From now until August, I will be making stops in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Seoul, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Siam Reap, and Shanghai.
It’s bound to be interesting so I will try to update my blog with the cultural goodies I encounter, but I can’t guarantee regular posts.
Meanwhile here is my Wanderlust Mix, which I will be listening to throughout my travels. Enjoy!
P.S.
One of the tracks is by another talented friend of mine, Alex Hwang. You can download “Goodnight Moon” for $1 here or listen to more of his songs here.
I like this rapper because he’s not boring. Yes, the incredibly catchy “Nothin’ on You” plays nonstop on the radio. Overkill, to be sure. But then he has a weird little song like “Created a Monster”.I love stuff like that. So long.
Where you going?
OUTER SPAAAACE.
OUTER SPAAAACE. B.o.B.’s also a talented musician and singer even without studio magic. I saw live him recently and had tons of fun. He plays the guitar, and it was good to see a rapper rocking out like that with the band. And, of course, his energy was great. He doesn’t have an album out yet, but you should check out his mp3s on MySpace.
Glee
High school drama, a bunch of lovable losers, and cover songs. What’s not to love about this TV show?
I’m crazy about “Dancing with Myself” and “Bust Your Windows” and the two characters who sing them: Artie and Mercedes.
Lily Allen and Elton John
Two of my favorite Brits “come together” in one brilliant music video, one of the tracks on my mixtape. I especially love when she’s affectionately touching the wall photo.
Sir Elton John may have become a bit douche-y in his old age, but young Elton will always have my heart.
Vodpod videos no longer available. posted with vodpod
When’s the last time you were invited to touch in an art museum? To make noisy music? To do rather than observe?
Thanks to the artist collective Lucky Dragons for one of the most enjoyable art memories I’ve made in a while. (If you want to know more, read the bio on their website.) I wish I had more photos to share, but I was too busy having fun to stop and snap too many shots.
Set up in the hangar space next to the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, the Live Sprawl party had various stations where guests could interact with different projects. Adults and children alike seemed to have a blast rubbing rocks, tooting out tunes on recorders, and banging together carob sticks. Sound bizarre? Let me show you.
One of the corners had this motion sensor with a light next to a pile of CDs with rock-like speakers all around. In order to create the psychedelic sounds and reflections on the wall, we had to plop down on the Astroturf and put our ears close to the rocks. There were also bongo drums nearby, encouraging lounging and lingering.
By the wall, under a sign that said Please Take One, was a spread of plastic recorders for visitors to take away. Some avoided eye contact as they nabbed more than one. Others milled around the station and tried to collectively remember how to play the recorder from elementary school memories. An eight-year-old girl taught me how to play “Three Blind Mice.” The instruments made appearances throughout the whole night, most amusingly during an outdoor jam session. All of it perfectly embodied the statement stuck onto the mouthpieces: Harmony is a Process.
And in the center of the room was a huge screen projecting spasm-inducing, moving images on either side. Underneath the projections was another station with carob sticks taped to cables plugged into a soundboard. They were basically amplified noisemakers, and some guests got really into creating ambient noises that filled the whole hangar.
But this was by far my favorite. This big rock was a motion-activated speaker that made pleasant electronic sounds. Stacking rocks on top of it didn’t affect the sound, but people can never resist, can they? Plus look how neat it looks. (This was the rock to rub with one ear pressed right up against it.)
And I was reminded once again why I love MOCA. Approachable art, what a dream.
This popstar is so unabashedly mindless that I can’t help but like her then be embarrassed about it. Still, she makes me laugh, and I know everyone wants to dance when they hear ‘Tik Tok’ on the radio. The funniest track off her debut album has to be ‘Dinosaur’. Is this only amusing to me because I’ve actually met people like this?
Vampire Weekend – Contra
You should buy this album. I’m sharing the two bonus megamix-type “melts” for your listening pleasure. These are good enough as standalone songs, but they’re even better when you’ve listened to the whole album. It’s like sharing an inside joke with the band. I also appreciate how they decided not to include my least favorite track, ‘California English’. ‘Horchata’ is the best and impossible to get out of your head. Maybe the title switches my brain to Spanish mode, but I keep hearing the lyric: “Pinche crabs that pinch at your sandals.” No, that’s not what they’re singing.
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
The sleepy nonchalance and undeniable talent (as songwriter, musician, and singer) of this former leader of The Strokes still make for a knockout combination. As much as I miss that band, it’s good to have Julian back again. His 8-track album is short and sweet with a New York vibe. ‘Ludlow St.’ and ’11th Dimension’ are my favorites.
Esteman
I dare you not to like ‘No te metas a mi Facebook’. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, you’re bound to enjoy the music video:
And as a Facebook user, you know what Esteman’s talking about. The best line is “Aplica la regla, ponle a todos MAYBE” or “Apply the rule, put on all of them MAYBE”. He is, of course, talking about the 200 Facebook event invitations you’ve received that you don’t really want to attend. Ha! Ah, the diplomacy required in social networking…
Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much
I must like skinny male popstars because Mika wears pants just as tight as Esteman’s and also makes feel-good music. On his second album, as on his first, he tells stories about things that aren’t necessarily light in a bubbly, cartoonish way. ‘Good Gone Girl’ and ‘We are Golden’ are prime examples. Mika is such a lovable sprite, and he puts on a tremendously entertaining live show. Ooh, looks like I’ve got to get over to Europe for the next leg of his tour!
All Polaroids courtesy of the cutest program at Poladroid.net!
Fluffy Culture Junkie 