EVERYTHING ELSE

TOP FIVE Best Album Intros

August 31, 2013

"Will" by Maps & Atlases:

"Intro" by Alt-J

"Collapse" by MuteMath

TOP FOUR Best Movie Soundtracks

August 31, 2013

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The Great Gatsby

Garden State

Across the Universe

TOP NINE Favorite Electronic-y Songs Right Now

August 20, 2013

TOP NINE Really Guilty Pleasures*

*don't judge

Why am I guilty? Because there's a reason I don't listen to these songs publicly on Spotify. Why do I share? Because they're catchy, I have no self control, and I can't keep secrets.

Go away, Summertime Lull

July 14, 2013

Once the Fourth of July passes and that midpoint of July hits, the combination of the heat melting your insides, a part-time job that doesn't pay nearly enough, “free time” that ends up becoming all-day-nap-time, dreaming of about twenty concerts that are way out of your price range, and the conclusion of Arrested Development makes for a typical case of the Summertime Lull. But you can't lose hope yet! Here's a summer playlist I've crafted to bring you back to life; enjoy:

Summertime Clothes – Animal Collective

Mouth Full of Diamonds – Phantogram

Million Dollar Bills – Lorde

Summertime Sadness – Lana Del Rey

Doin' it Right – Daft Punk

Sleepless – Flume

Lover's Carvings – Bibio

They Told Me – Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

When I'm With You – Best Coast

North By Northwest – Blue Scholars

A Summer Thing – Cayucas

Step - Vampire Weekend

Rill Rill – Sleigh Bells

Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) – YACHT

Osaka Loop Line – Discovery

Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem

Please Stay – Summer Heart

Why Songwriters are Songwriters, Not Novelists

September 15, 2011

I recently finished Josh Ritter's Bright's Passage, after an arduous few weeks of trying to get through it. It wasn't that Ritter is a poor writer. In fact, he's a brilliant writer. He should just stick to his successful career as a singer/songwriter, and not try to become the next great American novelist.

Bright's Passage wasn't all bad. Engaging imagery saved it. Because Ritter is a seasoned songwriter, he knows how to set up scenes. He would spend pages describing details of nature, explaining small actions, and embracing wonderful vocabulary. This is the reason I'm not going to completely disregard this book.

Sadly, the plotline simply wasn't that good. Henry Bright, a World War I veteran and new widower, travels with his baby and a talking horse-angel. (I should mention that I can't seem to like books with talking animals. I seriously think I'm the only cold-hearted person who didn't like The Art of Racing in the Rain.) Scenes flash back to his past war experiences, falling in love with his wife, and his present journey. It was difficult to follow, or understand the point of many random sideplots. It distracted me from the main point, which is still unclear to me in a lot of ways. Also, bland dialogue took away from descriptive imagery. A scene would be beautifully painted, only to lead up to a "Hi, Angel," "Hi, Henry," kind of conversation.

My love for Josh Ritter is not harmed. I just believe his storytelling is most effective when limited to three and a half minutes, not 190 loooong pages.

Is Music a Product?

April 23, 2011

Before the rise vinyl records, music was simply a form of entertainment. To experience music, a person would have to to go to a concert or turn on the radio. Since the 1950s, music has been accepted as a product. A song isn't "yours" until you pay for it and legally own it. How did this change come about? When did music lose its identity as pure entertainment and become a consumer product?

Now that the internet is the largest outlet to music, more people are peeved by the idea of paying 99 cents to enjoy a song. According to the book, The Future of Music, music has the potential to become like water - fluid, always accessible, and free to consumers. Unfortunately, the Record Industry Association of America does not see music this way. The RIAA instead focuses their energy on suing as many "pirates" as possible to prove to listeners that the industry is still in control. But while the internet has greatly influenced the downfall of the record industry, the music industry is growing. There's more music out there today than there has been ever before in history. So, who's the enemy: the curious teenager who downloads $4000 worth of music illegally, cheating the record industry of earning money from an artist's work? Or, is it the naive RIAA, who only sees music as a profitable product?