2017 started with a musical boom, which took me almost a month to post, but finally here I am! London Grammar are about to release a new album in the coming weeks, and they previewed this song recorded live, which I also had the pleasure to listen to at Clockeflap a couple months ago. I still need to get into it completely, but I like the style, which is very London Grammar still, even more minimal if possible, so I'm very curious to listen to the rest of the new materials that are coming!!!
Now I'm getting ready for the next new year, which is gonna be in just a couple of days: Hong Kong and the whole of South East Asia are getting ready for the lunar new year, and so am I!
Hello my dears, I am back from a 2-day trip to Guangzhou/Canton with friends, first time to Mainland China, super tiring but worth it! After a Sunday of morning rest, afternoon work and dinner out, I am ready to start a new week (am I?)! The year of cock, so let's also get ready for this Chinese New Year!! I'll leave you with a perfect tune for a chill end of the week, with vocals by Sia. Hope you enjoy!
Another week has almost flown by, another busy one but I'm quite happy about it, I brought to completion what I was supposed to and kind of enjoyed the process too. The only problem is the sleep quality I've been getting lately, worst of all last night (thanks Coca Cola for not reminding me I shouldn't drink you at night...), but I'm kinda getting used to it. More good news, I bought the tickets for the music festival that is gonna happen in Hong Kong in late November, whose complete music program has just been released, with a late addition of one of my favourite bands of the last few years, which I can't really wait to see live for the first time! So excited!! (No, they're not Kiasmos, but I still love this one quite a lot)!
After a couple of signal 3 typhooning, I've already grown tired of the freakin' rain (as if I ever liked it before...), but well... I have to try and stay positive! Things are going a bit more smoothly now, which is good, but I am also starting to see how this whole PhD thing works, with peak stress periods and then down periods, so I guess it's gonna be twice as hard to keep myself the "right amount of busy" at all times! Anyway, no big news under the musical point of view either. Lately I've been mostly listening back to my best playlisted songs of 2016 and, well... I guess that this one is gonna join the club soon!
After starting listening to Kiasmos and C Duncan, I think that an ambient parenthesis in my musical discovery is about to open, also because reading papers 24/7, I could really use some background music that helps me focus, that entertains me without distracting me too much from my "main task" (and what is that between the two, I sometimes wonder...). I actually happened to stumble upon a 'Pitchfork' article on the best 50 albums in ambient music, which reeeeally looked like it popped up just for me! I then went on to compile a Spotify playlist with what I could find of the top 10 mentioned by them, and I must confess I haven't been extremely enthusiastic about it so far (well, I guess that's the point of ambient music in a way...); anyway, I'll be sharing with you what I AM liking for the time being, and then we'll see...!
I don't think I need a further reason to share this song besides the (genius) band name, but well... I'm gonna give a couple: they have been playing live on KEXP, which is most often a guarantee of great music, and, well... their music is indeed great! I have fallen in love with a couple songs off their KEXP performance in particular, and after listening to their debut album, I would even dare say that the live sound is even better! So that's what I'm sharing with you, and if you think that chill-out / electronic music with a Mexican taste isn't for you, well... think again!
Hey mina-san*, I am almost ready for my take-off (guess I haven't talked to you about it yet, I will soon), so I have already started saying goodbyes left and right, which has made me realise that the time to leave is really coming closer and closer. It's just one week that I have left to spend in Italy, and then I'm gonna fly far away to begin a new adventure! I am not severing the ties I have here, but distance will loose them for sure and it's not gonna be easy, even if some of the people I care about really can get on my nerves! Sometimes I get to wonder who loves, but well... for better or worse I do, and that's one big side of the story!
*This means you all in Japanese, don't ask why it came out like that here now!
Everybody keeps complaining that I stay up late and wake up late, I don't know what to say about that, my body works better with this kind of sleep cycle and when I don't have any timed business to care about (like work, lectures, appointments and else), I don't see why society should condemn me for this! Don't we all have the right to feel better? Or as good as we can? And then there are some advantages for society too. For instance, when your parents have an early flight and need to leave for the airport at 4 in the morning, it's quite useful to have somebody awake who is driving you there, isn't it? Let's enjoy this and many other beautiful nights!
I am back from my latest trip, back in Milan for a few days and how does my beloved home country welcome me? Well, with a tropical thunderstorm of course. Thanks, my dear. I have by now accepted the fact that this summer is going to suck as much as 2014 did, so I guess I better find a place where to move next month so that I can enjoy some sunlight...! Anyway, I am sharing with you another beautiful song off Lemolo's debut (full) album, the 2012 'Kaleidoscope'. A great duo they are, I love their music more and more! Something good is happening in this summer time hopefully, at least under the musical discovery point of view!
I wasn't planning on posting more Julia Holter songs for the time being, but here I am, and it feels right to take a few moments and share this one with you. True, Julia's music hasn't been utterly rocking my world, not as much as many other artists' work anyway, but there is a preciousness and peculiarity in her songs that makes them... I don't know, personally it's like I don't feel the need to go listen to them, but when I do it feels good! I am not very much able to explain this with words, so you better go and check out the tunes yourselves!!
I love periods like this one, when I keep getting songs in my head, as I don't have to struggle to find great music to post on the blog! The problem only lays in me remembering to post them and finding the time to. Today I think I managed to, even if I had a few things to do here and there, such as coming back from Milan, a brunch, F1 quali, tidying up my desk to make room for new manga, shower, washing me and clothes, and I still get to have my Saturday night getaway (or get-in). This Moby song came to my mind after dinner and after immediately listening to it, I figured it would be a good post! I hope it makes sense for your own Saturday night too! Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Among the big amount of new music I've been approaching lately is Julia Holter, yet another artist I have discovered thanks to KEXP radio live videos. Listening to her latest album, released last year, I must confess I have not been immediately stricken by her music, which is kind of ethereal and easy to get lost into. Nonetheless after a few listens I have been able to enjoy a few more songs of hers, even though I don't know if I am going on to deepen my knowledge of her music soon. What I can tell you is that for sure there are a few songs worth listening, and this is one of the most accessible ones!!
My, my, time flies (as Enya used to sing)!! It's already well over 2.30 AM and I've still got plenty of stuff to do! After writing this post I need to do my little daily Japanese study, then I've completely ignored the planning of my trip to Japan today, plus I've finished my latest colouring last night so... what did I do today? Ah yeah, I went to get a massage and then to buy groceries with my parents... and then? A little yoga, some anime episodes... gosh the days pass by so fast! Tomorrow I have plenty of things to do too, so I don't know if I'm gonna have time to work on my trip planning... it's amazing how full your life gets when you're not working/studying, it feels like your free time vanishes! I'm really gonna need some fuel tomorrow to do it all!
Once again I have to thank KEXP for getting me to know new artists: this time it's Lemolo's turn, they have immediately fascinated me with this beautiful song that they played live at the beginning of their recent visit to the Seattle-based radio. I guess you're gonna be seeing more of them here on the blog soon. I am writing now after a very long and very full but satisfying day: after waking up early, writing a couple of e-mails, talking on the phone with another university I have applied to, seeing a friend of mine get her Italian citizenship (she's from Albania but has lived here since she was like 2 years old), then a medical test, talking with somebody, back home for a shower, train to Milan, a dear friend's birthday and here I am! Hope I'm gonna take it easier tomorrow, but I already have some shopping, an aperitivo and a dinner planned... Milan stresses me out but I can't say I don't love how it fills up my life!
I was looking for the post I made of this song to share it on Facebook and... I just found out I haven't posted it yet! Oh goodness, how ashamed can one be...?! Anyway, I'm just out of watching my first weekly live of this year's X Factor Italy and I must say that, even if the singers are good, I've not been particularly impressed by nor felt any strong connection with any of them. The band who played last did a cover of this song and, well... of course matching Hannah's voice is quite impossible, but they didn't do a bad job. Notwithstanding that they've been sent home, while many others have done worse imho. All of this just to say that I've been having this song in my head all night and, well... the fact that I hadn't posted it yet is just yet another proof that there are forces we can't see nor understand that govern our lives! Have a good night you all, and don't forget to listen to London Grammar!
After listening to a weird Xmas playlist in my car, the iPod went on with the subsequent playlist (XX) and after a glorious Intro with pumped-up volume in the car, I played it again on my computer and then again in the car while driving to the supermarket. I can't deny how great this song feels, especially when it gets played over and over on repeat. This all brought me to listen to what is a music masterpiece (yes, I'm not talking about 'VCR', I'm talking about what comes next!), my favourite XX song and (now) the first song I started listening after 2012 that reached 100 plays on iTunes. Happy 100th play, 'Crystalised'. And in a short while, you'll be joined by the glory that comes before you (and yeah, again, I'm not talking about 'VCR')!
Hello my dear readers, I know I haven't been posting very regularly lately, I'm sorry about that but my life has been quite hectic here in Bangkok, especially during this last visit: lots of things to do, places to visit, people to meet, and then work work work that makes me wake up crazily early in the morning and get back to the hotel not-so-early... the time is very little and I have been sacrificing my daily tasks, blog and Japanese studies above all, in favour of things I could only do here. I think that, even if this makes me somehow sad, it is the best choice given that I think this is going to be my last visit, at least for a while... so I wanna grab this chance to say thank you to Thailand for the beautiful moments I've spent here until now, hoping to spend many more!!
Hello my dear readers, it's been a tough couple of days, as you can imagine. Maybe even more than you can imagine! A pair of more than 6 hours flights one right after the other, with some 3-4 hours of cumulative sleep, getting to Bangkok in the evening, the van that was taking us to the hotel smashes against the wall in the motorway, luckily nothing bad happens but what a fright! Then I get to the hotel, I get a smoking room and can only sleep 1.5 hours. That making it an optimistic 5 hours of sleep in two nights. And here I am right before the beginning of the third night. I think you can imagine how in need of sleep I am. And I think you can imagine even better how in need of Enya I have been and still am! Here she is for you, in case you might need her too!
Here I am, alone at home on an autumn Saturday night, after a nice Indian dinner with my parents (I'm so full), after a massive fish-based lunch at grandma's (I'm so so full). It somehow feels weird to be back in my hometown and not having any of my friends around, but it's been like this for a while now, I already knew our lives would have been going away, scattered in all directions... it actually lasted longer than I expected, meeting each other here quite regularly, but in the last couple of years it's pretty much gone... that's one of the reasons why I'm a bit frustrated that my own life hasn't spread its wings and flown away yet, as I found myself gravitating around home actually more than I did when I used to live just one hour away in University... I think I really need a boost, a new fresh start, like the one that I thought I had had at the beginning of this year, which (until now) didn't turn up to be so fresh after all... but enough with my semi-depressive thoughts, let's get to some depressive music! No, I'm joking, I meant great music! Not of the happiest kind, yeah, but still... one of these songs you really really can't miss out!
Recently I chose Imagine Dragons' 'Dream' as my wake up call, as I've had a new falling in love with it after Sky Sport used it as the soundtrack of its cover for the F1 Belgium GP at Spa a few weeks ago. It's my favourite song out of ID's new album I think, and in these days I got an irresistible feeling to listen to it, so I went back to listening one of my older 2015 playlists that is featuring it. Besides enjoying it and other great songs by ID, I got to think back to other great music that I was listening to a few months ago, and I realised that there are quite a few songs among them that I haven't posted yet! This little beuatiful pearl is one of them: it's the opening track of Hundred Waters' debut (and eponymous) album, a really beautiful musical gem! Shame on me for not sharing it sooner!
