3 albums, but it felt fitting given this blog post (Alpine/Alps/Switzerland, get it?). And it's a great album. Also, it was much better suited to driving in the Alps than I would have expected from an Australian band. After all, Australia is quite far from Switzerland.

I actually heard them a few months ago, but their album was $11.99 on iTunes and I was being a cheap bastard and waiting for it to drop to $9.99, which it finally did. Also when I first listened on Spotify there was only one real stand out track to me, which was Gasoline.




Now, though, I feel like I should have bought it earlier. In terms of who they remind me of, closest would probably be School of Seven Bells, not only because they actually sound similar to me, but the 2 female vocalists helps (although SoSB is down to just one now). Having said that, Lucius also has 2 female vocalists and they do not remind me of Alpine at all (That was a completely uneccesary name drop, and a hint as to what an upcoming post will be. I already wrote about Lucius here, but now they released an awesome album and I will be writing about them again. Go listen to them now though, don't wait for me).

Back on track: one more song for you. Another gem I came to love upon closer listening, Hands.



I still haven't decided if this whole "write about me" thing will be regular, but I thought I'd try it for now. But the goal is to start blogging regularly again. And now I'm accountable to all 3 of you.