I think this is probably going to be my last blog post of the year. I'm sitting at the airport waiting to fly to India for New Year's (plus a weeklong vacation!), so I doubt I'll blog much while there. But it is Friday night and I want to get something else in, so we're going to have a couple of fun, Friday night songs. Even if I am spending my Friday night on a plane. I'm on my way to have fun, so that counts for something, right?
I will have to come back and update this later with actual videos, though. I should have done this at the office today when the VPN was working well, but now I'm on my tablet on mobile data with a sketchy VPN connection and I can't put in songs. So if you read this before there are songs, go find them yourself. Otherwise, sorry I just wasted your time with this entire paragraph. Anyway, here we go!
I am currently listening to The Hundred In The Hands. I found this band years ago, and then they dropped off my radar. But I have their first album, and I liked it back in the day. Now they have put out a new album, called Love In The Black Stack. Apparently it's their 3rd. I somehow missed their 2nd album. Or at least I think I did, but it came out 5 years ago, so I'm not sure. But I almost missed the 3rd one. The only reason I found it is because one of the DJs from my local (to LA, not Shanghai) NPR affiliate put it on her year end top 10. I'm not sure it belongs there, but it is a fun album. And the opening track, Red Eyes Rising, is pretty amazing. Overall the album is just ok, it opens super strong (as you can hear), has a couple great tracks, then gets pretty average pretty quick. But this song is definitely worth many listens.
The second track comes from Lafa Taylor, a West Coast producer and rapper. And it is also an opening track. This one is Turn My Music Up, the opener off of one of his 2 EPs he put out this year. I only heard this EP, Feel, but I should probably go listen to the other. And maybe even his older ones, cause this song is super fun. So there's two fun songs for a Friday night, and also for New Year's Eve since I proably won't get back to you before then. So enjoy!
Holy shit, what a boring day at work. There is nothing to do. And I actually have staff here today. Nobody will be here for the next two days. I can only imagine how bad it's gonna get. I might have to watch a movie or something. And with my staff gone, that's actually not impossible....
But oy am I bored today. And I'll stay bored tonight. I had a very quiet weekend, which I wanted. After having all those visitors and staying super busy, now nobody is here anymore so I took the chance to be non-social. I did yoga Saturday and Sunday, and I actually went on a Tinder date on Saturday for lunch (it was meh, nothing to report), but then I just stayed home and watched tv and movies and read and relaxed. Sunday was a bit more social. We did a non-traditional traditional Jewish Christmas. Basically, 2 Jews, 5 Chinese and 1 real Christian guy went out to lunch, but instead of Chinese food we had Indian food. Good alternative. And I'll order in Chinese tonight. And I went to the movies and watched Loving Vincent, which is a beautiful, hand-painted film. Pretty spectacular actually. Oh! And on Friday I booked my ticket to Australia for Chinese New Year! As well as LCD Soundsystem tickets, and Laneway tickets, and I'll see Lucius there, too! It's gonna be a great trip.
So yeah, very chill weekend. Watched lots of tv and movies. Had minimal social interaction. And I feel much better than I was feeling the last few weeks. But I am totally unstimulated mentally and going a bit crazy, at least at the office.
So I'll take a bit of time and share some music with you. First is The Way Is Read, one of the tracks off The Staves new album. Somehow they came up on a playlist of new songs from artists I've listened to in the past, but I'm not sure when I ever listened to them. But anyway it was brought to my attention that they have a new album out, this being their third. They being The Staves, a trio of sisters who sing folky music. But this year they put out an album called The Way Is Read, together with a chamber music group called yMusic. And it's a very pretty album. The title track is my favorite, but the whole album is really nice.
And then there's Don't Shut Me Up (Politely), the new single form Brigid Mae Power. I haven't looked her up at all because she only has this one single and an EP which is not good. Really boring. But this single is really good, so I'm hoping this is the start of something new. But until I know it is, I don't care enough about her to look her up and find anything out. But you can listen to this. And now I only have to kill 15 more minutes before I get to go home!
As usual, the week went from super dead to somewhat busy. Not super busy, but busier. I still spent the morning today doing nothing, but then I got busy, and htese last couple hours have been actually busy. Yesterday also felt busy, but probably because I spent like 2 hours on the phone, first in a Japanese class, then with my sister, then with my niece. I think I got my niece convinced to go to Stanford. Which would be amazing if she really did decide that and if she can get in. It's already amazing enough that she wants to be a mechanical engineer. But a mechanical engineer from Stanford? Hell yes.
Also last night I went to see Legally Blonde the Musical. It was pretty hilarious. There's been more plays coming to China, and I've talked about it before, and I think it's great. But what I realized last night is I really have to readjust my expectations. These international touring companies are always a bit disappointing because I'm expecting a touring company like back home, but that is not what it is. The sets are really pared down, and I'd even say the talent is a bit sub-par. Last night was a really obvious case of pared down sets, and I kind of hated the sets. I don't know what the original ones were like, but these were not good. Like, distractingly bad. But I just need to accept this and go in knowing this, and then I'm sure I'll start enjoying the plays more. Anyway, I'm not gonna stop going and I'm happy to have them here, one way or another. I'd say the highlight of last nights show was the "Gay or European" song. The play was so weird and random. In a good way. I laughed a lot.
So now I'm just gonna get a couple songs out of the way that I've been meaning to share with you for a long time. Well, one I've been meaning to share for a long time, and one I just decided to share even though I heard it a long time ago. The first is Untamed Heart, one of the new singles from Wild Belle. This brother and sister duo have put out a few singles this year, and they are pretty good. In particular Untamed Heart. I liked it enough to go listen to their album from 2016, which was nothing special. But this song is super cool.
Then there's Magnificent (She Says), from Elbow's new album Little Fictions. I shared the title track from that album back at the beginning of the year when the album came out. But the band came back on my radar this month when they started showing up on a bunch of Best of 2017 lists. So I listened to the album again. And it is a really nice album, but I still stand by my earlier judgement that overall it's just ok and I felt like it didn't go anywhere. But the title track (which I shared earlier this year) and the opening track (which I'm sharing now) are both beautiful. So now both of them are saved in my blog for eternity.
I did not get nearly enough sleep last night. I had a Chrismukkah party, which was wonderful. We wore ugly sweaters, I made latkes, we played dreidel, there was mulled wine. There were also many ugly sweaters. Mine was basically a hideous persian rug that I wore on my body (but actually it was a sweater it just looked like a hideous persian rug), and even though I searched specifically for men's, i think it was a women's. But I wasn't even close to having the worst. My friends Xiaoyu and Nikki had even more hideous ones that were ugly and covered in 3D elements like Christmas stockings and bells and fake fur and things that only a twisted mind could come up with. It was a job well done. So yeah, we had all the good stuff. And it was only 9 of us, which is maybe the smallest dinner party I've ever had, but it was wonderful. I love that size, cause we can all sit around the table and eat together. But I am very tired today because I was basically prepping/cooking with my friend Judith from about 10am and people were over until I kicked them out at like 11:30pm. Well, Judith came at 10am, I went to yoga while she started prepping, then I came back around noon and we had lunch and prepped and hung out until people showed up at 4.
Judith was the only one there cause we had combined forces for this holiday. I wanted to have a Channukah party, and she wanted to do her annual Austrian cookie baking. But Channukah is right now, and she and her boyfriend are leaving back to Europe this week, so we just did it together. And we didn't do it on Saturday because we had a going away party for our friend Mwende on Friday, which lasted until the wee hours of Saturday morning, and we did not want to spend the entire day cooking Saturday. Which was a smart choice. But then that meant I had company until very late and didn't sleep enough and now I'm feeling very tired and lazy and don't want to do anything at work. But I also don't want to think and type. Which is why I'm typing without thinking. Pretty clever, huh?
So yeah, I'm tired. I'm bored. VPN isn't working well. But I've only got a couple hours left of work and then I get to go home and do nothing. That's my plan for the next two weeks: do nothing. Or as little as possible. I have been very busy lately, and I honestly just want to sit on my couch and not be social and recharge my brain before things get super crazy again in January, which they will. Because, as usual, I can tell you where I'll be pretty much every week from Jan 1 until the end of April already. Fun times.
So I guess all that's left in this nonsensical rambling is to play you some music. Today I'm playing you Unno. I don't know much about these guys, except that they're French and they have an album out called Amaai. It's actually a Japanese word that I didn't know but which has a really nice meaning. Amaai apparently means "between two rainstorms" and refers to a moment of clarity between distractions. Kind of nice. I actually thought it was Japanese when I first saw it, but then at one point on my commute home I was thinking about whether it was Japanese or not, and I was remembering it as Umaai, not Amaai, and I thought it meant "horse love." It does not. But maybe they like horses also.
I'm sharing the first two tracks: Comets and Amaai. They are pretty fantastic. But then the album goes a bit downhill. Not bad, just not nearly this good and a bit boring. But these two are great so I'm just gonna put them here and stop talking. Enjoy!
After a few weeks of listening back to the albums that stuck out to me over the year, I've finally managed to come up with my Top 10. The top 3 I knew immediately. I was sure of it before, and after listening in context with each other and everything else, those 3 did not change. Interestingly, my 2 favorite albums on the year have not made any top 10 lists I've seen so far. They've barely even made top 50 lists I've seen. But they sure did stick out to me. Number 3, though, that one made all kinds of lists. But my top 2 are albums that really just caught me musically and emotionally and stuck with me the entire year as something shockingly beautiful and emotional.
I thought I would have a harder time picking because there really were so many amazing artists who put out albums this year. It was practically like every artist I love put out a new album. And yet, some of my absolute favorite artists (Bonobo, Alt-J, The National, St. Vincent, Bjork, Little Dragon...) did not even manage to make the top 10. But it was not hard for me to kick them out, because the albums in my Top 10 were just obvious to me. Except for number 10. That one was hard to pick. I basically had it down to 13 albums, and I had to pick one of four. And after much thought I picked the one you will see. I did not expect this one to make it into my Top 10, actually. But I do love the guy, and after listening to it a few more times, the beauty and originality of the album really starts to shine through the layer of grime that he wraps it all in, and which makes it a grower.
I've picked my two favorite songs from each album and those will go into the blog (unless they're already there). But then I'v also made a playlist of these albums also, so just go listen to all of them. Anyway, I've talked enough about it, here they are.
10. Nick Hakim - Green Twins
Favorite songs: Cuffed, JP
9. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Favorite songs: other voices, how do you sleep?
8. Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
Favorite songs: Three Rings, Neighbors
7. Sylvan Esso - What Now?
Favorite songs: Kick Jump Twist, Radio
6. The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Favorite songs: Holding On, Pain
5. Feist - Pleasure
Favorite songs: Century, Any Party
4. Broken Social Scene - Hug Of Thunder
Favorite songs: Stay Happy, Gonna Get Better
3. SZA - CTRL
Favorite songs: Drew Barrymore, Anything
2. Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors
Favorite songs: Up In Hudson, Cool Your Heart
1. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up
Favorite songs: Third of May / Ōdaigihara, I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar
This is going to be a slow year-end. I still have 2 weeks left of work, and I am already super bored. Luckily I had meetings all afternoon, so that at least kept me a bit busy for half the day. But man the day went slow. So I'm just gonna leave a little music here to kill 5 minutes. I don't have much new music now because I'm busy figuring out my Top 10 (should be done tomorrow I think....), but I do have one great new song from Patrick Watson. This guy is a really weird singer/songwriter, but I do like him quite a lot. He's interesting. And his new song, Broken, is beautiful. So you can listen to this today.
I'm in Germany this week, which means it's a pretty relaxed week. I stay like 5 minutes walk from the office, and I'm in a tiny town with nobody. So I pretty much just get off work and go back to the hotel and chill out. I did have dinner with one of my colleagues last night and we went to a bigger city nearby and had a nice Italian dinner, but otherwise, super chill. And tomorrow I go to Munich to see the Mangs! My favorite!
So for a chill week, we have a bunch of chill music, starting with Soft Glas. Soft Glas is a Brooklyn producer, who makes super chilled out music that I like a lot. Surprisingly, he was my most listened to artist on Spotify this year. I say it's surprising because I actually think he has a few really great songs, and then his other songs are just good. I first heard Sky In The Lake and really liked it when it was released as a single from his new album Orange Earth. But at that point the album wasn't out. So I went and listened to his first album, Late Bloom. And there's this song, Somewhere, that is probably his best song. But I think the reason he was my most listened to artist is because I listened to his stuff a lot as background music, or to decide if it was good enough for me to actually purchase. It isn't, but it's really close. So I just kept listening and trying to make up my mind. But anyway, he is worth mentioning, so here is Somewhere, off of Late Bloom.
In other chilled music, we have Edamame. Great name. This producer is from Chicago, and also put out an album earlier this year, titled Bask. But he has a looooooot more music out. He makes lots and lots of stuff. He's been putting out 2-3 EPs or albums a year for like 5 years. But I've actually only listened to Bask. And I'm just going to share Mango Pulp, my favorite song off that album.
And last up we have Jack Grace, another producer. This one from Australia. He's only got one EP out so far, called River. It's all super chill, and much more vocal than the last two artists. But the song that really got me was Us, the post-EP single. This one is great. And it sounds a bit like James Blake, which is always a good thing. This is actually the second artist like this I've found this year, after Bearcubs. Good year for this type of music.
It has been a very busy couple of weeks since I came back to China. I think I mentioned that my sister came back from the States with me and spent a week here. So for that first week I was taking her around, mostly in the evenings after work. But basically as soon as I got off the plane and got home, she was there waiting and we jumped right into it. It wasn't her first time here, so she was pretty low maintenance, but it was just more non-stop hosting. And at the same time a close friend of mine was in town who used to live here, along with her husband and father, so I was also trying to see them as much as possible. And I hosted a Friendsgiving for like 20 people. And then when my sister left, I had one night on my own before another friend who used to live here came back for a business trip and is staying with me. So yeah, it's been super busy with very little down time or me time. But I'm headed to Germany tonight, and I'll have plenty of me time.
But before going to Germany I got to go to a concert last night. Japanese Breakfast is on an Asia tour and they had a stop in Shanghai. They put out a new album earlier this year, Soft Sounds From Another Planet, which I think is pretty ok, but nothing great. But when they come to Shanghai and only charge $15, I'll definitely go. And I'll tell you about them, starting with my favorite song by them, Road Head.
So yeah, they make this pretty dreamy indie rock. It's good, but not good enough for me to have previously mentioned it or bought an album. Although some people do love it. Like a lot. I just like it. The singer is also really cute and weird. She was talking a lot last night, in a non-annoying manner. Basically just flaunting her nerdiness. Nerdiness which is affirmed by Machinist, one of their singles, which they closed out with last night and which she said is about falling in love with a robot. I never thought this was one of their better songs, although I think it's one of the more popular ones, but it was one of the best ones live.
I'm back in China after a whirlwind trip home. I only spent about 10 days in the US, which is probably the shortest trip I've done in a long time. I split it between California and New York, because I haven't been in a couple years and wanted to see friends. Which was a great choice.
The trip home was not for any particular reason, but planned around my sister's birthday. I just didn't have any wedding or something to come for, but I had a flight to use, so she asked me to come for that. So I did. Which was good, cause she didn't have such a great week leading up to it so we planned lots of fun birthday activities to cheer her up. I think it worked quite well. We had a character breakfast at the Disneyland hotel, went for a wine tasting (with zebras and tigers), fancy dinner and a jazz club. So pretty busy, but wonderful. And all with good company. Then it was pretty much just family and friend time for the next few days. I somehow had less time than usual at home, and only spent 1 day in LA to see friends, but felt less stressed and busy, and I think I managed to see more people than usual. It was pretty great.
Then I flew to New York. Where I spent 4 days eating and drinking. That's about it. Also, I looked at a bunch of art (in LA also). Lots of Yayoi Kusama. There's this great exhibition at The Broad in LA, but it's completely sold out. Well, I found out that if you go early you can get standby tickets. So I had some free time and decided I'd try, and showed up an hour before the museum opened. As it turns out, not only does showing up early help you get a ticket (even though there were like no lines that early), they also open the Yayoi Kusama exhibit before they open the museum! Like 2 hours earlier. So, show up at like 9am, and you'll probably get in and out super quickly even if you didn't pre-order a ticket. This was on a weekday, though, which I'm sure affected things.
So art was fun, but I also ate a ton of good food. Highlight was probably Marea, this fancy Italian place in NYC. One Michelin star. Had a tasting menu with wine. Delicious stuff. I even ate a half a tomato, and can now confirm what we all already knew: I still hate tomatoes. They are disgusting. It was so bad, it made me want to spit out the big piece of delicious lobster I ate at the same time. Now that's just sad. And we drank lots of wine. Lots and lots and lots of wine. This was brought on by my friend Miguel, who I spent two full days with and whose restaurant I went to (other highlight. It's called Pinch and it's really great xiaolongbao and Chinese food. Eat the roast chicken and mushroom dumplings), and he's a sommelier so he just gives me lots of delicious wine. Like, a lot. A whole lot. And so good, too. No complaints here!
Oh, and I went to see a Broadway show. After much hesitation and skepticism, Miguel and I decided to see the new Spongebob Squarepants musical that's just opened. And I have to say, it is awesome. Hilarious. Inventive. Just a super fun musical. I have no idea if it will do well, because I am sure it will be met with tons of skepticism. But this skeptic has been won over and would urge you to go see it if you have the chance.
As usual on these trips, I got way behind on music. In 10 days I barely even made it through the 2 new albums I bought just before leaving. I feel like it's been a slow few weeks for new music, but there were a couple albums that came out like 2 weeks ago and crept up on me. The first was Plunge, the new album from Fever Ray. If you don't know Fever Ray, it's one half of Swedish brother/sister duo The Knife. I'm sure I've written about them here. They make super weird dancy pop. Case in point, IDK About You. First time I listened to the album, I was like "meh". But then I listened again and things like this started to jump out at me. Especially when I listened to it on headphones. This is an exciting song, hidden right in the middle of the album.
The one that originally jumped out at me was Mama's Hand, the closing track. Really great one. Less jumpy and twitchy and weird, but really pretty and interesting.
The other album that came out was Lune Rouge, the new one from Tokimonsta. I think I've written about her before, not sure. I first saw her opening for Bonobo years and years ago in LA, and wasn't so impressed. She's a DJ from LA who's slowly gotten a lot of buzz and popularity, and who's also gotten steadily better, in my opinion. Her previous album, FOVERE, was the first one that really caught my attention. And now Lune Rouge has also. And to make it all more impressive, I just learned that she apparently had some rare brain disease that stopped her ability to talk and hear music, for which she underwent brain surgery, and then she came back and put out this album. Overall, the album is very listenable. Very smooth. But not too many amazing tracks. Except for the opener. I love the opener. It's actually two tracks, called Lune and Rouge, but they blend together on the album into a single continuous piece, so I don't know why she split it. Anywhere, here's both of the songs, which you should actually go listen to on Spotify or something so you can listen to them in order without any break and get the real feeling of the full song as I want you to.
I was supposed to write this earlier this week, then I didn't. I got busy or something. I don't know. It wasn't a particularly busy week, just normally busy. But then I flew back to America. And now I'm writing this in America. Yay! It's my sister's birthday, so we're going to go have the fun times today, but before that, here's some fun times for you.
Starting with Miya Folick. Actually, this isn't so fun. Even though she's on a roller coaster. It's more destroyed and heartbroken. She does that well. She just put out her 2nd EP, which is much rockier than her first, but still wonderful. Best song is Give it To Me. Super intense. She's really just going for it. Fun facts I just learned about her: She's from Orange County, where I am currently writing this, and she started her band on Tinder. Crazy!
So now we'll start to bring it down and chill out a bit with Yaeji. She also just put out her 2nd EP, cleverly titled EP2. She's from New York, where I will be in just a few days. I've written about her (and actually everyone in today's blog) before. She generally makes super chilled electronic music, sung mostly in Korean, and EP2 is no different. Passionfruit is the closer, really great, just like it's namesake which is like my favorite thing. But also, go listen to Make It Rain cause that one is not chilled out and it is super fun.
And then moving on to even more chilled, is the acoustic version of Relax, by Fyfe. He put out an album earlier this year or last year or something, which was ok. But he also just put out an EP with some acoustic versions and remixes of songs, and I really, really love Relax. The acoustic version. The real version is fine. But this one I listen to over and over.
Ok, this is the New Zealand post. I wanted to write it during the week, but I've actually been busy at work. What's up with that? Lame. Actually, I could have written it in Thailand (where I was doing site visits Monday and Tuesday), but after walking around for hours in the heat, I was too lazy to write a long blog. And actually this entire week has been very quiet for me socially, but I've just been exhausted. I didn't sleep well last weekend, and not just the weekend, like 5 nights straight. So yeah, I was tired. But slept great after a quiet Friday night, and now I'm ready to tell you about New Zealand.
So, as you know, I went to New Zealand to visit Beth. It was incredible. I had been wanting to go for years. I'd even say it was in my top 5 places to visit. In no small part because of Beth. But every time I would think about going, there was always some reason to wait, cause something might be coming up in the near future. But this time, I just went. And I'm so glad I did. I was there like 12 days, and left already wanting to come back.
I flew into a rainy and windy Wellington (apparently the windy part is pretty normal. It's the windiest city in the world, I'm told). Luckily I wasn't there long (yet), cause the next morning we flew to Queenstown, where the weather was perfect. I went with Beth and her boyfriend and some of their friends to spend 4 days in this house on a mountain, where we basically just ate and drank and during the day would leave the house to go eat and drink and this one time shoot clay pigeons (which I won! Although the instructor did have to put masking tape over one of my eyes so I could focus properly, which looked amazing. Duh. And even if it didn't, I won, so whatever). This was a great way to spend time with these people, because they are basically all foodies and winies (that is now a word) and beeries (also a word) and know what they're talking about, so I was just given many wonderful things. Honestly, I don't know what I brought to the table, other than being Jewish. But that's always good. So yeah, there's not much to say about it other than we ate and drank amazingly and had great weather and it's beautiful.
Then Beth and I got a free camper and drove back to Wellington over 3 days. Apparently these free campers are a thing in Australia and New Zealand. People go and do road trips and leave the campers or cars in a different location, so you can get a free car to return it to where it came from. It's kind of brilliant. So we did that with a camper van that supposedly sleeps 4, but luckily we only put 2 in because it was already a tight fit. The first day we drove up to Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest peak, and took a little hike to see the mountains. Then kept on driving to Tekapo, where we spent the night. Maybe it sounds boring, cause it was mostly just driving, but we did make lots of stops to look at beautiful scenery. And the scenery down there is super beautiful. Stunning. Amazing. Mountains and lakes and snow and big skies and really just incredible. Plus I love a good roadtrip. So for me, it was pretty perfect. We spent the first night by a lake in this place called Tekapo, where Beth somehow managed to make this amazing dinner of salmon, cauliflower mash and asparagus in a tiny little camper van kitchen. There were wine reductions and everything (which did result in a big fire in the pan and I thought would result in the van exploding but did not). It was very impressive. It ended up being this wonderful 4 course meal, ending in chocolate and whiskey. Who would have thought you could do that in a camper??
Day two, we drove up to this place called Punakaiki on the west coast, which involved driving from the middle of the island (where Tekapo is) to the east coast, then doubling back through the mountains in the middle (which are incredible. We spent like 3 hours just driving through the valleys between these massive mountains. It was great), and finally to the west coast. Once you get close to the west coast, it gets almost jungly. According to Beth, it's basically the same flora that would have been around millions of years ago. That's pretty incredible. They actually even still have a dinosaur in New Zealand (It's called a Tuatara, and it's a lizard that existed when the dinosaurs were around, and is still in existence, and is a different genetic line than any lizard or bird because it is actually a dinosaur. Crazy, huh? I saw one. In a nature reserve in Wellington, but still.)! So we finally made it to the coast, just in time for sunset, so we parked on the side of the road, had a beer, and watched the sun set over the coast. It actually reminds me a bit of the Northern/Central California coast, in that it's mountains coming down into the ocean, with these random, rocky outcroppings just off the coast. Pretty spectacular. Especially with a great, New Zealand craft beer. Then we found our camping spot for the night, this time with electricity, showers and wifi (that didn't work). But the best part about it was the shitty pub, where we had a shitty meal surrounded by bikers. Very authentic experience, I'm told. It was one of those experiences where everything is so horrible, but it's exactly how it should be, and so you love it. The pub, not the camping. That was fine.
Then in the morning we woke up and went to see these Pancake rocks, that are pretty awesome. The water has eroded the rocks over the years so that they look like stacks of pancakes, and you just walk around on them, jutting out into the water, and the waves coming in at high tide make water shoot up randomly like geysers through the swiss-cheesy holes in the outcroppings. We were told it would be awesome, and it's the reason we stayed at Punakaiki, and it did not disappoint. The only disappointment was that we had to rush to catch our ferry back to the North Island in the afternoon, so we couldn't spend more than like 30 minutes at the rocks. I would have loved to spend more time. But alas, off we went, driving through more mountains and valleys and rivers and lakes and fields and plains to get to a boat to take us back to the big city, where I spent the next 4 days.
I hadn't really looked up anything to do, so just got a bunch of recs from Beth and her friends of what to do in town. And so I spent most of my time walking around exploring museums (pretty much all of which are free) and one day climbing up to the highest peak in town to take in some views. I also went to Weta Workshop, a film studio and special effects production house which most people know because of Lord of the Rings, but that is pretty much doing everything these days. Actually it'a amazing how many movies are either shot or edited in New Zealand. Kind of awesome. If you want to work in film, you should go to Wellington. And, of course, also drinking good coffee, good beer, and eating lots of good food. That was, as usual, the point of the whole thing. To eat good food. And I sure did. The food was awesome, and it helped having people who work in F&B and know (or own) all the best places taking you around. Best meal was probably at Shepherd, which is owned by Beth's boyfriend Sean. I may be biased, but seriously it was so delicious. There was this amazing chawan-mushi style egg custard with truffle oil and goat's cheese that was probably the best thing I ate on the entire trip. If you go to Wellington, go to Shepherd. And Golding's Free Dive, which is Sean's bar across the road from Shepherd, where I basically spent the late afternoon every day. But also do anything else Beth tells you. Um, yeah, I think that's it. It was wonderful. I want to go back. And I want my sister to move there. I think it's the most "her" place I've ever been. She would love it. Plus then I'd have an excuse to go annually, at least. Anyway, can't wait to go back!
Now for a bit of music, this time from Weaves. They just released their 2nd album, Wide Open, and I'm a fan. It's kind of a more poppy version of Alabama Shakes style rock. Case in point, Walkaway, one of my favorite tracks on the album.
So yeah, I really like this sound and album. I went and listened to their first album, though, and wasn't such a fan. I've actually talked before about this theory of how some bands put out a great first album that makes you fall in love, then they put out a mediocre second album, before coming back with an incredible third one. Another trend I feel like I see a lot is what Weaves did, which is where you put out a mediocre first album (which I'm not a fan of, although there was one really good song), but then an incredible second one. Very often in these cases, the 2nd album will end up being the only one I like. But sometimes, it also signifies a band coming into their own and starting to develop and make music I love. Hopefully that's what we've got with Weaves. But if not, at least we've got a great album in Wide Open. My favorite is probably the closing track, Puddle. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now I am. I play it on repeat. It's so good.
Oh goodness, I just spent like 2 hours trying to get my VPN to work again. It seems like my problem was that I had a dedicated IP address, which was a great thing, until it stopped working. Apparently China has blocked the IP address. Which is what led to my not being able to connect for like weeks. Add the big Communist Party that's been going on for the last week on top of this, and things were impossible. But now I'm back on the VPN! So I can share music with you. But I'm not gonna write a bunch cause I just want to share music, take a nap, and then watch a movie before dinner.
But I will say, I went to Cirque du Soleil last night! That was super fun. Always great to see a good show. This was my 4th time seeing them, and actually it was maybe the worst show so far. It just seemed very circusy, instead of their typical incredible acrobatic acts. I don't know if maybe they figured in China they should move away from the acrobatic stuff, which may seem cool to foreigners but not to Chinese, and stick more to things which are novel to them. It would make sense. And anyway, even though it was just typical circus acts (mostly, not totally), they still present it with such an incredible level of spectacle and detail that you can't help being impressed. And add the live music on top of that, and it's even better. So yeah, good night. Plus I got oysters and wine after, so even better.
Speaking of incredible, I've got an incredible song to share with you now. It comes from the LA duo Slenderbodies. They have a couple of EPs out, and make some pretty nice stuff. But there is one song in particular that I just love, and it is Little Islands, off of their fabulist EP from earlier this year. I love the falsetto vocals, and the dreamy, bubbly guitars that just wander off into space, and how it's all pulled together and brought back to earth by the drum beat. Great combination of sounds. Love it.
Also giving great falsetto and dreamy music is Aquilo. Another dreamy duo, in fact, but this time from the UK. I heard their song Thin, and it is beautiful. And dreamy. Especially around 2:30 where the bells or whatever come in, and the vocals get super awesome. Lots of dreamy today.
So anyway, I loved that one, and then I went to listen to their first album, Silhouettes, that came out in January, and it's boring. It's nice, just really boring. But then their other post-Silhouettes single, I Could Fight On A Wall, is also great and not boring. Kind of Bon Iver-y, even. So I think this is a great direction and whatever they're going to do next, I am quite excited for. If you like these two songs, go ahead and give Silhouettes a listen, but don't expect the level of goodness in these two tracks.
So that was the blog post I had planned for today, but then something amazing happened. Tune-Yards released a new single, called Look At Your Hands. Now this one is not dreamy. This one is funky. As you might expect from Tune-Yards. I think her third album was a bit too funky, and this keeps a bit of the funk, but I kind of like it. Especially after a few listens. Really, this woman is just incredible, and she has a new album coming out in January and I can't wait.
Man, I have a lot of catching up to do. It's been a month since I last wrote a blog. And in that time, I went to Malaysia and worked for a week, spent a weekend in Singapore with friends, spent 2 weeks in New Zealand eating and drinking my way through the country, then came back to Shanghai for 2 days, after which I was again in Malaysia for 5 days to throw a couple of big, year-end events, then straight to Tianjin where I also threw a big annual event. And now I'm still here. And I'm exhausted. It has been a crazy month, with like zero time for writing or even catching up on music. I guess in New Zealand I should have had time, since that was vacation. But we basically had long days of eating and drinking the first week, plus a few days of no internet, and then more long days of exploring Wellington and eating and drinking. I'll probably write about it more in my next blog, cause I totally loved New Zealand. The rest of it was just super busy with work, pulling lots of 10+ hour days and working weekends. So today I'll focus on music. A lot of music that I've been catching up on over the last week and a half, that I basically missed over the last month.
We'll start with Standing In The Middle Of The Field, the opening track off of Cut Copy's new album Haiku From Zero. This came out just as I was going to New Zealand, and it's maybe their best album. That's a bold claim because I haven't listened to their last 3 albums in a while, but anyway this album is really great, and the opening track Standing In The Middle Of The Field is totally amazing. And it just gets better and builds as it goes along. I totally love it.
So that was actually pre-New Zealand and I wanted to write about it during my trip, but as mentioned, no time and often no internet. And the rest is all stuff that I found post-New Zealand, but which I just haven't had time to write about. So now we really start catching up. And the first is a song called No Weight, which is an unreleased track from Hiatus Kaiyote, one of my favorite bands. I found out about it while reading a Reddit AMA with Nai Palm, the lead singer. Her solo album comes out today, and in the AMA someone asked about this song, and she said she hates it and never wanted it to be released. So I went and found it, and I do not hate it at all. I think it's great and that you should know about it.
I also found out that Sufjan Stevens has a bit of new stuff and is putting out an EP. Well, he calls it a mixtape. It's 4 outtakes from Carrie & Lowell, his latest album, and some remixes and demos. It's not out until November, but he released a new single called Wallowa Lake Monster, which is lovely. It's one of the outtakes, and it would have fit perfectly onto the album. Which, luckily, means it's still the same style as the songs on Carrie & Lowell, which I appreciate. He got a bit weird for a while, so I'm glad he's back with the beautiful and sad songs that made me love him in the first place, and still keeping that up.
Wild Beasts also has a new EP coming out. But this one makes me sad. Because this one is their farewell EP. Because they are breaking up. I don't know why they would make such a horrible decision to deprive me of their music. It's really not cool. But they're doing it anyway, and will put out 3 final songs on an EP called Punk Drunk and Trembling. The title track came out a couple weeks ago (the EP comes out today) and is really fantastic. I read they were saying it's kind of a perfect ending because it's a song made of snippets and ideas that spanned their entire career, which only just came fruition as a song now, at the end of their time as a band. It's a great one, with all the weird and sexy sounds that I love about them, but still makes me quite sad. Especially considering that when I first saw it I thought this meant something new was coming. Which was right, but also so wrong. Sad times. That's probably why the guy in the video is crying. I guess I'm just glad I've managed to see them a couple times, and now I only hope that one of the songs on the EP will be sung by Tom, and not only songs by Hayden.
While one band is disappearing, at least I've got some good, new stuff to share. Not that it can replace Wild Beasts, but Nilufer Yanya is pretty great and I am pretty excited about what she's doing. I heard Baby Luv today, then I went to listen to everything else she's made, and it's all great. I can't wait for more. I love her voice, and her minimalist sound. Super fantastic. So far, there's just a couple EPs and a new single, which I'm playing for you now. But I want more, and I want it soon.
OK, last one for today and then I think we're caught up on all the new stuff I want to share. Next blog I can actually write about New Zealand and maybe talk about a single artist or something. We'll see what inspires me. But for now, here's on more song, from First Aid Kit. They put out their first single from their upcoming album. The album doesn't have a name or release date that I'm aware of yet, but It's A Shame has got me excited for it. Basically the same, old, wonderful sound you expect of First Aid Kit.
I'm sitting at the airport in Malaysia waiting for my flight, which is now delayed 15 minutes. I should be leaving in 25 minutes, but the plane still isn't here. Hopefully we don't get delayed too much, though, because I'm supposed to get off the plane in Singapore and go straight to meet a friend of a friend, who's taking me to another friend's house for a Rosh Hashana dinner. And I don't want to be super late. I'm already going to be late, so I just don't want to be even later. Plus Rosh Hashana started last night and I couldn't go to synagogue at all, because there is no synagogue in Kuala Lumpur. I'm kind of shocked. I know Malaysia is a Muslim country, but I expected there to at least be a Chabad. But I guess not. So I'm flying to Singapore tonight to go to synagogue in the morning, and at least do something Jewy for Rosh Hashana.
But while I'm sitting here waiting I can update this blog with some songies. Three very chilled out songies from two pretty chilled out artists. The first artist is Kelly Lee Owens. She just put out her debut eponymous album back in March or so, and I heard about her a few months ago but didn't pay much attention. She came up on a blog about artists to look out for at FYF, the music festival I was going to. And I liked the song they played by her, but not enough to pay more attention. And then I heard the song Lucid and am really paying attention. Take a listen.
Pretty good, right? Especially that last minute or so. So that got me to listen to the album, and it's all pretty chilled out and wonderful. And now I am a bit sad I missed her at FYF. But I'm just gonna go with there's someone else I like more that I would have chosen over her anyway, so no worries. But here's another song I really like: Bird.
And while we're playing super-chilled-out-electro-ish music, let's listen to Lapalux. I don't care enough to look this guy or girl or group up. I've heard them before, so I recognize the name, and then I heard this song Flickering, which features JFDR, and really love it. But it's like the only really good one off this album, and there's a bunch of weird and not so good stuff on this album. But listen to this wonderful song and chill out.
And now my plane is here, so here I go! Good timing!
I've only had a one day weekend, but it's been a nice one day so far. That's also kind of a lie. It's been a 3 day weekend in a way. Friday I was still in Sri Lanka "working" from my hotel most of the morning, but then was at the office until 10pm waiting to go to the airport. It was not all work, only partially, but I guess we can say it was a half day? And then I was on a plane overnight Friday and most of Saturday. So while I pretty much just slept and watching movies, I did not get to spend it at home sleeping and watching movies, which is what I would have wanted. Quite annoying. But then I got back and went to a really nice house party last night, did some good yoga this morning, got some gifts for my friend for my upcoming trip to New Zealand, and now I'm just relaxing. And sharing music with you. Two exciting musics.
The first exciting music is The Gate, a new single from Bjork. It is very pretty. I don't know if this means there's a new album coming, or if it's just a random single, but I'm happy to have it. EDIT: Just looked it up. It's the first single off a new album called Utopia which is apparently due out in November! That's so soon! I will probably update this with the real video when it's released Monday, but for now I'm putting this filler video. Apparently the real video has Bjork wearing a Gucci gown that took 550 hours to make, and an additional 330 hours to embroider. Crazy.
And then there's the first single from Nai Palm. She's the lead singer of Hiatus Kaiyote, which we wall know is one of my favorite bands. She's put out Homebody this week, which is the first single off her debut solo album, Needle Paw, which will be out in about a month. This is not just more Hiatus Kaiyote music, it's very different, which is both good and bad. But I'm very excited to hear it.
I'm in Sri Lanka now, which is the business trip I've been waiting for. I came last year for holiday and loved it, and I have a couple friends here, so I've been wanting to come back. Sadly now that I have, my friends are not really in town! Sucks. Well, one of them is today only, the other is not. So I'll have dinner with one tonight and not see the other. And I won't be spending the weekend like I wanted to since they're going to be out of town with family anyway. So not exactly the trip I was hoping for, but still nice. And the food is amazing. I just had a fantastic lunch of kottu roti, which is basically the Sri Lankan version of friend rice, but made with yesterday's leftover roti and cooked with curry. In this case fish curry, which is my favorite version of kottu roti. And I had it at this place I was recommended last time that I didn't get to, and holy shit it was amazing. So I'm a happy boy. Come to think of it, I had fish curry for breakfast too. I think I just love fish curry here. I know I love curry in general, but in Sri Lanka maybe it's the fish type specifically.
So there's this song I've been thinking of sharing for a couple of weeks since I first heard it. But then I didn't and then I kept hearing it, and now I definitely am. It's You're Dreaming, the latest single from Canadian indie rockers Wolf Parade. They went on hiatus back in 2011 after their third album, and then came back last year with an EP. And now there's a new album on the way, called Cry Cry Cry, and You're Dreaming is the second single. And it's a great one.
I first heard them many moons ago when I was living in Japan, actually. They had just put out their first album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, and a friend introduced me to them. And I immediately fell in love with the song I'll Believe in Anything. I didn't like the album enough to keep paying attention after that, so I missed albums 2 and 3 (plus this was in the pre-Spotify days when it was harder to keep track), but I will definitely have a listen to album 4. But here's a throwback to Album 1.
So I started saying the other day that I'd given more thought to what was upsetting me, and I think I can articulate it better. Basically, when my friend Julia left I felt like my last friend in Shanghai left. I still have plenty of people here, but Julia was the latest in a short list of people I really feel I can depend on and consider real friends. There's been like 4 in the 3 years I've been here. So these are people that make me feel included, make it clear that I'm also important, make me feel like they make time for me, etc. It's like most people are around and happy to hang out, but are not very proactive about it, or not very interested or something. But Julia was. So it was very sad for her to go, since I felt like I have nobody left here to depend on.
Now that I wrote it out, it feels like it didn't make much more sense than last time. But in my head it does. So I guess you'll just have to make do. Or just ignore that part and go straight to the music, which is really what this should be done with this blog.
So moving on to the music, today it's Madeline Kenney. And only Madeline Kenney. I think it's been a while since I gave a blog to a single artist. So she's this woman from Oakland who was like a baker and did all kinds of odd jobs and then started making music, and it turned out her music was really good, so she got signed and has an album now. But I think she also still works as a baker in a bakery? I don't know. All I know is I'm glad she's making music now.
She put out an EP last year called Signals, and just a week or so ago put out her debut album, Night Night At The First Landing. It's a great album. At first, I wasn't going to buy it, but then I realized that actually there's a ton of good songs on it and I should buy it. So I did. And I'm glad I did, cause I've been listening to it a lot. It starts out just so-so, but then Always comes on, and from there it's fantastic. Slow start, climax, and then slowly brings you back down. Great structure. So we're starting today with Always.
And after Always comes Big One, which is probably her best song. Also, the lyrics are super sexy. I don't think they're actually supposed to be, but with an opening line like "my other car is your face," all I can think of is her riding someone's face. Maybe it's me, not her. But either way, it's a great song. Really great song.
So yeah, after that, the album slows down a bit, but stays really strong. Great structure. And as it turns out, after buying the album, I realized that it didn't actually get really good from Always onward, it starts getting really good at John In Irish. Anyway, just listen to it all. You'll probably listen to it a lot, like me.
So I realized I started writing a blog yesterday, and then stopped the personal stuff to write music stuff, and forgot to come back to write the personal stuff. Whoops! Anyway, not much time so I'm not gonna do it now. Instead I'm just going to share this very exciting track, called Wish For The Moon. It's a new track from my absolute favorite, the love of my life, My Brightest Diamond. She put out this acoustic track for part of some Amazon playlist thing, and she was talking about how she doesn't write acoustic tracks because she made a decision years ago about what is expected of women with acoustic guitars in music and didn't want to be boxed in, so she got weird instead. Go Shara. She's the best. Anyway, she then wrote this song, and she feels weird about it, but is happy with it, and so am I cause it's the first new My Brightest Diamond in a few years. And it's coming ahead of a new album! No clue if this will be on the album, or when the album is coming or anything else about it. All I know is she's almost done making it. So she says on Instagram and Facebook anyway. But for now, we have Wish For The Moon.
I gave some more thought to what was upsetting me the other day.
So there were a ton of great songs on my weekly discovery playlist from Spotify. A lot of artists who either just have one (or a few) singles, or maybe just one EP out and now a new single that's much better than the EP. And it was strong from the get-go, with Hands, the first single from Exhibitionist. All I know is they're from Sydney and this song is great.
And then there was Dylan Pratt. There's some serious Thom Yorke / Radiohead vibes on this man's 3rd single. The other two are not nearly this good, but I really like Traveling Act. I know even less about this guy. I think he's from Phoenix, not even sure about that. But I'll be looking for more.
This came right on the heels of Kazy Lambist. I know more about this guy because I actually found one article about him. He's from the south of France, he's a singer and songwriter, and he's got one (not so great) EP, and now a few new singles which are good. Shutdown being my favorite.
Not much to say about the last guy either. Sam Frankl put out his first single, Gold Rush, and it's a great start. He's British. That's all I've got. So we start and end with two great first singles from new artists. Gotta love it.
Today didn't start out as a very good day. I think it's sinking in that my friend Julia left. She was pretty much my closest friend here, and actually maybe the only person I consider a real friend here who I can actually depend on. Obviously I have other friends, but it's not the same. You know what I mean. Anyway, so yeah it sucks, and I woke up feeling like it sucked today. But it was a pretty good day at work and now I've got some yoga and dinner planned for the evening and I'm feeling much better. And it also helps that when I feel like my friends aren't around and available we all end up making plans, so it helps with that. I guess I'm not really around either, but I feel like I make myself available when I am. Anyway, we're done with that now.
I don't know how I haven't put Iron & Wine on the blog yet this year. He's finally got a new album, and it's great. Back to his roots. It's called Beats Epic, which is a bit of a misnomer, but I think I read something where he said he picked it cause it just sounded cool. Anyway, it is very good. And there is one song in particular which is amazing, and that song is Call It Dreaming.
Anyway so that's gorgeous. But that's not actually the reason I came here. I actually meant to talk about Loyle Carner. So now I can do that. He put out his first album recently, Yesterday's Gone. I thought I first heard about him because he was nominated for the Mercury Prize. But it turns out that he's done a lot of work with Tom Misch, and so I've heard him on Tom Misch stuff before. And now Tom Misch is on his album. There are a ton of great songs, one of my favorites being Damselfly (which features Tom Misch). From all the Mercury Prize nominees that I hadn't heard of, he's definitely the best one. This is a great album. And I think he's actually half Jewish, a la Drake. Which I obviously am a fan of.
It's been a pretty lazy Saturday. I did go to the gym this morning, so that was good. And then I ended up Skyping my family for like 3 hours. The day started out beautifully so I was a bit bummed cause I wanted to be outside and everyone was busy, but once the skyping finished it had turned kind of gross. So it was all good. And anyway I'm probably going out for a bit soon. But I think it's going to be a very quiet and early evening for me. Which is fine, cause I am a bit bummed after talking to the family. Just a lot of drama going on, and it sucks, but anyway things are fine and everyone is healthy, if a bit stressed.
But in happier news, here's some good new music from some great ladies, starting with Widowspeak. It's actually not a lady, it's a band with a lady at the front. I heard them years ago when their first album came out, and somehow missed everything after that. Or I just have no real recollection. But they just put out their 4th album, Expect The Best, and it's pretty great. In the vein of the rocky ladies I love like Sharon Van Etten. So here's When I Tried, a great track off the album.
And then there's Gordi, who put out her first album, Reservoir, recently also. And it's great indie pop. She had an EP a while ago, and then just one great single after the other. I don't know why I haven't written about her before. Because now I'm going way back to one of the first songs from the album, Can We Work It Out, which was actually on the EP but somehow didn't make the blog. And if you weren't already convinced, she's also on Jagjaguwar, which is generally a good sign.
And we'll add in one more song for good measure. This is Something American, the title track off Jade Bird's debut EP, also called Something American. Coincidentally, she is not American. She is British. But she makes country-esque folky music, and I just really like her voice. The music is nothing amazing, really, but it is very nice and sticks in my head. So here's one more.
I have barely been able to write anything in here. Mostly because I've been on the road a lot so haven't been listening to a lot of new music. And then last weekend I was super busy with goodbyes. One of my closest friends left last Monday to move home, which sucks. And she's just the first of a few who are leaving in the next couple of months. And a couple that are staying got pregnant so they're basically out of the picture. So yeah, I'm losing all my friends. Again. This happens a lot, what with being an expat and all. It sucks. I need to meet new people. Or I just need to leave myself. But I do like it a lot here....
But I do have some good new music. The War On Drugs put their album out last week, and it turned out to be great. Really great. Greater than I expected. There's no track like Red Eyes, but it's still a great album. And then there's other ones I'll share, but I'll do that tomorrow. Today I'm just going to put up a couple new songs I heard and like before I go out for some drinks.
First up is Jessie Ware's new single. People like her a lot. I'm not one of those people. I like her fine, but not as crazy about her as everyone seemed to be when her first album came out. But now she's put out this song Selfish Love and I really like it. I think it might be her best song. This is the 2nd single of the year, and she hasn't had an album out since 2014, so I guess she's got a new one coming out.
And then there's Ibeyi. These sisters make some very cool music, and had some very cool songs, which turned into a pretty disappointing album. They've been putting out new music lately, and now with Deathless (a song featuring Kamasi Washington) they've hit gold again. Their new album, Ash, will be out later this month, and I'm sure will be worth checking out, if nothing else.
The problem when I have no time is I feel bad about not writing. And then when I have lots of time, like yesterday, I forget to write. Whoops. And now I'm too tired to actually write something long. I'm in Malaysia and slept on a plane last night and am now exhausted, so I just want to sleep. Also my plane was delayed like 3 hours, so I got more sleep than I should have, but also I was stuck on a plane forever, missed my connection, and got stuck in Singapore for a bit also. I could have literally flown from China to America in less time than it took me to get to Malaysia today.
Luckly I just heard some cool music, compliments of the excellent French record label Kitsune. That makes me less upset. But not less tired. But at least I'm awake enough to write about it so I don't forget about it. So anyway. I follow a Kitsune playlist on Spotify, and this band Kult Kyss's newest single Water Baby was at the top of the the list this week. And now I know why. It's very good.
All I've found out about them is that they are a duo from Melbourne who apparently both made electronic music in some form or another before joining teams to create Kult Kyss. And so far I'm a fan. Here's another one of their singles, Get Up Boy.
I don't think I'm going to have much time to write today, because I'm going to the gym and then this bbq and will probably be too drunk after that. So I'm gonna just leave some quick music here.
First is nothing new, but something that has been stuck in my head all week. Well, maybe not stuck in my head actually. Basically, I decided to listen to a bit of Radiohead the other day (always a good decision). I wanted to listen to Videotape because of this video I watched about it a couple weeks ago, and so I just went ahead and listened to the full In Rainbows album. I know a lot of people weren't fans of that album, but I totally love it. There are some amazing songs on there, and one of my favorites is Reckoner. And guess what? It still is. So I listened to it like 6 times in a row. Then a bit more later that day. And then the next day. And so on and so forth. So it deserves to be here.
I also finally got a chance to listen to the new Arcade Fire album this week. Everything Now came out a couple weeks ago, but while I was traveling I did not have a chance to listen. But now I have, and I kind of like it. My sister didn't, but honestly I'm not sure why. She thinks it's all kind of poppy and the same. I get the sameness, I guess. I don't think it's amazing or anything, and I don't think it's up to the standard of their early work, but I quite like it. Enough to buy it anyway. I think my favorite song on it is Creature Comfort, which apparently was one of the singles before the album came out, but I don't think I heard it until I heard the album.
The other favorite is probably Electric Blue. It was one of the earlier singles, and was definitely my favorite when it came out. And I still like it a lot. I really don't have much else to say about it, but I just want it on my blog playlist, so here it is.
Man that was a crazy vacation. I just got back from 3 weeks at home and in Mexico, which I should probably find time to write about this weekend. But let's just say I had literally zero time to sit in front of a computer and listen to new music, let along write about music. So that's why there were no blogs. And the last couple days have been pretty busy since I got back.
It was a pretty good time to not be paying attention to music, because none of the albums I was really looking forward to came out. So that was good. But there were plenty of new singles from some of those albums, like The National, Grizzly Bear and Moses Sumney. Not to mention new teases from Meshell Ndegeocello, Other Lives and Bon Iver on Istagram. But that still isn't new music. There was some very notable new music, though. Two very notable items, specifically. The first one came from Fink, who released Cracks Appear, the first album off his next album Resurgam, which will be out in September. And it's a good one. Back to what we're used to from him, after a slight (but good) departure on Fink's Sunday Night Blues Club, Vol. 1 from earlier this year. Nice to be back to what I love about him, though.
And then there was a new song from Daughter, called Burn It Down. Burn It Down is actually the first single off a video game soundtrack, which Daughter apparently scored. All the articles use the word scored, which would imply instrumental music, but then this single is basically just a Daughter track. So I'm not sure if the soundtrack will basically be a Daughter album, or if it'll be an instrumental Daughter album with some vocal songs also or what. I guess we just have to wait and see. The soundtrack is called Music From Before The Storm and is also out in September, so at least we don't have to wait so long to find out.
I am dying today. This is not a fun Monday. I've totally hit a wall and can't function. Only one more hour to go, though.... Maybe I'll go study some German or something. But I'm really having trouble focusing. I just want a nap.
So I'll kill a bit of time by posting a song from Oh Wonder, who released their second album, Ultralife, last Friday. Their first album was ok, nice sound, but a bit repetitive and boring. I only listened to the new one once so far, but it sounded better. And the title track and first single, Ultralife, is really great. So I'm just gonna put it here.
I totally should have written a blog this week. I just spent the week in Malaysia, which means Monday and Tuesday after work I just sat at the apartment doing nothing. Well, not entirely nothing. I watched the entire first season of GLOW. That was fun. And I ate delicious food, because it was Malaysia and obviously that's what you do there. Everything is just so damn good. In fact, I'm taking my family for Malaysian food when I'm home. Which is one week from today. Exciting times!
In not so nice news, Spotify seems to have been blocked by our firewall. It's super annoying. I can still use the web app, which is ok. But it doesn't show you as much info about tracks and playlists and stuff. So I can't actually tell when playlists I follow have new songs on them. For a while I was actually listening to a lot of KCRW, and then I remembered the web app, which was good. Despite this, I still managed to find two new artists to share today, both of whom have new and what could probably be considered debut EPs.
Up first is Bernice. It seems like she had an album way back in 2011, but now she's signed to Arts & Crafts (same as Broken Social Scene and Stars, woohoo!) and recently put out her debut EP, Puff. She reminds me a bit of Tune-Yards actually. Especially on the track Talking About Her, which is what I'm sharing today. The rest of the EP is ok, the other good track being the opener St. Lucia. But doesn't even come close to Talking About Her.
And then we have RHAIN. This girl is kind of a weirdo, which you know I love. She's a Brit. And she sounds a lot like Joanna Newsom. Who I also love for her weirdness. RHAIN put out her debut EP, Oscar November Echo, and I love the first single and opening track, Humdrum Drivel.
But this wasn't even the first thing I heard from her. She actually came to my attention because of the Henry Green Remix of the song Tall Ships. I love the little clicky-clacky bits in the background right up front. And then the mellow bassline comes in. And there's some like echoey vocals or something in the back. Plus her weird voice. It's all very nice. I like it very much.
Am I supposed to say something about the 4th of July today? Hooray? I'm at work, so I guess not much to say. And after work I'm going to a yoga class and Japanese class. How very un-American of me. Maybe I'll eat a hamburger in between. Or something like that. I'd actually love to celebrate, but it's a Tuesday and I have to work.
Oh, but here's a fun fact I can share! Apparently "American Independence Day" and "4th of July" parties were banned in China this year. A friend of mine does a bunch of events around town and has a restaurant, and I ran into her this Saturday at a weekend market. We got to talking about this big 4th of July party that was happening on Sunday, which she had a food stall at, and she said they can't call it a 4th of July party. The Chinese government told them so. She wasn't sure the reason, but then my friend Julia mentioned that apparently the US just put a bunch of sanctions on some Chinese bank for dealings with North Korea. So maybe this is in retaliation? Who knows. Weird China. But at least US beef can now be imported to China after not being allowed for 10 years. So I can make that burger 100% Grade-A USDA! If I knew where to get it, that is...
In music news, I just hear this band called Park Hotel. They are not American either. I guess I should introduce American music today? Oh well. Too bad. You're getting some Brits. 2 of them, to be exact, who got together to form this group Park Hotel. They have two songs out, both of which are great and will be played for you today. We'll go in chronological order, starting with their debut single, Gone As A Friend.
Fun, right? They call themselves post-electronic dance music, and lots of people also say disco. I get that, although I'm not sure I'd make disco one of the main modifiers of this sound. but post-electronic dance music, that works. Anyway, it's fun and funky and groovy and sounds like LCD Soundsystem, so what's not to like? They only have two songs at the moment and no clue what's going to happen next, but I'm looking forward to it. And before leaving, here's the 2nd single, Going West.
