Brandon's Blog

Love Is . . . Watching Someone Die??

Last week, my wife and I had an opportunity to get away for a few days together and leave our daughter with the grandparents.  It was a brilliant time of refreshment, reflection, prayer, and reading - with very little technology to provide any “background noise.” 

On our way home, Kristy put in a CD of one of our favourite albums, Death Cab for Cutie’s “Plans.”  I’d forgotten how much I loved that album.  When it rolled around to a song called “What Sarah Said,” I was blown away.

Kevin Drew's Directorial Debut (starring Cillian Murphy & Leslie Feist)

A few years back, I remember reading this interview between Cillian Murphy and Kevin Drew.  Kevin was supposed to be interviewing Cillian, but it ended up being a reciprocal kind of thing where, by the end, you forget who is interviewing who.  I loved feeling like a fly on the wall listening to one of my favourite songwriters (though only recently discovered at the time) sit down for a conversation with a phenomenally talented Irish actor. 

The Latest Audio/Visual Jewels

Just a couple of remarkable creative pieces I've come across on the web as of late.

First up, just about every modern day kid has seen "the wild things" growing up.  Now, Spike Jonze brings it to the big screen.  Watch and be filled with anticipation . . .

First Quarter in Music

Lots of great music to be discovered since the beginning of 2009.  However, I'm a little disappointed by some of it.  Neko Case's latest, Middle Cyclone, is one of those for the "letdown" bin.  Case has a hauntingly beautiful voice, but the songwriting on Cyclone just isn't doing it for me like "Fox Confessor" did.  I was also excited about an album by her fellow band member, A.C. Newman, called Get Guilty, but it has also failed to deliver.  It's just got me hoping for some more great collaboration on another future album.

Irish band, Bell X1, has a new one, as does another Irish group who's name is a combination of letters and numbers (er, a letter and number).  Blue Lights on the Runway is growing on me (at least a few tracks are), but I have yet to purchase No Line on the Horizon.  When I asked for feedback on No Line via my Facebook status, here are a few of the eager responses I got: 

Red Hot Album & Children's Book

On the heels of my extended concert review yesterday, here are some tracks from a charity album entitled "Dark Was the Night" that I discovered today and have been listening to while I get some work done.  So far, I'm really impressed.  It was put together by The Red Hot charity organization.  (Trust me, click the link, don't Google "Red Hot.")  Contributing artists include some of my absolute favs, including a duet with Feist and Ben Gibbard, The National (Aaron and Bryce were the producers), Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, Spoon, Beirut, Sufjan Stevens and more. 

A Live Music Trifecta

So February 2009 is shaping up to be a month of live gigs for me.  For Christmas, my brother bought me tickets to see Broken Social Scene (in Seattle back on the 5th) and Andrew Bird (back to Seattle on the 23rd).  And the other night, Kristy and I joined some great friends to see Lisa Hannigan in Portland.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (BSS)
The BSS show was ear-shatteringly remarkable.  (No, seriously, my ears were ringing two days after the show.)  In some ways, I don’t think one can really understand the talent, creativity, and innovation of BSS unless one has seen something of them live.  Even a video of a live performance points towards this, but of course could still never do it justice.

A Christmas Playlist

I was just poking around on Imeem a little bit and I'm really liking what I see there as a way of discovering and sharing new music.  Below, you'll find a little Christmas playlist that I've thrown together for your listening enjoyment.

Christmas

Also, below are a few videos from my "favourite songs of 2008" list.

Random Links - A Little Bit o' Serious, A Little Bit o' Fun

• I'm with Shane Claiborne in saying, "ENOUGH!"
• I continue to be impressed with our president-elect . . .
• Arcade Fire have released a film that looks to be a documentary on the recording of their last album, Neon Bible.  I'm looking forward to getting a digital download version of it.

And here are a few links in the "TOTAL waste of time" category that are, nonetheless, rather entertaining.

• If you've always wondered what it would be like to work in cartoon animation, whether you're even very creative or not, GoAnimate has made it really easy. And a TONNE of fun.
• LineRider have done something similar but connected it with videogaming.  
• ElfYourself 2008 has a bit of an upgrade from last year.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Year in Music (or at least on my iPod) 2008

Earlier this month, all the major music publications and blogs were putting out their “Top Albums/Bands of 2008” lists.  Paste Magazine had a curious Top Album of 2008 from a band called “She and Him,” which left a lot of bloggers and music fans scratching their heads.  But that’s Paste for you.  Neither music snobs nor pop music aficionados, they really don’t give a rip about expectations “out there,” which I find refreshing.  (BTW, I got the “She and Him” album just to see what the hype was all about.  IMHO, it’s a decent album, but I’m joining the head-scratchers.)

A few years back, I wouldn’t have considered myself a big fan of folk music.  However, with some of the great songwriting coming out in that genre over the last couple of years, I’d have to say that’s changed.  Even screamo star Dusin Kensrue of Thrice has had a decent go at a folk album (entitled "Please Come Home").  While Fleet Foxes got a lot of attention this year, I’d have to pick Wisconsiner Bon Iver as my top “folk-ish” album of the year.  Others that I’m hoping to look into more are The Tallest Man on Earth, Hayden,  and The Avett Brothers, whom I’m way behind with (think they’ve put out more than 10 albums.)  Also, Conor Oberst (a.k.a., Bright Eyes) put out an album a few months back that I had hoped to look into getting by now.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Bon Iver over the last few months, Sigur Ros’s 2008 offering was probably my favourite release of the year. 

Cool T-Shirts for Good Causes

Next time you're in the market for a cool t-shirt, be sure to check out the Yellow Bird Project.  A handful of great bands designed shirts for the project and 100% of the proceeds go to a charity of the bands' choice.  You'll also find a free MP3 download of the song that was chosen as the YBP theme, written and performed by The Tallest Man on Earth.  (No, not this guy - the band.)

I think my favourite shirt is this one, designed by Broken Social Scene:

And while you're there on the Yellow Bird site, be sure to check out the Cat Power cover of Wonderwall on the blog.  My only complaint would be how brief it is, but what a sweet cover!