urban studies

I have been working on an album now for a couple of years. Fear alone has kept me from recording. I have plenty of excuses-not enough money, not enough time, and my favorite excuse: my songs aren’t polished enough. I am finally starting to let go of those excuses. The above photo was from my first solo live performance in nearly a year.

I am making this post (videos to come!) in order to re-commit myself to my craft. I WILL perform at least once a week for here on out. I WILL record a demo before I travel this summer. I WILL work on my music everyday.

Yikes.

2012-12-21

best. christmas carol. ever.

2012-12-20

This video is from Disney’s 1966 EPCOT film. It’s a beautiful mix of geometry and urban design. It’s wonderfully hypnotizing. Enjoy!

2012-12-16

Christmas Present

I’ve been asking around the station if anyone knew where to get this album and no one knew. I was starting to think that I dreamed it up and then it was released on iTunes on November 27th. If you are not into Christmas but you like the Eastern Sea, I still recommend it. If you are into Christmas music, this one’s a must. Start with Carol Of The Bells.

Source: itunes.apple.com

2012-12-14

Urban Studies Play List 12/13/12

Yesterday was my last Urban Studies show on time time slot of 5-7 a.m. I think. It was a fun show and if I do in fact get a different time slot next semester I will definitely miss waking up early to create my play list, driving straight through flashing yellow traffic lights, and walking briskly across a freshly watered MLK and up the stairs to the Hearst building thursday mornings. You may be thinking waking up at 4 a.m. to create a playlist to do a show from 5-7 am sounds comparable to eating a teaspoon of cinnamon. To me, this was one of the biggest highlights of my semester. Waking at that time of day allows you to see things that most people will never see. Things like giant trucks watering the streets (to keep them clean I suppose?), sleepy men delivering newspapers at the crack of dawn, and construction workers blaring their hair metal tunes in their big white pick-ups while waiting for their gigs to start.

A song quite fitting for a last show, “Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye” by Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle, was requested by a loyal listener. David is probably my only fan. He calls in every week and makes a request. I had never heard this song before he requested it. He would call in at times when I really needed some encouragement (for example, when I would accidentally forget to turn my computer volume up and therefore the audience would here my mac’s little “blip blip blip” when I was turning it up, dead air time due to the turntables not working, and accidentally playing the same song twice). I always strived to play my listener’s requests, and when I would play David’s requests he would always say “You are such an unselfish person.” I’m not sure how true that is however, it did always make me feel good.

I tried to play a mix of my favorite songs over the semester. I included some recent favorites such as Robert Ellis’ “Cemetery”. Christmas tunes like “Alan Parson’s in a Winter Wonderland” by Grandaddy and “Carol of the Bells” by The Eastern Sea brought in some holiday cheer. Note: this play list is a little short due to technical difficulties during the show which made it nearly impossible to update the playlist.

Manchester Kishi Bashi Buzzsessions

So Simple So True The Spring Standards Honey I’m Home

Alan Parson’s in a Winter Wonderland Grandaddy

It’s a Cool, Cool Christmas

Central Cemetery The Eastern Sea Plague

Cemetery Robert Ellis Photographs

The Gaudy Side of Town Gayngs Relayted

Fire Sleepin’ Frank Smith Before You Were Born

Boomerang Miniature Tigers Buzzsessions

Red Metal Rescue Marmalakes Even Clothed

Don’t Move Phantogram Nightlife

Sleep Forever Crockodiles Sleep Forever

Don’t Kiss Me Goodbye Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Stretch Building Bamboo Towa Tei Last Century Modern

Everything Is Burned Mesita The Coyote

I Am A Poseur X-Ray Spex Germfree Adolescents

Audacity of Huge Simian Mobil Disco Temporary Pleasure

Telepathic L’Altra Telepathic

Manners Arca Stretch

Warm Heart of Africa The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa

I Got Nothing Dum Dum Girls End Of Daze

Carol Of The Bells The Eastern Sea First Christmas

Pairs Daphni Jiaolong

2012-12-10

I wrote this song at 7:30 a.m. this morning.

I wake up early to go to yoga. Go on, hate me.

I wanted my first video post to be raw, original, and honest. So I thought, “What a better way than to post a song written in 5 minutes first thing in the morning?”. Good thing you can’t smell my dragon breath.

This song is about Quetzalcoatl. He was a Toltec king named after a Mesoamerican deity whose name literally meant “feathered serpent”. After being exiled by his enemies, Quetzalcoatl sailed off to sea. He vowed to return on the year ‘1 reed’ of the 52 year calendar. In 1519, a ‘one reed’ year, a white man landed on the coast of today’s Mexico. The Aztecs welcomed him as Quetzalcoatl. In reality, he was Spanish conquistador Cortez.

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Do you remember Caribou? Well, the Canadian musician, composer, and PHD holding Daniel Victor Snaith has a new project called Daphni. The album “Jiaolong” was released on Merge records this year in October.

“During the time I was making the Caribou album Swim, I’d fallen back in love with moments in small, dark clubs when a DJ puts on a piece of music that not only can you not identify, but that until you heard it you could not have conceived of existing,” Snaith said. “Daphni tracks are rough and spontaneous … They’re about working fast and intuitively, capturing the manic energy needed to start a track one afternoon, have it finished, and be playing it in a club that night.”

“I’ve been surprised by the number of transcendent moments that I, sober and in my mid-30s, have had in clubs in the last few years,” Snaith said. “Set against the backdrop of bland and functional dance music there is a small world where dance music lives up to its potential to liberate, surprise and innovate. There’s some magic in it still.” -Dan Snaith

p.s. He received his PHD in mathematics.

2012-12-04

Video Tuesday Plus!

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I have always been a big Hot Chip fan and sadly, I have never seen them live. This video displays their sense of humor while simultaneously serving as a reminder to not take ourselves so seriously. Enjoy video Tuesdsay!!!