A bit of a mixed bag today

Last time I wrote a blog I had so much to share and talk about. Unfortunately now it all seems to have disappeared from my head. I'm bored at work and so I'm kind of forcing myself to write this blog in order to pass the time. But I can't remember any of the many things I wanted to share last time. I've still got music I want to share, but I honestly can't remember any of the stories I wanted to talk about.

So instead I guess I can talk about visitors, seeing as I have one at the moment. My friend Sarah, who I know from Beijing, is in town visiting. She actually lives in Taiwan now and had to make a visa run, so decided to come visit me. It worked out perfectly to since the weekend she had to do it is my only weekend in Singapore for a few months. Sarah's actually my first proper visitor in Singapore, and maybe my third or fourth in the entire time I've been in Asia. I've seen friends here in Singapore, but they've all been people passing through or here for other things, whereas Sarah came with the intent of visiting me and is the first person to actually stay with me, so she wins the prize for first visitor. Yay Sarah!

I would've thought after like 5 years total spent living in Asia I would have had more visitors by now. But, believe it or not, I had more visitors in my 15 months in Africa than I've had in 5 years in Asia. In Japan, my friend Elliot came to visit. Then once I moved to China my parents and my sister came, and my friend James came. Again, I did see other friends in both Japan and China, but those are really the only people that came with the express intention of seeing me, or that came and stayed with me.

In Africa, on the other hand, I had about 6 visitors in 15 months. Elliot came to visit, along with a couple friends from China. Otherwise it was mostly visitors by way of introduction. I found that a lot of people would put their friends in touch with me when they were coming to South Africa, and they inevitably ended up staying with me, which was great as they are now all my friends as well. And, as an added bonus, I've since been treated to both a Nando's meal (thanks Lula!) and delicious cocktails (thanks Wendy!) in return for my hospitality.

At first it seems a bit weird that I would have more visitors in Africa when Asia is so much more accessible and cheaper, especially coming from the US. After spending quite a bit of time thinking about it, it does kind of makes sense, though.  First, I think a lot of people kind of expect me to be in Asia forever, so they have plenty of time to visit (no comment on that...). But I think, more importantly, Americans don't tend to know as many people in Africa as they do in Asia. It seems like everyone knows someone in Asia. Hence me becoming the go-to introduction for anyone traveling to South Africa at the time. In fact, when I was moving there and asking around for introductions to anyone, only half of people that I was introduced to actually lived in SA. The others were in Botswana (close), Kenya (far) and Senegal (very far). Luckily I got to meet them all thanks to work travel, but I think it just reinforces the fact that connections in Africa are scarce.

The point of all this rambling is really to reinforce the fact that you should come visit me. Doesn't matter where, I promise it will be fun. Even if we haven't spoken in years, get in touch if you're in the area. I'm pretty shameless about randomly messaging people I haven't spoken to in years if I'm nearby because my lifestyle would not really allow it to be any other way. So I don't mind at all if you do the same. I kind of like it.

For starting out the blog not being able to think of what to write about, I think I've done quite well. And hopefully I can do quite well with the music, too. Last time I wrote there were 3 songs by 3 different artists/groups that were my songs of the moment. I wanted to share them all but didn't because I had other important music to share. But this time I will share those songs, which should make for a pretty eclectic selection.

The first was my new favourite song about 2 weeks ago. I was listening to it a lot. It's Unkinder (A Tougher Love) by THUMPERS, by the way. I'd actually heard it and starred it on Spotify a while back, but then they released their album so it was showing up again online and I heard it again and kept listening over and over. It's fun. It's very fun. It makes me want to dance around in my office (or wherever I happen to be). THUMPERS debut album, Galore, is also not bad, but this is by far the best song on it.





Next we're moving into a very different style of music with Paper Bird. This Colorado group has like 7 vocalists or something ridiculous like that. I ended up buying their newest album, Rooms, just on the strength of As I Am, the opening track and first single off the album. Again, there was a lot of this song on repeat. Great harmonies, great electric guitar, great melody, great percussion. Lots of good things about it. And it just makes me happy.





And last, I'm switching it up again with Jamestown Revival, an LA-by-way-of-Texas bluegrass/folk rock duo. Just like with Paper Bird, I heard one song by these guys and wanted more and more. They just put out their debut album, Utah. I've actually heard quite a few bands like these guys in the last week or two, but these guys do it better than most, in my opinion. I like most songs about California, and California (Cast Iron Soul) is no exception. Other than the fact that I like it more than most other songs about California, anyway.

Alright, I think that's all I've got for you for now. Except for my public service announcement, which is that Little Dragon has put out a new single (Klapp Klapp) and is releaseing a new album (Nabuma Rubberband) later this year. I will be very surprised (and even more disappointed) if this album isn't in my top 10 this year. Go pre-order, peoples.

Leif Vollebekk

It's been a couple weeks since the last blog, and will probably be a couple more before the next one since I've been traveling. Which makes this tough, cause I've actually got lots of things to talk about and lots of good new music to share. But I guess the most appropriate thing to do would be to work through things chronologically, which means starting with the blog about the Australia trip.

Pretty much all you need to know is that after 10 days in Australia and two failed attempts, on my last day there we finally found kangaroos and I got to play with them. End of blog.

Ok, not actually end of blog, but it was probably the high point of the trip. One of the high points of my life up to now, in fact. For some reason it was even more exciting than playing with cheetahs or baby lions. Maybe because I know/think a kangaroo won't maul me. And I got to feed them, which was great. One of them was slobbery like a dog, and one of them kept accidentally nibbling my hand while she tried to get the food out of my palm. She was my favorite.

I did also eat kangaroo a couple of times. Not my first time eating kangaroo, but my first time eating it in Australia, so that was also a goal of the trip. Sadly I learned it is illegal to eat koalas, but I wanted to do that too. A friend suggested I post a before/after picture on instagram of the kangaroos I played with and a kangaroo steak I ate a few days prior, which would have been fantastic, but I try to limit my instagrams to two a day, except in amazingly fun circumstances. But just know that it was considered and would have been great and accurately reflected my love of all living things, both in their playful and edible forms.

Other than that, the rest of the trip was great. A quick day-by-day run down: explore Melbourne, music festival, wine tour, best Chinese food outside China, work/opera, work/fancy dinner, explore Sydney, Great Ocean Road (x2 days), play with animals. So that pretty much accounts for everything, except that one day after the wine tour where I cannot, for the life of me, remember what we did. And I swear it wasn't because of the wine. We didn't even get drunk, though that did not stop the guy at the 2nd winery from thinking I was an alcoholic and pouring me less wine than everyone else.

The highlight (other than kangaroos) was actually seeing friends, though. I had a friend who is currently funemployed join me from Tokyo, and we visited with China/Japan friends who are from Australia, which was wonderful. A couple of them I hadn't seen in a long time, and one of them (Peter) I had seen pretty recently, but it was still great to see him again. The man's a legend. We give him a lot of shit for being really old, even though he's not that much older than all of us were when we got to JET, but he definitely plays into the part. We do, of course, say it with love. After all, rare is the atheist who will become an online ordained minister in order to fly halfway across the world and officiate the wedding of two good friends. Also, Peter, you better be reading this, because you need help with music, as you mentioned to us. The "World Wide Web" is a great place to find out what's "hip" with the "youths." If you're able to figure out how to connect your screen to your typewriter, that is. Try using the VHS.

Melbourne is where we spent most of our time, and it's a great city and apparently one of the most livable cities in the world. To be honest, though, I might have preferred Sydney. Melbourne is great, and pretty much all the Aussies I know are from there (as is Hiatus Kaiyote, who are incredible and make me want to live there just so I can be their friends and see them live all the time), but Sydney is a beautiful city. And the weather is really nice. And they have boats as public transport, which to me is a very novel thing and a great way to see the city. Anyway, I'm looking forward to going back. I'd like to see more of Australia, and my friends there, so I'll have to make it happen sooner rather than later.

Music is another thing I've had trouble deciding what to share. I bought this album right before I left and I basically listened to nothing else the entire time in Australia, so that was the obvious choice. But since then I've found a bunch of songs that I love, so I want to share them with you as well. But again, we're going to work through these blogs/my life chronologically, which means you get some Leif Vollebekk today. Which you will be very happy about, I hope, because he's kind of amazing. Even though he's Canadian, he's got the whole Americana Folk Rock thing down. He just released his second album, North Americana, and I can't stop listening. I heard the first single, When the Subway Come Above the Ground, on one of the sites I check for music, and about a minute in I knew I needed more.





Not all of the album is folk rock like that song, though. A lot of it is acoustic folk, but done to perfection. The album actually kind of reminds me of Laura Marling's album from last year, which bodes well for Leif Vollebekk because that album was amazing and one of my favorites of the year last year. In fact, I'm pretty sure this album is the first release of 2014 that's going to make it into my top 10 for this year. Anyway, he does the folk/blues thing really well too. I was actually reading on his facebook or website or something about the new album, and he was talking about how it was 4 years in the making, and there was a quote that I thought summed the album up really well and made me like it even more. It was something along the lines of how he's given four years of his life to this album and put everything he has into it, and now he's got nothing left, nothing but this album. And luckily for us he's sharing it. Cairo Blues, which is probably my favorite acoustic track on the album, definitely let's you feel it.





So here's a somewhat embarrassing confession for those of you who have read to the end of the blog. I love American Idol. It's kind of my guilty pleasure. I have never purchased any music by any of the contestants, and I think they generally make terrible music, but I love the show and it turns out some amazing singers. I often hear songs and think about how great it would be if someone performed them and how if I were a judge and someone performed one of the songs I had in mind, I would gain a lot of respect for them as an artist. And I am judging, so it still applies, it just makes no difference to the outcome of the show. The new season is currently in auditions (at least that's as far as I've watched. I need to catch up.), and though I know it won't happen, I really, really, really want someone to come in for their audition and perform Cairo Blues, to which the judges would be blown away and talk about what an amazing song it is and how this contestant is a real artist and someone to watch, etc. This would make me happy.