Jul 232011
 

Little Dragon’s new album is up on NPR’s First Listen: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/18/137855136/first-listen-little-dragon-ritual-union#playlist This album brims with lush, sharp, crackly electronics, reminiscent of Phantogram, and is a shift away from the more mellow synth dreams in their previous material. Yukimi Nagano’s voice has also matured, daring to experiment with a variety of sounds throughout the album. It’s a treat.

Jun 232011
 

I’ve randomly run into this song half a dozen times in the past few days–playing in Walgreen’s (!), at a BBQ at Stanford, from one of the AI counselor’s computers, and a few other places. That combined with the fact that I don’t have a single Arcade Fire song featured here led me to feature this song. The lyrics here really got to me this morning as I was making the 8-mile, 30-minute drive to campus in typical Bay Area traffic. I do have dreams of impulsively, unreservedly packing a pack and just disappearing off in Big Sur for a few weeks. Or months. Fortunately, I like what I’m doing now even more–teaching AI to really, really cool, smart, and [more . . .]

Jun 122011
 

I went to the Dispatch last night at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. It was one of my favorite bands who I’ve waited ten years to see (with no promise that they’d ever do a reunion tour post break-up) playing in perhaps my favorite musical venue. Seeing them was like like being shown that a unicorn actually existed. They blew me away with their artistry, rotating instruments and improvising and feeding off of each other. It couldn’t be more obvious that they were loving what they were doing, just being there and making music and playing their instruments with each other. The only downside of the night was when a crowdsurfer (and my, were there many of them) fell head-first [more . . .]

May 112011
 

I’ve been waiting since mid-2007 for Explosions in the Sky’s newest album, and once again, it is brilliant. It listens like a galaxy of thoughts on an unassuming platter, catching you off guard and eventually making you stop whatever you’re doing without realizing it. Listen: Get: CD/mp3