I’m a big twitter fan, if you don’t know already (if you want to hear the random ramblings of my crazy mind, you can follow me: @margasaur). I follow a variety of different people from comedians to photographers, from publications to websites, from well-known musicians to totally unknown musicians. It’s like my passion to discover these people.
Well, this morning, I woke up and checked my twitter only to find this awesome DJ following me and linking me to his music for free. Going by the name “Ambassadeurs,” Mark Dobson is a DJ from Brighton, UK! He is a DJ “who’s eclectic sound draws influence from Electronic, EDM, Hip-Hop, Dub, Field Recordings, Ambient and many other forms of music and continues to try and push the boundaries when it comes to production.”
His free song is pretty much amazing, so I wanted to feature it here! The song is called “M.O.P.E.” and it is super catchy! If you like this, go check out his other music on his facebook or you can follow him on twitter @AmbassadeursDJ! But for now enjoy “M.O.P.E.”!
Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in a week! Between the music fest, being sick, and trying to maintain a healthy, college-life I’ve been a bit crazy busy.
Luckily, I have a really great song to post for you guys today!
A few months back I discussed one of my all time favorite bands The Polyphonic Spree (check out the previous blog post for my reasoning on why I think they are one of the most important bands of our generation). Their music is geared towards optimism, and it’s just such a great experience to listen to their powerful tunes of hope and happiness!
Today’s song is one that I think got kind of lost in the grand scheme of The Fragile Army (aka my favorite of their albums). It follows a really great song on the album, but it’s electronic/orchestral sound is a little off from what they normally do. However, when it came up on my iPod this last week, I was mesmerized by how amazing this song is. “Light To Follow” starts off small and simple with a beautiful chorus of Tim DeLaughter’s voice mixed with the female back up singers… but as the song goes on it builds up higher and higher leading to a dramatic exit. I adore the way this song sounds and, much like all of their other music, it’s just a really positive song to take in (especially if you’re having a rough day).
So, I hope you enjoy “Light To Follow” by the Polyphonic Spree and take the lyrics into your heart: “Everyone needs their own light they can follow…”
Also, check out The Fragile Army if you haven’t already. It is incredible.
So if you’re in Eugene tomorrow and are super bored and love music, you should most definitely come check out the WILLAMETTE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL. Yeah, this may be blatant advertising, but it doesn’t hurt to get it out there!
The line up is pretty freaking sweet:
A-Trak
Yeasayer
Baths
Donnis
Catwalk
The Globes
The Codi Jordan Band
Jared Mees & The Grown Children…. and that’s only the main stage! ALL FREE. There’s more info here.
Anyways, to get you guys excited, here’s some A-Trak… he’s so awesome and I’m so stoked to see him. His DJing is top-notch, as you can see from this clip. Enjoy it and check out this awesome fest!
Sorry for the super strange post… I am so beyond tired. See ya on Sunday!!
Here’s a super short blog post for you guys tonight, mainly because my allergies are really messing with my brain right now.
A friend of mine posted “Slow-motion Jello” on Facebook earlier, and it blew my mind. Seriously. It’s unbelievable.
Isn’t that freaking awesome? I can’t even… I don’t even know what to think!!
In addition to that craziness, I wanted to include the new Washed Out song that also blows my mind. The song is called “Eyes Be Closed” (off of his upcoming album Within And Without, available in July), and it is beautiful. The chillwave beat and the powerful melody works together in a wonderful symphony. At least it does in my head!
The Room, written, directed and starring Tommy Wiseau
So, I didn’t get to expand on this yesterday, but I wanted to feature something (now) near and dear to my heart.
This last Saturday I got to attend a “The Room” party, which went from being a Rocky Horror Picture Show-like movie experience to a drunken crazy-fest. And, strangely enough, this is exactly how The Room (2003) needs to be watched: with a little bit of lighthearted silliness.
The movie is a disaster, to say the least. It’s full of plot holes, soap-opera lines, and melodramatic acting… not to mention how creepy all of the characters are (I’m looking at you, Denny!!). But what makes it so great is how classically bad it is, much like the other midnight movies out there (RHPS and Snakes On A Plane are just two examples).
After I signed up to drink every time a football was on the scene – which is ridiculous because this comes in the most ridiculous times – it was clear that everyone at this party was going to be either drunk or close to it by the end of this film. Boy, was I right!
By all means, I want to say that this movie is no Oscar winner, but the movie is classic. Whenever the main characters enter a room, they say “Oh hi _____” before getting to the point; Johnny (played by the strange Tommy Wiseau, who also wrote and directed the film) bellows out poorly-accented lines (“YOU’RE TEARING ME AHHHPAAAHHHHT LEEESAAA!”) and drinks scotchka; Denny is apparently an 18-year old drug addict that has serious parental-deficiencies as he lays in bed with Lisa and Johnny while they’re trying to get it on (mind you, Johnny wanted to adopt Denny); then there’s Mark, who’s Johnny’s best friend (and this fact is stated NUMEROUS times throughout the film) and seems like a cool guy until, you know, he sleeps with Johnny’s fiancée…. it’s like scene after scene goes by, making less and less sense.
But overall the experience was a blast. Those of us at the party pelted the make-shift screen with plastic spoons (and sometimes knives and forks) everytime the pointless spoon painting showed up in a scene, and we all yelled “GO! GO! GO!” as we travelled along with the stock footage of the Golden Gate Bridge… there were tons more, but that’s something you should find out for yourself.
I highly recommend The Room because it is an experience in itself. It may be considered the worst movie ever made (probably after Troll 2 (1990)), but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Especially if you don’t take it seriously (please don’t. That’s a fate worse than death!)
Here’s a preview for you to get stoked about, and if you live in Oregon, Wiseau is showing the movie in Portland towards the end of May! ENJOY (and beware!)
And thanks to Bryan for inviting me to watch this insane film. SPOON!
Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple of days… it’s been a crazy weekend! I’ve been partying, “The Room”-ing it, chilling with Seattle peeps, and seeing concerts, so I haven’t had much time to update!
Unfortunately, I’ll have to keep this short tonight, mainly because I have to pass out soon, but I wanted to share a really neat song off of Holly Golightly & The Brokeoff’s new CD No Help Coming.
While I was in Portland yesterday, I got to preview this CD for a little while, and I was totally digging it. It’s folky, bluesy, and all sorts of awesome!
I hope you enjoy “The Rest Of Your Life”, and check out their CD out now! (also, I’ll be posting longer tomorrow!)
I’m gonna post a short one tonight, mainly because I’m running on about 3 hours of sleep.
Sealab 2021 was one of those awesome shows on [adult swim] that made fun of those old-school 70s cartoons I used to love. With the archaic animation of the olden days of the mid-2000s, the voices of awesome people (specifically Erik Estrada!), and the completely random episodes that just don’t make sense half the time, Sealab is just a win upon wins.
Warning, this show is sort of dumb, but I can’t help but laugh every time I watch it.
I wanted to feature this song today because it literally encompassed my feelings in song-form. Sort of.
You see, today was one of those strange bipolar weather days, where the sun would peek out for a good ten minutes before hail rained down. Rain to sun to hail to rain to clouds to sun to rain. All day long.
And as I was walking through campus, doing whatever I normally do on Thursdays, I had the undeniable urge to find a CD that could compliment the strange weather pattern… making it more realistic, I guess.
I try to turn to bands that I’ve trusted with this task before, so it only took me a few seconds to realize that Arcade Fire’s whole Neon Bible album is incredibly effective for this type of day. But what really convinced me was the presence of the song “Windowsill.”
The song is incredibly somber, but it’s grandiose and beautiful while still remaining terribly melancholy. With Win Butler’s graceful voice moving through the difficult lyrics, and the background instruments (specifically that string part towards the middle), I can’t help but feel like this song is an escape for not only me but for the band itself (see the lyrics “I don’t wanna live in my father’s house no more…”). It expands and increases it’s intensity while still remaining full of plea.
With the weather changes that just mess with the population of our little city, “Windowsill” is not only an escape, but it falls with the rain, just in a different way. I feel like I can imagine looking through the window of a hectic world onto like a green pasture, so free from all this craziness. I guess I’m just strange like that.
But regardless, it perfectly encapsulated a moment in time today, and I couldn’t help but feel a little empowered by this song. The world just sort of melted away around me, and all that was left was me and the rain/hail/clouds/sun. It was a beautiful feeling.
I hope you can enjoy this song the same way. Here’s “Windowsill” by Arcade Fire
I just recently got into My Morning Jacket (probably a little late, but better late than never!), and of all the songs I’ve heard so far, this is my favorite.
“Gideon” not only displays the gorgeous voice of Jim James, but it’s so uplifting and wonderful. I love the intro guitar part, which is sort of reminiscent of U2 or another band of that caliber, but his voice just reverberates in my brain. It’s a lovely feeling.
Enjoy “Gideon” (and this awesome video for it) by My Morning Jacket.
On a totally random note, I used to hate the show American Dad, but when I watched this episode premier a while back, I had total respect for the show and My Morning Jacket (that was my first real exposure). Here’s how I felt the other day when I played the band on my poster route:
So I found this gallery a few months back, and it’s just really neat.
Irina Werning is working on a project (mostly) in Buenos Aires where she finds people with old-school photos of them as a kid and then recreates the exact same picture now. Each picture gives a little insight into how these people lived their lives, and what makes it so interesting is to see how nothing has really changed!
I selected a few to put below, but I love how even the composition of how the picture was shot is the same, and for the most part the clothing stays as close to normal as possible. It’s incredible what you can do as a photographer!
Check out these and others by clicking the pictures! There will be more additions in 2011, so look out for those too!
Ato 1992 & 2010, Buenos Aires
Irina Werning: MY PARENTS IN 1970 & 2010, Buenos A
Life As We Don't Know It 