Iron & Wine

Happy May! this is one of my favorite songs right now. Hope it makes it’s way onto a new album soon, Sam.

Speaking of which, I heard a rumor of Sam Beam and Rosie Thomas doing an album together a while back. Anyone out there know anything more ’bout that?

Tony Rice

I chickened out last year at Bonnaroo when I saw Tony Rice in the VIP area (yeah, I know people), and I didn’t try to shake his hand. He’s probably the best living musician.

The Family Band

Click here.

Horse Feathers – Thistled Spring

I first ran across Portland band Horse Feathers on a Paste sampler a few years ago.

They played folk music with lots of strings added then, and not much has changed except perhaps the ambition of the arrangements. I have a natural bent for this kind of music, it being similar to what I make when I make music. Even making concessions for my natural bias, however, I think you should get in there and give this album a listen. One of the things I really enjoy about these songs is the female vocalist (don’t know her name) who adds a lot of depth and range to the music. Her breathy voice complements Justin Ringle’s well, and to me (although probably not to many other people) the effect is reminiscent of one of my favorite bands, The Deep and Holy Sea, which sadly doesn’t exist any more. Songs “This Bed” and “Belly of June” are personal favorites of mine from this album.

I’d Live There – Iceland

Sometimes I wonder if the purpose of the earth isn’t to keep humans from getting above themselves.




More Iceland volcano pictures here.

ceo

Normally I don’t get too into these viral things, but I love this one so far.

Here’s a link.

Mid April, 2010

I haven’t written anything here for a few days because I’ve been gone in Gainesville and Tallahassee.

First thing I did was go to a meeting on UF’s campus where I got to see a sneak preview of The Greenhorns I’m looking forward to the release of the full film. Met a nice guy named Noah who you will hear more about later.

The Chramber Power Wedding was a grand success, and the whole experience was utterly enjoyable. Marriage is beautiful, is it not? I hope one of these days soon I’ll be able to find someone I want to stick with ’til worms crawl out of my eyeholes. Because, after all, everyone you know someday will die. It was beyond lovely to see so many of my friends this week, and make a few new ones. I love you all.

If you’ve ever played foosball, let me tell you right now you did it wrong. To play properly, you need eight people. One person per row of men, and suddenly you have a real game. It is really effing fun.

After the Chramber Power Wedding, I motivated on up to Tallahassee to see my little sister sing in a grand production of some Beethoven choral music. I was completely unprepared for this. The concert was in a church, so I so I was expecting a maybe 30-member choir singing hymns. What I got was a choir at least 150 strong, full orchestra, organ, and soloists from FSU’s music program (which is very fine). This sort of performance is extremely rare, in my experience. In a lifetime of caring about music, I’ve only encountered one other such ensemble, when I played in the orchestra for a Dvorak’s Requiem. I suspect that this is due to the prohibitive cost of hiring so many musicians for a professional concert (as opposed to a volunteer or school group). Anyway, if you don’t listen to Beethoven pretty regularly, please stop reading and don’t speak to me ever again. There is no excuse. For reals though, stop listening to those amateurs I’m always suggesting to you at least for a portion of your listening time and get in touch with some of the (other) good stuff.

Got to spend a bit of time in Tallahassee with Patrick Michael Chin and the guys from Vera. At the very least, they have good taste in movies (V for Vendetta (my first time seeing this) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (my 4,091st time seeing this).

On the way home, I stopped to meet my new friend Noah at Swallow Tail Farm, a little ways outside Gainesville. He, his father-in-law, and his business partner Zach have an eighty member CSA. They are in their first year of farming, and seem to be doing pretty well. Many thanks to Noah and Zach for answering all my questions and letting me visit their farm. It’s really nice to see other people with similar goals to mine having some success, especially as early as these guys. You can learn more about Swallow Tail here. I’ll write a more complete post on this visit later.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in some way to making this one of the best weeks of my life!

P.S. Pictures on the way! Film is slower.