Music Monday: Trip Hoppin'

Disclaimer: I'm not actually sure what "trip hop" is, but from what I can tell by looking at the Wikipedia article it falls into that miscellaneous "alternative" music genre. Right.

So, Music Monday! Because I didn't make a post last Monday, I've made this one better. How better? Three times better! That is, three times better than a typical Music Monday post, not three times better than last week's non-existent post. That would still be three times the nothing, eh?

Anywho, there be three songs this week for you to listen to, all of which I've been playing on repeat since discovering them. First on the docket is Kylie Minogue's "Too Far," a blast from the past as the album, Impossible Princess, was released in 1997. Whoa! I may or may not have been 7 or 8 years old at that time. What do I love about the song? The back beat. I absolutely adore the drums in this song, and in all three songs this week for that matter.

Next up is Amon Tobin's "Esther's," from his 2007 album Foley Room. Tobin is a bit of an electronic genius, using sampling from vinyl records and foley recordings to create his songs. No words in this one, but that's what I've been into lately. If you look at my Last.fm stats for the last week, I've somehow racked up 105 plays of his music since discovering his work, oh, Tuesday. Seriously.

Last, but not least, rising starlet Lana Del Rey, with her track "Off to the Races." As with Kylie's song, I love the back beat, I love the vocals, but most of all I love the strings. I've got no clue what it is, but a well done string section just gets me going. So, enough talking, take a listen by clicking the YouTube video below. It's an embedded playlist, so all three songs will play in order if you leave it alone, or you can use the Next button to skip tracks you might not care for.


photo by /ivan

Poco Loco

I am a crazy person. This has been confirmed by my behaviour the last week, and especially what went down today. More on that later, though, when my mind has some time to catch up with what exactly is going on.

Anywho, you might have noticed that I missed Music Monday. Oops, my bad. But, there is a reason, a perfectly valid reason! Y'see, I spent the weekend in Vancouver pretending I was in Singapore. I ate all my favourites, namely Hainanese chicken rice, Singapore laksa, sambal ayam, prata, milk tea, and kopi. And shaved ice cream. Oh, and sour mango cake. I think that's it? I also went out for Peking duck and sushi (on different nights, people!).

But those aren't the reasons I missed Music Monday, nosirree. I missed my Monday post 'cause I was on a boat. Sunday night I attended the Asteroids Galaxy Tour tour's final show in Vancouver before heading home to Denmark. Danish people are from Denmark, right? I know I'm a Geo minor, but I sometimes forget these things. Anyway, mad rad concert, had a great time, and was too busy singing along to the Safety Dance to blog about it. And yes, I know it's a cover. Men Without Hats did it better, frankly, and I even have a shirt with part of the song written on it. Seriously. I'm that cool.

Now if you'd excuse me, I have a very important meeting with Mr Boss Man tomorrow afternoon. G'night!

photo by moffoys

Caffeine Creativity

It's that time of year again, where I hunker down and work tirelessly on term papers and research projects. Except that this year I only have one research project on the go, so the only hunkering down I gotta do is the sort that forces me to be productive.

Luckily, I have found the source of many creative juices: Blenz!

Yes, it's a coffee shop. It's my new locale of productivity, as it is impossible for me to get anything done while at home. Why? Because when I'm at home I procrastinate, most often through the internet and cleaning. At Blenz, the free WiFi requires a new password every hour or so from the barista people, and even though I am friends with a barista person there it is enough of a hassle for me to not both with WiFi. I also cannot clean while I'm there, although I am sure my aforementioned barista friend would love me to. Not happening, sorry.

So I get stuff done. I read through articles and take notes while sipping on a maple latte macchiato. And when I feel I've done enough work, I figure out plans for Protagonize. That's right, Declan's coffee shop habits are totally based on my own. We even sit in the same spot. His coffee preference was identical to mine at the time of writing, but I have since embraced my love of dairy products in coffee. Future personal assistants take note.

Those of you who follow my writing on Protagonize, I should have a chapter in RKC up sometime this evening, and by the end of the week I want to have one other chapter posted in something else. I totally know what it is, and I have a chapter premise, but I don't know what else will happen in it. That's for me to figure out and you to find out later, 'cause mystery chapter is a surprise! I'm not gonna tell you what story it will be for, but it will be posted in one of my existing stories without a doubt. Be intrigued!

photo by mag3737

Music Monday: Soul Killing

No story or set-up for this one, this time Music Monday is all about the song.

Just discovered this new track by an old favourite, the Ting Tings. They're that pop duo of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and "That's Not My Name" fame, songs that you either loved or hated. I'm in the love camp, but we're not here to debate.

No, this post is here to expose you to what is hopefully the group's new direction. The blog buzz is throwing the label reggae on this track, drawing a comparison to some of No Doubt's pre-Rock Steady releases. I can see what they mean, and I love it.

Some of the background noises are a little odd (that squeaky hinge scares me every time), but lend themselves well to the feel of the song. And the sugar-sweet vocals work really well, and I think people who were formerly adverse to the Ting Tings will be able to at least tolerate this forthcoming album, Sounds from Nowheresville. It drops at the end of the month, and I think it's safe to say that I'll be picking up a hard copy.

Oh yah, the song is called "Soul Killing," and you can stream it below for free. No downloads, though!

Singaporean in the Snow

I miss Singapore. Really, this should come as no surprise, as anyone who doesn't miss his temporary tropical home on return to a frosty Canadian winter is clearly a lunatic. And let it be known that I am no lunatic.

Luckily, I brought a few things back to make the transition a little easier. Two of those things: kopi and kaya. Kopi is the southeast Asian coffee, simply. I'm not so sure how to properly describe it, other than mouth-watering. In Singapore (and most of the region, for that matter), kopi is accompanied by condensed milk rather than cream, which gives it a distinct sweetness. I brought the instant variety home, though I am swiftly running out. To counter this, I've started mixing it with hocho powder, creating what is probably my new favourite hot beverage, kopicho. I may or may not be drooling right meow.

As to kaya, it's a jam-like spread for toast. Now, this might sound a little bit gross, but it's made from a combination of coconut milk, eggs, sugar, and pandan (not pandas). In all honesty, it's nothing much to call home about by itself, but mixed with peanut butter it is on the same level as kopicho. In fact, kaya-peanut toast (that's what they call it in S'pore, I actually didn't come up with the combination myself) goes really well with a hot mug of kopicho. Especially in the chill of winter!

Think I might throw on the kettle and plug in the toaster, actually.

photo by xcode

Music Monday: Worlds Collide

In this week's edition of Music Monday, I bring you something completely different, at least by the standards of past posts. I've had my run of jazz and acoustics, my party rock anthems, my indies, my remixes. So what's next?

Heavy metal orchestral.

Yes, you read those words right. It's what happens when you take your usual line up of electric guitars, screaming amps, and percussive bass lines and then add in a couple cellos for good measure. Why not?

Rather than try to explain this combination, I'll just direct you to the track I have in mind. Apocalyptica's "Grace," featuring Japanese rock guitarist Hotei Tomoyasu, is one of my favourites off their aptly titles album Worlds Collide. The video is below.