First things first, Beth is coming back to Shanghai! Beth is the one who got me start writing a blog. And she's amazing. And she's coming in September! I'm actually not supposed to be here when she does, but I'll work that out and be here. Very exciting news!
Other than that, this turned out to be a very long week. First, I was in Beijing over the weekend and was supposed to come back Monday night (it was a long weekend) but my flight was cancelled. They said due to weather, which was a blatant lie. I think it was because Kim Jong Un showed up in Beijing the next morning, and the military was restricting airspace for that. This happens a lot in China. And they said weather because then they don't have to give you a hotel or anything. It was very annoying. Anyway, I'm telling you this to say that it was a 4 day week, but it felt like a 10 day week. Work was long a stressful, and our CEO in Germany is trying to micromanage this assignment he gave us which he never should have given us in the first place, but he's the CEO. Blergh.
Anyway, now it's the weekend and today is beautiful. Started out rainy, but now it's gorgeous. Although I'm sure it will change back, because this is still Shanghai and the weather generally sucks. I had plans like non-stop, but my afternoon plans today turned out to be evening plans, which means I was double booked and I now have a free afternoon. Hence writing this. And also going to get a haircut and packing, cause I'm leaving again tomorrow.
But I'll write you a quick music post first. This is going to be the chill music blog post. And there's a couple things to share. First up is Young Galaxy, who put out an album in April. These guys have been around for a long time. I think I first heard them in like 2007. I liked a couple songs, but didn't pay too much attention. But they have this new album, Down Time, which has a couple great tracks. First up is Catch Your Breath, which is a beautiful track. Kind of The Knife-y vocals, and some great instrumentation and percussion. And I love the way they sing "catch your breath" rising upwards at the end of the chorus (if you can call it a chorus).
So that song really caught my attention early on in the album. And then a few tracks later comes River. Other than that the album is a bit sleepy, but still good. And quite different from their earlier stuff. Definitely worth a listen.
Other than that, this turned out to be a very long week. First, I was in Beijing over the weekend and was supposed to come back Monday night (it was a long weekend) but my flight was cancelled. They said due to weather, which was a blatant lie. I think it was because Kim Jong Un showed up in Beijing the next morning, and the military was restricting airspace for that. This happens a lot in China. And they said weather because then they don't have to give you a hotel or anything. It was very annoying. Anyway, I'm telling you this to say that it was a 4 day week, but it felt like a 10 day week. Work was long a stressful, and our CEO in Germany is trying to micromanage this assignment he gave us which he never should have given us in the first place, but he's the CEO. Blergh.
Anyway, now it's the weekend and today is beautiful. Started out rainy, but now it's gorgeous. Although I'm sure it will change back, because this is still Shanghai and the weather generally sucks. I had plans like non-stop, but my afternoon plans today turned out to be evening plans, which means I was double booked and I now have a free afternoon. Hence writing this. And also going to get a haircut and packing, cause I'm leaving again tomorrow.
But I'll write you a quick music post first. This is going to be the chill music blog post. And there's a couple things to share. First up is Young Galaxy, who put out an album in April. These guys have been around for a long time. I think I first heard them in like 2007. I liked a couple songs, but didn't pay too much attention. But they have this new album, Down Time, which has a couple great tracks. First up is Catch Your Breath, which is a beautiful track. Kind of The Knife-y vocals, and some great instrumentation and percussion. And I love the way they sing "catch your breath" rising upwards at the end of the chorus (if you can call it a chorus).
So that song really caught my attention early on in the album. And then a few tracks later comes River. Other than that the album is a bit sleepy, but still good. And quite different from their earlier stuff. Definitely worth a listen.
Then we've got Royce Wood Junior. This guy is actually not so great. And I don't know much about him. He's got an album and an EP or something like that. I listened to both and they were fine. But there's one song from his old EP called Valentine Virus Part II (Ode to Prod) which my yoga teacher plays sometimes and it's really good. Great for a chill yoga session. Or chill anything session. Just great, actually. As far as I can tell there is no Part I, which is too bad cause Part II is great. But don't bother with the rest of his music.
And last up is serpentwithfeet. Now this guy is interesting. Very interesting. He put out his debut EP, blisters, back in 2016 and was getting quite some buzz. Including a ton of buzz from Bjork, who featured him on her latest album. And now he has his own debut album, soil. This guy has one of the most interesting and unique voices and singing styles I've heard in a while. He mostly uses it to make moody love songs that generally sound heartbroken or full of longing, and which are also unapologetically queer. The album starts with whisper, which is one of the best songs.
Beautiful, right? And I love how his songs grow. The most obvious comparison would be to Moses Sumney, I guess, but that's only because they're both black and queer (maybe? I'm not actually sure Moses Sumney is. Could be. Who knows. Who cares.), making unique, beautiful, moody music, with unique, beautiful, powerful voices (literally, not figuratively). So we have a full album of this, and thn we end with bless ur heart, which also grows just as beautifully as everything else, but is more positive. So great album opener, and even better album closer, on an overall really good album from a very interesting new(ish) artist.
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