Aug 31 - Boots

The first day back at work wasn't completely terrible, like I expected it to be. It was actually alright. I did wake up very early (like 4:45), but had some coffee and relaxed on the couch and watched some Seinfeld, so was pretty good by the time I went to work. And I got to have my La Colombe coffee that I brought back from the US with me, and damn was it good. I've even made it up later than last night (it's currently 9:39, and last night I was asleep around 9:40), thanks to a little help from friends who I had dinner with.

But I definitely am exhausted. So music will be quick. Today it's a random song I heard and liked, but know very little about and have not yet tried to find out anything about. It's Boots (not to be confused with Little Boots) featuring Deradoorian, a song called AQUARIA. Now you know as much as I do. It's a weird song, but interesting weird.

Au 30 - The National

I made it back to Sanghai in one piece, and am pretty much decided that I'm going to stop taking United. The flight itself was fine, but my entertainment didn't work, which also meant my reading light and call button didn't work, and I didn't really get much help from staff. I actually need to go complain to customer service, and probably stop taking United. But at least they've got plugs under the chairs, so I just watched movies on my computer. I didn't sleep much, though, so I am pretty much dying at the moment. It's like 8:30 and I've been fighting to stay awake while watching a movie for the last hour or so. I just need to make it to 9pm...

One of the films I watched on the flight was Mistaken For Strangers, the documentary about The National. The film was made by Tom Berninger, brother of the lead singer Matt Berninger, when the band brought him along on tour as a roadie for a year. So it's not just about them on tour, it's probably more about the relationship between Matt and Tom. Actually I didn't like the film very much and I found Tom extremely annoying, but I loved seeing the live clips of The National. They are amazing live, Matt goes absolutely nuts at their concerts. I managed to see them last year and it was probably one of my Top 5 shows. And to make it even better, St. Vincent was opening for them. Great lineup. The film was made during their High Violet tour, and High Violet is my favorite album by them, so it was great that most of the live clips were songs off that album. And that's why we're listening to Bloodbuzz Ohio, off of High Violet.

Aug 29 - Vicktor Taiwò

Normally I write these things at the end of the day, but it's early morning, I'm at the airport, and by the time I land it will be tomorrow afternoon. So I should write today. I don't have much to say about the day so far, other than I drank too much and slept too little. Which is good, cause now I'm hoping to pass out for 8 of the next 15 hours.

Before passing out (which is already a struggle not to do), I'll play you a song. Today's is Feathers & Wax, by Vicktor Taiwò, off of his debut EP, JUNO. It's a pretty great EP, and I think this song is my favorite. I've only listened a couple times and there's plenty of good songs though, so that may change, but for now I like this one.

 

Aug 28 - Lianne La Havas

It is my last night in America. I don't want to pack. I don't want to leave. I had a great day. I'm a bit drunk. I'm more than a bit tired. I'll make this quick.

Lianna La Havas just released a new album, Blood. I was actually waiting to listen to the album to play you a song off of it, and actually the best song off of it is one of the singles, Green and Gold. So enjoy. She's wonderful.

Aug 27 - Tei Shi

Today was quite a schlep. I had to get on a plane at like 10 and rush through 2 flights to get to New York and land at 4:30 then run onto a bus and get into the city as fast as possible to drop my bags off in order to hop in a cab and run uptown faster than humanly possible to make it to MoMa so I could go to the Tei Shi concert. The only concert I get to go to during this trip, by one of my favorite new artists, with one of my favorite old friends (Miguel), in a beautiful venue (the garden at MoMa). But I made it. Just barely. I actually missed the first two songs, but I got most of the show. Plus afterwards Miguel took me for a 3 Michelin star dinner at a Mexican restaurant that's supposed to be the best in the country. It was very different from my tacos last night, but holy shit. It was delicious. And there was this duck. God Damn. It was like a Peking duck made by a Mexican and put into a taco with salsa. Oy. So good. Everything was great. The food, the drink, the conversation, the nostalgia... It all was wonderful.

Anyway, because I made it to the concert, let's talk about Tei Shi. I've already done so this year and put both my favorite songs up, so we're going to go with another song instead. This one is Nature vs. Nurture, off of her first EP, Saudade. She only has 2 EPs, actually, Saudade and Verde, both of which are on Spotify and Soundcloud. So you have no reason not to listen to her. But we do need an album. Anyway, the reason I chose this is because it starts out so strong, then goes a bit downhill, then comes back at the end and is a solid song. But live, this song rocks. Tei Shi is definitely an artist who is better live than on record. She sounds fantastic, and despite the very mellow feel to most of her songs, she really brings them to life and rocks them out live. So go see her if you can. And if you can't, do what I (normally) do and listen to her on repeat.

Au 26 - EL VY

So this business trip turned out to be better than expected. I thought the best part about it would be the fact that I get an extra week in America, a bit of per diem, and 2 free days in New York without having to take leave. But I actually managed to get a lot of good info from my US colleagues. And I ate a lot of barbeque. And some delicious tacos. So it was pretty worthwhile.

I also managed to listen to some new music. I've mentioned before that I'm really bad at keeping up with music while I travel. But I did today, and I found a couple of great new things. One of those things is EL VY. Actually. EL VY is just ok so far, but I am excited about them. It's a side project featuring Matt Berninger from The National and Brent Knopf from Menomena (who I actually have never heard but just know the name of). This song came on and I immediately thought of The National, mainly because of the vocals, and mainly because the vocals are done by the vocalist of The National. So go figure. But I had never heard of them and didn't know of any side projects from The National, so I looked it up and found out I was right and it wasn't just a sound-alike. Their first single, Return to the Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo) is the title track (minus all the stuff in parentheses) from their debut album which is out in October. It's a fun song, pretty poppy for something that I associate so closely with The National (thanks to the vocals), which is why I said they're just ok so far, but I am interested to see what they come up with.

Aug 25 - Bonobo

Today started waaaay too early. I took literally the first flight out of Philadelphia at 5:10 this morning. Which means I went to bed at like 11:45 and woke up at like 3:00. Fun. But I did manage to sleep most of my flights. And when I wasn't sleeping, I finished reading American Gods. And I got a great view of Chicago. I've never been to Chicago, but I've flown through a couple times and love flying in. Always great views.

Now I'm in Texas and back to the real world. Boo. But on the bright side, I ate the local version of Chipotle (called Freebirds, not as good), I ate barbeque (hopefully more to come...) and I went and saw Straight Out Of Compton (good, but a bit all over the place cause I think they tried to pack too much in). And now bed for my one more day of work before I go back to China. But just a quick bit of music, first.

I can't believe I didn't have any Bonobo on the blog, yet, this year. Well, now that is remedied. Today I listened to a lot of Bonobo while on my flight. Mostly while sleeping, but I did make it through all 3 of his albums at least twice each. And I came to form a hypothesis about why the sophomore slump is a thing (it's not a thing with Bonobo, his sophomore album is great, but his third is even better). That theory is you're presenting yourself on the first album and people either like it or not. Then on the second you try some new things and it often doesn't work. And on the third, you settle into your music and really make something good. Bonobo definitely made something great with 2013's The North Borders, but as it turns out my hypothesis doesn't stand because a) his older albums were also great, and b) he does not have 3 albums, he has 5. I need to go listen to those first two. I'm tempted to put Cirrus up on here because it's absolutely incredible, but instead I'm going to put Flashlight, off of last year's Flashlight EP, because it's newer and also incredible. And a great one live. Cirrus is also great live, but only with the full band/orchestra. When he does his stripped down live shows it's not the same, but Flashlight always holds up.

Aug 24 - Stephen A Clark

Yesterday I was drunk, today I'm exhausted and have to leave my hotel at 3am to get on my flight to Texas. Vacation is over. So, we'll be quick. Today you will listen to Not You by Steven A Clark, a new artist that I've got my eye on.

Aug 23 - Broken Social Scene

There were many wonderful things today and now I'm drunk. Too drunk to think about this. Or to recount tales. But trust me, they're good. And most importantly, the wedding was beautiful. So I had to think of a song. And what's better than some Broken Social Scene? Especially when you just spent much time talking to James Foley who I swear also introduced me to them. I really can't go wrong with their music. And I just went on their Soundcloud to see which song to share, which I thought would be easy cause most of the best songs are old, but all the best songs are on there. Lover's Spit, 7/4 (Shoreline), Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, World Sick... Also Feist and Amy Millan and all the wonderful things. I wanted to share Lover's Spit, but they have the Kevin Drew version, which is great but just doesn't work. But Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl is a wonderful (and also kind of depressing) song in every incarnation. But still beautiful. Which means it can convey both the feeling and literal lyrical sentiment and emotion, so it's essentially perfect. Well done Broken Social Scene. You're great. And so is this.

Aug 22 - Hop Along

Today was kind of bittersweet. It was my last day with my parents, which is sad, but I got to see a bunch of friends I haven't seen in a long time, including my good friends James and Lauren, who I'm staying with for the next couple of nights.

My parents and I started out the day with some more La Colombe coffee. It's a Philly institution, we've been told, and we've been having it every day. It's great stuff. In fact, I think I need to buy some of their beans to take back to China with me. My mom has also made friends with one of the barristas. She makes friends everywhere we go, though, so that's no surprise.

After the coffee, we tried to start the day with the Barnes Foundation, a quirky art museum, but we couldn't get in when we wanted, so decided instead to head down for a walk in Society Hill, which was (and it seems still is) the fancy shmancy part of town. We'd seen a lot of old architecture turned into houses yesterday during our walking tour, and even just walking around ourselves the day before, but this part of town is like proper houses where rich people lived back in the day. So it's a lot of beautiful, tree-lined streets, a lot of nice balconies and house fronts, and a lot of mezuzahs. Then was what was supposed to be a highlight of the trip: a Philly Cheesesteak at John's Roast Pork, which we'd been told by a couple people was the best. We, however, were not that impressed. The sandwich was good, but I think every other sandwich we've had (chicken parmesean sandwich at the same place, roast pork sandwich and beef brisket sandwich the other day) were all better. There was nothing at all wrong with the cheesesteak, I think we just aren't huge fans in my family.

After that we finally made it to the Barnes Foundation. It was a bit overwhelming actually. It's a pretty cool concept, overall. This guy (one Dr. Barnes) collected all kinds of art and knick-knacks and arranged them around his house, juxtaposing all kinds of European styles with each other, and even with other mediums (like furniture and jewelry) and other regional types of work (like African and Asian). The idea was to place things together which people would not normally expect, but which share similar elements. It was nice to see the connections in some places, and he did a great job with the symmetry, which is something that makes me very happy. But it was a bit overwhelming. It was just walls packed with things, which made it difficult to appreciate any one thing. And I think the tan walls behind made the whole place feel a bit drab, so I was kind of disappointed in the museum overall. But there were some great pieces. I learned today that I'm a fan of Modigliani and Cezanne. I also really, really loved The Postman by Van Gogh.

That was the end of touristy stuff, but the start of reunion stuff. James and Lauren came to pick me up and we went to Spruce Street Park for a pre-wedding party, so I got to see a bunch of friends from my old Beijing crew. More of that will happen tomorrow, today was pretty quick. And then it was off to dinner with my parents, a few farewells, and out to the suburbs for the night. It's been really nice to catch up with James and Lauren a bit, and we've got like the entire day together tomorrow since the wedding doesn't start until like 4pm, so we'll have more time then as well. Plus we're doing suburby stuff and eating Indian food, so I have that to look forward to. And a wedding. That will be fun, too.

The last thing today is music, which is the song Waitress by Hop Along. I know nothing about them, but James just recommended them to me and told me this song is good, so it is now my song of the day. James is the one who introduced me to Bon Iver, so he'll forever be high in my musical books for that, if nothing else. His exact words at the time were "go buy this album by this band Bon Iver and don't ask me any questions" and he was right and I never looked back. So here's to Hop Along.

Aug 21 - Musiq Soulchild

I swear I like Philly more and more each day. We did a lot of walking today, starting with a walk back to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. Then we walked all the way to old town (and by "all the way" I mean like 15 minutes cause I swear this town isn't all that big. At least not the touristy party of it) for a free walking tour of old town sites, which was great. Then we walked all over the American Jewish Museum, which was also great and a highlight of the day. We got there just in time for a docent's tour (I learned today that a docent is apparently just a fancy word for a volunteer), and we ended up with this lovely, and extremely energetic, old lady named Natalie as our guide. She was fantastic, but the museum itself was also fantastic. It was basically the history of American Jewry, which is really interesting because I've learned so much about global Jewry, but not about American Jewry. Nothing except modern history I guess, but this went all the way back to the 17th century. As it turns out, the first "big" (23 people...) settlement came from Recife, Brazil. Before that, it was just a few people here and there, but no big groups. And it seems there were other settlements of Jews in Latin America back then. I knew there were tons of Jews in Latin America, I just didn't realize it went back that far. But I guess it makes sense since we were all kicked out of Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition in the late 1400s. Anyway, if you're in Philly, go to this museum. Take a docent tour. Hope for Natalie.

Also worth mentioning are the dinners we had last night and tonight. I'd been recommended a place called Abe Fisher's by a friend, which is a restaurant serving modern takes on traditional Jewish food. It was fantastic. And the guy who owns it is (obviously) Jewish and has a few restaurants. One of them is called Zahav and is apparently one of the best restaurants in the city. I couldn't get us a reservation online, but my dad had a little chat with the Israeli manager of Abe Fisher, and he got us at able at Zahav tonight. And boy was it good. Maybe the best meal I've had in America. It's fancy Israeli food, and everything we had was just perfect. And we had a nice Jewish girl as our waitress (there are a lot of them here. I really should be in America...), and then we met the chef/owner. After a short chat he even invited me to come and hang out in the kitchen. It may have only been because I had mentioned I live in Shanghai so he knows I never will, but still, it was nice of him.

As for music, we're going way back today. Like high school days. Whenever I travel I tend to not be as up on new music, hence the throwback. But also because I'm in Philadelphia I thought I should do something related. The obvious choice is The Roots (also a very good choice). But I'm going with Musiq Soulchild, who I love. And with his first single, Just Friends (Sonny), which is still one of his best.

Aug 20 - Vampire Weekend

Today was pretty fantastic, and as a result I decided I really like Philly. First, I really like the buildings. The architecture downtown is great, and north of downtown (the only other place we were today) is also pretty awesome. There's a lot of old, run-down brick buildings, many of which are abandoned. But at the same time it's gentrifying and there are some really great looking places. I'm a fan.

I also really enjoyed what we ate and did. We went to Reading Street Market for lunch, something every single person who gave me recommendations for Philly told me I had to do. And they were all right. It's essentially a food court, but with lots of famous stalls, and also lots of Amish people, and a bit of fresh produce and cheese and meat. We're actually planning to go back in the morning for an Amish breakfast, because as it turns out our hotel is like 3 blocks away.

After that we started walking north to visit the Rodeph Shalom Synagogue. It's the oldest synagogue in Philly and one of the oldest in the US. We got a little tour from a nice, young Jewish lady, and I have to say it is quite impressive. You walk into the chapel and it's just like being back in a big synagogue in Europe. There's a massive domed ceiling, which you actually wouldn't know is there from the outside, and the whole place is hand painted in really intricate, beautiful designs. It's super impressive to see how much space is inside, considering it does not look that big from the outside. And also that there's a synagogue like that here, cause I've never seen one like that in the US.

After that, the goal was to walk over to the Philadelphia Art Museum to see the Rocky Steps and a couple museums, but we got sidetracked by the Eastern State Penitentiary. It's the oldest penitentiary in the US, because before that they just had these sort of holding centers for criminals. The idea behind the penitentiary was to give inmates a chance at penitence through silent, solitary reflection. So basically, it was a prison for only solitary confinement. But each guy had his own little outdoor space and a pretty sizable cell. This was back when it opened in the early 1900s, but then it slowly became like a regular prison, as the population grew and they had to reuse the space for new cells and start giving people cell mates. The place was open and in use until 1971, at which point it was abandoned, and then reopened like 30 years later as a tourist attraction. Most of it was kept in a state of disrepair, which makes it not only super awesome, but also super creepy. Like really fucking creepy. There were definitely some areas I went into (specifically the solitary confinement cells behind the greenhouse) where I just wanted to leave. I think it was probably the creepiest place I've ever been in my life. And they actually do a Halloween horror nights thing where people jump out at you. I do not want to do that. Ever. But I do want to go back and visit again cause I loved that place.

And last was a fancy dinner at Abe Fisher. It's a restaurant my friend recommended, where they've taken traditional Jewish cuisine and made it all modern and fancy. Things like duck blintzes with foie gras. It was good stuff. And my dad had a chat with the GM towards the end, an Israeli guy, and he managed to get us a booking at Zahav tomorrow night, which is an Israeli restaurant from the same owner, and one of Philly's hottest restaurants. So I'm excited for that.

As for music today, it's a song I listened to the other day, recommended to a friend, and heard tonight at Abe Fisher. It is not a new song, it is actually like 5 years old. It's off of Contra, Vampire Weekend's sophomore album (and only good one in my opinion. Actually, it's a fantastic album, but generally I don't get the hype for this band. I'm not a huge fan). I randomly put it on the other day while packing after not having listened to it in forever, and it is still super good. And I think my favorite song on it is Giving Up The Gun, although there are a lot of great ones.

Aug 19 - Daughter

I missed what I think is my first day in August. But I'm allowed a miss here and there. I want to say it was mostly due to being tired, but it was a mix of that and not being able to think of a song and being too tired to figure it out. So I just didn't. Plus it would've been a lot to write. But I'm doing my pre-writing thing now, to sum up yesterday, and I'll finish tonight so as not to miss another.

I think we left off before dinner in NYC on Sunday, which was wonderful. We went to my friend Miguel's restaurant, called El Mono. It's apparently a super hot spot which everyone loves, and I can now tell you why. Obviously because of Miguel. Also the food is great, but you know, Miguel. My friend Adam and his wife Melissa came out with my parents and I, and we ate for about 3 hours. It was the best kind of eating, too, which is tapas where you don't order and just get served wonderful, delicious things, and all share. Plus lots of wine. All in all, a great combination. My favorite dishes were this eggplant starter thing they gave us, a rabbit cooked 3 ways that came towards the end of the meal (and I never liked rabbit before), these massive sardines, and dessert. Specifically bay leaf donuts, which were awesome.

Then we passed out and woke up early and drove to Niagara. It was a long day, and what should have taken 6.5 hours took about 12. But we did some outlet shopping, and we had Five Guys, and upstate New York is really pretty (and super rural, which I knew but still it's surprising just how rural it is). We finally made it to Niagara Falls in time to pass out. Well, my dad had a snack, I passed out. I've been doing that a lot.

And yesterday was the Falls. We had a wander around in the morning and tried out Tim Hortons (which was super disappointing, sorry Canada). On our wander, I realized that Niagara Falls is a super weird town. It's like a mix between a mini Las Vegas (but only Circus Circus) and a mini-golf-kids-playland type amusement park that you'd find on the side of the highway. The Falls themselves are also a bit underwhelming. They're very nice, but I think I've just seen bigger and better, like when I went to Victoria Falls earlier this year. That was awesome. But they are still really nice, and we had a beautiful view from our room. The Canadian side has definitely gotta be the better side, too, so we probably got one of the best views there is of the Falls, period.

We took a short bus tour while we were there, that had two main attractions. The first was the tunnels behind the Falls, which takes you about 150m underground towards the base of the Falls and lets you see them from behind. But it's only got a couple little openings so you actually don't see too much. Then we got to go onto the boat that takes you to the base of the Falls. That was pretty awesome. It's really great to see them up close, and to feel the spray and get soaked. And we had some family selfie fun, in which my mother tried to take selfies, I think for the first time ever, and was not so great at it. She kept looking up at the camera so you'd just see her chin. I had to hold her head in place to get a good one. But she's learning, and we ended up with a hilarious series.

Then today we drove down to Philadelphia. The day did not go well, to put it lightly. We had a few interpersonal issues, as all families do. I won't go into details, but anyway it was not a pleasant day. Which leads me to today's song, Landfill, by Daughter. Beautiful song. Sad song. Fits my mood pretty accurately at the moment.

Aug 17 - Lykke Li

We just made it to Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. It was a very long drive today. Much longer than necessary. What should have been 6 1/2 hours took about 12. We did have a 3 hour stop at the outlets on the way, so that was part of the reason, but still. It was a long day. But New York is pretty. And rural. I knew that it was rural, but like seriously, it's very rural. I'm sure it's great in Autumn though, what with all those trees. That's some prime peeping.

And now we're at our hotel, with a wonderful view of the Falls. Except for the fact that you can't see the Falls cause there's too much mist. So we can just see the mist. Maybe it'll be better in the morning. I'll let you know. But I'm excited to be here and go get a good look. And to be in Canada. I guess we're barely in Canada, but I don't think I've actually been to Canada since like high school. So this is nice.

And on the drive up today I put on a bit of old school Lykke Li. Her latest album, I Never Learn, came out last year and was a bit disappointing. But her older stuff is great. So this is an older song. Get Some, off of 2011's Wounded Rhymes.

Aug 16 - Sjowgren

I made it to America, safe and sound. Had a bit of a bumpy ride, which I didn't sleep well on. Not because of the bumpiness, just didn't sleep well. But I did watch The Neverending Story for the first time in probably 20 years, and it was not great. There is a lot of yelling in that film. Because of bad acting, not because yelling is necessary. But I stilled enjoyed it, from a purely nostalgic standpoint.

And then I landed and the magic began. The magic referring to how quickly I got through customs. Nobody was at the airport. It was nuts. I expected Newark to be crazy and have to wait in line for hours, but there was literally one person in front of me. I kind of want to fly in and out of Newark every time, if it's like then. Then I met my parents and ate a lot. Then I slept (not a lot, more would have been nice). Then I had coffee and brunch with my friend Laura. Then nap. Now here I am, waiting for my parents to get back from their 9/11 Memorial tour so we can go do something on this lovely, warm, sunny day in NYC, before a lovely dinner. So I thought I'd take the chance to write my quick blog. Also, I got my new phone back after it was repaired, same for my new iPod, and I'm not using a VPN. These are all good things.

Seventeen, the first single from Sjowgren, has been on my Spotify a few times since I first heard it in a couple weeks ago. I don't know much about this band, and they only have 3 other demo songs which are just meh, but this song I'm really digging. Looking forward to see what else they come up with, although I do get the feeling it will be somewhat disappointing. I guess we'll wait and see.

Aug 15 - Foals

Well I thought I'd get to the airport early and have time to write at the lounge. But then I didn't get here so early and lines were long and now I've only got like 10 minutes in the lounge. But that might be enough. Let's see.

Yesterday I went to Toastmasters for the first time. I wasn't 100% sure what it was going into it, but I knew it had to do with improving your speaking skills. I think that I'm a perfectly fine speaker, but our CEO has mentioned to me a couple times that he thinks I should take some classes or something (which is ironic, cause he's kind of a monotone, boring speaker himself). I don't think I necessarily need it, but I know it definitely won't hurt. So I looked into it. And while I couldn't find a public speaking course, per se, I found a ton of Toastmasters clubs. One is even run by Caterpillar, so it's also an industry thing and a good networking chance. So I went.

As I learned yesterday, Toastmasters actually is kind of a class. But a self-paced, peer-evaluated class. And it's not just for public speaking, it's training for communication in general as well as leadership. And it was a great, friendly, open environment. So I definitely plan to go again. Plus it will get me out of the office the 2nd and 4th Friday of every month, assuming I'm even in Shanghai. Which I don't think I will be for the next couple. But we'll see, and I'll go when I can.

Ok, that was my big thing to write about. Otherwise I stayed home, relaxed, packed, watched Wet Hot American Summer (the TV show, which is amazing and hilarious), had xiaolongbao, and now I'm at the airport and need to go get on a plane. Luckily I pre-prepped the music part of this, so that'll save me a few minutes.

Today's band really needs no introduction. Foals are putting out their new album, What Went Down, at the end of the month, and I cannot wait. Their last album, Holy Fire, was incredible. Their first two were good, but there was such a progression from the 2nd to 3rd album, it was like a whole new band. Well, kind of the same band, but just a much better version of themselves. Anyway, it's got me super excited for album number 4, at which we've had a few peeks. The first was the title/opening track, which is a solid song. Then there was today's song, Mountain At My Gates, which is fantastic. And the video is really cool. The visuals themselves aren't anything special, but it's an interactive 360 degree video that you can control yourself to see the entire environment. So I'm using the video today instead of Soundcloud or something. Also, last week they put out the single from the album (which is also the closing track), called A Knife In The Ocean, which is also a solid song, and should make a pretty good close to the album.

Aug 14 - Miya Folick

I almost forgot to write my blog today. And now that I've remembered I'm tired and in the middle of watching the Wet Hot American Summer TV show, which is great. So I actually don't want to write. Even though I do have real things to talk about. But I guess I can talk about them while I'm sitting at the airport tomorrow. So for now, just music.

Today's song comes from fellow OC Native Miya Folick. She came onto some playlist or blog or something last week, and she's got a couple of great singles out. The best of which is maybe I Got Drunk. Talking With Strangers is also fantastic, but I think I Got Drunk does a better job of catching someone on a first listen. Her other two singles are also nice, but not on this level, but regardless I'll be looking forward to more from her.

Aug 13 - Compny

Today is a weird and sad day in China news. First we had a huge explosion in Tianjin last night. Luckily everyone I know there was nowhere nearby. We have a factory there, which is on the complete opposite side of the city, so all our employees were safe. But it's absolutely crazy. Apparently a warehouse that was storing dangerous goods, possibly a military warehouse from what I've heard, exploded somehow. They say it's not terror, that it was an accident, but it's still crazy. I've seen videos and stuff, and it's totally nuts. Even more surprising is that they highway, which is littered with destroyed cars and from which you pass right by the warehouse and could still see smoke and fire this morning, is for some reason still open? Weird.

And then this afternoon, some nutter in Beijing took a katana sword, went to Tai Koo Li (formerly Sanlitun Village, which is basically the center of expat life in Beijing, and ten minutes from where I used to live, and where I often used to spend a lot of time when I lived there and even when I go back now), and stabbed a woman. In broad daylight. I heard it was some sort of lover's revenge thing, but that is some crazy shit. China always feels so safe, generally it is, but I guess just like everywhere else in the world we've got our crazies and our accidents. It's just a bit nuts that two massive things like that, which are making global headlines, happened in one day, in two places that I know pretty one.

But on to happier things. Today is my last day in the office. I'm not coming in tomorrow, and then on Saturday I head home. And we also have some music for you, which is fun and upbeat and necessary. Today is another new band who has a few songs out, one of which I love, and I'm therefore posting so that I don't forget about them. That band is Compny (I did not spell that wrong. They did. I guess on purpose? But anyway, it's Compny, not Company). I was able to find out that they are from Brighton and like anonymity and therefore was not able to find anything else out. Everyone seems to be talking about Begging Me to Come Back, their first single, which is a good one, but the song that I love is, coincidentally, called Lovers. How fitting.

Aug 12 - Joanna Newsom

Today was a pretty uneventful day so far. Quiet day at the office with a bit of skyping the sister. This is a quiet week at the office, actually. Which is a nice way to go out. Tonight should be nice, though. Going to an anniversary event at one of the restaurants of one of Shanghai's best chefs. So hooray for that. Oh, also I ate leftover tinga for lunch today. Because I cooked tinga the other day. I don't even have to say tinga, just saying I cooked the other day is shocking enough. But I did.

Yesterday was something new, and today is something old. Well, new, but from someone old. After many years, Joanna Newsom is finally back with new music! She's got a new album, Divers, scheduled for release later this year (which the internet tells me makes 5 years since the release of her last album), and she's just put out the first single off of said album, Sapokanikan. It's less harp-y and more full band-y than some of the songs I love by her (ahem, '81), but nothing too different for her. Which is great. It's still got her quirkyness and personality all over it. So I'm a fan. It may not be her best song ever, but it's a solid comeback (if you can call it that), and sets what I'm hoping is going to be a good tone for her album.

Aug 11 - Count Counsellor

I'm finally moved in and my apartment is all ready. And so today I'll share some pictures with you. It's definitely the best apartment I've ever lived in. I'd even go out on a limb and say it's the best apartment in Shanghai.

I've moved into a building called the Georgia Apartments, which is a historic Shanghai building. It's in the middle of the French Concession, in what is one of the best locations in the city, in my opinion. And it's actually super convenient for me to get to work, too. Or at least about as convenient as it is from anywhere else. My new building was completed back in 1942. It's an art-deco style building designed by Fan Wenzhao (or Robert Fan), a famous US-educated, Shanghainese architect who also designed the Shanghai Concert Hall and Majestic Theater, a couple of the more prominent Shanghai landmarks.

The Georgia Apartments back in 1943

As you can see above, the building is kind of a T-shape with an east and a west wing (west is the one close to you in the picture above), and the central wing which goes towards the back. I'm in the west wing on the 2nd floor, and so I look out at the gardens behind. That park is not there anymore, and the whole area obviously looks nothing like this picture anymore, but the garden between the T is still there, and I can see it from my balcony. Due it's famous architect and art-deco style, it's now on the national register of historic buildings. And I'm sure it helps that it was the first serviced apartment in the city, so when it first opened it was full of celebrities. The original tenant of my apartment was an animator, I've been told by my landlord. Now it's me and a bunch of old people living in the building.

The landlord has redone the apartment really, really tastefully, mixing the art deco history with a lot of Chinese elements. The place felt like somewhere I wanted to live as soon as I first walked in, so I couldn't say no to it. The furniture and everything is fantastic, and mostly custom made. And the landlord has used the space amazingly well to make everything fit together perfectly, create tons of storage space, and make the most of a space that, while not small, isn't huge.

So now the tour. When you first come in, you've got a nice little entry with plenty of storage for all my shoes (there's a lot) and sweaters and coats (there's a lot of those too).

My African masks hanging in the entry

This is connected to the living room to your right, and the kitchen/dining room to the left.

My living room

Like I said, he's combined the art deco elements through small things like the sconces on the lamps and the lines of the place together with some Chinese elements, such as the opium bed couch and red lanterns hanging on the balcony.

My bedroom

The living room also connects to the bedroom, which can be separated by a wall of sliding wooden panels. You can see them on the sides in the picture above, if you notice the hinges. Again, more Chinese elements in the bedside lamps and the carvings on the base of the bed, mixed with the art deco colors and lines. And so much storage!

Looking back at the entry and into the kitchen/dining room

Going back to the left of the entrance you can get into the kitchen and dining room. It's also possible to pass through the bedroom, then into the bathroom, which opens onto both the bedroom and the dining room. Again, like the bedroom, the open space between the entry and the kitchen/dining room can be separated with sliding panels, this time with glass.

Kitchen, complete with an oven you can't see, which is rare in China

Then I've got a lovely open-plan kitchen, which is actually really nice. I had a dinner party on Saturday night, and it was so nice to be able to be working in the kitchen yet still completely involved in everything that was going on.

My first ever real dining room, complete with my first ever real wallpaper

And then we've got my lovely dining room. Because I have a dining room. That's a new one for me. So yeah, I love the place. It actually makes me want to stay in Shanghai longer. I only signed a one year contract, but I never want to leave the place.

I hope you like the place as much as I do. And I hope it makes you want to come and visit. I don't have an extra bedroom anymore, but I do have the big opium couch which is great for sleeping on. And a big bed that I can share, assuming I like you enough. So come on over!

And for a wonderful new apartment, some wonderful new music. Today it's from Count Counsellor, this new band out of the UK. They just put out their first EP, & The Childhood Heroes, which I think is technically the title, but I believe it's supposed to be read together with the band name, e.g. Count Counsellor & Childhood Heroes. The first track, Cloud Calls, is great, but always confuses me because it makes me think the band name starts with Cloud and then I'm wrong. But the song is great.




Also great is the next track, Disco Dodo. This was the first song I heard by them, and maybe my favorite. Although they only have 4 songs on the EP, and 3 of them are all really really good (the 4th, although actually the 3rd track, is just good, not really really good). So also Disco Dodo for today, because this is a share on facebook day and these days get two songs. Sadly on Soundcloud they only have the Radio Edit, which is about 2 minutes shorter than the EP edit, but on my Spotify playlist you'll get the whole thing.

Aug 10 - Adult Jazz

My week is off to a pretty slow start, so now I'm just counting down the days until America. Luckily it's only 4 days in the office, maybe even 3.5. As long as it's not 5 days I'm good, though. And the highlight of today was making Tinga, which turned out really well. Cy and Lizzy came over to eat it with me, and we all enjoyed it very much. Now I'm tired.

But before bed we will listen to Adult Jazz. I listened to their album a couple times this weekend, and can't believe I've gone for a period of months without listening to it. It is so amazing. It was one of my favorites last year, which came up out of nowhere to surprise me, but with good reason. So here is Spook.

Aug 9 - Nadine Shah

Today was a pretty wonderful, pretty lazy day. My dinner party went really well last night, except for one almost hitch, where the stove wouldn't turn on when we tried to use it. But we called the gas company and they showed up in about 15 minutes instead of the 4 hours they said, so we got lucky and everything went well. And so did the dinner. And now I know how to make chicken piccatta. If only I knew how to spell it...

Surprisingly, I felt pretty good today. I say surprisingly not because I drank a lot (which I did), but because I have been sick and so only intended to drink 1 glass of wine, which turned into much more than 1 glass of wine, so I totally expected to wake up even sicker than I began. But oddly I woke up feeling even better. I blame it on the salad dressing my friend Cy made (which was full of citrus and vitamin C and deliciousness) and the lemon sauce (which was full of butter and probably helped smooth things out in my throat).

Then today was spent relaxing and antiquing. And eating burritos. I went to the big antique warehouse out in Pudong, in search of a stool to put by the door to put my shoes on, and a couple of small trays, one for food and one for candles. I ended up with pretty much exactly what I wanted. The stool isn't the shape I had in mind, but it's nicer than what I was imagining, so that's good. And one of the trays is bigger than I intended to buy, but it's exactly the style I want and I love how it looks on my coffee table. Which reminds me, my favorite moment last night was when my one friend told me that my place looked really well curated and lived in. I always think I have a way of picking out nice things, but then have no idea what to do with them once I've got them. But apparently I'm getting better at that! So that made me very happy.

After antiques, it was just chilling out, and I started watching the new season of True Detective, which is pretty great so far. I don't think it'll compare to Season 1 (that seems to be the consensus), but I'm 2 episodes in and I like it. And there's this singer girl in it who plays at the background in some bar scenes, who I've learned is called Lera Lynn. I really like what she's doing in the show, and intend to find out more about her, but in the meantime I'll put a new (to me) artist who reminds me of her, Nadine Shah. I actually have been meaning to post about Nadine for a while and just never got around to it. I gave her new album, Fast Food, a listen a few times when it first came out, and it took me some time to make my mind up about it. But I decided I'm a fan. A pretty big fan. So here's Divided, probably my favorite track off of Fast Food.

Aug 8 - Maximum Balloon

Today has been a pretty successful day, and it's only 4pm! The morning started with things getting repaired around the apartment, and my internet being upgraded (it's still kind of shitty though, cause China), the dim sum which I've been craving, and errands. Mostly grocery shopping, which I never do. But I'm having a dinner party tonight and I want to make tinga later this week, so I've been preparing. My apartment is also in order now, we hung up the masks and everything and it's all good to go. Right in time for a dinner party.

But before everyone comes by and I get busy, a bit of music. Today is Apartment Wrestling by Maximum Balloon feat. David Byrne. This is a side project by Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio and it's got some great tracks, and great collaborations. The album is already like 5 years old, but it's a good one.

Aug 7 - Ryan Adams

After a relatively easy week, for some reason Friday turned out to be really stressful. I am so glad it's the weekend now. But I'm not even drinking because after last night's drinking my cold, which was getting better, is back and my throat is not happy. So I didn't even get a celebratory weekend drink. I will tomorrow, though. I didn't stop me from going out, though. I almost stopped me from going out, but my friend invited me to meet her and some of her friends, and she was at a restaurant/bar around the corner from the supermarket I had to go to, so how could I say no? So I hung out and drank tea, and it was really nice.

Another point of interest today was the weird rain. There's another tyhpoon headed our direction. We had a big one a few weeks ago, or at least what was supposed to be a big one and turned out to just be constant light rain all weekend. Today we had short bursts of torrential downpours, which are coming from the tail end of the largest typhoon of the year, which is passing near Shanghai but not over Shanghai. So we'll have a rainy weekend, unfortunately, but all the more reason to stay at home in my new apartment.

No more remixes for today's music. But in the theme of "things that I'm not always crazy about but sometimes happen to really, really like," today's song is from Ryan Adams. Ok, I should admit, I can't actually say I'm not always crazy about him. I haven't listened to that much by him. I heard last year's self-titled album, which was pretty good. And then yesterday I found out he released a new single a couple weeks ago, titled Willow Lane. The title track is pretty good, like most of his music, but the second track, Yes or Run, is fantastic. Then there's this weird third track that we can just not talk about. But Yes or Run, let's talk about that. And let's also talk about the fact that this guy put out an album last year, and has already put out like 5 singles this year, all of which have like 3 tracks, and all of which are (to my knowledge) new. At least they weren't on last year's album. Which means he's actually put out more music in singles this year than he did in an album last year. If that's not a fan pleaser, I don't know what is. So kudos to you, Mr. Adams. And thanks for this song.

Aug 6 - Banks

I had a sort of "cheat day" today at work. I didn't go to the office, instead I did some site visits at hotels for a trade show next year. In like 15 months. But it's actually gotta be done now cause it's the largest trade show in China and we have budget considerations, and standards. So that makes it tough for me. But anyway, spent the morning looking at hotels, then came home at like 2:30 and managed to get my apartment in order! Like, totally in order. Well, not totally totally, but like 99%. And that's pretty good. Just gotta hang a few things. It'll get done Saturday morning. By Saturday, my apartment will be 100%, and I can't wait. And there's a typhoon coming, which means I can have a legitimate excuse to sit here and enjoy it.

The other high point today was finding out that there's such a thing as Pudong cuisine, which is different from Shanghai cuisine, even though Pudong is in Shanghai. Pudong is east Shanghai, the part that nobody ventures to unless you work there, have a trade show, or like 9 children and got sent here by your company from America or Europe but are not at all interested in actually feeling like you're in China. But back in the day it was a real place, and they developed their own cuisine, and today I tried it. And it was damn good. I'm taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow. It's kind of similar dishes to Shanghai food, but better flavors and not as sweet (which is the typical identifying point of Shanghai food). I was told it tends to be oilier cause they use a lot of soy sauce, but all the soy sauce is home made cause it was originally farmers making Pudong food, so they'd just use the sauce they made at home, which means it's not nearly as salty as what you and I think of when we think of soy sauce. The food was great. I need to take friends. And any visitors, cause it's actually an awesome and very local/insider Shanghai thing to do when you think about it. So good day all around. Then birthday drinks with friends (not my birthday. Duh). Good day.

To keep in the theme of remixes I actually like (which I started yesterday), today we're listening to Banks. This is not the first time I've blogged about her. This isn't even the first time I've blogged about her this year. She's pretty great (although somewhat disappointing live). And since I already blogged about her once, I feel very ok sharing a remix. And surprisingly it's one of my favorite tracks by her (sort of by her, I guess it's also by someone else). That track being the Snakehips remix of Warm Water. What I love about this remix (aside from the sound of it) is the fact that it maintained the original vocals and lyrics, instead of cutting them up and just using them as another element of sound, like so many remixes do. He's taken a very sparse (but very pretty) song and turned it into something amazing, and amazingly fun.

Aug 5 - Gallant

I wised up today and wrote my music part of the blog at work. Now I just have to fill in this little bit about my day. Which was, as usual, an uneventful work day, but then a very eventful dinner. There's a place called La Coyota in Shanghai, it's a Mexican shop with a little restaurant. Not even a restaurant, just a kitchen really where they make tacos and burritos and flautas and stuff, then they have a couple stools or you can take it to go. I've eaten it before at events, and it is the best Chinese food I've had in Asia. They used to have a small location, now they have 2, and now in my new apartment both of them are within like 5 minutes of me.  By bike, but on foot it'd still only be 10-15 to either. Which makes me a very happy boy, because they make legit Mexican food. So I'll be there at least once a week now, I'd say!

Today's song is actually a remix. Well, I think I'll put the original and the remix. I don't usually get that into remixes, though there are some exceptions, and this is one. It all started today when Gallant came onto a playlist on Spotify. Spotify apparently now has this weekly tailored playlist that they make me. They give me 30 songs a week, and actually most of them are from artists I haven't heard. I've listened for 2 weeks now, and it's very hit or miss. Generally the playlist is pretty good, but there are only a few artists I actually follow up with and listen to more of. Last week there was one, but this week there's like 4, one of whom is Gallant. I swear I've heard this guy before, or at least heard his name. As soon as I went to his Spotify page and saw the cover image for the single Weight in Gold (today's song, by the way) I recognized it. I guess he's been on other blogs or something. It's pretty minimalistic, but I like it.



So I heard Weight in Gold and got pretty into it. It also helped that the related artists on Spotify include JMR and Azekel, two other up and coming artists that I blogged about earlier this year, and Stephen A. Clark, someone else who came onto my radar recently. During my viewing of his page, I saw there was also a Ta-ku remix of Weight in Gold. And it also caught my attention. A lot. I especially love that little cymbal hit that starts about 20 seconds in.




He's had a few more singles this year, as well as an EP last year, Zebra, which are

Aug 4 - Oscar

I've decided to go ahead and write at work today. It used to be super easy because we had a sort of VPN that let me access sites blocked by China which weren't blocked by the company. So I could get onto YouTube and my blog, but not Facebook because the company blocked that one. Now I can't. So I never write at work anymore. But today I'm a bit bored. Well, I've been a bit bored since I got back to the office. I'm working on a few things, but they're pretty tedious and long, so I'm taking them in small bits. So today, blogging becomes another form of procrastination. No progress has been made on my apartment because I've been asleep and at work since I last wrote, but I think it will be done tomorrow. I hope. We'll see. Soon anyway. I should be able to have my housewarming on Saturday, but just in case I'd rather wait and make sure everything is in order, and just have my housewarming once I'm back from my trip to the US and Tokyo. So that probably means Sept 12. But I think I will try to have some people over on Saturday night anyway because I want to show off. Maybe I'll even cook! I found out I can get chorizo at this Mexican market, so if I actually can then I'll probably try to make my mom's tinga, which is the best thing ever.

Ok now that I've rambled on about nothing long enough, I'll ramble a little bit about music. Today's music is Daffodil Days, by Oscar. This is off of his Beautiful Words EP, which came out back in June. This guy is getting some good buzz, but I actually don't like him very much. This song is the exception. This song I love.

Aug 3 - Regina Spektor

The house is starting to look like a real house! I'm about 75% of the way done I'd say. Everything is unpacked, and things are somewhat in place, but there's also still a lot scattered around waiting to find a home. But so close! I can't wait to be finished. It was another long day of unpacking after work today, but tomorrow will be a bit of a break as I have dinner plans. Although I am gonna try to make plans turn into ordering in... We'll see.

Today's song comes to you by way of Regina Spektor. I'm not a huge fan of hers, but I do like her more than average. I feel like most of the time, she makes good solid music. But when she gets something right, it is amazing and perfect. And, as I mentioned yesterday, I feel like at this point in the year I should also start thinking about what songs have to get into my year in music. One of those is Us, by Regina Spektor. It is one of my favorite songs ever. And it is by far her best song. Although don't get me wrong, she does have plenty of fantastic ones. But this is the best.

Aug 2 - Nina Simone

I am so exhaused. I spent the weekend moving, and now I'm ready to just pass out. But I have a bit more unpacking to do first. So I'm gonna make this quick.

I missed a day yesterday cause my internet wasn't quite set up. It's still not completely set up, but it's alright. I am going to make it 25 times faster than it currently is though, so that'll be nice. But even though I didn't post yesterday, I knew exactly what I wanted to post. And that was what I listened to as soon as I got into the apartment. Nina Simone. And the first song I put on was Feeling Good. Which just happens to be one of my favorite songs of all time, so actually it wouldn't be a proper year in music on my blog without this song. It is also very fitting for my apartment, cause it's also an old, historic Shanghai building. Art Deco style. Beautiful place. And it just fits this kind of old jazz. I've been listening to it a lot since I moved in. Once the place is all in order I'll tell you more about it and post picture. But for now, Nina.