thoughts on the ups and downs of life

The folks from La Blogothèque started a new kind of show last year called Soirée de Poche (Pocket Party in English), which is like their Take Away Shows except that they play in front of a very small and intimate audience. Check out this fantastic video of Beirut performing in a parisian apartment by the Champs Elysée. The Serge Gainsbourg’s cover of the popular French song “La Javanaise” at the end is just a.ma.zing and the atmosphere of the whole show is incredible. This is the best video I’ve seen in a while. I love you Zach Condon.

I just received my new Klipsch S4 earbuds and I’m more than satisfied. I’m pretty surprised actually. For $99 ($79 without the 3-button remote), the sound and the overall quality of the product is amazing, especially after few months with the standard and cheap Apple headphones. I use to have the Shure E4C, excellent professional earbuds, but the cable broke because of intensive use. If you’re au audiophile, I truly recommend every person to get a pair of high quality headphones. Listening to music with cheap headphone is like wasting your time and missing some guitar melodies, background ambience and sounds that you don’t even know they exist. It’s incredible how great headphones make you rediscover your music library. The bass is very nice, not too overpowering like most shitty earbuds, and the lows and highs are just as good as some of the best earbuds I tried. I usually have a low tolerance to in-ear earbuds but those ones are also pretty comfortable with their oval shape, definitely more comfortable than my $160 Shure. They come with a case and several different sizes of in ear plastic. Also, the isolation is almost perfect. The only con that I can find is that they look fragile, especially the cable… but they come with a 2-year warranty. They are available in white too. Highly recommended.

Release: August 17, 1998
Country: Montreal, Canada
Label: Constellation Records
Genre: Post-Rock
Sounds like: A Silver Mt. Zion, Set Fire To Flames

“Despite this being their first album, and despite having such a crazy name, this group made a fairly big splash in independent circles with the release of their debut album last year. While it didn’t hit mainstream, or even close to mainstream, it did make the year-end lists of several different artist picks from members of Belle and Sebastian to Mogwai, and even different electronic artists. Having such an interesting name, it would almost be a letdown if the group was fairly normal, and fortunately they aren’t. Hailing from Canada, this 10 piece (yes, 10 people) group plays just about everything but the kitchen sink (although it might be in the mix somewhere as well).”

Ok, after the colorful Beach House that just came out, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite record: F#A# (Infinity) from Godspeed You! Black Emperor. This band introduced me to post-rock, but I’ve never found any other bands that sounds like that. They have such a unique sound that it took me a few listens to get into it, but once I did, it instantly became one of my favorite albums. I would describe it as the soundtrack to the end of the world, each of the three long songs being connected in misery and darkness. From the opening spoken-word segment to the half hour long finale track, there isn’t a moment where sunshine peaks through the clouds long enough to offset the sheer despair. Also, what I find interesting is that the band treats their songs as classical music pieces, each one having several movements that create the greater whole. The change of scenes come suddenly, often times the music swells to a frantic pace before coming to a crash. Weeping guitars, shaky violins, tribal drums, and more sounds straight from an orchestra work together with the dead atmosphere to create a depression unlike anything I’ve heard from music before. The band also includes several samples that serve to make the isolation even more frightening. The fact that the band never sings, and all voices heard are used more for instruments of atmosphere than to deliver a message. But it takes a special state of mind to really be able to enjoy the album. This isn’t an album for a rainy day, this is the worst rainy day in an album. It’s certainly not going to appeal to everyone, but it has quickly become one of my favorite albums. It’s bone-chillingly haunting, and my ears love it. If you’re in the mood for something slow, depression, and masterfully performed, I would say that F# A# Infinity is the best album for it.

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To celebrate Phoenix’s Grammy for the Best Alternative Album of the Year, here seventy two minutes in their musical world – twenty tunes that changed their lives and influenced the way they sound. I am kind of impressed with the Grammy’s this year. I enjoyed the fact that the Music Industry community has paid their respects to Phoenix and Kings of Leon, bands that have toured for over 10 years and have made more than 2 records. About the video itself, I love the way they romanticize and philosophize about some of the songs. It’s in French but with English subtitles. You can really hear the little production techniques and samples that they strive for in their music in these songs. I also love how their influences are so varied. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons why they’re such a solid band. A great list of tune.

Someone recently asked me, if I could, would I trade my life for the life of someone else?
I have been thinking about my response for this question lately and I realized that I would probably answer no. What’s interesting in this answer is that for years I would have answered yes, without even hesitating. It just made me realize that my life changed so much in such a good way. Just two years ago, I was disappointed and depressed about pretty much everything in my life, and did not have any goals. Since I moved to the United States, literally everything changed. It’s like someone turned on the light in here.All of those past experiences shaped the person I am today and gave me a better understanding of myself and life in general. I don’t want to forget my past, my mistakes or my weaknesses anymore. For the first time, I am now proud of who I am, who I became and what I did, something that only few would have done. I am not a failure anymore, I feel special now and it feels good. So the answer is definitely NO.

I love my English class. I always have this little excitement before going to class because we are all having fun while learning. Today, he forced us to get to know people around us and talk about random stuff. Well, it sounded awkward at first but if he wasn’t doing that, people would never talk to each other like in 90% of other Community College classes. So today I met that girl who has pretty much the same music taste as me, which is extremely rare. We just ended up smiling and talking for 15 minutes about music. I think it was cute. It totally made my day.

I just came back from Remedy Teas where I had another shopping spree, but it’s definitely worth it considering how amazing their teas taste, smell and look. At first I was just going there to refill two of my old ones but I ended up getting three new kinds. It’s just so tempting.

Peach Oolong: The closest thing to visiting the orchard, the flavor and aromas of fresh picked peaches and toasty oak swirl around this Wuyi oolong with hand-blended rosehips, marigolds and essences of apricot and peach.
Silver Earl: The classic Earl Grey has a silvery new step. Enjoy cooling citrus flavor and a brisk fragrant brew from this light and refreshing blend of natural organic bergamot and premium organic Silver Needle white tea.
Jade Spring : Pure “Wulu” spring tea from China. Freshly handcrafted grown at high elevations among lush mountain tops and mist. This special grade first-pick green tea creates a smooth and wonderfully mellow and butttery cup with fresh sweet taste.
Green Energy: A dynamite tea that delivers a citrus-fresh, stimulating cup with serious horsepower. Green tea combo, ashwaganda (a powerful Ayruvedic herb), ginseng, gogi, licorice, citrus peel and citrus essence.
Deep Sleep: This potent mix of herbs is bound to help send you to la-la land while tasting like a dream. Chamomile, rosehips, lavender, pink peppercorn, valerian, honeybush and kava kava.

“We’re doing a show this Sunday to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. All proceeds are going to the Oxfam Haiti relief fund. We’re trying to raise as much money as possible, so tickets will be sold by auction at this site until Saturday. We’re in the middle of recording at the moment, so you’ll be catching us on the fly… but if you’re up for it, then we are too. See you then” — Thom Yorke, from the Official Radiohead Website

The highest bid was $2000, the lowest $475. Radiohead raised $572,754 for Haiti in one night. Nice.