Real Estate

Not that kind of Real Estate – the music kind. Indie band Real Estate's second album, Days, is phenomenal – I've thoroughly been enjoying it since its release earlier this month. Here's a live studio rendition of "It's Real" – super easy to listen to, carefree music. If you like this, the whole album is worth a listen.

Real Estate - It's Real from 4eyes on Vimeo.

Transition, Kickstarter & Creation

Fall is in full-swing. It's crazy how fast that happened – I just hope it lasts for a bit before cold man winter creeps in. I've often said that my favorite time of year isn't necessarily one of the four seasons per se, but rather the transition from season to season. Winter to spring and summer to fall, in particular.

A fellow by the name of Frank Chimero is a New York-based graphic designer whose work I admire. He's also a talented writer as I've found from following his blog over the last several months. Recently Frank had this to say about the changing seasons, which I found quite poignant:

September rolled away, almost like it wasn't even there. We now have these spectacular October days in New York that make you wish every single one could be like them, from now into forever. Heaven must be a permanent October. The cusps of new seasons always makes me reflective for some reason. Transformations are visible so infrequently; most of the changes we live through are almost like the slowest crossfade ever heard between two songs, one well-known and the other new, trading one old piece for one new piece, bit-by-bit, second-by-second, until there is no more of the old stuff left.

Summer into autumn is the most magical transition, because it is usually abrupt; a storm comes and drags the cold air behind it. Once the front moves through, there are a million little testaments and artifacts of the change all around you: those bright yellow-red leaves hang above and draw your eye up. They're under your feet as you walk and every step produces that crinkly, shuffling sound that we all love because it is so temporal. Leaves are in piles beside your usual route, begging to be disturbed, saying, "Jump." You see those changes, and maybe, if you're like me, you start to think about your own changes. And oh my, so much, so many changes. I took to calling my old college roommates, phoned my parents to check in, spoke with everyone or left them messages to say "Sitting still. Thinking of you."

I've always felt this same way but have never been able to explain this phenomenon quite as eloquently as Mr. Chimero – it's less of a visible change and more of a feeling – a transition in the air and your anatomical clock knows it's time to move from summer into fall. There's also a sense of nostalgia and a yearning for those comfortable feelings remembered from childhood. Such an interesting phenomenon – and I'm glad to know it's not just me being super reflective about my life and the changing seasons this time of year.

I first came across Frank Chimero through a book project he's heading up called "The Shape of Design." Better said, he is the book's author. I had the unique opportunity to help fund his book-writing project through Kickstarter and have been following him ever since. Here's a creatively-executed video he created about his book:

From what I know, Frank is still working on the book. I can't wait to get the finished product – very excited for it!

On a related note, I think it's worth mentioning the power of creation and the innate human desire to create. Whether it's exercising 'creativity' to 'create' a simple painting, building your own house, maintaining a garden, taking photographs, designing holiday cards, assembling an Ikea bookshelf, or even the power of creating human life, there is real human satisfaction in creation. At least I feel that way – which is why I think I feel some satisfaction from working within the 'creative' industry (although advertising is considered by many to be the bastard stepchild). I'll take what I can get and run with it.

Open Season

Shout out to Kylie for showing me this song. Somehow it's seems totally fitting for the transition of seasons occurring right now, which I love. Like a nostalgic look back on summer days that have come and gone. Not crazy about the impending frigidness around the corner, but I'll take fall while I can get it. And so far October has been amazing.

I also love how this showcases so many New York City neighborhoods... what a town! Great song.

Joe Cool

There are so many fabulous old clips of the Dave Brubeck Quartet floating around the Internet – these guys were just killing it! I love the cool, west coast jazz contrast with today's current music scene; these guys are just so confident, calm & relaxed, but every bit as talented (if not more) than the top talent today. There's no hyped-up, cocky rockstars here – just confident dudes who were masters of their craft.

Pay special attention to the man behind the drums – Joe Morello. This guy is something else. I've dabbled in the art of percussion and this cat just blows me away. I love how Dave (piano) turns around and watches the drum solo as if he didn't want to miss out...!

And of course an amazing performance by the song's writer, Paul Desmond on the silky-smooth sax. Check out Dave just looking on in awe of Paul doing his thing. Solid jazz.

The only thing lacking here is a bass solo from Mr. Eugene Wright. I'll have to highlight that another day.

Think Different. Like Steve.

Here's the famous Apple 'Think Different' ad – this time narrated by Mr. Jobs himself, not the version that aired on TV with Richard Dreyfuss doing the voiceover. I think I prefer this one – it's that much more impactful.

Thanks again for everything Steve. Looking forward to my new iPhone 4S that should be here Friday...

FNL: The Movie (Pt. II)

I'll take Kyle Chandler over Billy Bob Thornton any day. Huffington Post (my least favorite source) is reporting a *new* Friday Night Lights movie is in the works, featuring the cast of the TV series. I thought this Emmy trailer summed up five seasons of small-town football drama nicely (Kelsey may or may not have shed a couple tears by the end of this trailer).

And for posterity's sake, let it be known that Coach Eric Taylor is my hero. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

Shout out to lil' sis Kylie for the heads up.

Manhattan In Motion

This is where I live and work. What a magical place.

Where you at Brooklyn?

Mindrelic - Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

Mr. Brubeck & Co.

West coast jazz. The way my father raised me.

I'm A Mormon

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

In the hilarious yet brutal-at-times world of satirical comedy, Mormons historically have gotten the raw end of the deal. We'll take what we can get this time around – hats off, Mr. Colbert. Thanks for going easy on us!

Visit mormon.org for more information.

Summertime

Miss this summertime ritual. Seriously contemplating getting a longboard... just for leisure, not to shred like these blokes!

Vans + DQM

Excited for this collaboration coming to SoHo in September. The Vans DQM General will be located at 93 Grand Street. Hope it's not an over-hyped, overpriced bust!

Source: Hypebeast

My New Favorite Video...

12 Million+ views and I'm just now seeing this? How did I miss this? Amazing. Enjoy!

Warby Parker

I love what Warby Parker is doing in the world of fashionable eyewear. If you need (or like) glasses and don't want to break the bank, you should check these guys out. Their business model is also super innovative – they'll send you up to five pair of frames to check out before you make your purchase decision.

As an added bonus one of their male eyewear models happens to be my co-worker Richard, aka DJ Treats (Lookin' good, Treats!).

The Village: Tilt Shift

I will never get sick of watching tilt shift videos. This technique is so wild – I love it.

My question is this: with full HD video on pretty much every Digital SLR these days, does the tilt shift technique only work with still photos? Is stop motion the best (or only) way to capture the look?

I have no idea... Still don't understand how messing with your lens like that can magically miniaturize the world and everything in it. Incredible.

The Village from Pedro Sousa | visuals on Vimeo.

Splitscreen: A Love Story

Great concept and even better execution. Love the attention to detail. Especially knowing this whole thing was shot on the Nokia N8 mobile phone. Impressive!

Thanks to little sister Kylie for the heads up!

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

The Twins

Props to these young gentlemen! Only 12-years-old. Oh to be young again...

via Hypebeast

The Twins from skatefairy on Vimeo.

San Francisco

This is the beautiful work of Kevin Dart. I haven't found an artist whose style I admire this much since Matte Stephens. The mid-century retro-modern style is too much! I have no real reason to buy a San Francisco piece of art, but I just might for only $30! How about a New York City piece, Kevin?

Grown Ocean Cover

I promise I'll get off my Fleet Foxes kick after this post – I ran across this cover on YouTube several weeks back and meant to post it. Impressive interpretation of the song! Not bad at all. Seems like a lot of musical talent floating around on this.

Blue Ridge Mountains

June came & went. Summer is here and it's been awhile since I blogged.

I've been on (another) Blue Ridge Mountains kick ever since the Fleet Foxes show back in May – found this live version from the show I attended at the United Palace Theater. I must have re-fallen in love with this song at the show. Quality is a bit suspect and the harmonies aren't quite as sharp as they were in-person, but you get the idea. It's a thing of beauty.

Fleet Foxes at the United Palace

The first show of the 2011 New York City Egan Family Summer Concert Series kicked off last night with Fleet Foxes at the United Palace Theater up on 175th and Broadway. Simply put, my expectations were absolutely exceeded.

It's refreshing how a band can make such intricate, complicated music and vocals sound so pure and simple. They have found the secret. And I can tell you they kill it live.

I've been eagerly awaiting a live show from these guys for almost three years now. Ironically enough my two favorites from the "Fleet Foxes" album were not the best songs of the night in my opinion. Mid-way through the set they played the anthemic "White Winter Hymnal" which lead directly into "Ragged Wood" for an amazing back-to-back combo. However, "Blue Ridge Mountains," Robin's solo rendition of "Oliver James" and "Your Protector" stole the show in my opinion. "Mykonos" off of Sun Giant was incredible as well. I'm still letting the new album grow on me but early favorites are "Grown Ocean," "Helplessness Blues," "Montezuma," "Battery Kinzie" and "The Shrine / An Argument."

**Bonus** As I was reading the review of last night's show on Brooklyn Vegan I found the back of my head in one of the photos!




All images from Brooklyn Vegan

Dear 16-Year-Old Me

I thought this was an especially poignant & powerful PSA (or whatever they're called in Canada). Count me in for the SPF 30 this summer!

Human Flight

I have always wanted to go skydiving. Perhaps more so now than ever, thanks to this gem:

Experience Human Flight from Betty Wants In on Vimeo.

Perfect Symmetry

The idea of symmetry is very compelling, especially after watching this well-executed video done for NPR by RadioLab & Everynone. Inspiring. The Sufjan Stevens track doesn't hurt the overall aesthetic of the video either...

Less Is More

In the wee small hours of the morning when I'm supposed to be asleep, I'm usually catching up on the 40+ tabs I seem to always have open on my browser consisting of articles, videos & wikipedia entries I didn't get around to reading that day. In the case of last night, I got around to watching some Local Native covers on YouTube. Probably because Kelsey's little brother Cole mentioned his band (TRIBES) covers the song "Wide Eyes" by Local Natives. Anyway, there is a wide array of talent out there on YouTube and I applaud aspiring artists for at least attempting to express themselves (which is half the battle), though many YouTube covers definitely leave something to be desired, to put it mildly.

In my zoned out 1am viewing last night I stumbled upon the following cover. I really appreciate this guy's simple, honest approach to doing his version of this song. It isn't much, but that's what I really liked about it. I would like to think that if I were to sit down and cover this song, I would take a similar approach. The octave jump at the end was a welcome surprise, too. Whomever you are, Lee Francis, I applaud you. Keep it up.

Grown Ocean

These guys are doing it right. They know their brand and they're killing it. Makes me want to deck out in flannel and go back to 1977.

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean from Fleet Foxes on Vimeo.

WESC Denim

WESC may not be know for its denim per se, but they at least put together a cool video on how they make their jeans.

The Making of WeSC Denim from WeSC on Vimeo.

Sweet Sixteen

God Bless Jimmerica. Go Cougars.

Scenes From The Suburbs

Arcade Fire continues their post-Grammy parade with a new short film directed by good ol' Spike Jonze. Looks wacky.

I shouldn't be surprised at the vitriol flying around the blogosphere toward Arcade Fire ever since their big "Album of the Year" win, but I'm still on the bandwagon. In 2006 "Funeral" literally evolved my taste in music perhaps more so than any other album within the last five years. That sounds pretty extreme... and it probably is, but it's easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Regardless, apparently "Scenes From The Suburbs" is airing this week at SXSW.

Check out the trailer here:

via stereogum

It's Jimmer Time

This is terribly cheesy, I'm aware of that. But I just wouldn't be a true fan if I didn't spread the love. Here's a shout out to #32, the player of the year. March Madness = Jimmer Time. Don't break my heart this year, Cougars; we need at least two tourney wins. At least!

Teach me how to Jimmer:

Check out Jimmer POY

It Would Be Awesome If I Could Do This:

Pink Ponies

The ad industry is so quirky. This is a perfect satirical look at an advertising case study. And it even includes the all mighty social media. Well played.

You've Already Seen This

But it's worth seeing again:



I want iPad 2 exclusively for its amazing cover – ridiculous.

Paris At Night

I thoroughly enjoyed this stop motion expose of the beautiful city of Paris "composed completely of photographs" (per the artist, Luke Shepard). Amazingly well-executed. I found it very unique that it shows the "darker" side of Paris, as this was literally shot at night.

Le Flâneur (music by The XX) from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

To that point, and not to play art critic here, but as much as I love "Intro" by the XX, I think either "Stars" or "Night Time" could have potentially worked even better with these images, as this project is showcasing Paris primarily after hours. The energy and build of Intro is incredible, don't get me wrong. I was just surprised to see that track paired with these images. There's such a raw and quiet and almost creepy quality with the XX's sound, I think another song maybe could have worked better (Even "Heart Skipped A Beat" or "Islands"). Just throwing it out there...

Inspiration from Google Docs

Impressive display of creativity and use of Google Docs. Hope it was worth the 3+ days they spent on this!

The Alphabet

The Alphabet from n9ve on Vimeo.

Can't Get Enough...

...Local Natives. I did some more digging and found their first appearance on the Take Away Show. I'm such a sucker for their harmonies – they have it down! And for the record, Wide Eyes is my favorite track off the album. I realize I'm borderline obsessed here; my wife just referred to me as a "groupie." This is good stuff here:

Local Natives / A take Away Show @ Route du Rock Hiver 2010 from Watch Your Steps on Vimeo.

Islands: For the Mrs.

The xx are easily one of my favorite bands over the past couple of years. Somehow I totally missed this video – very interesting concept. Truthfully, it makes me sort of dizzy. But I like that it's different, and love the song, and Kelsey loved the choreography. I don't know the first thing about dance, but I think the choreography is amazing as well.

Take Away Show: Local Natives

French music blog La Blogotheque does a really cool video series called Take Away Show where they film bands playing live in obscure places/settings. It's usually more of an acoustic performance, due to the setting & circumstances (the first episode I experienced was "1901" by Phoenix with the Eiffel Tower as a back drop). As a big fan of Local Natives, I immediately wanted to share this.

In this episode of the Take Away Show, Local Natives play "Who Knows Who Cares" while walking through the Palais Royal in Paris. The intertwining harmonies are downright inspiring in that setting. And done live? That much more impressive. Thanks to Pitchfork for the pointer.

Local Natives | Who Knows Who Cares | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Helplessness Blues

Looks like this is turning into a sort of music blog... I'll just roll with it. Fleet Foxes just announced a new album and concert dates. You'd better believe my tickets are purchased for the NYC show (which I just read they added a second date – get your tickets while you can!). I've been anxious to see these gentlemen live for the past two/three years, and am thrilled they're touring again. They're first single, "Helplessness Blues" is available for free download on their website.

On a related note, Brooklyn Vegan included this amazing cover of "White Winter Hymnal" by Oh Land in their latest Fleet Foxes coverage. Oh Land is new to me; Apparently they're Danish - not too hard to tell by her naturally beautiful Scandanavian features. Fun cover to say the least.

Before It's Too Late: Favorite Music 2010

I get that I'm at least a month late with posting this list, but for my own sake I wanted to document my audio favorites from 2010 – another successful year for music.

Favorite Bands of 2010 (as judged by the amount of listens in my iTunes library)
*Note: For all the hater hipsters, I understand that some of these groups could technically have been in 2009, but for me, the discovery really came in 2010. So don't bother calling me out on it–I'm doing the best I can to keep up!

10. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "Before Today"


9. Deerhunter "Halcyon Digest"


8. Best Coast "Crazy For You"


7. Tokyo Police Club "Champ"


6. Sufjan Stevens "The Age of Adz"


5. Ra Ra Riot "The Orchard"


4. Beach House "Teen Dream"


3. Two Door Cinema Club "Tourist History"


2. Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"


1. Local Natives "Gorilla Manor"

Honorable Mentions: (in no particular order) LCD Soundsystem, Yeasayer, The Morning Benders, Glasser, Band of Horses, Animal Collective, Phoenix, Passion Pit, The National, Mumford & Sons, Caribou, Jónsi, Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Tame Impala, Toro Y Moi

HelveTic-Toc

This isn't terribly efficient for telling time... But at least it looks nice and modern!

Check out helvetictoc.com

My Other Favorite Irish Band

These guys are the "band of the moment" for me right now. Definitely floating my boat, if you will. I really appreciate when an entire album jumps out at me from the get go. Typically for me, it can mean one of two things: 1. It's a solid album, start to finish. Or 2. It's just a bunch of catchy, pop-y songs that you're going to get sick of really fast. I will note that a lot of the songs have a very similar sound (since I still can't distinguish some tracks from others), nonetheless I've been loving this album as of late.

I was also impressed by their performance on Jimmy Fallon a couple weeks back – I've probably watched this video a dozen times since then (Like I said, "band of the moment...).

100 Years of Big Blue

I was raised to bleed blue. The LA Dodgers, the BYU Cougars, & IBM. Even though it's been years since my old man retired from the company after three decades of honest labor, I feel proud to have ever been even loosely affiliated. This video encapsulates the American dream, and paints our capitalistic society in a good light. And the best part is, this is 13 solid minutes of a little thing they call advertising. Very well done.

Animal Bands

Any music fan would agree that the last few years of the folk revival have seen come with it an influx of what I like to call "Animal Bands." I'm not sure if this goes hand-in-hand with the green, Whole Foods/Trader Joes, all-natural movement, or if it's just the trend du jour of the hipsters, but there are almost no good animal names left for bands. If one were to start a new band tomorrow, they would be hard pressed to come up with a name cooler than Fleet Foxes, per se. Beards & Animal Bands, my friends.

Since I'm just now writing about it, I'm sure this trend is on its way out. The pendulum swing is departing the return to analog, and picking up speed heading back to digital – what's next, robot bands with beards?

Here's my list of current Animal Bands that are killing it. I admittedly enjoy most of the groups listed below - have I missed any?

- Animal Collective

- Fleet Foxes

- Grizzly Bear

- Deerhunter

- Deer Tick

- Band of Horses

- Caribou

- Tame Impala

- Frightened Rabbit

- Panda Bear (from Animal Collective, no less)

- Wolf Parade

- Sea Wolf

- Phoenix

- Gorillaz (doesn't quite fit the same mold as the rest...but still animalistic)

Honorable Mentions: (Less Animal-y and more Naturaleza)

- Neon Indian

- Neon Trees

- Blitzen Trapper (Wild Mountain Nation)

Here's one of my favorite songs from the past year or so by Animal Collective. I admit it took time for this track to grow on me, but then one day on the R Train, it hit me like a wave of perfection. Enjoy.

Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.