My life is finally starting to slow down. After the long week last week, I had visitors this weekend, so I was showing them all around Shanghai. This included long days, late nights, much booze, and not enough sleep. Even on Sunday night, actually, I didn't get enough sleep. I went to sleep at a decent hour, and then was up at like 4:30am for some reason. Super annoying. So yesterday was rough at hte office. But today was good, and from tomorrow things will really calm down. But my brain works today, so I can write a bit about my trip.
I went to Australia for Chinese New Year. Which I'm sure you knew. It was amazing. I was on the west coast, in and out of Perth with some side trips up and down the coast, and I absolutely loved it. Perth is a pretty cool city, not too big but pretty diverse and really chill and everyone is super friendly. Plus we were there for both Perth Fringe (I've been told it's like Edinburgh Fringe) and the Perth Festival, which means there was all kinds of arts and performances going on the entire time. My friend Shuk-wah and I were at multiple shows every night, and we saw everything from burlesque to circus to acrobatics to cabaret to comedy and more. And all of it is so cheap. I think the most expensive ticket we bought was like $18. They're all like 30-60 minutes, so nothing too long, and it is really hit or miss because there's a bunch of amateur stuff mixed in, but overall, it is awesome. The best acts I saw were probably this acrobatics thing called By A Thread, where 5 people used a single, long rope on 2 pulleys and did aerial acrobatics using each other as counterweights. It was amazing. And then there was this Comedy Dungeons and Dragons improv I went to. I have never played D&D, but I know the idea (it's a fantasy RPG where you have a character, there's a dungeon master who reads the story, you decide what you want to do in context, the dungeon master rolls to see if you can do what you want or not, and you just keep going trying to solve whatever mission there is to solve in the fantasy world). So imagine that, but with improv. It really doesn't sound like anything amazing, but it was hilarious. I was in tears. It was so good. I almost went twice. Which I could have because there are many different characters and worlds and missions and comedians who could have been doing it. But I didn't go again. Anyway, it was hilarious. Add to this Laneway Festival, a Lucius concert, and a Roger Waters concert (who I am not a huge fan of, not huge fan of Pink Floyd either, but my friend was in the show and got me tickets and holy shit it was an incredible show. Like maybe one of my top 5 concerts ever. Never seen anything like it. Imagine Justin Timberlake doing an arena concert in like 50 years, with all kinds of awesome visuals but also with amazing music and musicians, not just a bunch of pop), and you've got a fantastic trip. I'll tell you the rest later, because I have a lot of music to write about and I need to save some other things to tell you. So today you get Perth, next time you get more.
And today you get some music. Good music. I have got someone amazing for you today. I actually found Haley Heynderickx a while ago, when her single Oom Sha La La got some traction. It's a cute little song, but wasn't enough to get me hooked. And then I heard this song Worth It, and that made me pay attention. At that point she didn't have much else out, just a couple singles and an EP, but she has just released her debut album I Need To Start A Garden, and I am obsessed with it. So first, have a listen to Worth It and let's see if you feel the same way.
Eh? Eh? Amazing, right? So Heynderickx (which I can only assume is not her real name) is a Filipino American from Portland, Oregon. I think she's Filipino America, she might just be Filipino. Which doesn't matter except to say that this is the 2nd Filipino making wonderful music who I've come to know about recently (the other being Jay Som) and maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to these Filipino Americans. But anyway, as you already heard, she makes kind of folky, rocky, Americana music a la Angel Olsen. Except I think she's so much better than Angel Olsen. Anyone who likes Angel Olsen should also like Haley Heynderickx, but in my opinion, much more. And people like Angel Olsen a lot, so I hope that happens for Haley. But then you've gotta throw in a little Regina Spektor or Joanna Newsom quirk to really capture Haley's sound, and you've got a great mix. That really comes out in Show You A Body, which is by far my favorite song on this little album. I could listen to it over and over and over. And I have. The whole album, in fact. Because it is wonderful. Short, only 8 tracks, but 8 damn good tracks.
I went to Australia for Chinese New Year. Which I'm sure you knew. It was amazing. I was on the west coast, in and out of Perth with some side trips up and down the coast, and I absolutely loved it. Perth is a pretty cool city, not too big but pretty diverse and really chill and everyone is super friendly. Plus we were there for both Perth Fringe (I've been told it's like Edinburgh Fringe) and the Perth Festival, which means there was all kinds of arts and performances going on the entire time. My friend Shuk-wah and I were at multiple shows every night, and we saw everything from burlesque to circus to acrobatics to cabaret to comedy and more. And all of it is so cheap. I think the most expensive ticket we bought was like $18. They're all like 30-60 minutes, so nothing too long, and it is really hit or miss because there's a bunch of amateur stuff mixed in, but overall, it is awesome. The best acts I saw were probably this acrobatics thing called By A Thread, where 5 people used a single, long rope on 2 pulleys and did aerial acrobatics using each other as counterweights. It was amazing. And then there was this Comedy Dungeons and Dragons improv I went to. I have never played D&D, but I know the idea (it's a fantasy RPG where you have a character, there's a dungeon master who reads the story, you decide what you want to do in context, the dungeon master rolls to see if you can do what you want or not, and you just keep going trying to solve whatever mission there is to solve in the fantasy world). So imagine that, but with improv. It really doesn't sound like anything amazing, but it was hilarious. I was in tears. It was so good. I almost went twice. Which I could have because there are many different characters and worlds and missions and comedians who could have been doing it. But I didn't go again. Anyway, it was hilarious. Add to this Laneway Festival, a Lucius concert, and a Roger Waters concert (who I am not a huge fan of, not huge fan of Pink Floyd either, but my friend was in the show and got me tickets and holy shit it was an incredible show. Like maybe one of my top 5 concerts ever. Never seen anything like it. Imagine Justin Timberlake doing an arena concert in like 50 years, with all kinds of awesome visuals but also with amazing music and musicians, not just a bunch of pop), and you've got a fantastic trip. I'll tell you the rest later, because I have a lot of music to write about and I need to save some other things to tell you. So today you get Perth, next time you get more.
And today you get some music. Good music. I have got someone amazing for you today. I actually found Haley Heynderickx a while ago, when her single Oom Sha La La got some traction. It's a cute little song, but wasn't enough to get me hooked. And then I heard this song Worth It, and that made me pay attention. At that point she didn't have much else out, just a couple singles and an EP, but she has just released her debut album I Need To Start A Garden, and I am obsessed with it. So first, have a listen to Worth It and let's see if you feel the same way.
Eh? Eh? Amazing, right? So Heynderickx (which I can only assume is not her real name) is a Filipino American from Portland, Oregon. I think she's Filipino America, she might just be Filipino. Which doesn't matter except to say that this is the 2nd Filipino making wonderful music who I've come to know about recently (the other being Jay Som) and maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to these Filipino Americans. But anyway, as you already heard, she makes kind of folky, rocky, Americana music a la Angel Olsen. Except I think she's so much better than Angel Olsen. Anyone who likes Angel Olsen should also like Haley Heynderickx, but in my opinion, much more. And people like Angel Olsen a lot, so I hope that happens for Haley. But then you've gotta throw in a little Regina Spektor or Joanna Newsom quirk to really capture Haley's sound, and you've got a great mix. That really comes out in Show You A Body, which is by far my favorite song on this little album. I could listen to it over and over and over. And I have. The whole album, in fact. Because it is wonderful. Short, only 8 tracks, but 8 damn good tracks.
And because I just went back on YouTube to see if there were better links and found a new link for The Bug Collector, I'm also going to put it on here. Because I also love this song. It's the 2nd track, but it's kind of like the real opener, because No Face (the actual opener) is very short, blends right into this one, and makes this one feel like the first track. Plus I love the way she uses subtle trombone on the album to just create warmth and depth and you really get that in this track. I know it's only March, but if this album does not make it into my Top 10 (honestly, probably Top 3) for the year, then you know it is a damn good year for music.
No comments:
Post a Comment