Merry Christmas, Katie!

Merry Christmas to me! Radiohead's new album is here, The King of Limbs.

I Remember When the Days Were Long...

This morning before work, I walked to my car which was parked on Gaskill Street; a quaint-looking, secret ally-way behind my apartment building. This narrow one way street, includes early-American style, colonial homes accompanied by newly sprouted trees leaving just enough space in between buildings for the morning sun to shine through the April flowers and bright, mossy colored leaves of the trees. There's something about walking down these street in the mornings when the sun is shining through the cracks that makes me feel alive and happy. As I got to my car, I thought to myself, I'm in the mood for some really fun, light-hearted music. It was just too beautiful out to waste a 45 minute commute to work listening to things that I've replayed over and over again during the last month or so (which I have a tendency to do). Because this particular Spring morning reminded me of my Lafayette College days, and the shimmering morning walks I used to take to class while listening to my favorite indy bands on my MP3 player (at that time before iPods were out), I chose a band that I discovered my freshman year that always reminds me of that time. It was a band that I haven't listened to in a long, long time: Death Cab for Cutie. And forget about their latest and newest album, Narrow Stairs. I was more inclined to listen to the the DCFC tunes that mean more to me than their newest creations. At the young age of 19, I did not go a day without listening to Ben Gibbard's creative stories and vivid life details that only the intelligent can relate with. So I rummaged through my cd collection, and pulled out an old, beat up mix I put together back in 2003. The first song I heard, Photobooth.

"I remember when the days were long, 
and the nights when the living 
room was on the lawn..." 

I have to say commute that morning was one of the more enjoyable ones. I couldn't wait to come back home after work and enjoy the amazing weather, and the fact that Spring was in the air. If I hadn't listened to DCFC on this particular morning, I would not have reminisced about the bright, sunny memories I made when I was 19. Thanks Ben Gibbard for providing a short soundtrack to a really good time in my life. You will never be forgotten :) 

Enjoy the weather and the smell of Spring!


Mi

Radiohead: 13 Years and Counting...

I devote my first Mi post to Radiohead. Musical geniuses, and the reason behind my devotion to the art of music. I started my Radiohead obsession when I was 13 years old. The famous appearance of "Talk Show Host," in the hit film, Romeo & Juliet had me at "I want to..." From there their third album, Ok Computer, was in my hands and within an instant became my #1. It didn't take me long to realize that I was on to something pretty amazing. Like an addiction, I decided to venture onto more Radiohead, and sure enough...I was not disappointed. Pablo Honey, their first and more alternative album kindly holds a spot for their most recognized track, "Creep." But this album was quickly overlooked and does not compare to Radiohead's most recent accomplishments. Next came The Bends, which still remained akin to its ancestor as acoustics and electric guitars abound. But Radiohead took a turn to the futuristic and almost scary with Kid A, Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, and of course, their most extraordinary masterpiece, In Rainbows. These albums have proven to be much different, and rightfully so, incredible works of art. With their computerized, deep, eery, and drify undertones, you're quickly taken to a new planet, albeit, a new decade. If these don't stimulate your musical brain nerves, I don't know what will. It is in these albums that Radiohead demonstrates its unique ability to create different sounds from normal instruments and lyrical confusion. It almost makes you wonder, "Where did Thom Yorke come up with that?"

Either way you look at it, Radiohead has my heart and always will. It's been 13 years now that I have been listening to them, and I never, ever, get sick of them. Like a little kid anxiously awaiting for Santa on Christmas day, I sit and wonder if and when they will create another album for me to indulge. It's a tease to think about what Thom Yorke will come up with next. After all the freakishly peculiar sounds they've managed to create up to this point, one wonders...."What WILL they come up with next?"

Here's to a Happy 2010 of musical bliss and endless exploration for the new and continued "muscially inclined!"

-Mi

Introduction: Music is My Muse

There's something about music that takes me to another place. For as long as I can remember, music has been my escape. It has this insane ability to give me sheer happiness, a mere look into the future, or...to make me feel as if I'm reliving my past. It's with music that I become lost within my imagination. There's never a time when I listen to music and don't examine the combination of instruments and how every fiber, and every vibration of sound come together.

It has always been my dream to exist in the world of music. My musical repertoire is the soundtrack to my life; the one I share only with myself. The lyrics and sounds evoke more than memories for me. Instead they take me to a complete and utter peace of mind.

My word is my bond, and today, I begin the rest of my life writing about the power of music on my life, its effects on my everyday thoughts and the random places it brings me to. I want to share my perspective on the talent that exists out there today that many are not "attuned" to, and to give credit to the musical artists who patiently await their turn to make the same effect on people.

Life is all about emotion...
Without emotion, one has not lived.
With music emerges emotion...
Have you lived today?

-Mi