Feb 27 - Anderson .Paak

I actually don't have so much to say. It's just been back to work and back to life here in Shanghai. Been hanging out, seeing friends, eating, drinking. The usual. I took an Indian cooking course the other night and learned how to make 2 curries, which was quite fun. And last night was my friend Graeme's 20s themed birthday party which was also very fun. And tonight will be Supper Club again, which will hopefully be better than last time. But yeah, not super exciting, just life, which is fun.

I also got a few new albums, 2 of which I've already shared music from in the past (Lushlife and Jack Garratt, both of whose albums are great and you should listen to), so today we're going with the other one, Anderson .Paak, a blasian artist from California. It's more hip-hop, which I always like sharing because I do enjoy it but don't listen to much, so it's nice when I find something I like and want to share. He put out his sophomore album, Malibu, last year, and it's a good one. Parking Lot is my favorite.




Upon looking for that song on Soundcloud, I found out that the entire album is actually up on Soundcloud. So go listen to the whole thing. And to convince you more, I'm going back to the 2 song posts, and sharing Am I Wrong, the first song I heard by him and what I assume is maybe the biggest hit/single off the album? It's also a great one.

Feb 21 - Savages

Luckily today's entry is the shortest of our three, because i was out until 4 am and have done next to nothing today except get a massage and I just want to go to bed now. But I have to finish this post/trip. And our last stop was Munich.

My parents and I flew back to Munich from Tromso (well, back for me, but there for them). We got in late on the Saturday, and then ended up waiting in ridiculous lines to pick up the rental car. And it didn't help that we waited in the wrong line and then had to wait again. And if you include the time waiting for luggage and everything, then getting out of Munich airport took us longer than the flight from Stockholm to Munich. It was ridiculous. But luckily at the end of it all were the Mangs.

I always stay with them in Germany, and have definitely written about them (and their 5-year-old son Henry, my best friend) many times, and now they got to meet my parents. They even hosted my parents. They're the best. We had Sunday together, and decent weather, so we went for brunch and then out for a long walk in the English Garden. It was great. We watched some surfers, we had some chats, we saw puppies and horses, and we sat in a beergarden and had lunch and beers. That was pretty much the day. It was fantastic.

Then it was back to work for me. My parents were pretty much just hanging out in Munich and being tourists while I went to work, and then we'd hang out in the evenings. Which pretty much just meant having dinner together and chatting for a while, nothing too exciting since everything was already closed by the time I got back. But it was very nice, and anyway the point was to spend time with my parents, which I did. They did take the train up to Schrobenhausen to meet me one day, and I showed them around town then we had dinner in a 12th century abbey/brewery on the way back to Munich, so that was something. But otherwise, just hanging out. It was great. And then I left and came back to China and they went on to Dresden (where they are now) and tonight will go to Berlin. Then home on Wednesday. I'll still be in Shanghai on Wednesday. At the office. Boo.

See, nice and short. And music should be quick too, cause it's a band I've shared before. Savages put out their new album, Adore Life, in January, and I listened to it (and subsequently purchased it) during the trip. It's a great one. I surprisingly love it. I wasn't so into the first album until I saw them live (they put on a great, energy-packed live show), but this second one I'm totally down with. My favorite track is Adore. I think it may even make it to my favorite tracks of the year. And it's surprisingly not so rock-y. In fact it reminds me of some of Jeff Buckley's more rock heavy songs. But it's beautiful and fantastic and I especially love the end when all the music stops and the vocals come to front and center, loud and clear, and she declares that she adores life. Great song. Great lyrics. Loving it, and this entire album.

Feb 20 - Escapists

I originally planned for these three posts to come on three consecutive days. But my brain was not working properly after the flight last night. I had plenty of time to write, since I made it home early evening and cancelled the plans I had to just stay in. But I cancelled those plans for the same reason I didn't write. Plus now I can just write on Saturday and Sunday instead, which is also good.

After Stockholm we flew to Tromso, Norway, where we were spending a few days trying to see the Northern Lights. We had like a 7 hour layover in Oslo on the way, though, so took the chance to go into town for a few hours. The plan was to go to City Hall first. I think it's where the Nobel Peace Prize is actually awarded, and if it's anything like the Stockholm one it's gorgeous. But we got there only to find out we couldn't get in because they were filming a movie in it. So our second stop was the Viking Ship Museum (after a detour thanks to getting on a bus we were told would take us there, but which took us far away from there). It's a small museum, but they have 3 reconstructed viking ships from like the 7th century, which after being decommissioned were used as burial mounds for rich and important people. So they've got 2 of the ships in amazing condition, thanks to the way they were buried, plus a bunch of other really cool viking stuff that was found in the ships. The weird part about it was that everything they wrote seemed to be conjecture, as if they didn't have any written Viking records that would tell them about customs back then. So now I want to read more about Vikings, mainly to find out if they had a written language or not. I guess that would be easy enough to just Google, though. As fun as all that sounded, I have to say I'm not a huge fan of Oslo (based on only like 5 hours, so I guess I can't really talk). The weather was pretty terrible (in fact, it snowed pretty hard from the time we entered the museum until we left Oslo, and it was kind of rainy before that), and the city itself just isn't very pretty. Especially coming from Stockholm, which is. But we made the most of it, and then hopped back on a plane to get to Tromso.

Tromso is in the far north of Norway, up in the Arctic Circle, and is supposed to be one of the best places to see the Northern Lights. It's on most top 5 lists, and I chose it for two main reasons. First, all the glass igloo hotels were fully booked, so I wasn't going to go to one of the towns with those, and second because they actually have a lot of activities to do in case we didn't see the lights. Our first night we sat grumpily in the hotel because our luggage got lost on the way, but from the next day the fun began. My friend Min was also up in Tromso, so we met up with her and did a little bit of exploring in town. It's a tiny place, but very cute. And then we had our first excursion booked to go and try to see the lights that night. We got driven about half an hour out of town to a campsite where we basically sat around and our guide told us about Norway and the lights and we waited to see them, which failed because the weather was terrible and completely overcast. So it was a pretty disappointing night, except for the fact that it was at one of the largest husky breeding sites in the world, so we got to see all the huskies (including some adorable 2 week old puppies).

Day 2 was much better. We started with a cruise through the fjords, which was gorgeous. We wanted to do it just to go see the fjords, but as it turned out we caught the end of whale watching season (which I looked up and was sure was over, but luckily the internet was wrong!) and managed to see some whales, which was pretty sweet. The cruise was awesome, and was followed by our next night activity. This time we went like 90 minutes outside town to try and get to a different climactic zone, and we had a bit of luck. We went reindeer sledding (but only because dog sledding was fully booked already), which was pretty slow and not as exciting as I thought, but the reindeer were nice and we did manage to see just the tiniest bit of lights. We actually didn't even know we were seeing the lights at first because they were so weak, so they just looked like glowing white clouds. But they were in fact the lights. It was Min's last chance to see them, so she's glad she did, but after that experience she says she needs to go try again next year. I would agree.

The next day Min left, and we ended up having a very quiet day because it was snowing pretty hard all day. In fact, we didn't even try because the weather was so bad. So we just went to the Arctic Museum, which is about Arctic hunting, and hung out. Nothing too exciting. Our last day was much better weather-wise, but we had no day activities planned. So again mostly just hanging out and we went to Polaria, which is a museum about the North Pole and also an aquarium. It was pretty fun, and we got to watch the seals get fed and do tricks. Then we had another excursion planned to try and see the lights our last night. We did one of the Northern Lights chaser tours, which is probably my best recommendation if you go try to see them. There are companies that have a van, and basically just call around to weather stations to find out where the best weather is, then they take you there. If you don't see the lights or the weather is bad, then they move on to another spot. So you're literally just chasing the lights all night. Luckily for us, there was minimal chasing and maximal lighting. They took us to this placed called Sommeroya, about an hour from Tromso (and actually where we'd been to see the whales). We got to this spot and just had amazing, clear weather the entire time. And the lights were just starting up as we arrived. Similar to the previous attempt, they were quite weak, but this time we knew what we were looking for so could tell they were the lights and not just clouds. And as we waited they started to spread out and there was a lot more. And for the next 2+ hours, they just kept going, spreading all over the sky and flaring up in intensity from time to time, which means we actually got to see green and see them dancing when they were stronger. It was pretty awesome to finally see, and we were very lucky to have it going for that long. Normally they only last for like 15 minutes or so. So I don't feel like I have to go and try again, but I definitely will. I know they can get better, and I want a big, bright show. So maybe next time in Iceland or Alaska or something...

That was pretty much it for Norway, because we left the next day to fly back to Germany. Which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

All that's left for today is music, and today's music is Escapists. This is another band whose newest album, Only Bodies, I also got during the trip. It's from 2014, and I actually first heard them on their newest single, Pyramid Scheme, which I assume is from an upcoming album. But I also liked the last album so I bought it. I don't think it's anything really amazing, but I like the sound a lot and it's somehow nostalgic for me. I feel like when I was starting to get into non-mainstream music towards the end of high school, I was listening to a lot of bands like this, and a lot of singer-songwriters. I can't think of who they remind me of, but they remind of someone and of that time. So I'm a fan. Blood is the stand-out track on Only Bodies for me, hopefully you enjoy.

Feb 18 - Emilie & Ogden

We're gonna make this post a 3-parter. It's been a couple weeks and a lot has happened, so 3 parts. Firstly because the last 3 weeks can be split into 3 distinct parts (Stockholm, Norway and Germany), and also because I bought 3 new albums during that time (or pre-ordered albums were released, same-same) so it's covering three songs.

First off: Stockholm. Last time I wrote I was also sitting here at Munich airport on my way to Stockholm, but this time I'm on my way back to Shanghai. Well, I went to Stockholm and it was great. Last time I went I didn't like it so much. Mostly cause of the weather and I felt the city was dirty and just unimpressive, but it was totally different this time. Not sure why, cause the weather still wasn't great. Maybe it was just nice to be there with my parents and a couple of local friends. Those friends were Mathias, who I've written about before, probably when he was my neighbor in Singapore and when he had his internship in Shanghai last year. And then there was Carl, who I stayed with. Carl was my flatmate when I studied in Shanghai over 10 years ago, and it's probably been 7 or 8 years since we've seen each other. But I had to run to his apartment, drop my bags off, and then head out. I was on my way to the Daughter concert, and he was actually on his way to see Tame Impala.

So I ran off to see Daughter with Mathias. Which, as expected, was amazing. 6th time's the charm! Actually I shouldn't say that. I think it makes it sound like the first 5 weren't charming. But they sure were. This show was also great cause the new album makes for excellent live performances, which I expected, and they played a great mix of new and old and older. Still not The Woods, my favorite, but all around a fantastic show. Then I had nachos, which was super disappointing because it was just chips with some sour cream, salsa and guacamole on the side. Not even cheese. But I guess that's what you get for having your first meal in Scandinavia be Mexican. It wasn't by choice, though. Mathias hadn't eaten, didn't know the area, and the bar we stumbled in to only had nachos to eat. So there you have it. Then Carl met us and we went to meet up with some of his friends at a club around the corner. It was a late night, which was great for the jetlag (which, actually, I didn't really have).

Day two started out by going to meet my parents. They had arrived late on Friday night, so we met up and had lunch, and they met Carl. This was my first real meal, and it was proper Swedish, so don't worry. Mathias also came and had lunch with us, and we wandered the city together for hours and had a really, really nice day. Not too much to report, really, from Day 1 in Stockholm, as we just wandered around and looked at stuff and chatted. It was great. But then when night fell we had big plans. Carl took us to see Swedish (not so) pro-wrestling. I have never seen pro-wrestling before in America, not even on TV for more than like 2 minutes, but it was amazing. It was a shitty little venue that is usually a dirty club, but they put a ring in the middle and had a big Battle Royale. We thought we'd only stay for a couple hours, but we ended up there the entire time, like three and a half, cause it was so much fun. It was so dumb, but so amazing. The characters are ridiculous (and a lot of them are also really, really gay. Not sure where that came from). The best was probably the mime, though. Yes, a mime. Amazing. And this was followed up by a Viking restaurant. Seriously, what a fantastic night? We actually only got into the bar section of the restaurant at first, cause it was super crowded. We actually even had to wait half an hour for that. And when we finally made it in we drank mead. Which is gross. So we stopped and drank really strong beer instead. The place is like a cellar with a bunch of shields and wait staff (and guests) in costume (which made me wish I had a costume) and they have live medieval music playing. It's a ton of fun. We finally made it into the restaurant part where the music is, but it was too late for food, so we just drank more and watched the musicians. It was a fantastic night. I definitely want to go watch more Swedish wrestling. And I want to go back to the restaurant and actually eat. I assume it's just tons of meat you eat with your hands, and I like that.

Day 3 was, once, again just seeing the city with my parents. We did do a couple museums, though. The Vasa Museum, which is a huge museum with a 17th century ship that sunk 20 minutes into it's maiden voyage and is hailed as Sweden's biggest embarrassment. So why not make a museum about it? It's pretty sweet cause they actually have the entire ship rebuilt in this building, and 90% of it is original. It was the one thing I didn't do in Stockholm last time I was there that I wanted to, so luckily I made it this time. Then we saw Mathias off at the train station and went to Fotografiska, which is a fantastic photography museum. They usually have like 4 or 5 exhibits going on at a time. This time two were good and two were not, but I really enjoyed it. Then it was bed and up early for our flight to Norway. Which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

One of the albums that I bought during this trip is 10,000, the debut album from Emilie & Ogden. Don't be fooled by the name. This Canadian band actually has 3 members. Emilie is obviously the singer (as you will know if you listen to the song), but neither of the men in her band are called Ogden. So I can only assume Ogden is her harp, which features prominently on the album. Which means she obviously reminds me of Joanna Newsom. And her quirky voice helps too, but Joanna is quirkier (and better...) . But she also reminds me of Feist at times, and Florence + The Machine at times, and according to her facebook profile also St. Vincent, but I don't get that one. Anyway, she makes very nice music and I like her album. So you can now enjoy the title track, Ten Thousand.

Feb 5 - Mura Masa

Now that I finished up with my time back in China, it's time for a quick rundown of this week. Which was spent in Germany. I arrived on Monday morning, 3 hours late due to a delay leaving Shanghai because our plane was frozen. They said they had to de-ice it, so I assume that's what they meant. It started snowing in the afternoon so everything froze and then we had to sit and wait for 3 hours for what I can only assume is the only de-icer at Pudong (because really how often would they need it? Total fluke). It actually didn't bother me, though, because I just passed out. For most of the flight. Which was perfect. I did watch Amy (good film) and Mad Max: Fury Road (terrible film), but other than that I pretty much just slept. What's not to like?

And then I was in Germany. I'm here for work, and my week was full of meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. I guess that's the only thing to report about the week. I ate food, I went to meetings, I slept... So fun. That's really all there is to do in Schrobenhausen, though. And now I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to Stockholm to go see a couple friends, a concert, and my parents.

Seeing as I'm going to see a concert, I should share a song by the band I'm seeing. That would be what I normally do. That band is Daughter, one of my favorites. And actually the first time I saw them was also in Stockholm, 3 years ago. So now we're coming full circle. But I'm not going to share one of their songs because I had them on my blog like 6 times last year, which is ridiculous, and I have a ton of other music to share at the moment. I'm sure I'll share them at some point this year, but for today it's going to be Mura Masa instead. He's a new producer who was also longlisted on BBC's Sound of 2016, and he's pretty great. He's got some good collaborations, too. Closest sound I can think of is SBTRKT, which is of a course a wonderful comparison. I've only heard his Someday Somewhere EP, not sure what else is out there. Except for today's song, Love For That, a stand alone single featuring Shura.

Feb 3 - Radiohead

I realized that yesterday I didn't explain why Daniel moved in. I hinted at it, but that was all. While I was in the States he texted me to ask if I knew someone who had a short term rental available, because he had sadly broken up with Daliah, his girlfriend of 6 years. That being the case, he has no idea what he's doing with his life and doesn't want to find a new place because he's not even sure he's going to stay in China. So he came to stay with me, is using my apartment while I'm gone, and will soon go traveling for a bit and figure out his life and what to do with it and where to go with it. I'm hoping it's back to Shanghai. Or maybe to NYC and then I'll go also and we'll be roomies and it will be great. But until then, mi casa es su casa.

He's on his own now, though, cause I'm in Germany. I'm here for work. But I'll try to write about that tomorrow. Or maybe Friday at the airport. Just fill you in on what's going on this week before I have my Chinese New Year vacation next week and have even more to write about. So expect a 3rd post this week!

Music today is also quick. Radiohead obviously needs no introduction. They put out a new song recently, called Spectre, which (as you  may have guessed) was a candidate for the new Bond film theme. But then it wasn't the new Bond film theme for whatever reason. Sam Smith was. Which is fine, cause he's great too. And Radiohead still decided to share the song, so that was nice of them.

Feb 2 - Jack Garratt

I totally intended to write this blog last week, but time got away from me. It was a pretty crazy week. I got back from the States on a Wednesday, and as it turned out a friend moved into my place on Thursday. This friend being Daniel. I know Daniel originally through his (ex) girlfriend Daliah, the owner of the restaurant Daliah's, which I've written so much about. In fact, Daniel and Daliah are the ones I was out with until like 4am that one time and we ended up at a gay dance party and then Daniel became my boyfriend. Remember that? Well, sadly they broke up, and since Daniel and I are boyfriends he moved into my place for a week, and is now using it while I'm out of town (I'm in Germany now).

I was happy to help him out, but when he first moved in I was a bit hesitant about it, only because I recently lived with someone and just did not want to be living with anyone. I love my private time and personal space, and don't want it invaded. But it did not feel that way at all with Daniel. It was an absolute pleasure having him around. It reminded me of living with Rich back in Beijing, which was also an absolute pleasure. And Daniel and I get along fantastically. I would honestly say that in the last 2 weeks he's probably become one of my best friends. He's a fantastic guy and we just have a great time together, always, and never run out of things to talk about. And if we do, then we sit on the couch and watch Curb Your Enthusiasm together. It's pretty perfect. So yeah, that was the big news from my time back in Shanghai post-America. Other than that, there were a few good meals (of particular note was dinner at El Willy, one of my favorite Shanghai places, which I wore my new tuxedo jacket out for), and I saw Star Wars (quite disappointing, and a fell asleep a few times because of jetlag). Ummm, what else...? I bought a bunch of warm weather clothes at Uniqlo.... The weather was -7 C one weekend, which is the coldest in Shanghai in 30 years.... I went to synagogue once.... I had a date.... I really think none of these are really worth going into at length, but they did all happen.

I also finally listened to the BBC Sound of 2016 artists, and this year's winner is today's artist. Jack Garratt. He's British and has his first album, Phase, coming out next month, and today's song is Worry off of that album (notice how I called it today's song? And today's artist? I think I need to get out of that habit since I'm not doing daily blogs anymore. And I can also start sharing more than one song from an artist if I want, since it's not the song of the day anymore. But none of these changes will happen today). If you're a fan of Chet Faker, you will be a fan of Jack Garratt. I actually don't know why he didn't end up on my radio sooner, since he's already put out 2 or 3 EPs, and he's right up my alley. But I definitely think that he's a great candidate for the potential sound of 2016. It's a sound I would not mind having as my annual soundtrack. Not one bit.