May is shaping up to be a good month, both for life and for music. All the fun stuff actually started this week I guess, but will all become official in May. So I'm counting it for May.
I'm headed home for a couple of weeks which I'm really looking forward to. I'll actually only be home in California for a week, from May 21 - 28. Before that I'm spending a week in Montana for my sister's graduation, which should be great. It's supposed to be beautiful up there. I've had a quick look at what there is to do, and so far I've got a ghost town and a Lord of the Rings themed hotel. I hear there's also good pizza and a lot of meth labs in Missoula.
The schedule for my week home is pretty packed already, but then it usually is. When I only get a week or two home a year, I try not to spend too much time just sitting around. The graduation timing worked out perfectly because it's right before my 30th birthday, so I'm working on planning something that involves way too much champagne. I think that's pretty much the theme of the night, in fact. And I share my birthday with a couple of my very close friends from high school, so it'll be great to all celebrate together. The planning is going pretty slow, but something will be happening on May 24, even if it's just going to a bar somewhere. So if you're reading this and will be (or want to be) in LA that weekend, come play! The party is taking up pretty much the whole weekend that I'm home, since I also have a couple of friends who are flying in for the weekend, so I'll be spending time with them in OC and LA. My sister and I are also seeing SOHN my last night in town, which should be a great show. And then there are plays, family time, Mexican food and so much more to fit in. But I do like company (hint hint).
Then there's the big news of this raise/promotion this week. It's not exactly a promotion, actually. It's more that I'm finally going to start a permanent job with the company, the job that they've wanted me to do since I started with them almost a year ago, instead of just focusing on this project I've been working on. But it did come with negotiation of a new package, which is exciting. It should all be finalized in the next couple of weeks, which means I can finally move back to China in August and maybe start a slightly less nomadic life, something I'm very much looking forward to. I'm getting that itch to settle down, and while I don't really want China to be my long term home, Shanghai is a great city and has the highest concentration of attractive Jewish women I've seen in Asia. And it will make starting a business in China, something that a friend and I have taken concrete steps towards recently, much easier.
As usual, there's also the random travels and whatnot planned, which will be great, but that's the big news for May. Good month. And great month for music. In fact, 2014 is shaping up to be a great year for music. I just found out that Fink is also releasing a new album in July, and the first single, Hard Believer, is quite good. More bluesy than some of his older stuff, but definitely a single to get me excited for the new album. Although, if I'm being honest, I'd be excited anyway. I pre-ordered the album before hearing the single because Fink. I don't need to know anything else.
This release is in addition to the new Tune-Yards, Little Dragon, Ray LaMontagne, Wye Oak, Sylvan Esso and Lykke Li albums that are coming out in (and around) May. Not to mention exciting releases for the rest of the year. We've already had new music from Warpaint, James Vincent McMorrow, Wild Beasts, Tycho, St. Vincent, SOHN and Fanfarlo, and are still waiting on Banks, First Aid Kit and (maybe the most exciting) Meshell Ndegeocello. Meshell is one of my favorite artists, and she randomly put out a new single a few weeks ago called Conviction. While not her best song, it's a perfect extension of the sound she's cultivated in her last couple of albums, a sound I love, so I can't wait for her to release Comet Come to Me in June.
Luckily I found SZA a few weeks ago when she released her debut album, Z. Her sound reminds me of Meshell on Comfort Woman, which is one of my favorite albums by her. SZA has that same kind of spacey sound, and she has a really interesting voice. Actually at one point I thought she might be Szjerdene, one of the featured vocalists on Bonobo's last album, since their voices are quite similar and the whole name thing. But she's not. Anyway, there's also a lot of this dark, electronic R&B sound, similar to Drake or The Weeknd. The album starts out a bit slow, but it's intriguing, and really caught my attention once I got to Julia, where the retro 80s sound really kicks in.
The track changes up at around 3:30, which is actually where the album track ends, but this Soundcloud version also lets you hear a bit of what some of her slower tracks sound like. I found myself listening to her album like 4 times trying to decide if I liked it, before realizing I'd listened to it like 4 times so I obviously liked it. Same thing happened at the same time with Saintseneca, and I've now gone on to buy the new albums from both of them, and Saintseneca's first album as well.
Another favorite track is Green Mile, which is not as upbeat as Julia, but more reflective of the overall album sound. But overall, it's a really good album, though it does take some time to realize it.
So in summary, good month and good year. May might actually be the best month this year, what with all the celebrations and concentration of great new music. But in general, 2014 is shaping up to be a year for the books.
I'm headed home for a couple of weeks which I'm really looking forward to. I'll actually only be home in California for a week, from May 21 - 28. Before that I'm spending a week in Montana for my sister's graduation, which should be great. It's supposed to be beautiful up there. I've had a quick look at what there is to do, and so far I've got a ghost town and a Lord of the Rings themed hotel. I hear there's also good pizza and a lot of meth labs in Missoula.
The schedule for my week home is pretty packed already, but then it usually is. When I only get a week or two home a year, I try not to spend too much time just sitting around. The graduation timing worked out perfectly because it's right before my 30th birthday, so I'm working on planning something that involves way too much champagne. I think that's pretty much the theme of the night, in fact. And I share my birthday with a couple of my very close friends from high school, so it'll be great to all celebrate together. The planning is going pretty slow, but something will be happening on May 24, even if it's just going to a bar somewhere. So if you're reading this and will be (or want to be) in LA that weekend, come play! The party is taking up pretty much the whole weekend that I'm home, since I also have a couple of friends who are flying in for the weekend, so I'll be spending time with them in OC and LA. My sister and I are also seeing SOHN my last night in town, which should be a great show. And then there are plays, family time, Mexican food and so much more to fit in. But I do like company (hint hint).
Then there's the big news of this raise/promotion this week. It's not exactly a promotion, actually. It's more that I'm finally going to start a permanent job with the company, the job that they've wanted me to do since I started with them almost a year ago, instead of just focusing on this project I've been working on. But it did come with negotiation of a new package, which is exciting. It should all be finalized in the next couple of weeks, which means I can finally move back to China in August and maybe start a slightly less nomadic life, something I'm very much looking forward to. I'm getting that itch to settle down, and while I don't really want China to be my long term home, Shanghai is a great city and has the highest concentration of attractive Jewish women I've seen in Asia. And it will make starting a business in China, something that a friend and I have taken concrete steps towards recently, much easier.
As usual, there's also the random travels and whatnot planned, which will be great, but that's the big news for May. Good month. And great month for music. In fact, 2014 is shaping up to be a great year for music. I just found out that Fink is also releasing a new album in July, and the first single, Hard Believer, is quite good. More bluesy than some of his older stuff, but definitely a single to get me excited for the new album. Although, if I'm being honest, I'd be excited anyway. I pre-ordered the album before hearing the single because Fink. I don't need to know anything else.
This release is in addition to the new Tune-Yards, Little Dragon, Ray LaMontagne, Wye Oak, Sylvan Esso and Lykke Li albums that are coming out in (and around) May. Not to mention exciting releases for the rest of the year. We've already had new music from Warpaint, James Vincent McMorrow, Wild Beasts, Tycho, St. Vincent, SOHN and Fanfarlo, and are still waiting on Banks, First Aid Kit and (maybe the most exciting) Meshell Ndegeocello. Meshell is one of my favorite artists, and she randomly put out a new single a few weeks ago called Conviction. While not her best song, it's a perfect extension of the sound she's cultivated in her last couple of albums, a sound I love, so I can't wait for her to release Comet Come to Me in June.
Luckily I found SZA a few weeks ago when she released her debut album, Z. Her sound reminds me of Meshell on Comfort Woman, which is one of my favorite albums by her. SZA has that same kind of spacey sound, and she has a really interesting voice. Actually at one point I thought she might be Szjerdene, one of the featured vocalists on Bonobo's last album, since their voices are quite similar and the whole name thing. But she's not. Anyway, there's also a lot of this dark, electronic R&B sound, similar to Drake or The Weeknd. The album starts out a bit slow, but it's intriguing, and really caught my attention once I got to Julia, where the retro 80s sound really kicks in.
The track changes up at around 3:30, which is actually where the album track ends, but this Soundcloud version also lets you hear a bit of what some of her slower tracks sound like. I found myself listening to her album like 4 times trying to decide if I liked it, before realizing I'd listened to it like 4 times so I obviously liked it. Same thing happened at the same time with Saintseneca, and I've now gone on to buy the new albums from both of them, and Saintseneca's first album as well.
Another favorite track is Green Mile, which is not as upbeat as Julia, but more reflective of the overall album sound. But overall, it's a really good album, though it does take some time to realize it.
So in summary, good month and good year. May might actually be the best month this year, what with all the celebrations and concentration of great new music. But in general, 2014 is shaping up to be a year for the books.
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