inspiration(music): little dragon!
Little dragon is one of my fav bands, so I was super psyched to see them. Needless to say, the show was amazing. I knew they’d sound great, but I didn’t realize how badass the lead singer, Yukimi Nagano was. She bounced around and grooved out tirelessly all while sounding fantastic. It was a pleasure to see them live. If you don’t know who they are *gasp*, check out the video below.
There is a lot of hate for the new Big Love opening, and  I’m not sure why. Sure, I loved the ice skating and the Beach Boys song, but it wasn’t anything mind blowing. The new intro is eye-catching and blends beautifully with the new music (“Home” by the Engineers). I know I’m a sucker for good visuals+music, but that’s not the only reason why I’m drawn to it. I think it’s cool that they created a new opening that reflected the turn of events on the show. A lot of intense stuff happened last season, and seeing the new opening made me excited to see what was going to happen this time around.
I didn’t mention this before, but the launch of my new site , fotogirl.net, (yes, I’m plugging it again), was extra special because it happened on my 30th birthday. I felt it was only fitting then to have my first online mixtape reflect my journey into adulthood. I decided to put up the songs that most reminded me of being a youngin’. The mixtape is subtitled, “stuff my mommy played all the time”, because that’s really what it is!
In the days before cds, mp3s, and ipods, we had good ole fashioned records and tapes. There were certain albums and songs that my mom used to play into the ground, so now whenever I hear them, I get nostalgic.
The song that hits home for me the most is the Wayne Shorter/Milton Nascimiento song, “Ponta de Areia”. My mom said that she used to put it on and start dancing with me and my brother.When I got old enough for a record player, I would play the album in my room contstantly. I still have said album.
Eliane Elias was/is another Watson favorite. We had a few of her albums, and they were constantly on repeat…which, in the days of records and tapes, meant actually getting up and turning the record/ tape over. *shudder* I now have her music on my ipod even though I still can’t pronounce her name correctly 
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.I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I did listen to actual children’s music as well! I loved Carole King’s, “Really Rosie”, album. I have the original tape, but eventually had to get it for my ipod. I still listen to it frequently, and take pride in knowing all the words to, “Alligators all around”. The Al Jarreau song is actually from a Sesame Street album called, “In Harmony”. It’s a great album with special guests like James Taylor (my mom LOVES James Taylor), Bette Midler, and George Benson. And yes, I still have that album, too.
I loved Angela Winbush’s, ” Your Smile” so much that, apparently, mom had to tape it multiple times in a row so I could listen to it back to back. I don’t know why that song appealed to a 6 yr old, but it did. What can I say? I’m an old soul.
Overall, the mixtape shows the musical foundation that I had growing up, and I believe those songs and others laid the groundwork for my current eclectic taste in music. Thanks, mom. 
- go to fotogirl radio
In my last post I quickly mentioned one of the new sections on my site, fotogirl.net. The section is called “radio”, and it is an online mixtape that will be the home to ever changing playlists that you can check out and (hopefully) enjoy. I added this section for several reasons. One, I’m a music addict. No, really. I don’t know what I would do without it. Probably cry. At any rate, I got jealous the musicians who got to have music playing on their website, so I decided I was gonna put some on mine! Over the years, I’ve gotten compliments about my music selections, so I decided to take it a step further.
Two, I loved Muxtape. For those who didn’t know Muxtape, it was a site that allowed you to make online “mixtapes” and share them with others. You weren’t able to download anything. You were only allowed to stream it. It was a great way to share music, as well as discover new music. Unfortunately, the RIAA had some beef with the site and took it down. It’s back up now, but it’s not the same. People may say that sites like that cause musicians to lose money, but I disagree. Because of Muxtape, I discovered the band Grizzly Bear. I later ended up purchasing their album, the album of their sideband, and bought two tickets to see them in concert. All because of one person’s mix. Anyhoo, after mMxtape went kaput, someone else came out with Opentape. It’s basically like Muxtape, but it’s hosted on your own site. You aren’t able to easily discover anyone else mixes anymore, but it’s still cool.
Lastly, I created this page to put the songs that couldn’t go directly on my website. I try to find calming, mellow songs for my site so as not to scare anyone off lol. But, there are times when I’d love to throw Bjork ,Nine Inch Nails, or Plaid up on it and I can’t. So…now I have a place to put it all.
I’m not gonna proclaim to change it at specific intervals. I will keep a mix up until I feel the need to change it. That could be once a week, or once a month. I will write a corresponding post about it though, so people know when it’s up.
When I was younger, I used to listen to a Sesame Street album, “Let Your Feelings Show”, which featured Grover singing a tune called, “Proud of Me”. It was a delightful little tune about feeling self confident and loving yourself, yadda yadda yadda , and it always stuck with me. Now I’m about to let you in on a little secret…to this day, sometimes when I’ve accomplished something cool (or at times, even when I haven’t) the song will pop into my head, and I will silently start singing it. I do the same thing with Sharon, Lois, and Bram’s, “I am Slowly Going Crazy” when I’m super stressed out…but, I digress.
The point is, the other day, I decided to try to find the song online as I only have a copy on vinyl. I came up empty handed at the time, but discovered something even cooler. I stumbled upon a box set of classic Sesame Street tunes called, “Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music”. I rediscovered songs long forgotten, and I was hit with waves of nostalgia and overall giddiness. Aside from all of that, listening with a more “mature” ear gave me a deeper appreciation for the music, and Sesame Street as a whole.
While the show was obviously created for children, it maintains a level of sophistication that makes it enjoyable for everyone. Unlike other kid shows, it doesn’t feel the need to produce trite, sugary sweet songs or characters (ok, maybe Elmo ruined some of that…but that’s another conversation). The reason why the show has continually been successful for the last 39 odd years is because it doesn’t underestimate a kid’s intelligence. Story lines and songs are presented in a way that make it easy for a kid to digest, yet it’s done without “dumbing it down” (to borrow from Lupe Fiasco). Just the fact that they tackled death with the passing of Mr. Hooper showed that they weren’t afraid to take chances that other shows wouldn’t.
This applies to the music as well. The creators made the songs catchy and easy to learn and did so using a vast variety of musical styles. Established musicians of all kinds have lent their talents to the show, which has made for numerous memorable moments. I just discovered a duet with Diane Schuur and Elmo. What I love most about Sesame Street is that it continues to stay current. This season includes Feist doing an adorable rendition of “1,2,3,4″, as well as a spoof called “30 Rocks” which features a bonfide Liz “Lemon”. My future children will be raised on Sesame Street. Barney will be banned.
Feist’s “1,2,3,4″
*Bonus- My friend reminded me of Ray Charles’ awesome version of “Bein’ Green”.
Though I claim to be an anime fan, it was my music obsession that led me to the beautiful film, Tekkonkinkreet. Plaid is one of my fav electronica groups, and while doing a routine check on their site , I discovered that they had recently done the music for a random anime I’d never heard of. I quickly Netflixed it, though I was really more interested in hearing the music. A quick search remedied that. Gotta love the interwebs. I liked it, but it definitely sounded like “soundtrack” music, so I was eager to see (hear) how it would translate when combined with the animation.
The movie quickly exceeded my expectations. The animation is stunning. There are layers of artwork within the film along with different styles that seamlessly mesh together. The story is about two orphans fighting for survival amongst a gritty landscape, and the animation does a wonderful job of painting that picture.
The icing on the cake is, of course, the music. Hearing Plaid’s work in its proper context made all the pieces fall into place and gave me a greater appreciation of the soundtrack. The opening and closing tracks alone do a wonderful job of encompassing the mood of the piece. Even some of the songs I didn’t care for on its own, integrated perfectly with the accompanying visuals.
I’m certainly not a movie critic, but I highly recommend this film (Will I get sued for giving it two thumbs up? ). I’ve seen it twice (the second time on Blu-Ray which was extra yummy), and it will definitely become part of my anime collection.
I know everyone and their momma has been talking about this trailer, but I don’t care. I had to get on the bandwagon and join in on the chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs”. I will start by saying that I have not had a chance to read the graphic novel, so I didn’t know much anything about the story upon viewing. A quick Wikipedia search (and a geeky friend) remedied some of that, but I will still be getting my hands on a copy in the near future. The trailer didn’t give the non-fanboy any hints either, and yet I was still intrigued. Am I easily swayed by shiny, pretty graphics? A little bit. No Judging. I was able to see it on an IMAX screen though, so I doubt many could blame me.
It wasn’t the graphics alone that reeled me in. I’ve gushed before about my love for the perfect music/visual combo, and this trailer is a wonderful example of that. The song used is an old Smashing Pumpkins B-side, “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning”. The dark mood of the song meshes beautifully with the gritty graphics, and is only enhanced when certain actions on screen fall in line with the beat. I always know a good combo when I’m dying to hear the song long after the images fade, and when I do, it causes the images to instantly replay in my head. Seeing as how I’m listening to the song as I write this, I can safely say that this trailer was a success in that regard. If you haven’t seen it (or want to see it again), take a peek below.
Nine Inch Nails is one of my favorite bands, so I was elated to find out that Trent (ok, so it’s technically only one person) randomly put out a new album of instrumentals. The album in itself is great, but the icing on the cake is the fact that the downloadable version of the album comes with photos for each track. It is so fascinating to have the image change on the ipod with each new song.
Some incarnations of the album apparently come with a 40 page pdf booklet of the images. I like being able to see the full images, but then the photos aren’t as closely entwined with the music, imho.
I have always been intrigued by the combination of music and visuals. The right combo can truly be powerful. I’ve experimented with blending photography and music over the years, and still search for ways to seamlessly mesh them together. One of my future goals is to do a large art piece that integrates music within my work. Teaming up with the right musician to create track by track images for his/her album would be a great start (hint, hint ). Part of the reason why I got into web design/interactive art was because of the endless ways you could weave art forms together. I love that people are constantly pushing the boundaries. I just found out that the new Autechre album does the same thing, so I may have to get it just to see how they execute it.
One of my goals for the year is to hear more of the musicians I love live. So on Tuesday, I went to go hear Hanne Hukkelberg @ Union Hall. The whole set was amazing, but the song that really hit me was her cover of the Kinks, “All day and All of the Night”. She rocked it a lil harder live, but you can still get the gist of how she really made the song her own.
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