Ear Candy

I love to spread news about new music loves and these are some that I have downloaded recently that I am playing on constant repeat:

1. Alex Clare - "Too Close"

I came across this song through the new commercial that they are running for Internet Explorer - this guy is kind of really awesome. His album isn't available in the US yet (darn it) but this single is, and I hope that the full album comes soon, because the stuff that I have heard is great.

2. Goyte - "Save Me"

It took me a while to dive in and purchase this album, but after seeing someone Tweet about it, I decided to give it a chance. I am so happy I did - this album hits the perfect mix between alternative/lite rock. As one reviewer said on Amazon, "it's a strangely appealing mix of Beck, George Michael, and Seal".  There are definitely some tracks that I love more than others, but it is all in all a really great album. The song above is one of my favorites so far.

3. Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - "Safe and Sound"

It's almost sacrilegious for me to post something positive about Taylor Swift - I usually can't stand her music (and I know I'm in the minority there, but I am just. not. a. fan. at. all.). But this song is hauntingly beautiful (which I credit T Bone Burnett and The Civil Wars for). I'm really excited about "The Hunger Games" movie AND soundtrack - there are some really amazing artists (like The Civil Wars) on it and I'm hoping for more of the same along these lines.

4. Starfield - "Innocence and Other Things Lost"

Starfield is a Christian band that I stumbled upon a couple of years ago and I liked them immediately because they actually had good music - not just lyrically, but musically - something that didn't sound like it belonged in a church on a Sunday. That is, until a couple of albums ago in which the whole album bent toward that direction and I was sad because, while there's nothing wrong with that music, it doesn't grab me. Thankfully on this new album, Starfield seems to have found a little bit of that musicality that I loved about them at first place. This is one of the songs that drew me in.

Let me know what you think or if you've come across anything new lately that I need to know about :)

Music Spotlight: Mumford & Sons

I'm sure that all of my cool friends who are up on their indie bands already know this band, but I just discovered Mumford & Sons the other day when I randomly decided to download their album off of Amazon (which, by the way, if you buy music online, I highly recommend checking out prices on Amazon before you purchase through ITunes - it generally has cheaper music and better deals than the ITunes store - and it will automatically download into your Itunes music library).  Anyway, I was listening to their album and this song came on.  Very rarely does a piece of music really move me emotionally, but I found myself choking up while listening to it.  I hope you enjoy it! (and sorry for the cheesy images - this was the best recording I found on YouTube - there are many other versions up there as well, but this was the best in my opinion.)

Live Thoughts on the VMAs

So I am watching the VMAs tonight and instead of posting lots of random thoughts on Facebook, I'll save them for my blog....

1 - Chelsea Handler - Hilarious. I bet there are a lot of mad celebrities, but oh well.  Thanks for being funny.

2 - Eminem - Welcome back. And hello red-flaming-fake-hair Rihanna.

3 - Justin Bieber - Ohmygosh.  You can actually dance!  And sing at the same time!  Maybe you're not a fad...maybe I am now a Bieber fan?? 

4 - Usher.  Wow. Wowowowowowowowoowow.  Or, Oh My Gosh.

5 - Florence & The Machine - Love your album.  Appreciate your performance - even more so that it came right after Usher's techno-amazing-dance-extravaganza.

6 - Lady Gaga - Of course you are going to win lots of VMAs for "Bad Romance".  So why wear unwearable clothing?

7 - Why do we need stats on Twitter updates for the VMAs?  There is something wrong with that - I can't quite put my finger on why it feels wrong, but it just seems wrong.  Or more like, why should I care?

8 - Random N.E.R.D. & Ciara performance in the middle of commercials? Shameless bad marketing technique.

9 - Taylor-frickin'-Swift - Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Like Kayne West is looking for a pity song from you? Please - why don't you learn how to sing? I'm sorry all you Taylor fans out there - I. Am. Not. A. Fan.

10 - UGH - JUSTIN JT TIMBERLAKE WHY ARE YOU NOT PERFORMING INSTEAD OF PRESENTING!!! PLEASE MAKE ANOTHER ALBUM AGAIN.  And please stop me from continually begging for this!

11 - Drake, Swizz Beatz, and Mary J. Blige - Awesome.  What a hip-hop performance should be with three uber-talented people.

12 - Dumb Jared Leto.  I hate 30 Seconds to Mars and emo-Jared Leto and his eyeliner and his shout-out to the "fans" - excuse me Jared, were these the same fans that you stood up on your tour with MuteMath - a band that actually has talent and innovation?

13 - What must it be like to be a member of the Jersey Shore cast? To get lots of money for doing nothing but sitting in a hot tub together, joking about STDs that you have?

14 - I'm not upset that Justin Bieber just won Best New Artist...ohmygosh, he has won me over! My identity is in crisis!!

15 - Really Cher, really? I don't know whether my eyes are offended and appalled or if I admire your chutzpah to wear that at your age, which is....???

16 - Thank YOU Aziz Ansari, for putting the Kayne/Taylor thing in perspective - It WAS hilarious!!

17 - Welcome back Kayne.  I've missed you.

Apologies for taking so long to put up another post.  I didn't realize it had been almost a month since my last post - I will promise to try to not do that again!

Some Love for Jamie Cullum

I love Jamie Cullum - he has a unique sound and style and has the ability to turn popular songs into his own.  I wanted to share this song, his remake of Rihanna's "Dont' Stop the Music" - I'm in love with it.  It is so sexy, subtle, and jazz.  Enjoy!  And check out some of Jamie's other music if you get a chance!

This One's for you Bek!

When I was in college, one of my favorite things to do was find awesomely, fantastic, useless stuff at K-Mart for my roommates. It was a mecca for me and I did find some pretty awesome stuff there. One of my favorite finds was a musical called "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" starring none other than David Hasselhoff. I got this gem for my roommate Rebekah because of her love for musical theater. We ended up watching it and it was actually fantastic! The Hoff had a good voice and the musical was great. But the shining moment was at the end, when all the performers were taking their final bow, The Hoff ended his bow with a high kick off to stage right. Quite possibly one of the funniest moments of my life and something that I have sought to emulate throughout my own life - high-kicking my way through it all.

Well, when I discovered this gem of a performance on the web, I had to post it, for old time's sake. Here's The Hoff at it again, and this time leaves us with yet again, another notable exit. Enjoy!

Good Music Video

I like to watch music videos from time to time, and saw N.E.R.D.'s new video for their song, Sooner or Later and thought they did a good job of commenting on current events while making a good video for a good song.

N.E.R.D. - New Music - More Music Videos

I also want to give a shout out for their album, Seeing Sounds, which came out last year. I find it to be really original stuff, with beats and arrangements that stimulated my eardrums.

A "Capitol" Weekend

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time and was so encouraging and uplifting.

It all started with an email on Friday, when the Kennedy Center sent me an email stating that it had $20 orchestra seats available for its concert that night. After debating with myself all day, I decided to go ahead and go to the concert and enjoy an evening of classical music on my own instead of sitting at home in my dark house watching some movie or junk on television. I was so glad that I did make that decision, because the concert was sublime. There was a solo cellist performing a Prokofiev concerto, and I have never seen anyone play with that intensity and passion in my life. Prokofiev, being a Russian composer, rifles his works with drama and complexity anyway - the additional breadth of extraordinary musicianship was therefore remarkable. Absolutely incredible.

But I think what was even more incredible, was that after giving that performance, the cellist went on to perform in the next piece with the orchestra. Something about a soloist's willingness to sit within the back rows of the orchestra and play with them in the following piece, spoke to me of this man's humbleness and sheer love of playing beautiful music. It has something to do with the fact that this amazing musician became part of the bigger picture, the bigger sound - stepping outside of himself for the sake of the music - that really spoke to me. It kind of hits on the thing that I was blogging about last week - this feeling that I am supposed to be something more (thanks by the way to everyone for posting your thoughts - very insightful stuff and truthful stuff - I've been clinging to it). This musician is that "something more" but yet, for the sake of playing more music, takes a back seat in the back row, to play with the orchestra and let others shine.

Anyway, on Saturday, I returned to the city with a group of coworkers to sight-see and visit the museums. What a gorgeous day in the city! And it was a good thing too, seeing as we walked our little legs off around the city!! :) I somehow always manage to do that - walk a lot further than I intended, in the worst shoes possible for walking long distances. I also was kind of disappointed in the Natural History Museum - it was like a never-ending fifth-grade diorama scene or an ode to taxidermy - that the cool things that were there got lost in the midst of all the bad displays and bad arrangements of the amazing things that are there. But the beauty in just walking through the city afterwards made up for the cheesiness of the museum. It is also really awesome that there is so much you can do for free in DC (though they make up for the "free" admission by charging outrageous prices on food - the margin they must make on food must be incredible!!). I hope to make it back there soon.

Saturday, before heading into the city, I helped out at the Warrenton Food Bank at the Methodist Church. Apparently Young Life helps out with this every month, but this was my first time doing it. I also almost didn't go and sleep in instead, but a little voice (God) kept telling me to get up and go and work at this thing. I am glad that I did. It is good to be reminded of all the different people that live in Warrenton - that in our little, predominantly white, middle-class suburbia, utopian town, there are real people living in real poverty. Especially after reading the Glass Castle, I am thankful that I got to help people living in these conditions in a very, very, very small way. Most of my volunteer service work is in YL ministry, so it was very beneficial to participate in something outside of YL - as one of my friends said last night, the kingdom is way bigger than just Young Life, and participating in this helps remind me of that truth.

Yesterday was spent in driving around the country observing all the different signs of spring coming to life throughout the landscape. I really cannot wait till it comes! Golf, here I come!!

I also spent the other part of the day in Bracket analysis and research (bracketology) with my dad - I really, really want to win my company's pool this year. I came in third my first year, and then was knocked out last year, so I'm hoping for a much better showing this year. Any advice is much welcome and will be analyzed to the fullest :)! Company pools aside, I am really excited for March Madness - this is one of my absolute favorite times of the year - nothing beats a good college basketball game! Here's hoping some of my low seeds come through for me!

Post 4

As the title implies, this is my fourth post on my blog, and I have to say that the experience so far has been fun. I enjoy technology and learning new things, and this has been so simple to use and try out. The hardest part is coming up with content for the blog!

Some random musings for today:

1 - I love language - beautiful language. I was watching a documentary on Winston Churchill tonight, and his use of language and ability to turn a phrase, made me yearn for that power. I wish I had a better grasp on vocabulary and could use it to its full effect. There is so much power in words and just a short while ago it seems that most of the public had a command of them - which is something you don't see today. To be able to string together words so that they evoke powerful emotions and knowledge at the same time - such is a gift that I wish I had.

2 - I love classical music. And there are so many performances coming to the DC area that I want to go see! Yo Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Itzakh Perlman! The arts delight and fill a part of my soul. Again, I wish I understood it more and could appreciate the music even more - but there is also something to be said about experiencing a piece of classical music in naivete. Then it is all about the experience and the orchestration of the art.

3 - I was thinking about the path and journey that I have been on so far and how some parts have turned out radically different than I thought that they were going to. And I also was thinking about some of the journeys that my friends are on and how they have ended up on completely different paths than what they thought. And yet, we are all in the exact place that God wants us to be in.

4 - I also was thinking about how I love thinking broadly - the big picture, no matter what it is, is what excites me. I love seeing how things all come together. I guess I need to progress to the point in where that once I understand the big picture, I can also look at the different parts and see where changes need to be made and what parts aren't working. And in the Winston Churchill documentary I realized for the first time how narrowly focused Roosevelt's worldview was and how because of that, we have ended up in the position we are in in the world today. I had never seen that thread before, but the groundwork was laid all the way back then! And that is why history fascinates me - because of the way that events back then can be linked to events today.