Showing posts with label Alt-J. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alt-J. Show all posts

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Birthday

As usual, Lizzie makes sure that I have a wonderful birthday. This year was no different. We kind of turned it into three days of cool stuff. 

Saturday, the day before my birthday, Lizzie and the kids surprised me with a Crab Boil and gifts of fine spiced rum and beer, which is totally my favorite. We ended the night with a brutal game of Monopoly (which I won) the birthday luck was with me! 

Sunday we had a fabulous breakfast and we went to BJ's for dinner. 

Monday we took off to Seattle to have brunch at Americana. If you make it to Seattle, this place is bad ass and often has an hour wait. The maple glazed pork belly is off the charts awesome. We then hit two record stores for some new vinyl I ended up getting Alt-J, Russian Circles, and Slayer. I've always loved buying music. In between stores we hit a really awesome bar called Hazelwood which was a tiny old style European looking place with vintage cocktails. Then we went to dinner at Poquitos a sweet Mexican restaurant with awesome authentic tacos. Then finally we got to see the final Hobbit movie at IMAX and in 3D. I have to say seeing a movie like that is fabulous! 

It was a great birthday and as always it's a little sad to see the celebrations end but man, it was fun!


The Crab Boil complete with 4th child (Kaya's BFF and Elsa)

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In Seattle we stopped by Twice Sold Books for some neat used book finds

Lizzie in Twice Sold Books

Drink at Hazelwood in Bellingham

Lizzie at Poquitos

Tequila at Poquitos

Space Needle at night

HUGE 3D glasses for IMAX







Thursday, January 31, 2013

Musical Phases

I like all kinds of music. It doesn't really matter what style it is, if it speaks to me and I can feel the genuine emotion then I dig it. Surprisingly, there's a freight train full of good and original stuff out right now and I'm loving it! I have no shame or musical alliances that I adhere to, if I like it, I like it and I really don't care if one genre thinks it's stupid. I feel like music shouldn't have boundries.  Here's some new finds that I thought I'd share.

The Lumineers - Wrapped in a train hopping 1930s circus hobo image, The Lumineers sometimes dark folky goodness first caught my ear with the song Stubborn Love which sort of reminds me of the major label version of Tim Barry without losing the integrity.


Cradle of Filth - I've pretty much always dug Cradle Of Filth. They're over the top blasphemous music is still full of emotion that drives my story-minded brain into overdrive. Here's a fun fact, I've probably written more words while Cradle Of Filth is playing than any other band. They just have scenic music, especially when writing action. I haven't heard it all yet, but they're new album The Maticore and Other Horrors is on par with some of the better CoF records.


Alt-J - I just heard this band the other day and I really really like them. The first song I heard is called Breezeblocks and is like a weird Radiohead meets Bad Brains meets Porishead group from England. It's quite original and has a sort of dark, chill yet quality beat driven music. Somehow, the feeling reminds me of classic Jane's Addiction but in a totally different way.

Krewella - Signed to Skrillex's label, Krewella is like a modern day Tatu. I told you I have no shame and despite their gimmick that was still kind of awesome, Tatu made good music damnit. Krewella is much like that but has a solid five songs that are awesome. Keep in mind that these girls and dude just came out last year, so as long as they don't implode, they could put out some darn good music for quite some time.


Loss - Opposite on the musical planet is the band Loss, from Nashville, TN. This is Doom Metal at it's best and dare I say ranks up in all modern metal's best. While thunderously heavy and slow, Loss still puts me in a cerebral state that conjures images of burning cities and apocalyptical landscapes. See my previous post, "Loss (the band)" from earlier in the month to see a full description.


Graveyard - I'm not a huge fan of the new 70s metal that's out right now, I kind of dig Graveyard. They're unapologetic look and music makes them look like they stepped out of a time machine but their music sounds like Monster Magnet but with more modern hooks.


Nero - I don't know a lot about this band but I know they've had some hype for a while. The song Promises featuring Skrillex is really good.


AWOLNATION - From the band, Under The Influence Of Giants. Awolnation's one man band hit the radio charts with the song Sail, which sounds like Nine Inch Nails with a little more sass and less seriousness. The sad thing is I hate every other song on the album. The rest of the record is just too Weird Al - goofy for me.


Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - From what I've read, this band is a strange mix of like twelve musicians that often play together in different numbers depending on who's available. It's again a folky style with an alt-country feel I dig the songs, Home, Om Nashi Me and Bad Bad Love (By Alexander) one of the many members of the band.