I am so so so so so so glad to finally have some time to post something. I've been looking at the blog every day, seeing Ari and Mai's posts and always longing for the chance to actually get something done. I have too many bookmarks, too much new music, and too many amazing mind-blowing things to tell you all that have been building up in me for the past 4 months, basically just settling to the back of my mind and hardening into this insatiable desire to release myself into the blogosphere. Alas, the only feeling I have the chance to feel is regret and loss. Finally getting the chance to take the photography that has been accumulating over the past few months and actually doing something with it made me realize what I have been missing the past few months-photography. I have been so stressed over 12 college applications, scholarships, and essays, that I haven't the time to breathe. Nothing, over these months, that I have tried to relax with made me as soothed as getting some photography done. I was reminded of the healing power of the art, and am so grateful that it is in my life. Even here typing this, my headache that has been building over the day's stress is waning, and I feel so much better knowing someone will read this. I hope you, too, will find some peace with some sort of art, as I have.
I actually wrote this bit of my post about a month ago, but I never knew how to finish it. Last month, two anticipated albums came out, one after the other. First, Vampire Weekend's
Contra, then OK Go's
Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. For you guys who know me (or read this blog enough to sort of know me), you know that I am a huge fan of both bands. I admit, the first time I listened to Horchata, I wasn't quite sold on Vampire Weekend's new album,
Contra. The day the album dropped, Vampire Weekend posted the whole album on their site, for everyone to hear. I was SOLD. I could not stop listening to the range of this album, the beautiful voice of Ezra, and the revival of my love for this band. Suffice it to say, I had a huge Vampire Weekend phase for a couple of weeks.
The day before, I listened through OTBCOTS, which did not blow me away so much. OK Go's new album has reached what they say is what they really have been all along, a band with a lot of Prince influence, and a smooth vibe. I have nothing against the high-pitched squeals of Damian's glorious pipes, or the heavy drums and basslines of the album, but nothing has really stuck with me so far (except for the fact that my photo was used in an interview with Damian ahhh
the second one down). I still love the boys for what incredible people they are, and how far they are stretching where their creative energy can be. They are looking to launch a video for every single one of their songs, one of which was
released a long time ago and a Rube Goldberg one coming out tomorrow! They've also been actively informing the public once again of the big mean machine that record companies can be (their video was not able to be embedded from YouTube, which caused a lot of people, including the band, to become not so happy). Boiled down to the end of these two, I regret to say that although I still love OK Go, my palette is not mature enough to appreciate the style they went for. My tastes are much more geared to love the swoony, melodic ballads of Vampire Weekend, those tunes dripping with hormones, young impulses, and Ivy league, not to mention the undercurrents of cellos. It doesn't hurt to say that VW's new album always makes me giddy for my college dreams in (hopefully) the east coast. OK Go's album is a lot more mature, full of real love, of introspection, and hope. And btw, the cover of OK Go's album is art down to a science. The whole CD booklet is an incredibly thoughtful way to put lyrics and feelings down to graphs and charts, something way too complicated for me to explain here but downright genius.
Still,
The Winner? Vampire Weekend
