Canada Kicks Ass

All I want to do is get some new music, and I've hit a wall. I find albums I want, and I just don't have the money to buy them. I could go back to my old Limewire ways, but then I get a huge guilt complex for stealing music. Not as if that's stopped me in the past, but when it comes to emerging artists, I feel terrible downloading their songs without giving back at all.

Bit-torrent just confuses the shit out of me. Plus, I tried it once, and my spywear went into nutso-lockdown mode. I'm also using Philadelphia University's network, so illegal downloading is basically a no-go all around....

Nerd that I am, I started an Excel spreadsheet (pushes up glasses) with all the songs/artists included that I want to download. We're talking about two columns, A and C, full of everything I find. Someday, maybe I can raise some funds to buy them or swallow my guilt and download them.

To help me on my music-seeking quest, I found another site, Pitchfork.com. I know I say every site I find is amazing, but I'm kind of in love with this one. 

Pitchfork has a pretty extensive staff, so the site is updated daily with  new indie music to listen to. For instance "Rocket" by Goldfrapp, "World Sick" by Broken Social Scene, "Facelove" by PS I Love You, and my latest obession, "What Would I Want? Sky," off Animal Collective's recent EP Release, Fall Be Kind.

VCR by The XX is another great track from a band that's gaining more and more popularity daily:

It's also fabulous because the people writing the album reviews actually know their shit, as opposed to those who just base it all on opinion, and don't delve any deeper than the album cover. They put up news and tour dates, interviews, pictures and  have a tab called "Forkcast" that has links and info to buy the new music the site posts. 

For instance, my favorite bit of news from today was about a sandwich shop in Toronto named and themed after Wilco. The shop is called "Sky Blue Sky Sandwich Company" and flaunts a menu of dishes all named after Wilco songs. Genius.

The Canadians have gotten it right. They stay out of international affairs, allow 19 year olds to consume alcohol, make restaurants named after alternative rock bands, and boast artists like The Arcade Fire, Handsome Furs, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Feist, just to name a few. Not to mention my favorite geek boy actor, Michael Cera is from Toronto. If it wasn't so damn cold up there, I think I would become Canadian.

If this is How To Fight The Loneliness, I'm game.

Camaleón

Esta chica ha cambiado un montón sobre los últimos años en aspectos musicales y también físicamente. En el principio de su carrera, veíamos una chica muy dulce con cariño- Una niña de Barbados que trajo su estilo y el sonido del  las islas. (No tengo ni idea por que estoy escribiendo este anotación en español pero es así.) Tal vez la causa es en parte por la charla con mi madre Argentina anoche. Hace mucho desde hablamos! 

Pero a ver, volvemos al objeto en discurso. 

Si todavía no sabes la chica de que estoy hablando, bien. Se llama Rihanna, un camaleón cierto. Ya Rihanna es un símbolo de cambio y un ejemplo de la progresión de la artista. Aunque ella no tiene mas que veintiuno años, Rihanna ha publicado 4 discos, cada uno mas éxitoso que el anterior.  

Nota que se hacen mas escandaloso o polémico que los otros. Es la verdad que ella es una fuerza a tener en cuenta porque su influencia en la industria es innegable. No todo el mundo puede cambiar tanto y seguir su carrera con éxito, y mucho menos crecer en influencia. Ella se cambió a una chica rebelde desde una re dulce, navegando cada paso como experta. Tenemos algunos videos que se muestran Rihanna pasada y presente. Quien prefieres?


Music of the Sun:



A Girl Like Me:



Good Girl Gone Bad:



Mas recién, Rated R:

Chau chicos,
hasta pronto

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

Seriously, one of the coolest things about the internet is all the free shit you can find out there. I was on Spinner.com, which I talked up a bit in my last post, but they have a link to another site called Freeindie.com. I downloaded something like 50 new songs today, by people I had never heard of, for free, old music by artists like Andrew Bird and Tokyo Police Club, for free, and caught up on my indie, FOR FREE. There's something so fantastically exciting about finding new music. It waits in your library until finally, you have the time to listen to and absorb it. It's always a gamble. Will this song be your new obsession of the week or is it destined for the recycle bin? It's always interesting to see what you've been missing in the music world, which is why I love blogs. If you haven't discovered this music, it's ok, because someone else has already done it for you. All you need to know is where to look.

Luckily, I'm here to help...

Here for free downloads
Here for plays and links to purchase new music (Thanks to Lindsay Beach)
Here for UPenn's sponsered radio station, Great folk and World Cafe Live
Here for the always popular Last.fm

These all have great links to other music blogs, so check them out, and feel free to share...

Music History

As I write, at this very second, I should be writing a mini paper for my music history class. The assignment involved listening to a broadcast of a particular type of music and then writing up a description and critique of the type of sound, tone, beat, pitch, etc. In other words, it's a bore fest. I just spent an entire hour listening to what I thought would be John Coltrane, but it turned out to be an on-air funds drive with a side of Coltrane instead. Who knew? This class has the potential to be interesting, it really does. I mean, it's music. Even in it's earliest forms, it wasn't as tedious as the past hour of my life was, listening to some quiet man and perky woman (quite the odd combo) pitch why everyone should call in with donations.

I literally spent the entire last class tallying up the amount of times the professor said the phrase, "questions and concerns" Are there any questions and concerns? I suppose we'll move on unless there are any question and concerns. Ten times, he said it. Ten times! The class is an hour and fifteen minutes! I think I'll buy him a thesaurus, so he can learn some new ways to ask that question. He's a really nice guy, just very, VERY awkward as a teacher.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to bitch about my ridiculously boring homework, but instead to inform you all about the coolest new addition to 'The Music Box." I added a new bar at the bottom called Streampad, which lets you play all the music that's been added to the site. If you want to put it on your page, you just type the html code into your blog "gadgets" section, and then make sure you have mp3 links on your page. If you don't have any links on the page, it won't play. I have a few songs on here now, but I'll be adding more as I can.

Honestly, I never thought I would be describing how to put in an html code, let alone have any idea what that is! I think this blog writing business is good for my technological side, or lack thereof. Don't get me wrong, I still hate computers with a fiery passion, but this is some pretty cool stuff.

New favorite site. You'll never want to leave. You can listen to online radio, entire cds, look at music news and a lot more.

Ghastly Grammys

If you like Taylor Swift, please put my rather strong opinions on her recent Grammy win aside for just a minute. Taylor Swift won “Best Album of the Year,” with her album, “Fearless,” accepting her award with profound enthusiasm. Although I can’t turn on the radio without being bombarded by Swift’s sappy, youthful pop tunes, I just can not get past the fact that she won over artists like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and The Black Eyed Peas! I was appalled.

She was very influential through 2009 and now, continues on into the new year. Influence though? Her music applies to one specific group of people, one target market, if you will: a range of pre-teen to highschool girls who absorb her musings on love and listen while Swift destroys Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I would be a hypocrite if I said my itunes was completely devoid of Taylor Swift, and I stand by my four song selections, but that in no way signifies my support of her grammy win for “Best Album of the Year.” She seems like a very sweet girl, and I hate to rag on her so, but I simply must. Although most of the other nominees in her category weren’t exactly lacking grammys, it would have been nice to see such an important category win go to someone who has a bit more range/experience. (And maybe who doesn't sing off key when she performs...)

That’s all I’m saying.

It was nice to see Beyonce take home six Grammys and Kings of Leon took home awards for Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance with a group and Best Rock Song. Not unexpected was Phoenix's win for Best Alternative Album with "Wolgang Amadeus Phoenix."

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see many of the live peformances, but I did witness the catastrophe that was Andrea Bocelli and Mary J Blige singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" for Haitian relief. They just did not go well together. I didn't like the pairing of voices nor the song choice. That's just not a song to be belted out by a diva and an opera star, it's more subtle than that. Bon Jovi, I just don't like, and I have no idea who that overzealous woman on stage with him was, but she was VERY into the music. She was pushing her voice so much in the beginning, she sounded more goat-like than Shakira! (No disrespect Shak, I love you more than you know.) As usual, Gaga put on a crazy performace, but this time she partnered with the incredible Elton John. You can say what you will about her immensely creative sense of style, but one thing is certain: She can sing. Although, they're an unlikely duet, John and Gaga sounded great together singing their rendition of "Speechless," which I've posted below.

I was pretty let down by the Grammys this year, and I'm surprised I watched as much as I did, (I'm not big on awards shows..) but, Grammys aside, there are still some great new songs I've found, eveyone should check out:


Symphonies by Dan Black (also, the duet with Kid Cudi):

Wear You Out

Keep Me In The Dark

Something Somewhere Sometime

Not to mention the Single of the Week on Itunes:


Shark in the Water by VV Brown:

Travels

A little something I wrote while I was in Argentina:

Everyone who likes to travel has a different reason for enjoying it: experiencing new cultures, adventure, or even a simple break from the ordinary. Why do I personally love to travel? Perhaps because it’s a reflection of my inner feeling of confusion. I flourish in an environment where I can be as lost as I usually feel. Case in point: my recent trip to Chile from my current home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. First, I would like to preface this account by noting that while road trips are fantastic, they are only fantastic if done in a car, no children are involved, and without a clingy Chilean grandma sitting to your right. With better planning, I’m sure I could have avoided the inhumane amount of hours I spent on buses and my eventual decision to fly home half way through my return trip. It comes back to that whole theme of confusion. I am simply incapable of organizing anything well; even when it comes to something as potentially dangerous as traveling alone across South America. My plan was to visit a friend in Chile and continue on to another city with a group of people to do a little volcano hiking and mountain biking. I booked my ticket into Santiago, where I thought she lived, packed my bag, and got ready to hit the road. Little did I know she lived in Concepcion, a small city about six and a half hours south…fantastic. Luckily, I’m always up for a little extra sight- seeing…

The bus ride is about 20 hours from Buenos Aires to Santiago and stops in Mendoza halfway. We drove from late afternoon through dawn the next morning and reached Santiago early afternoon the next day. Although I would normally bring new meaning to the phrase “stir-crazy” sitting in one spot for so long, I found the trip peaceful and great for reflection-Not to mention the fantastic photography made possible by the Andes. I only wish I had seen more.

Cities are fantastic, and I am definitely at home in an urban environment, but the open road provides a type of solitude you can’t help but relish, no matter how much of a city slicker you may be. The stars at night are ten times brighter, and everything worrisome melts away from your mind as you longingly stare at the sky above.

In the morning, just after dawn, the music flowing from my ipod, a type of movie scene formed in my mind, and the songs seemed to tell my journey’s story. From “Ain’t No Sunshine” in the dark morning hours to “Such Great Heights” in the crest of the mountains, everything seemed to be pulled together into some cosmic combination, where everything is aligned in beauty, if only for a little while.

Volcano climbing...

Danae and I

The Andes

Seaweed cart

Concepcion

U de Conce

Shoreside in Pucon

Paolo Nutini- Mind Reader or Musician?

If you haven't heard of Paolo Nutini, you should probably emerge from underneath the rock you're living under. He's best known for that song, "New Shoes," but lately I've turned to him for a feeling different than that melodic optimism.

I can't quite describe how I have been feeling lately. I can only say it feels like I'm missing a part of myself. It's not a feeling of depression, but instead I am filled with a kind of restlessness I can't seem to suppress. It's as if I've lost something very close to me, but have no idea how to retrieve it.

Anyway, there are four songs I have been playing in rotation for the past few days: :"Candy," "Coming Up Easy," "Loving You," and "Last Request." The sad yet determined lyrics and Nutini's soul-filled voice have a brilliant effect on my mind. I can almost grasp the apprehension and understand it, but then it escapes me once again. I'm talking about lyrics like this stanza from "Candy":

I was perched outside in the pouring rain
Trying to make myself a sail
Then I’ll float to you my darlin’
With the evening on my tail
Although not the most honest means of travel
It gets me there nonetheless
I’m a heartless man at worst, babe
And a helpless one at best

From "Coming Up Easy":

Its a shame the way its seems to go
Cause now my best friend, my partner in crime
Im afraid it looks like we’re
Gonna have to go our separate ways.
You see the thing is I love you, I love you
But you see I resent you all the time.
All my other friends their just saying
Your slowing me down.

Oh I should have known
You’d turn to me and say
Before you throw too much of me away.
Don’t you remember seeing the sun coming up easy
While the rain came tumbling down.
And it washed out bodies so cleanly
Seen them rise up off of the cold cold ground.

It was in love I was created
And in love is how I hope I die.

From "Last Request":

Grant my last request,
And just let me hold you.
Don't shrug your shoulders,
Lay down beside me.
Sure I can accept that we're going nowhere,
But one last time let's go there,
Lay down beside me

Oh, I've found, that I'm bound
To wander down that one way road.
And I realise all about your lies
But I'm no wiser than the fool I was before.

From "Tricks of the Trade":

You took me from my bubble
Knowing my defense was weak
And you sat there and you listened
Any time I chose to speak
You gathered from my pleas to
You that I am but a clown
And I fear only a hero can defeat
These demons now

Ok so they aren't the most uplifting of lyrics, but what can I say. I'm a wallower. I love a good wallow once in a while. They all have some direct meaning for me, not that I need to or care to divulge any of that nonsense. It's just such a comfort when someone can vocalize how you, yourself, are feeling or unknowingly caters to your feelings. No matter the song, the lyric, the melody, anyone can find some kind of consideration and consolation if you care to look for it. To me, there's nothing better than hearing my inner doubts supported by another person's poetry.

Cinnamon- Honey French Toast

So after a bit of a reprieve, I've come up with yet another idea for this thing. Now that I have access to a kitchen on campus, I've been cooking like a mad woman...kind of. I'm going to start posting some of the recipes I come up with, the ones I try out, etc and possibly pictures depending on how my camera feels about it.

The other morning I made quite possibly the best french toast I have ever had. Here's what I did:

2 Slices spelt bread or other dense wheat bread

1/4 cup Soy Milk

1/4 cup Egg white

Cinnamon

Teaspoon Honey

Sugar-free syrup

Blueberries, Strawberries

Heat frying pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together the soy milk, egg whites, cinnamon, honey and cover both slices of bread. Place the bread in the pan to cook until both sides are golden. Touch to make sure the middle is still soft and then remove onto plate. Put the fruit on the side sprnkle with cinnamon to taste and add syrup.

Also, today after the gym, I made a really great snack too.

5 words

Greek. yogurt.

Apple. slices.

Cinnamon.

That is all.

Gig Posters

While applying for internships and searching for images for my new writing job on girls talkin' smack.com, I encountered ffffound.com, a site with an incalulable amount of images. Perusing the pics a bit, I found some photos of old gig posters by a bunch of really great bands. They have a site where you can buy them too..

Take a look:

Peaches, you are one crazy bitch.

Reality TV Killed the Radio Star

I'm always surprised by the things I find on our TV. I was flipping channels the other day, lounging around (I'm really good at that), and I found a new channel on our system. It's called "Current." I'm sure a lot of people already know about this station, but for me last Sunday was love at first site. They have a website if anyone has a care to check it out. The channel has shows created by viewers about really anything. It's really cool because you can submit your own videos, ads, whatever and if they're chosen to be aired, you earn a fat check. Also, to make it easier, they have a whole part of the website dedicated to demonstarting the best, easiest and most efficient ways to start. Their big topics are the Environment, Music, Movies, Technology, and Current Events (Political or otherwise). Their website even has a page dedicated to comedy. The channel itself airs shows called "Rotten Tomatoes," which is about movies playing in theaters, and "Vanguard Journalism," a show about current global issues on a myriad of topics among others. My favorite, or the one I have seen the most of so far is called "Embedded," a show about bands and/or singers on tour. You get a chance to see them not so much as musicians, but just regular people having normal day-to-day interactions with other people. They talk about the music and you get a closer look at how bands put albums and tours together. So far I've seen episodes featuring Passion Pit, Ben Harper, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, K'naan, and Bloc Party. I was really excited to learn that on the Decemberists latest album, "The Hazards of Love" (Great title btw), the band collaborated with two female artists I am already a fan of. The first is Becky Stark, the lead vocalist for the pop-folk group, Lavender Diamond and the second is Shara Worden from "My Brightest Diamond". (Lots of "Diamonds" if I do say so myself). For someone who's not too big on shiny things, I really dig these two acts.

(Becky left, Shara right. Shara has since cut her hair in a Karen O- type fashion, not that that has anything to do with this entry whatsoever...)

That's why I love this show. You encounter out all sorts of new things and connections without having to search, search, search throught the internet for them. I'm far too impatient for all that jazz. We're really missing quality music programming nowadays and this is a definite breath of fresh air. While I love my trash tv time dearly (Eh hem Conveyor Belt of Love and Jersey Shore), it would be nice to get a little something relevent to music out of MTV and VH1 once in a while....I mean come on, MTV. You have multiple channels. Give me something.

I digress. The point of this is to highlight the quality music tv on the tube today (Nice alliteration huh?). There's another fun show I have found which airs on Ovation TV. It's called "Later...With Jools Holland" and presents live performances by different types of recording artists. Today, I saw Elvis Costello, David Gilmour, Paul Simon, The Streets, Allen Toussaint and Nacao Zumbi perform live sets. Usually this is late -nighter, but I've seen it on earlier in the day recently. It's definately worth a watch or two when your brain grows weary of the trash as mine sometimes does (emphasis on "sometimes").

On that somewhat hippie-tacular note, I'll leave you to your television sets.

Happy watching.

Oh man. Hello 2010. Is it just me or does that number look like some crazy futuristic date...maybe it's just me. This new year of ours promises to put out some good music with new albums dropping all throughout January for starters. Ok Go, Vampire Weekend, Cold War Kids, Eels, Editors, Spoon, Christina Milian..Really? Hmm. If that doesn't seem like you're cup of tea, Three 6 Mafia and Motion City Soundtrack are also among the names to be be released in January.

At this point, I'm really just ready to go back to Philadelphia. It's nice to be in Virginia for a little while, but I'm beginning to go out of my mind. Estoy enloqueciendome! I'm ready to go back to friends, Kingdom of Vegetarians, Phileo, fashion, Trocodero, my apartment, the TLA, Cuba Libre, and Naked Chocolate. I am even willing to go back to horrible traffic, crazy people, homework, parking tickets and the general ridiculousness that is Philadelphia-ahem South Street. It's not that this doesn't feel like home anymore, it's just that I don't have much left here these days. It also doesn't help that as I write this my mother is in the next room on the treadmill stomping away, sounding like's going to come through the damn wall. Anyway enough of my belly-aching. It's been a good opportunity to read, go through my "Beginner's Russian" book and to catch up on movies I still haven't seen. (I haven't seen the Notebook or any of the Star Wars movies. We've decided I'm gender-less.)

New Years Eve was veery musical as well. After Sab and I cooked up one hell of a dinner and made the Chocolate mousse from Pastis, we watched Jersey Shore (don't judge, you know you watch it too) and took a look at my itunes. We loaded up my flash drive with Norah Jones' new album, The Fall (by the same producer as the Kings of Leon), Cut Copy, Jenny Lewis, The Ark (Thanks, Kris) , and Telekinesis's "Tokyo" among others. Apparently one of the opening performances for The Avett Brothers (Great folk band) has been a singer/band called Thao and the Get Down Stay Down. It's nothing extraordinary, but definately worth a listen, maybe a few. My favorite song of theirs is "When We Swam." Honorable mention to "Geography" and "Know Better Learn Faster."

I've also gotten that all-too-familiar restless feeling again that means I want to travel. I've been toying with the idea of going abroad again next semester or possibly even this summer..Who knows.. I really want to keep speaking Spanish. I feel like I've lost my knack these past few weeks since I got home. I've been trying to listen to Spanish music and TV, but one can only stand so much dubbed Lethal Weapon. I have, however, been listening to some great artists:

Shakira-You're always my number 1..

Bebe, edgy femal artist "Malo", "Ella," "Me Fui" are my top three.

Pilar Díaz- Homegirl plays a ukelele. It doesn't get much cooler.

Café Tacuba,

Aterciopelados- "El Estuche," "Baracunatana"

Maná,

Juanes,

Alejandro Sanz and Shakira- “Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No“

Julieta Venegas- Eres Para Mi

Ojos de Brujo and Rodrigo y Gabriela- both largely instrumental, but fantastic

And maybe it's just Argentina Alyssa talking here, but I love the electric tango. I'm obsessed with this song by Bajofondo Tango Club y Julieta Venegas, "Pa' Bailar"