| | I don't have to go to work today because of the snow. Its been a long time since I've had a snow day. I can't remember the last time. I know I had one in college in Pennsylvania. | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment   |
| I didn't buy this Christmas album last year when it came out even though its rave review on NPR piqued my interest. Songs for Christmas is a monster box set which includes 5 discs and extensive liner notes. Over the course of five years Sufijan had recorded at home these discs which he then sent out to friends and family as Christmas gifts. He also used them as "Christmas therapy" for himself
I had never heard of Sufijan until last year and a huge box set seemed like a big commitment. This year however, I craved serious Christmas music to an extent that listening to jingle bells and deck the halls laden secular christmas compilations (which I seem to have collected over theyears) didn't do it for me. Plastic Santas, candy canes, and good ol' american consumerisn made me want to puke. I NEEDED to listen to music about Jesus, why do we celebrate Christmas, whats the point etc... The only music that I could stomach was Rebecca St. James' CD from 1997 or so. Some would say, even for a Christian artist, her music is too "religious" but it was perfect for me. I discovered the carol, O Come O Come Emmanual, anew this year because of her. The words speak of a dark cloud of sin looming over us that is only dispersed with the news of Jesus' birth and death on the cross. This was perfect for my candy-induced nausea--yet I wanted something new as well.
Sufijan Stevens is an indie artist and sounds like an indie artist. To me, he sounds like a solo-artist non-band version of Arcade Fire and Polyphonic Spree. They all have that scruffy indie-orchestral aesthetic, lushly layered and optimistic but also paying tribute to the overwhelmingly depressing aspects of life. Josh hates this type of music, but I can enjoy it when its not bad.
All five discs together, present a wonderful mix of traditional Christmas hymns, Sufijan's own Chrismas creations and even a couple of just plain hymns (Amazing Grace and O Come Thou Font). Musically and lyrically the box set is varied and diverse. Among the many themes he explores are, the joy of Jesus's birth, the giddy fun of consumerism, family strife, coming together inspite of family strife and winter cold. As many instruments as could be found in his house were included. Upbeat, serious, sparse and luscious sounds make the album shine. I am not surprised to find out that Sufijan is a Christian, yet he is not obnoxiously so. It comes out because it is part of who he is, not because he is trying to "send a message." In fact he wasn't trying to send a message at all. Possessing an "inherent aversion to the standard Christmas carol" he embarked on the project in the beginning as an exercise to make himself “appreciate” Christmas more. In his liner notes he expresses that the experiment must have worked. This compilation is magnificent and honest.
links
review on pitchfork
what his website has to say about it | | comments: Leave a comment |
| I've been listening to Fergie's album for a few weeks now. I needed time to chew on in for a while. My first impression was that she was all over the place. While I criticized Will.i.am and Timbaland for not having enough variety (really for not having heart), Fergie has almost too much variety. Where is the unity? The low point is definitely London Bridge, which while popular on the radio, displays such a high degree of moral degradation and is so totally against who I am and what I stand for that I almost didn't get the album because of this one song. Despite the debauchery in London Bridge, her other radio hits (Glamorous and Big Girls Don't Cry), were sweet. I decided to give the album a chance in its own right.
While on one end of the musical and lyrical spectrum is London Bridge, in which Fergie touts her, shall we say, "skills" and "willingness" much as prominent male rappers do, on the opposite end of the spectrum is a sweet ballad Finally, in which Fergie sings that she is finally emotionally mature and ready to commit to a healthy relationship. Fergie displays her vocal skills well in the all of the thirteen songs. She effortlessly pulls off rap, ballads, reggae, ska, smooth jazz, r&b, and throwback 50's and 80's, to sing about a variety of topics such as shoes, drug abuse, loneliness, breaking up, falling in love, fame, commitment, and mental stability. Comparing her to other artists also comes effortlessly. Among those singers she can be compared to are Gwen Stephani, Kelly Clarkson, Missy Elliot, Christina Aguilera, even Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Pink.
There is so much variety in this album that its hard to decide who Fergie really is. It came to me after a while however. The theme running through many of the songs is: struggle. She's had a hard life, risen to fame, but it is still hard. Despite this she has fun and is her own woman. She urges other woman to be independent too but not to forget who they are and not to give up on what is important. It seems from some of her songs, she's forgotten whats important on occasion but learns from her mistakes and rises above them. I think this is a good message. Its actually a good album. Its got unity, diversity, fun, and heart, even humor. I give it a solid A (95%)
Some highlights are her radio hits Glamorous, Big Girls Don't Cry and Clumsy, as well as Mary Jane Shoes, Losing My Ground, ok and I even very much like Fergalicious. Glamorous has been criticized for being another party song, but those people miss the minor key the song is written in. Underlying the lyrics "gold and diamond rings...shopping for expensive things" is a bit of sadness. She sings "I got problems up to here I got people in my ear telling me these crazy things and I don't want them...its been a long road and the industry is cold." Its a fun song but in spite of its simplicity, has introspection and the "heart" that was missing from Timbaland and Will.i.am. Big Girls Don't Cry, is another heartful song about ending a relationship so she can move on in her life. It is a good break up song because it doesn't undercut the difficulty of ending something but also has optimism for starting life anew. Clumsy, about the fun of falling in love, is also sweet and fun. The musical surprise is that it sounds like an old song from the 50's and contains a Little Richard sample. Mary Jane Shoes is sung to the tune of No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley and is about the renewal she feels whens he wears her shoes. Losing My Ground is about losing sight of who she is and what she stands for. The lyrics are honest and the mandolin music backs up the chaos she feels. Fergalicious is similar in style to male rappers who say how great they are and thats the extent of it. Fergie includes an element of humor however. My favorite line is "My body stay viscious, I be up in the gym just working on my fitness." This song is done to the tune of J.J. Fad's Supersonic, a 80's lo fi rapper girl hit. Fun stuff. Another interesting song is Voodoo Doll, which is a look at her struggle with meth addiction.
Here is a good review of the album by Bill Lamb | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | music | | Current Music: | will.i.am | | Current Location: | home | | Security: | | | Subject: | Will.i.am | | Time: | 08:34 pm | | Current Mood: |  content |
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| I bought a CD by the artist Will.i.am titled "Songs About Girls." He is a member of Black Eyed Peas and I liked what I heard of him on the little sound clips from iTunes. After listening to the CD oh about 30 times I definitely like it, but its not great. I'd give it a B+. I like the production, meaning I like the different musical elements represented throughout the album. Its a pop album with some hints of disco and also hiphop elements. There are also some fun distortion sounds and Will.i.am's voice sounds different in different songs. Its a fun album musically and I could sense some experimental playfulness along with a good grasp of how to produce quality music. I like his voice too, which helps.
What doesn't put it over the top for me are the lyrics. I think for an album to be exceptional as a whole it has to be a cohesive unit where the songs work together to give a picture of the theme the artist is trying to communicate. "Songs About Girls" is an album about uh gurls. His website says "While on the surface SONGS ABOUT GIRLS could be interpreted as an ode to the female gender, it is actually an album inspired by a longtime personal romance. 'It’s about one particular relationship that, reflecting on it, I was really sorry how it ended up,' will explains. 'It was just me being a young dude making dumb decisions. But I was just growing up into a man, learning how to juggle a career with a relationship.'
There are some good individual songs. My favorites are "Over", "Heartbreaker", "She's a Star", "FlyGirl" and "She's a Star." Good, fun songs...I think they'd make great singles. (There has already been one single from the album: "I Got it From My Mama"). But they don't really work together to give a whole picture. What I'm looking for in a great album is variety within unity. There isn't that much variety. Represented may be the hot girl songs, the break up songs, the heart broken songs, and the falling in love songs, but they aren't all that different. This is the same issue I had with Timbaland's album. In every song he just said what a pimp he was in a different way. I was tired of it by the end. With Will.i.am, he basically harps over and over about how hot girls are, just in different ways. Even in what comes closest to a really sweet love song, "She's a Star", he misses the mark by only praising his love's physical attributes. In another near miss, "Fly Girl" he singing over and over in the refrain,"pretty girls they be coming around, I wanna let you know I'll be turning them down, cause I don't want no other ladies telling me they love me." Sweet on the surface, but I think most ladies will agree that we don't want to know that other ladies will be coming around. Its like he's reminding her that he's still a pimp and she's lucky to be with him. Um, I thought this was a love song?
Don't get me wrong, these two are two of the best on the album. They are sweet and fun, but they don't reach greatness. They are so close that it makes me sad a little. All in all however the album is good and I'd recommend it anyone. B+ is still good. ;) | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| Last night I went to my ten-year high school reunion. I've kept in touch with a fair number of people from high school but most of them are a year older. The one other person I've kept in touch with I knew wasn't going. I enjoyed high school though, and there were enough people I hoped to see that I decided to go. Josh and I flew in to town yesterday afternoon and went to the party last night. On the airplane I studied the year book to try to remember names and events. It was fun although I'm not sure it helped.
When I got there I felt instantly anti-social and nervouse. What if noone I "knew" was there. What if I was a total dork. What if what if... so silly I know. It was like I was teleported back to my high school feelings. Luckily that didn't last long because the first person I saw was Mike Diehl, a good friend from Cross Country. He is Morman so of course married 5 years with 2 kids already and one more on the way. He has two masters and lives un Utah. Then Mandi Jussel, another friend from XC saw us and came over and we chatted for a good while. She was really good to see too. She is also a teacher so we talked shop for a while. She looked fabulous too, a good haircut and fit looking.
I then talked to Ray Aberly. In HS I thought he might be slightly retarded. But whoa was I wrong. He is totally normal and can now have a normal conversation. Although Josh said he was weird, it was nothing compared to what I remember. He said he still liked taking pictures as a hobby but most of his spare time is used with his own business as a DJ. He also works at Trader Joes.
Next I talked to Cindy Mackel which was really good because in HS she was so out of place. Like many HS'ers she hadn't really found herself yet. Right after graduation she got pregnant and I ran into her at a Bite of Seattle and saw her then one year old. Now of course her kid is 9 years old. Cincy showed me a picture and was there with her boyfriend. She said she has a great job and seemed way more confident and fun and even funny. I really enjoyed talking to her.
Ironically my other orchestra friend that I saw there, Jessica (Seale?) was super bitchy and way more insecure than high school. I'm not sure she smiled once. Which was weird because in HS I don't remember her smiling much but I do remember having some really good conversations with her. We were good friends in some moments. But at the reunion she totally snubbed me. I wasn't totally shocked though because I always suspected that deep down she was a bitch. A person who did totally snub me was Jennifer Stearns (SP?). She and I were friends in Spanish and would talk about boys mostly. Back then she was in to the grunge scene. At the reunion she was dressed up really nice in a black dress and really straight bleached blond hair. When I went to say hi, she gave me the impression she couldn't wait till I went away. Weird because in HS I never got the impression she was bitchy. Insecure, yes, bitchy, no. Oh well. Interesting to say the least.
Anyway, I was very happy to see three good friends from HS there that I hadn't seen for perhaps 8-10 years. Kirstin Haugen, Lydia Powell, and Ginger Hoggatt. They all came together. Cute, because there all three lived in a culdesac together in HS. Lydia has been married 3+ years to a guy who is really into sports like Josh. The two of them talked marathon/bicycles/triathalons for while. Lydia is in city planning (I forget where). Kirstin lives in Seattle with her boyfriend that she ironically met when she was in HS. She had a super crush on him at the time but didn't get together until approx. 4 years ago. Cute huh. I forget what she does but she wants to move to Bothell and run for office there. She had blonde hair and a cute (cleave but not too much) dress, and both her and Lydia looked really good. Ginger was surprisingly fake. Not alot, but her facial expressions were exaggerated. I don't remember that from HS. It was good to see her though. She looked really good too though. Her hair was really nice and she and Mike Diehl talked for a while about Utah, where they both live. Ginger is not Mormon however, despite living in Utah. She likes living there because she can afford to buy a house and its a very family friendly state. Before the reunion I told Josh that She and Kirstin were the two people I hoped most to see.
I also talked to Kylene Ries, neighborhood and orchestra friend from elementary/junior high days. She was fun to talk to and we had a pretty good conversation about various topics, family and where we live and what we do and things like that. We are both teachers so that was fun to talk about. She was easy to talk to and pretty honest about how she feels about life.
I also talked a good deal to Emily Dickert. I think she was shy in HS (so was I but I think she was more than me). We had calculus together but didn't really ever talk until the end of the year. She got into Stanford and everyone was surprised when she did because she was smart but there were also other smart people in our grade. It was like all heads noticed her for once. Not many people from our grade went to high rated schools. She looked fabulous by the way. Super cute hair cut and out-fit and easy to talk to now (In HS alot of us were awkward weren't we). She has this job that sounded really cool although now I forget what it was. She lives in Queen Ann.
Princy was of course there and we talked for a few minutes. He was easy to talk to and had a pretty girlfriend with him. He and Josh got along well because Princy is a Dentist and so didn't bat an eyelash when Josh talked about residency. Some people at the reunion did. It can be 1% awkward at times, but with Princy it totally normal. That was nice. He seems to be doing very well financially with two practices in Renton btw.
I briefly talked to Hilary, a friend from junior high but also a bit in 10th grade. I had always wondered what happened to her because she was super smart but had a bad home life. After 10th grade Spanish I never saw her and I always wondered what had happened to her. She told me last night that she was in and out of different group homes and I had heard way back when that she had a baby in 11th grade. She is now pregnant with her 5th and the father is the same for all 5 (I think)--the same guy she's been with since 7th grade. His name was Rodrigez. I don't remember. But anyway this girl had like 5 older sisters all of whom had babies when they were teenagers. I remember Hilary was 16 or 17 when she had hers--the oldest of all her sisters. Interesting stuff. Anyway, I don't remember what she's doing now but it was good to see her.
People I wished were there: Julie and Olivia. After the wedding I kinda lost touch with them and I hoped to reconnect.
After I talked to all these people that was pretty much it. I definately thought it was worth it and was glad I went. Seeing those people was fun and what I had hoped for. Everyone else there, (about 100 in all) were the people I didn't really know at all.
Oh one other thing. One of the greeters was Laura Clawson, gorgeous cheerleader and nice and popular--not someone I would normally talk to because just different circles. Her mom was my 5th grade teacher. My best friend from 5th grade married her brother!!! So weird. So when she was the first person I saw there, I of course had to mention it to her and she and I laughed. She said my name comes up once in a while with Kara (who has two kids?). I wanted to ask if Kara is still Morman. I wonder that because Laura isn't so either her brother converted or Kara unconverted. Interesting stuff. | | comments: 8 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Tags: | garden, recipes | | Current Music: | Confessions on a Dance Floor | | Security: | | | Subject: | recipes | | Time: | 10:02 am | | Current Mood: | content |
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| Josh and I planted a garden this year. When he bought the house it already had a garden space with a fence and everything so he just ran with it. We've planted tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, greens, and of course zucchini. Zucchini growers are well known for yielding so much that they can't keep up with it all. Giving it away to unwilling friends is often the solution. I am proud to say that we have only given away one zucchini (well...it was actually a yellow crook neck squash, which is similar to zuccs in flavor and can be used in the same recipes although not similar in appearance). My secret is variety. We've eaten at least two zucchini a day for probably three weeks (not counting our vacation week) and I can't say I'm tired of them. Of course I've made zucchini bread and even frozen two loafs. We've also had pan fried zucchini with pasta with other veggies and also in salads. I found a recipe for "Mexican Zucchini" which was basically zucchini blended with peppers and tomatoes. It was good and just a tad spicy. Zucchini is bland enough that it can be snuck into almost any recipe that asks for veggies. It absorbs flavors well which means a variety of sauces and herb/spice mixes can be used. I added zuccs to a roasted veggies recipe which was basically just roasted veggies with salt and garlic on top. It was very tasty.
The house also has grape vines growing which look cool but last year there were so many grapes (and we don't eat that many) that we ended up letting them fall to the ground and disintegrate. Josh already made freezer grape jelly when he was single (yeah I know, isn't he the greatest?) and it wasn't that good. We still have a few jars left. This year I thought maybe I can find some recipes to use like I did with the zucchini. I've found a few on the internet already. Aside from just eating them, I found a recipe for grape pie. Whoa. Sounds interesting if not really good. There is also of course Waldorf salad (I'll probably make that only once but it is something to try at least), some interesting grape, cream cheese and brown sugar mixtures that are supposed to be great desserts, and also one that said just blend a bunch of grapes in a blender and use in recipes where it calls for mild vinegars...sounds weird but fun. We'll see how this all works. out. The grapes aren't ripe for a bit longer, a few weeks maybe. Although I bet they'll all come on us like a flood, all at once and sooner than I expect. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Timbaland's new album, Shock Value, received poor reviews. Despite knowing this, I had a good first impression and decided to buy it anyway. But on about 5 listens through, I can see what the reviewers were thinking. The album as a whole lacks depth, sincerity--heart! Many of the songs have good beats, yes. Most have interesting beginnings. But there are zero songs that portray any emotion other than pride, lust or anger. I'm not initiated into the "rap" world because usually I get so offended at the many swears and treatment of women that I can't enjoy the "skillz" of the artists. Timbaland is sort of different because he's crossed over into the pop world. I don' t know about the rap world, but In the pop world albums have some sincere songs, and some upbeat songs. An album may have a theme, but (should) also has variety. The soft songs help put the hard songs in context and the hard songs help the soft songs from being too cheesy. Timbaland does not have any soft songs which just makes him sound like a heartless bastard. By the end of 17 songs I'm sick of him. It doesn't matter how skilled he is. I don't want to listen to a guy who does't care about anything except himself. Perhaps "The Way I Are" is supposed to be sweet? It started out promising and of all the songs comes the closest. I wonder if Timbaland was trying here but just didn't have what it took to make an actually romantic song. I really tried to let Timbaland make me think it was supposed to be sweet. But its just another song about booty call. On another note, I still heartily enjoy about 5 or 6 of the songs. This is only a third of the songs however. I guess I expected more from Timbaland. At first I thought that the reviewers had expectations so high that they were impossible to meet. I mean it is Timbaland! But now I agree with them. Their expectations were not too high. I think Timbaland's were. He focused so much on being "Timbaland!!!!!" and forgot to include the most important thing--his heart.. | | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment |
| | What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Science/Math Nerd (Absolute Insane Laughter as you pour toxic chemicals into a foaming tub of death!)
Well, maybe you aren't this extreme, but you're in league with the crazy scientists/mathmeticians of today. Very few people have the talent of math and science is something takes a lot of brains as well. Thank whosever God you worship, or don't worship, so thank no deity whatsoever in your case, for you people! Most of us would have died off without your help. | | Social Nerd | | | Literature Nerd | | | Musician | | | Artistic Nerd | | | Gamer/Computer Nerd | | | Drama Nerd | | | Anime Nerd | | What Be Your Nerd Type?
Quizzes for MySpace |
hee hee. Ok I don't mind being a math nerd. But whats this social nerd thing??? oh man. | | comments: Leave a comment |
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