Jónsi (of Sigur Rós)

So, last night I went to see Jónsi (of Sigur Ros) at the Wiltern. It was an absolutely breathtaking show. Jónsi went above and beyond my expectations. The visuals we the best I've ever seen and his music is so passionate yet fragile. Similar to Sigur Ros. The band opening up for him was The Mountain Men, which was ironically, 3 girls. An A cappella group actually. Occasionally they would pick up a guitar, but for the most part it was just their voices. Very interesting, but I don't know how much of that I could take. Especially since my taste in music has been leaning more towards electronic lately. Anyways, after the show, my newfound group of friends and I walked down Oxford and after a fair amount of time waiting, got to meet Jónsi himself along with his boyfriend/bassist, Alex, and his sister, Sigurros! I'm sure you've figured this out by now (and probably already know this if you're a fan), but Sigur Ros was named after her. It was pretty insane to see all of them and talk to them. A band that has influenced me so much and brought so many different feelings and perspectives to my life.

Up next on the concert schedule is Sufjan Stevens next Sunday, which...I can't even express how ecstatic I am for this show. I'll make sure to post before then sometime, but I'm beginning to feel that this blog will be far more interesting and useful to people if its solely focused on music opposed to my everyday life.

I'd love some comments though, and/or suggestions. Let me know what you're thinking and if you want me to put anything else in particular up on here like new music I've been listening to or something of that sort.

Miike Snow/Mark Ronson & the business

(Top picture is Miike Snow. Bottom is Mark Ronson and the business)

So here's a fun story for you guys. Last night, I went to see Miike Snow at the Wiltern. The opening band was Mark Ronson and the business, which was hands down the best opening band I've ever witnessed. You should all listen to them. I was almost worried that Miike Snow would have a hard time following them up. Anyways, so let me first just thank Miike Snow and the Wiltern for sabotaging what started out as one of the best shows I've ever been to. Basically, Miike Snow came on stage. Fogged up the Wiltern. Played an AMAZING 7 songs and then some sort of bizarre power outage occurred and one of the keyboards completely died. They had to pause the concert. We waited for about 20 minutes while 5 tech guys came on stage and attempted to fix the keyboard. Finally they came back on, played one more song, AND THEN LEFT! No encore! Nothing! Everyone was so incredibly angry. Everyone refused to leave and kept yelling for them to finish their damn set. No luck. They pulled the curtains up and took the set apart with everyone still standing there yelling. Complete bullshit if you ask me. People pay good money to see these shows and hear their favorite (or at least the most popular) songs. They didn't even play "Animal" or "The Rabbit", which are some of their most famous songs. I managed to get the set list off the stage and it says that "Animal" is on there, and yet they didn't play it. Something strange was going on. Whether it had to do with the time or some technical difficulties preventing them to continue playing, I guess we'll never know. But all in all, Miike Snow, you played half a set, so I expect half of my money back.

Thats enough ranting for one day. On the bright side, I'll say, although it was incredibly short, it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. Hands down. They did an amazing cover of Vampire Weekend's "Mansard Roof". Absolutely fantastic. I'll definitely be seeing them again when they come back with their new record.

Tomorrow (well, technically today I guess), I'm going back to the Wiltern and seeing Jónsi! Lets just hope nothing goes wrong with that show because I'll be paying twice as much for the ticket...

Broken Bells and Maya Rudolf

Alright, so I've been a slacker lately. But I promise to make it up to everyone! I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Its really not like I've been doing a tremendous amount of things this past week. I've just been lazy. So, first thing's first. Broken Bells at the Wiltern last week was AMAZING. Like usual, I went alone. But I ended up meeting and hanging out with some very interesting people. After the show I really wanted to talk to and thank James Mercer and Danger Mouse for the incredible performance. So I walked down Oxford and talked to some of the sound crew and the members of Autolux while waiting for James and Danger Mouse to come out. Unfortunately I found out that James had gotten sick and went home and Danger Mouse managed to leave without me noticing. Oh well. I did meet some great people and find out that The Shins are working on a new album, which means that I'll have plenty of other opportunities to talk to James.

The following day, my good friend and I went to Groundlings to see Maya Rudolf (from SNL) and the Groundlings cast doing an improv show. It was pretty hilarious and I recommend anyone who hasn't attended a Groundlings show to check it out.

As far as today goes, Miike Snow is playing at Club Nokia. I don't think I'll be going tonight. Club Nokia really isn't my favorite venue and parking is horrific. So instead, I'm going to see The Importance of Being Earnest at my school (Santa Monica College) to get it over with. Its required to see all of the plays for my Acting 2 class. Then tomorrow I'll probably go see Miike Snow at the Wiltern. I'm mostly excited about Sunday though. Jonsi from Sigur Ros is playing at the Wiltern! I LOVE Sigur Ros and I adore Jonsi's solo music as well. Its a lot like Sigur Ros (as is most Icelandic music), but it seems to be more upbeat. For those of you who haven't heard any of Jonsi's music, check out the song "Go Do" from his new album. The video is fantastic as well.

Speaking of Icelandic musicians, I suggest you all check out the bands Múm, Amiina, and Seabear. All of which are amazing and I'm sure you'll enjoy if you are a fan of Sigur Ros.

I'll write again tomorrow before (or possibly after) the Miike Snow show.

Attempt at video blog (uninteresting, I know)

Over the past few days...

Ugh. So I don't write for a few days and I forget what I've done. See, THIS is why I need a blog. Okay, Friday morning is a blur. All I remember is going to the gym and speaking to the most pretentious bastard of a training instructor I've ever met. He informed me that the 35 degree curve in my spine is because my (physician) mother was malnourished when I was in the womb. He also let me know that although skin cancer runs in my family, I should go into the sun and not wear sunscreen. He followed this by letting me know that skin cancer is man made. Oh, and then this bastard told me that everything from Alzheimer's to Bipolar disorder can be cured by proper nutrition and exercise and that medication of all kinds are useless and just harmful. These were just a few things we discussed in our hour long conversation. Or should I say battle? I was fuming by the time I left. Anyways, so that was the morning. I don't remember what I did after that. But in the evening, I met up with this guy and we chilled at a hookah bar and then explored the UCLA campus (along with its sewer system and rooftops).

Immediately following that, I went to a get together with my new acting scene partner and a few of his friends. At around 3 am, him and I left and went to Norms for some coffee, seeing that it was the only place open. We had never talked prior to this night, which is why I found it a bit odd that he invited me to be his date the following day to his fathers wedding. Funny thing is, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. A few months ago I met a guy at a job interview and after a few minutes of talking to him, he invited me to come to a wedding with him. I don't know what the deal is. I don't even like weddings. So, I managed to crawl back into bed at 7am and wake up at around noon.

The wedding was sufficiently awkward. Basically it consisted of me being introduced to this practical strangers' extended family and watching them shake his shoulders behind my back to congratulate him on "acquiring me". He kept trying to make moves on me, which wasn't really what I was interested in. The best part of the whole day was talking to the wedding singer who's name is Darren Criss. You'll probably hear more about him later on since he's just recently been cast in Glee.

I'm going to skip a few unpleseant details that upset me a bit later on, but basically, the night concluded at about 1:30 am with me driving home, in a lot of pain, wanting to cry but not being able to. I really think something is wrong with me. No matter how shitty I feel, I can't cry. I WANT to. Crying is one of the most cleansing feelings, especially when you feel like crap. I guess there isn't much I can do for that though. Maybe I should just be thankful that I'm not depressed anymore.

The next day was better. I don't remember doing too much, which was nice. I met up with my Uncle and his daughter at the Promenade by chance for a few minutes and then went to meet with my other acting scene partner in the park. Following that, I went to the gym for a bit until it closed at the early hour of 8 pm, since it was a Sunday.

When I got home from the gym, I had something very interesting occur at around 11:30 pm. I don't want to post it on here just yet, but basically...its got me ecstatic and extremely worried for the future of my emotional happiness. I've been doing fan-fucking-tastically over the past few months not being emotionally attached to anyone and I'm really concerned that someone might ruin that for me. I'm not sure if I should just let it happen. I mean, I know emotional attachment is a part of being human, but, there's got to be a way to bypass heartbreak.

Yesterday was fairly dull besides a bit of accidental networking at Starbucks. You really do meet some interesting people when you're least expecting it. Then I went to the gym to take advantage of the free classes it has to offer along with the ass-rape $50 per month membership I'm paying. I suck. It was entertaining. The best part of the gym though, is that for some hilarious and unknown reason, all of the trainers flock towards me to engage in conversation with me every time I come in. It makes me chortle.

Right now, I'm at a coffee shop somewhere in Hollywood. I kind of went on a driving adventure today. Just wanted to go to the Urban Outfitters on Melrose and ended up driving more than I expected. Its now cold and rainy out. This change in weather is ridiculous. Oh well, guess I better get back to doing something productive....as if I was doing that anyways. HAH. I'll try to write every day again. I don't like having to think back so far. heh.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Before I update you with any interesting news, let me first express my undying love for caffeinated beverages. Without them, I would not be awake (or alive) right now.

Another night of less than 4 hours of sleep. I'm probably destroying any miniscule amount of my immune system that still exists. But hey, I'm out doing things, being productive, and creating memories. Much more meaningful than sleep. Anyways, so last night I drove to Silver Lake to practice with the band I joined recently to sing and play keyboard/synth in. Its called Letting Up Despite Great Faults. They're an indie/electronic band, so if you're into that kind of music, feel free to check us out: http://www.myspace.com/lettingup. I'm not featured in any of the songs on the myspace yet, but I've recorded a few songs with them so far and there are more to come. We plan on playing live again very soon, so if you live in LA you should come check us out. I'll post the date, time, and location on here in advance when we are going to be performing. So basically last night I was shown how to use the midi controller and other equipment that I'll be using on stage. I'm pretty excited to play live again. I haven't had the opportunity to play music on stage for people since Tilvera which was about 3 years ago. Well, thats not counting the ridiculous little set of cover songs that Rebecca and I played at that cafe. But thats not my own music, so that doesn't count. But yeah, pretty psyched. I'm still going to be writing my own music though because the music that the band plays isn't entirely what I want to be doing. So, I'm not giving up on my own songs.

As far as today goes, I woke up after my unsatisfying 4 hours of sleep and went to statistics class. After those riveting two hours, I went to the theater arts building to read through my new acting scene with my scene partner. It seems like an interesting scene and my character is dazed and mysterious; much different from my incestuous previous character with the brilliant line, "I wanna see your dick".

In the middle of the scene read-through, I received a phone call from an 813 (Tampa, Florida) area code. This person with an obviously fake accent tried to convince me that he is from DC and I have been chosen to receive a $7,000 grant. After about 15 minutes of trying to convince me to go to "Western Union" in Santa Monica to pick up the money, I asked to speak to his supervisor. When the "supervisor" came on the phone and it was clearly the same voice, I called him out on it, laughing, and he hung up. Fun stuff. I tried calling him out in the beginning with the Tampa area code, but he just kept going.

Following that fun event, I walked the two miles back to the satellite parking, got groceries, and went home. Currently I'm sitting in a coffee shop (big shock) due to the heat once again. Well, and I'm also waiting for my photos to finish printing at Costo. Oh boy. Exciting, right? Well, it looks like they should be done printing by now, so I'm going to go pick them up and head down to the gym. I'm finally getting a membership after my monolithic ass finished off a horrifically large box of pastries that my friend gave me from the bakery he works at.

OH! Before I go, I wanted to express my excitement about this movie thats coming out called "Wild Target". It seems like a typical British comedy and it should be coming into theaters in the U.S. on October 29th. Its got Rupert Grint! Man, I can't believe I've had a thing for that kid since I was in 7th grade. Funny how some things never change. Anyways, check out the trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaA2lvuv76Y

POW POW

Its currently around 5 pm. I'm sitting inside a coffee shop for the 3rd day in a row solely because its literally impossible to breathe in my apartment. The heat wave here in LA is absolutely ridiculous and not having air conditioning is death. I realized that I didn't get to write last night, so I'll let you know now what shenanigans I've been up to.

So after 5 hours of enjoying the air conditioning of a coffee shop yesterday, I went home as it started to get dark, thinking that it would probably have cooled down in my little studio apartment by then. I was mistaken. It also seems that I have a gas leak of some sort in my apartment. Great.
Anyways, I was happy to have nothing to do for the rest of the day. No plans. Nobody to see. Nobody to take home. I spoke too soon. Two minutes later I received a message from my friend who works as a scout for Atlantic Records telling me that I'm coming with him to The Smell to see this electronic band called Fartbarf. Classy name, right? So, ignoring the fact that I had to get up at 6 am for class the next morning, within an hour, I went from getting ready to spend the night alone, cozy in my bed with a book or watching a good foreign film to driving downtown to one of the shittiest little venues in LA to see this odd, obscure band. I really do love how spontaneous my life can be.
So, the first band was quite horrific. I was starting to get discouraged, but then once Fartbarf started playing I was actually very impressed. They were all dressed in matching white pants, white button down shirts, and the creepiest masks I've ever seen. Thats when I realized that I get turned on by the smell of the rubber that is used to make halloween masks. Interesting revelation for me. I'm even stranger than I thought.
The band played a great set and made good use of a vocoder, which I found to be extremely entertaining. The only thing that would have made it better is if it weren't hot as balls in there. I just felt bad for the three band members wearing the suffocating masks. I managed to get home by around 1 am and get at least a few hours of sleep before I had to get up for Statistics this morning.

As far as today goes, I took a nap to make up for my lack of sleep last night and prepare myself for tonight. Thanks to a friend of a friend I'm going to be in LCD Soundsystem's music video for their new song "Pow Pow", along with Anna Kendrick. My call time is at 10 pm and I'll be there till 3 am. Looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight either seeing that I have to get up at 7:30 for my Acting 2 class tomorrow morning. Three cheers for caffeinated beverages...?

Okay, before I go, I just want to express my undying love for this new CD I bought. Its by a band called Pantha du Prince and the album is called "Black Noise". It came out earlier this year, but I just started listening to it a few weeks ago. I can't turn it off. Its amazing electronica/dance music and NOT "Tibetan Pygmy Music" as one of my non-musically inclined friends called it. I definitely suggest anyone who hasn't heard of them to check out that album. While you're at it, give Fartbarf a listen as well. I was actually kind of impressed by them. They're fun to listen to if you like synths. I kind of thought they sounded like a mixture of Eiffel 65 and The Bloodhound Gang. Its something interesting.