Nov 10 - Big Red Machine / Palace

Time to talk about the family China trip. Which was great. And stressful. And annoying. But great. We had 6 people on the trip - the parents, 2 uncles (mom's brother and dad's brother), and 2 family friends. My parents and my dad's brother (Jerry) had been to China before, but for everyone else it was the first time. The other uncle (Tio Jaime) has pretty much not left America in 50 years since he moved there from Mexico. Then the family friends (the Mehrdads) have traveled some and have wanted to come to China for years cause they do a lot of importing from China, but this was the first time they actually did.

So everyone got to Shanghai pretty late on a Friday night, but Hanna and I went to pick them up at the airport. Which means we got home at like 2am, so we had a late start and just went straight to lunch for dim sum. Obviously, food was a big part of this trip. Saturday was the only full day Hanna and I had with them with no tours or anything planned, so we went up to the glasses market, since everyone wanted glasses. And boy did they buy glasses. The Mehrdads got like 6 for themselves, and thanks to all the negotiating, my mom even ended up getting a pair for free! After that, it was on to the Zotter Chocolate Theater, which is my friend Julia's family company, and is a giant chocolate factory making amazing chocolate. I've talked about it before. From Austria, been to that one a couple times, Julia, etc. You know. So we ate  a bunch of chocolate there, then went straight for a huge Yunnan feast for dinner with like 12 of our friends. Sadly on the way out, my mother had a little fall. She seems to be doing this every time she travels, which is worrisome. Especially considering how much she travels. She actually hurt her leg in Prague when she fell and had to go to the hospital. This time was not bad and she just scraped her elbow, but it definitely freaks me out. But we got it out of the way and then everyone was super aware for the rest of the trip and watching out for her, so no more accidents after that.

Day 2 started out at the Bund with some Starbucks and street food, then straight into the Jewish tour. There's a really interesting Jewish history in Shanghai from the late 19th century all the way to the end of WWII. Jews pretty much built Shanghai, actually. Modern Shanghai anyway. Without them, it would not be what it is today. So we started at the Bund and got some historical perspective, then went on to a few of the famous Jewish sites and learned a ton. There are a few of these tours, but there's a guy called Dvir whose said to be the best and most informative. And he was extremely informative, if nothing else. But yeah, it was a great tour. Then we took a Tai Chi class with my friend's husband, went to the fake market (so much shopping on this trip....), and then, of course, to dinner, this time for Shanghainese food.

I actually ended up taking the Monday off as well, so I took them on a tour of Old Town, around Yuyuan Gardens, one of Shanghai's most famous tourist spots. It's just an old-style market which is now super touristy all the time, but it's nice to see, and there's a nice garden (which we didn't go into) and an interesting temple, and we got a good walk through some of the really old housing areas. And then, in the afternoon, it was back to shopping. Of course. And then back to the Bund for a nice dinner at El Willy, one of my favorites! Tuesday Hanna "got sick" and took them on a tour to Suzhou, which was supposedly great. That tour guide was their favorite of the whole trip. And for dinner - Co. Cheese. My favorite, and actually many people's favorite for the trip. Then on Wednesday they had a guide and a free day to do whatever they want, so they went to watch people exercise in the park and they went to another old Synagogue and to our friend Daliah's restaurant for lunch and other stuff. I'll skip the fights, cause by this point there were already some, but it was all good in the end and they enjoyed everything, including dinner, which was Xinjiang food. Sadly my favorite place is closed for renovations, so I had to take them to another place that's good, but nothing amazing.

Then we were off to Beijing by train. I think everyone enjoyed taking the train, actually. Although we got a new train, which was good in some ways, but no longer displays the speed. That's half the fun. Those things go like 350 km/h, and you know everyone needs a photo of that. But not this time. First day in Beijing was pretty easy, just relaxed, went to an acrobatics show and had dumplings for dinner. Which was Tio Jaime's favorite meal of the trip. It was more than just dumplings, but it was a dumpling restaurant, so that was the main thing. Oh! And this place does colorful dumplings with all kinds of crazy fillings, and we got a kung pao chicken one which was amazing. Yes, kung pao chicken is real Chinese food. Just not in most restaurants outside China. And there are 2 ways to make it, the good way and the bad way. This place used the good way, which is the real Southern Chinese style, not the bastardized Northern Chinese style. Then we went to bed, although I got woken up very confused late in the night when Hanna arrived (she worked that day, I did not).

Then Friday was Great Wall day! And we got some great autumn leaves on the wall, which means I've not gotten the wall in all 4 seasons. They say it's different in every season, and it sure is. Summer is green everywhere, Autumn has all the colorful leaves, Winter has snow (if you're lucky, which I was, cause it's actually rare), and then Spring has peach blossoms. So this was a great trip to the wall for me, in what may be my last visit for who knows how long. After the touristy bit we also visited a non-touristy bit where we had to climb up a small dirt path to the top of a hill, where we were able to climb onto an unrestored part of the wall and look out at it over onto the mountains nearby and even dipping down into the water nearby. That second part was not too difficult of a climb, but for my mother with bad knees and my uncle with emphysema, it was too much, so sadly they didn't join us. But it was a great part, called Huanghuacheng. If you go, I would definitely recommend trying to get here. It's not far from Mutianyu, which is the least touristy tourist part of the wall. So easy to put together into a single day.

Then we had our last full day in Beijing, where we did a city tour, heading to the Forbidden City and Lama Temple, which is one of Beijing's most famous temples. Followed by Sichuan food for dinner, at a place I used to love, but which has completely changed the menu and was super disappointing. I debated over doing Sichuan and Xinjiang in Beijing or Shanghai and which places to go to, and in the end, I got it wrong. Very sad. Because based on past experience it should have been alright. And Xinjiang was. But Sichuan was not. And I know it could have been better.

Sunday was the last day of the trip, so I took everyone to one of my favorite places in Beijing - Panjiayuan, or the Dirt Market. It's basically an early morning antique market, although on the weekends it starts later and you can go any time. And it was a big hit! Especially with the Mehrdads whose business is importing and selling all kinds of tchochkies, they loved it. Followed by more Western food at Great Leap, a local Beijing brewery that makes the best burger in China. And is just generally fantastic. Then train to Shanghai, one last dinner of xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung, and bed for everyone to go to the airport at 430am.

So yeah, fantastic trip which everyone loved, especially Tio Jaime. He was the big surprise of the trip, and one of the best things. He never travels, and to see him take to it so easily and love every second, and also be the least needy, was fantastic. Now he's even talking about coming to Australia with my parents next year, and I hope he does!

Ok, that was long! That's why I don't like writing super long blogs. It just took me half an hour to write that. And who's actually gonna read it? Wendy. That's who. Anyway, time for music. Today staring with something I should have talked about a long time ago - Big Red Machine. This is another sort of supergroup, made up of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame, and Aaron Dessner of The National fame. Two fantastic bands, now come together to make more music which is pretty similar to Bon Iver music actually. But great! Case in point, Air Stryp.





So they put out their first songs months ago, which is why I say I'm behind. But the eponymous album (definitely debut, but maybe it will be only? Who knows with bands like this) just came out about a month ago. So I guess that still makes me behind on reporting this. But it's a great album, more for the fans of Bon Iver than fans of The National. Favorite track is probably Melt, the closer, so that's what we're going with next.

Then I'll share one more band who I found recently that I was quite impressed with. That band is Palace. This UK trio is gearing up for the release of their sophomore album, and so the song Heaven Up There, the most recent single, showed up on one of my new music playlists. And I was immediately a fan. Plus it's like 7 minutes long, which we know I love.





So I loved that song and went to hear more, and found that they actually have an album that came out a couple years ago called So Long Forever. And it is a pretty damn good album. I kind of go back and forth on it depending on my mood, between thinking it's amazing and thinking it's all kind of same-same. But I do really like it. Reminds me of Palatine, the French band I fell in love with earlier this year. Super chill, kind of classic rock sound. With some great guitar riffs. Holy Smoke is probably my favorite on the album. But again, I go back and forth with this album, so I'm not really sure. Definitely worth checking out though, and can't wait for the new one!

Nov 9 - Kurt Vile / How To Dress Well / Peter Bjorn & John / Toro y Moi

Today was a strange day at work. The morning was super busy and by lunch time it felt like I'd spet 2 days at the office. Then the afternoon was totally dead. Not totally dead, really, just slow, so I played some catch up. And I had to demote someone this morning. That wasn't fun. For either of us, I'm sure. But I guess it went better than I had expected. About as well as you could expect. So now it's a quiet Friday night for me. I think I'll take myself out for a nice dinner nearby. But before that, as promised, day 2 of the man music.

Today's underlying theme is artists I enjoy who have recently put out very, very good music. Or at least one very, very good song. Starting out with Kurt Vile. Kurt Vile has had a few very, very good songs, but overall just good songs. Well now his new album Bottle It Up is maybe my favorite album by him. And this song One Trick Ponies, which was one of the singles, is maybe his best song. Ever. Although, when I did see him live, he did lay that song Downbound Train that was pretty fantastic live. But we're here for One Trick Ponies today.

Next up is How To Dress Well. A weird guy, this one. Sometimes really good. Sometimes just really out there. And sometimes really boring. Well he's also got a new album called The Anteroom and it's probably his best album to date as well. But overall, gets a bit boring and repetitive, but maybe cause he kind of repeats some songs with small changes and different lyrics at different points in the album. Like I said, weird guy. But Nonkilling 6 | Hunger is really, really good.





Up next is someone I have not heard from in a very, very long time - Peter Bjorn and John. These Swedes have been around for years, and I think they have been making music regularly, but I just haven't paid much attention. They had that one great song about the knee bone and the ankle bone (I think it was called Collarbone, it was not the nursery rhyme), and that was a great song, but since then, I've paid zero attention. But now Gut Feeling has come out as a single off their new album (pretty poppy album, not very interesting or inventive, so not for me) and it's a pretty fun song. So it's also on here. And more upbeat and less sad than the last two songs, so better as we head into the weekend.

And now to close us out with a really fun song for the weekend is Toro y Moi, with his new single Freelance. This album is not actually out yet, this is just the first single off the new album, but it is a great and super fun song. I saw this guy in NYC years ago, and he was super fun live also. But on albums, he's usually just ok. I feel like this is going to be like Blood Orange, where there's one or two great songs, but overall I'm not a huge fan. But this song, I am a huge fan.

Nov 8 - Beirut / Zero 7

Ok, we're going to start 3 days in a row again. This time all male or male-led artists/bands. And today's underlying theme is artists I love who have released new music after a very long time of not releasing music. There are two of them.

Before I get into music, I guess I should talk about something. Specifically I should tell you about the big family trip to China. But I'm exhausted this week. It has been a very long week at work, and very busy. And this Saturday I will just be sitting at home waiting for the last of the furniture to arrive, so I can write a longer blog then.

For now, I guess I can tell you I am in Brisbane, at the airport, waiting to go back to Sydney. And I can't wait for the weekend. I'm trying out yoga at a gym near my place, which is a beautiful gym in a wonderful old building, which also has a fantastic coffee shop and restaurant and cinema and boutique hotel. And the gym is on the rooftop, so we do yoga with great views. And I made 2 new friends, a couple (I think) who also just moved here from Shanghai, and they're coming with! So it will be a good Saturday morning, followed by a long Saturday day sitting at home, writing about my trip with my family, maybe taking a nap, and probably finishing the newest season of House of Cards, which I just started. Oh, and finding new language tutors on iTalki. I need that, too.

And now on to the music. The first one is Beirut. That's right, he's back! And his new music is very much like his very old music when he first started getting buzz and making music. So Eastern European / Balkan influenced folk rock. What's not to love about that?? he had moved into more of the electronic indie folk direction on the last album, so it's nice to see him going back to those roots I love. He put out a song called Gallipoli a couple of weeks ago, which is the first single and title track off a new album he's working on, due out next February (Actually, I've just learned he's subsequently released another song as well, but it's just an instrumental called Corfu). And in even better news, I need to be in Munich for a trade show from April 8 - 14, and he plays a concert in Munich on April 15. I know what I'll be doing after the show!

The next one feels like they've been gone for even longer than Beirut was, but that's not actually true. They haven't put out an album since 2009, but they've had a few EPs, the most recent being 2015's EP3. And 2015 was also Beirut's last release, although that was a full album. The band I'm talking about is Zero 7, by the way. Probably should have said that earlier.

As in the past, Zero 7 has teamed up with a fantastic but unknown vocalist, this time named Hidden. Past notable collaborators include Jose Gonzalez and Sia. You may have heard of them. At this point, it's just one track, but they say there's more coming. So look forward to it!

Nov 5 - ROSALIA / Empress Of

We made it to day 3 in a row! Go me. I'm exhausted. Not cause of this, just cause I didn't sleep well. This is easy. I don't know why I didn't sleep well. I slept fantastically on Friday and rally well on Saturday, then horribly last night. Very annoying.

I did meet some new people last night! So a friend of mine had invited me to this "Meaningful Connections" event, where you go and get a list of meaningful questions to spark discussion with new people. It made me very uncomfortable, but I figured it was probably good for me. So I went. Even though my friend cancelled. I still decided to go. And it turned out to be pretty good. Some of the questions definitely made me very uncomfortable, but we didn't actually go through the questions very much. But just the fact that everyone was there with the intention of being open and meeting new people let do really good conversation and I met some really good people. There were 3 people in particular who I spent most of the evening talking with, and now we have all exchange info and will hang out. Still no Aussies, though. It was me, a Brit, and Indian and a Kiwi. Oh well. The Aussies will come eventually.

And today is day 3 in lady music, and it's all about the Latin ladies today. Starting out with ROSALIA. Who is amazing. She's a Spanish singer who has been credited with reviving flamenco music, although she hasn't really. What she's done is taken flamenco vocal and musical stylings and made it into extremely interesting pop music. On the poppy side, there's PIENSO EN TU MIRA Cap. 3: Celos, which is by far my favorite track on the album. I think I've listened to it about 10 times just today. I love everything about this song.




So that song was the second single off her new album, El Mal Querer. The other track I want to share by her is a bit of a weird choice. It's DE AQUI NO SALES Cap. 4 Disputa. I'm choosing this one because it very clearly shows both how she uses more traditional Flamenco styles in her vocals and well as her music, and then how she just completely flips it and uses completely modern instruments and styles. It's such a weird song. Definitely the weirdest one on the album. But maybe also the most intriguing. This album really is amazing.




And the other Latin lady who's just released her sophomore album is Empress Of. I loved her first album, Me, back in 2015, and the follow up, Us, is good, but not as good. More straightforward latin-dancy-pop sound, whereas I found the first album to be quite original. But still a good sound. And a few tracks I really like. In particular When I'm With Him.

Nov 4 - Lala Lala / Georgia / boygenius

We're back on the blog today, as promised. And, as promised, it's more music made by ladies today. There's a lot of good stuff lately by ladies. Much more than by the boys.

Before I get into it, one exciting thing: I finished furniture shopping! More or less. I still need some lamps. And probably some other small things. And I'm still waiting for all of my things to arrive from China. There's a fun story. I rushed to pack everything up and get it out on Sept 23, and then it was supposed to take 5-6 weeks including customs clearance time, arriving early November. Which is perfect since I'm in Australia in early November. Except the company lied to me and told me it would arrive then, but they actually didn't plan to ship it until October 19. Which means it will now arrive November 12, then take 15 days to clear customs, at which point I will be back in China. So I only get it in early December when I'm back for like a week. Fun. But whatever, I got my furniture. There is one bed I bought that is also delayed, so that's also only coming to me early December, but the rest of it should arrive next Saturday. After that I know I still need to get some lamps, and I know that I will still need to buy some pieces here and there, but I'm done. It will probably look horrible. I'm convinced it will look horrible. But I will find out next weekend...

Ok now on to the music, starting with Lala Lala, the project of Chicago-based Lillie West, who has just put out her second album, The Lamb. I first heard Water Over Sex off of that album, and I think the first time I heard it I wasn't too blown away. But then I heard it a few more times in random places and liked it more and more. I love the lo-fi rock feel.





So apparently West was always drunk and high in the past while making music and is now sober, and that's what opening track Destroyer is about - getting sober. And it is probably the best track on the album. Overall, the album is pretty solid. These two tracks are definite standouts, while the rest just kind of moves along sounding very similar. Good sound, but not a lot of variety. Except in these two. And we all know how I love a good opening track. And that chorus is fantastic.





Then this week we had the new single from Georgia come out, and this song is a banger. Wait until that chorus comes in and the beat drops. Cause damn. This girl put out an album in 2015 when she was like 17 or 21 or something. I don't know. But she was very young and did everything herself and made extremely interesting, unique pop music. And she's finally back and at it again with the single Started Out. This is a great start for album 2. And a very fun video.





And the last track for today is from boygenius. In case you were wondering, the theme here today is alternative music, as opposed to yesterday's R&B and tomorrow's Latin. So boygenius is a supergroup made of Lucy Dacus (fantastic), Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker (both good). And when they come together, they are very good. Very, very good. No idea if it's just a single EP they're putting out or if this is going to be a longer thing, but they have an EP called boygenius out now and it's great. Favorite track is probably the opener Bite the Hand, although Salt in the Wound is also great. But we'll go with the opener, cause it was also a single. But for some reason not on Youtube? None of their songs are. So Spotify embed it is.

Nov 3 - ESKA / Yazmin Lacey

Once again, I'm here catching up. Because things were nuts over the last two weeks when I was in China. The family came to visit so I was super busy with that, and then also had to help my sister get ready to move, and also the government was being particularly strict on the internet. So I have not written anything. But I'm back in Australia for a couple of weeks and I will take advantage of these two weeks and catch up on music.

So I'm going to spend at least the next 3 days sharing music with you. And the next 3 days is only women. After that, I've got a couple days worth of music by men or male-led groups to share. But these next 3 days are all women. Now I have accountability.

Starting out with ESKA. She's a British signer-songwriter who put out an album like 3 years ago, but I'm just now hearing about her, thanks to some great live clips Moses Sumney posted on his instagram. Apparently she was even nominated for the Mercury Prize, but I guess I just never noticed. Well, she is quite interesting. Only the one album, but it is a unique listen, so I'll share a couple songs, starting with Rock of Ages.





Really beautiful, and kind of strange. And it continues with Shades of Blue I definitely don't LOVE her, but I really like her and find her very interesting. And definitely worth my (and your) time.





And then we've got Yazmin Lacey, who I also found via Instagram. Although she was through a clip of her Tiny Desk concert on NPR. Nothing too unique about her, I guess. Just really good soul music. And a fantastic voice. And I guess if you can catch my attention in a 60 second live clip, that's a good thing. And she did. She's got 2 EPs (both of which I rushed to buy), so we'll go chronologically, starting with Still, my favorite track from her 2017 EP, Black Moon.




And then this year she followed it up with When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees, another great EP. Favorite song on there is probably Body Needs Healing. Actually, I think Black Moon is the better EP. But both great. And these are two fantastic songs. So hopefully 2019 finally means an album.