Well, another year has come and gone. As I have the last two years, I'll be posting a "Year in Review" within the next week. But first, Music Monday!
I've posted live Jamie Cullum videos before, and I'll likely continue that trend in the future. This time I've got "Next Year Baby," a fitting song for the final day of 2012. A lot has happened this past year: graduated from UBC, moved to Banff, picked up two internships. I didn't travel outside of Canada at all, but instead went back and forth between Kelowna and Victoria, drove out to Banff, went snowshoeing in Glacier National Park, and visited Calgary a few times.
And next year? Well, I'm off to Hawaii in just over a week, more National Park adventures are sure to happen, I might do some travel abroad in the summer, and - fingers crossed - I'll be moving to Vancouver or Montreal in the fall.
Can't promise anything about drinking less beer, though.
Enjoy Jamie's performance below, and have a happy new year!
The internet is abuzz with posts about Bond, James Bond. I haven't yet seen the film (no spoiling it for me, you hear!?), but I there's a perfectly good reason for that: I've got tickets to see it on Wednesday in Calgary, on an IMAX screen! Stoked!
Now, Adele is getting a lot of attention because of the theme song she supplied. It's great. Better than great, really. It's more of a "classic" Bond theme, unlike some of the songs in the last decade. Apparently the film itself feels much like a "classic." But that's yet to be seen. Anyways, back to the music.
There's been a rumour going around that Adele was not the only artist being considered for the theme. Gossip will tell you that Muse was in the running, but Barbara Broccoli says otherwise. According to her, Adele was the first and only choice. The first song of Muse's recent album, though, is everything a Bond theme should be. It even has part of the "Goldfinger" theme in it, just like Adele's "Skyfall." The song I'm talking about is called "Supremacy," and it has gotta be my favourite Muse song. Ever.
To illustrate how perfectly this song goes with Bond, please watch the fan-made video below. Enjoy!
For those of you who aren't aware, today is Guy Fawkes Day. Arguably, the only reason people even mention this nowadays (outside of Britain, that is) is the film V for Vendetta. It's a favourite of mine, not just because of the storyline, theme, acting, or cinematography. No, it's the music that I have the fondest memories of, particularly a cover by Cat Power of Lou Reed's "I Found a Reason." It's a chilling, emotionally powerful song. At least in my mind.
Anyway, I haven't got much else to say, so please enjoy the song and video montage from V for Vendetta below.
This blog post is a bit of a dump and run, sorry to say. Lots on my plate right now, such as packing and cleaning the place in Kelowna in preparation for moving and open houses, finding a place to live in Banff, training for my new job, and then that whole Poetry Tournament thing. Aieah.
So yah, lots to say, not much time to say it. So here's a song instead!
It's called "Little Talks," and is by Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men. Apparently I can't stay away from anything Icelandic. Guess I better make my next adventure to Reykjavik, eh? Without further ado, here's "Little Talks!"
On July 23rd, 2011, I did a lot of sitting. I sat in cars, I sat on the ferry between Victoria and Vancouver, I sat in the international departures terminal at Vancouver International Airport, and I sat in a China Eastern flight to Singapore.
It's hard to believe I've now come full circle.
A lot has happened in those 365 days. I've moved to and from Singapore, visited seven different countries, finished my undergraduate degree, moved out of home a little more permanently, and met many, many new people.
There's not really too much I want to say right now, or even have to say, so I'll just skip to the music.
Disney's The Lion King was probably the first film I ever saw in theatres. I loved it then, and love it to this day. The song it made famous came on randomly today, and it pulled on something inside me. I thought it only fitting to choose "The Circle of Life" as my Music Monday track.
I first mentioned Janelle Monae a year and a half ago, introducing her video for "Many Moons" with this phrase:
"In the meantime, please enjoy the musical stylings and rad dance moves of Janelle Monae."
For this Music Monday, I'd like to share more of these "musical stylings," though the rad dance move will be absent. Not unfortunately absent, as she replaces those slick movements with an emotional passion for her lyrics that is sure to leave you taken aback. And in a good way.
The song in question? "Cold War." It's arguably my favourite track from her most recent album, The Archandroid. At first I loved it for the song itself. The music, the vocals, the lyrics. And then I saw the music video. Immediately, I knew this was something to be shared. Odd, though, that I've waited this long to do so on my blog.
So please, take a moment to bask in the audiovisual experience that is Janelle Monae's "Cold War."It is probably the most honest portrayal of a musician I have ever seen. Enjoy.
Every once in a while I become totally enamoured with a song, and have it on repeat for several days at a time. I came across one such song last week, and, on the day I first heard it, I listened to it a total of fifteen times.
And just what song is this?
It's Iceland's entry into the 2012 Eurovision song contest, "Never Forget" by Gréta Salóme & Jónsi. This more well-known version is actually an incredibly well done translation of their original track, "Mundu Eftir Mér."
If you're not quite sure what Eurovision is, don't fret. It's basically a song contest open to any European nation (plus a few others, as Israel usually participates along with former Soviet bloc countries, like Azerbaijan, that are technically in Asia), where the participating nations elect a single representative to perform and then vote on a winner. It's a bit of a popularity contest more-so than a talent contest, but whatever. It's a good time, and the acts get a tonne of exposure. Win win?
Anyway, Iceland came 20th this year. Somehow. I really don't understand how Sweden won, or how Russia came second, or how Jónsi didn't charm his way into the hearts of every European.
The videos of their performances are below. The first is the English version, performed in Baku for Eurovision 2012, and the second is the Icelandic version, performed for the Iceland Eurovision qualifiers. Or whatever they're called. Enjoy!
Alright, so in my last blog post I shared a video of the UBC Okanagan campus, where I've been studying the last four-ish years. Initially I had wanted to post a video of each of the three universities I have attended, but the University of Victoria video was extremely hokey and the National University of Singapore video was, well, corporate. Both were very much unlike what I experienced on the respective campuses.
But Music Monday gives me a chance to at least showcase one of my favourite cities/countries/islands in the world: Singapore. Yes, I've posted tonnes of photos and blog posts about my five-ish months in Southeast Asia, but this video is just amazingly well put together and deserves to be shared. I hope that you'll quickly see why I fell so deeply in love with Singapore.
The song is "Young Blood" by The Naked and Famous, a group out of New Zealand. You might recognize the song from the trailer for The Cabin in the Woods (which I highly recommend seeing). The music fits perfectly with the video, and it's great in it's own right, too. So take a listen, watch the video, and let me know what you think of the Lion City.
It's been such an important part of my lift these last four years, so I thought I might as well share it with you all. I talk about UBCO quite a bit, and a lot of the people I know have never even seen the place. So here's a video that UBC made to promote the Okanagan campus. It shows a bit of the city and region I live in, too, which is always interesting. Now, if only they would tell me what to do now that I have that degree. Hmm.
So this post is gonna be really short, as a lot of the Music Monday posts are. I've been picking up lots of hours at work, so I've been busy busy busy almost everyday. I spend lots of time at the Gap now.
The benefit? Besides a fat paycheck every two weeks, I get to listen to the Gap soundtrack. I'll admit that I cannot stand some of the songs (WHY must we play the Biebs!?), but there are a few gems. One of 'em is "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s. I love those guys. I also love seeing people's reactions when Kate starts screaming after Fred hollers something about a bikini whale (which Wikipedia tells me is not an actual whale, but an overweight woman in a bikini). Video is below!
So after my last blog post I went ahead and contacted some of my old friends. Caught up with one of them, exchanged a couple messages with another, and have had total radio silence from a few more. One of the people I really want to reconnect with has deleted herself from the internet, apparently, and so I have absolutely no way of contacting her. Sad panda. But I'm happy to be speaking with some people from my past.
The job front isn't going any better. If I don't stumble across something soon, or get a call back, I have some insider information that Starbucks is desperate for male employees. Sigh.
For Music Monday I've got "Everybody Come Down" by the Delgados. They were one of my favourite bands in high school, and I've just started listening to them again. I swear this must be a phase of some sort.
I'm feeling a little unorthodox today. Why? 'Cause I got one of those research papers finished up, a whole three days before it's due. This is absolutely unprecedented. It called for a celebration.
And so celebrate I did.
How, you might ask? With a sammich. But not just any sammich, it was a deliciously triumphant sammich. I'll give details on it below, but first we've got to get the Music Monday portion of this blog out of the way.
This week I've chosen "Your Song," specifically the arrangement from the film Moulin Rouge as sung by Ewan McGreggor. Moulin Rouge is a favourite of mine, and for good reason. The musical arrangements are prefect and suit the film beautifully, the casting was spot on, and the acting was just over-the-top enough to make the movie campy but not unbearable. If that makes any sense. Anyway, I love a lot of the songs from the film, and I have the album ("Nature Boy" by David Bowie gets a tonne of listening time, by the way).
So why "Your Song?" 'Cause it's the song that I wanted to sing to my sammich. Seriously. Here's the video.
So instead of Nicole Kidman, picture a sammich. In particular, a grilled peanutbutter and banana sammich. Yah. And just how does one make one of these? Read on!
Peanutbutter up one slice of bread.
Layer thinly sliced banana on peanutbutter.
Peanutbutter up second slice of bread. OR use fruit jam, Nutella, kaya, honey...
Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium heat.
Melt a small amount of butter or margarine in the pan.
So this is gonna be another one of the short Music Monday posts. Sorry, but spring means end of term, so I have papers to write and finals to study for. Well, one final, but that's beside the point. Suffice to say I am a very busy boy (or at least try to be), with academics and graduation and job hunting and moving at the end of April. Aieah.
So here's another spring-y song that I fell in love with the moment I saw the video. It's "Off the Wall" by French electronic artist Yuksek. The video is below, as well of the making of video, which is almost just as good and quite intriguing to watch. You'll see what I mean if you take the time to watch both of them. Cheers!
I've mentioned Lana Del Rey before, and if my current listening trends are any indication she'll be featured in many Music Mondays to come.
Her video for "Blue Jeans" was just released, so it only makes sense to post it here. That said, convenience isn't the only reason I've chosen this song today. "Blue Jeans" was one of my immediate faves from the album. Lana incorporates an odd mix of sounds and styles, and has been described as a "self-styled 'gangsta Nancy Sinatra.'" Seriously. On this track, she employs strong percussion, guitar arpeggios (I think? It's been a while, they sound somewhat arpeggio-y, at least), vocal sampling, and a smooth string section. Oh, and her sultry, silky voice.
I think it's about time you went and watched the video to hear the song for what it is, as there's only so much I can say about it in words. I can't adequately convey her tones, images, or emotions. So take a listen below.
Alright, this might be the quickest Music Monday post ever. I honestly had nothing planned leading up to today, and was at work all morning and afternoon, then playing volleyball after that, so I didn't get anything done on the blog front today, either. So I'm just gonna do what a lot of my Facebook friends have been doing lately and post a music video taken from the infinity pool of the Marina Bay Sands resort casino in Singapore. I miss that place. A lot. And I remember being in that pool. And I want to go back to it during the day, since I was up at night and the exposure for aerial photos of the Lion City wasn't too great.
Anyway, here's the video for B.o.B.'s "High Life."
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.
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.
It be Monday! And Mondays are good 'cause they be busy days. I like those now, on account of me not having much to keep me busy at the moment.
What makes Mondays so busy? Well, I play on two of my four volleyball teams on Mondays, but that doesn't come until the evening. Mondays are also homework days, since I only have classes Tuesdays and Thursdays and therefore leave any work I have to do until the last minute. It's how I roll.
And last but not least, Monday's are obligatory blog post days! Don't get me wrong, I love my Music Mondays, but it sometimes seems that they're the only thing keeping me in this blog game. Whatever. I'm fine with that.
So this week I've got a song by American indie rapper/singer Astronautalis, who I had the pleasure of seeing a few years back in Kelowna. Suffice to say I fell in love with his music from the first song, and I've been hooked since. This particular song is off his most recent album This is Out Science, and features Canadian Tegan Quinn of Tegan & Sara fame. Coincidentally, it was at a Tegan & Sara concert that I was introduced to Astronautalis. Enough out of me, check out the video for "Contrails" below.
Music Monday didn't get the jump on me this week, and in fact the most difficult part of compiling this post was figuring out which song I wanted to feature. There were a lot, trust me.
In the end, I decided to go with "Uummannaq Song" by KT Tunstall. Why? Because it's snowing again, and that makes all the difference.
The song title references the Greenlandic town of Uummannaq, and the lyrical content is much what you would expect from a song about Greenland (that's the icy one, remember. Iceland is the green one. I blame the vikings). The chorus in particular grabs me: "I could live in this town / Five cold years before I / ... / Before I head for home."
Hey! That's what I'm doing! Well, sort of. I've been living up in the Okanagan on and off since 2008, so that puts me at about four-ish years in this cold town now. And if all goes well, I'll be living here another year, bringing the count to five cold years before I head for home.
I also chose to feature this 'cause it's all around awesome. I've had a soft spot for KT Tunstall since forever, but I only just recently got my mittened hands on her 2010 album Tiger Suit. Below I've got a live video, just to prove how rad this woman is. I like the studio version a lot better, but live videos demonstrate the skill of an artist in a more pure form. That's enough out of me. Have a good week!
Kelowna is again proving itself to be a temperamental city. Right now it could easily be one of the first days of spring, if not for the relative cold. Really, today is a warm day at five above! That wasn't the case Saturday afternoon, where the first snow of the new year started to fall. It blanketed the city in white, about two inches of the soft stuff.
Now, I know that I complain about the cold a lot. That's because I'm an Island boy: it's expected of me. But I'll be the first to admit that there's something pretty and different about the first fresh snow. I actually don't mind it or the cold for that first day or so. After that, I'm like the rest of the populace and will be overjoyed when it melts.
Which it did, the next day.
So to celebrate the first snowfall of the year (and the mercifully short visit it made) here's a track by Snow Patrol. They're the Glasgow-based band of "Chasing Cars" fame, I've sure you've heard of them if you ever listened to the radio between 2006 and 2007. If not, then here's your introduction!
I've chosen the first single from their 2009 release A Hundred Million Suns, "Take Back the City." Why? First off, I like it. And that's a perfectly valid reason. Second, I spent the weekend finally getting back into the swing of living in Kelowna. Went to a cowboy/country bar (against my will, I must add), ate waffles at the Jammery, finally realized how terrible Rose's really is, and was reminded how much I love O'Flannigans. Oh, and I crashed on a few couches, 'cause why not?
Anyway, enough about me. Here's Snow Patrol, as promised.
