Little Joy in Seattle

Last Thursday I watched a couple songs by the Dead Trees and went to the bar to get a beer. We were standing there chatting and Rodrigo Amarante passes by, completely unnoticed. No fan crowd after him, just another guy at the bar. The four of us, all Brazilians, recognized him instantly. A bit afraid at first, we finally gathered courage to ask him to pose for a photo. He was very friendly and sat there talking to us for half an hour, just before their show. He told us that they've been on the road for quite a while, crossing the country in a van, carrying their own equipment, booking their own hotels, doing their thing like a small band. Amarante also mentioned Little Joy's plans to play in Brazil, and said that sometime in 2009 Los Hermanos will get together for a concert, and after that they'll go to a studio to record their next album.

Yay! The best Brazilian band is getting back together soon!

Uhm, the concert? Yes, that was pretty good too.

Edit: adicionando uma versão em Português e mostrando a nossa foto no El Corazón aqui em Seattle

Quinta passada eu assisti duas músicas do Dead Trees e fui pro bar pegar uma cerveja. A gente tava ali de pé conversando e o Rodrigo Amarante passa do nosso lado, totalmente despercebido. Nós quatro, todos brasileiros, reconhecemos o cara na hora. Vencemos o medo e tomamos coragem pra ir pedir uma foto com ele. Ele foi muito amigável e sentou ali conversando com a gente por meia hora, logo antes do show deles. Ele falou que eles estão na estrada faz um bom tempo, cruzando o país numa van, carregando o próprio equipamento, reservando hotéis, dando uma de banda pequena mesmo. O Amarante também falou dos planos do Little Joy de tocar no Brasil, e falou que em 2009 Los Hermanos vão se reunir pra um show e em seguida vão pro estúdio gravar o próximo álbum.

Uhu! A melhor banda brasileira volta logo!

Ah, o show do Little Joy? É, foi muito bom também.

Little Joy

Little Joy is the best thing that happened to music this year. Rodrigo Amarante (Los Hermanos) and Fabrizio Moretti (Strokes) got together to write a delightfully unpretentious album about love. Check it out!

Congratulations, Mr. Obama

The world welcomes you in hopes of a brighter future.

Death Magnetic

Believe it or not, Metallica's last album is actually good. Oh boy, it was about time they remembered how to do it.

Beautiful

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/earth_from_above_comes_to_nyc.html

I'm a PC

And this is addictive: http://andimapc.com/.

Such Great Heights

I am thinking it's a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images and
When we kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay
True, it may seem like a stretch
But it's thoughts like this
That catch my troubled head
When you're away, when I am missing you to death
When you were out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now," but we'll stay

(...)

(this is a song by The Postal Service that inevitably makes me think of the woman I love)

you've got to love the Music Genome Project

While exploring Pandora, I somewhat randomly clicked on a button on the iPhone version of the app. Then it said:

Why this song is playing:

"We're playing the track because it features electric rock instrumentation, punk influences, extensive vamping, major key tonality, electric rhythm guitars and many other similarities identified in the Music Genome Project."

I couldn't resist clicking next:

"electronica roots, a laid back male vocal, vocal samples, a repetitive verse, a repetitive chorus, use of modal harmonies, dry snare, emphasis on instrumental performance, a tight kick sound, inventive instrumental arrangements, a slow moving bass line, use of strings, subtle use of pianos, mellow piano timbre, thin ambient synth textures (...)"

One more:

"subtle use of vocal harmony, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, solo strings (...)"

Wow! I really like all those things but I had never thought of the individual elements that attract me in a song. Great job!

IE8 Beta 2 released

You can already download IE8 Beta 2, now featuring InPrivate Browsing. Excerpt from the site:

Sometimes you don’t want to leave any trace of specific web browsing activity, such as when checking e-mail at an Internet café or shopping for a gift on a family PC. InPrivate Browsing in Internet Explorer 8 helps prevent your browsing history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, and usernames and passwords from being retained by the browser, leaving no evidence of your browsing or search history.

Pretty awesome, huh?

Oasis

I just came back from their concert here in Seattle. Good show, nothing really special to note. I was surprised to see them ending their set with "I am the Walrus", but it seems they do that.

Along the same lines as the Radiohead "review", my personal impression of Oasis is that they're not unique and they're not different, but they excel at being a normal rock band. And that's quite an accomplishment, since that's pretty much what a lot of other bands try (and fail) to do.

Lucid Dreams

Franz Ferdinand's latest single, Lucid Dreams, is pretty good.

Radiohead

I must admit I never cared much for them - I always thought of the band as a sad bunch, the Fake-Plastic-Trees guys. Sometimes I even found them slightly irritating.

Yesterday I spent 4 hours in various traffic jams to see them live. It was raining and cold and my expectations were low. I wasn't too happy when I got there and saw the show had already started.

I stood there, looking at the strange green lights playing on stage and the thousands and thousands of heads looking, listening. And I figured there must have been something going on. What attracts this crowd?

After listening to a few songs, I felt I understood the big picture, the high-altitude view. Radiohead is about us. It's about a dysfunctional world, about a non-harmonic society that somehow fits together and keeps moving on. It's sad, of course, but it's also very true.

Yesterday, for the first time I really appreciated their work. Great band. Great concert.

no sunlight, no sunlight

I had the weirdest reaction to the clouds that appeared in the Monday morning sky. I welcomed them. After a good few weeks of summer, warm temperature, blue skies and all, I found myself mysteriously missing the clouds. That's particularly strange for one who couldn't bear the permanently clouded cold weather of Seattle last winter.

On Monday I felt invigorated by the darker skies. How can that be?

Meme

What better way of celebrating my newly declared personal blog than answering and spreading out a meme?

I got this from Daniela Palazzo. The idea is to write about things you'd like to do before dying. There're 5 rules (free translation of the original post in Portuguese):

1. Write a list with 8 things you'd like to do before you die
2. Invite 8 friends to do the same
3. Leave a comment on the blog of the inviter
4. Leave a comment on the blogs of your invitees
5. Mention the rules

My list (no particular order here):

1. Be a millionaire
2. Start my own school to help the unprivileged
3. Skydive
4. Have at least one child
5. Learn one more language
6. Plant a tree
7. Learn how to play another musical instrument
8. Visit at least 30 countries

I invite the following bloggers to answer this meme: Raquel Hirai, Rodrigo Hermann, André Lima, Nara e Eduardo, Ricardo Araújo, Raquel Recuero and Scott Adams.

I feel like I could...

like I could... TAKE ON THE BLOG!

Yes, that's right. It was about time I kicked all the slackers and admitted this is in fact a personal blog. So, there you go. Less nonsense, same URL.

(actually, I should let you know that André has his own blog; Renato, go make your own. Resistance is futile.)

Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

See the violence inherent in the system!

latest addiction

65daysofstatic's 2006 album, one time for all time, is really, really good.

Sasquatch 2008

Best music: R.E.M. - mixing songs from their latest album (which is great) and classic hits, they kept the crowd happy and fascinated, despite the cold rain and the wind. Memorable presentation.

Best performance: Flaming Lips. The amount of stuff these guys bring to the stage is unbelievable. This years' presentation included an UFO, a plastic transparent ball with Wayne Coyne in it, lots of teletubbies, four giant costumes (astronaut, alien, sun, butterfly), confetti cannons, hundreds of balls and a bunch of naked women.

Funniest moment: Flight of the Conchords. I heard a lot about these guys before, but I haven't seen their TV show. They are hilarious! Impossible not to laugh at lyrics such as "The Humans Are Dead"'s: "We used poisonous gasses / And we poisoned their asses"

Worst disappointment: The Cure. I remember telling a friend that I had to see them live before they die. Turns out I was wrong. These guys should have retired a long time ago. I don't like any of their new songs, and they even messed up with their hit songs. It's sad to see such a great band decline like this.

Worst music and performance: Mars Volta. The singer must have been high on cocaine or crack. The fucker was running around like crazy and threw a cymbal and a fan at the crowd. And their music is just extremely annoying.

Other cool stuff: Modest Mouse, The New Pornographers, Ozomatli, Death Cab for Cutie, 65daysofstatic, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, The Hives.

Dream Theater

I saw them live last Monday. In one word: wow! They all seem to be playing effortlessly - the music just flows from their hands. And, yes, John Petrucci is one of the best guitar players ever.

cheese

Tonight, after dinner, I went to the market nearby my apartment to buy cheese. I like cheese in the grilled sandwiches that I sometimes make in the morning. While walking back home with a 12 slice pack of American cheese and nothing else in my hands, I smelled the after-rain air and felt that life is immensely simple.

Street Kings

Street Kings was a slightly above average cop movie - but just slightly.

Morning

Not yet awake, I read my girlfriend's message from half a world away. She says to hold on buying the airplane tickets, she doesn't know if she'll come in July. I let the cellphone go at the unpleasant thought and crawl back in bed. Another few minutes of blissful ignorance.

The alarm rings again. The efficiency of bitwise operations and doubts about why she's not coming stir my mind and I rise from bed. I wash my face - I usually like the warm water, but this time I'm too stressed out to enjoy it for more than a few seconds. That's not how anyone should start their day.

I think of having a cup of coffee and feel slightly better. I go to the kitchen and repeat the same mechanical procedure of every morning. Clean up the coffee machine, replace the filter and fill it with water and coffee. I like the smell of coffee. I turn the machine on and come back to my room.

I turn the computer on. While I wait for it to start, I wonder how one would find permanent happiness. Avoiding love doesn't seem to make me happy, but falling in love has its pitfalls too. I think about how I'm extremely sensitive to news concerning her. Can I find true peace of mind? I feel like talking about it with my good friend, but then she might be busy and oh well... We've had that talk before, and we both know that the Buddhists have a point. Desire and attachment may lead to suffering. So, there I have it. I knew it, I chose it.

I type in my password, wait for the numerous useless applications finish starting up. I try to call her, the line is busy, or so my VoIP application says. I feel frustrated, I see the gray sky outside. I grab my coffee and sit down to write.

I call her again. This time it works. She's at work, waiting for a late patient. She tells me her father isn't too happy about the long distance relationship, about his little girl coming to a foreign country to spend time with a stranger. Sort of understandable, I guess, but not ideal. What's ideal, anyways? She's a bit upset about the situation, but wants to come. We want to see each other. We need to see each other. She says she'll come. Life is good again.

A half drunk cup of coffee is left on my desk. No need to finish it, I'm fully awake now. The day has begun.

The Cribs, Ra Ra Riot

I went to see The Cribs last Monday here in Seattle. It turned out they were too stoned to perform well and I didn't enjoy their show.

However, the night wasn't a complete waste. One of the bands that opened for them surprised me quite a bit. Ra Ra Riot is just beginning, but they show a lot of potential. They added a violin and a cello to the usual vocals-guitar-bass-drums combination, and the result was pretty good. Keep an eye out for them - I predict they'll be big.

Coachella is off

Even our local, less celebrated music festival - Sasquatch - has a better line-up this year. I'm going there instead - it's just a few hours away from Seattle, cheaper and got better bands this time.

New Addiction

The Earthsea cycle, by Ursula K. Le Guin. After reading the first volume, the rest of the collection automatically made its way to the top of my reading queue. I'm on the 3rd book already and making fast progress. I'll write a review once I finish the series.

fit lyrics

"Over the hills and far away,
he swears he will return one day.
Far from the mountains and the seas,
back in her arms he swears he'll be."

Two Step

I planned to write something about how life is happening so fast that the whole universe is just a blur right now, but I need to catch my breath first. I'll borrow Dave Matthews' words for the moment:

Hey, my love, you came to me like wine comes to this mouth
Grown tired of water all the time
You quench my heart and you quench my mind

Celebrate we will
Because life is short but sweet for certain
We're climbing two by two
To be sure these days continue
These things we cannot change...

Brazil

I start my journey tonight. I'll be in São Paulo on the 17th, and in Pelotas from the 18th to the 21st. I hope to see some of you there during that time. The rest of my trip is half-planned and highly unpredictable. Yay!

Perl sucks

Seriously. Perl is utterly inelegant.

movies

Atonement was good. Maybe too sad, I haven't decided yet.

Rambo was perfectly cheesy. The 80's are all back in that movie. Excellent!

short movie reviews

I'll try to mention all the movies I watch on the theater this year here in this blog. Let's see how that goes.

Juno was really, really good. I - like a lot of my friends who saw it - wish life was witty like that.

There Will Be Blood was overrated. The acting is impressive and the music was well used, but... It was kinda long and made me feel bad about humanity.

I Am Legend was not nearly as good as it could've been. I have no idea how they managed to make his loneliness in a deserted NYC uninspiring, but it definitely was. I normally love those scenes, but it didn't work this time. Bummer.

Coachella's lineup is out

At a first glance, this year's lineup doesn't look very exciting. However, last year I discovered a number of good bands because of the festival so I'm just downloading everything to my Zune to see what I can find this time around. I'll give them scores and post it here, as follows.

0 - Horrible. Must stay away from their stage. They suck so much that you don't want to risk being photographed nearby.

1- Bad. You should rather go to the beer garden.

2 - Watchable. If it's not too crowded and the sun is not too hot, go sit on the grass around their stage.

3 - Enjoyable. Worth staying up for one hour - and you may find your feet and hands moving to the rhythm of their songs.

4 - Fun! This band is worth elbowing your way to a good spot, maybe even scheduling ahead to be there early enough.

5 - Must see. This takes precedence over all conflicting shows and would even make you watch a bad show before just to reserve your spot. If there are two 5's at the same time, murderous thoughts about the organizers are morally acceptable.

 

Friday (April 25th)

American Bang: 3 (good honest rock n' roll)

Modeselektor: 2 (not terribly exciting techno)

Rogue Wave: 2.5 (average indie band, 0.5 extra for their awesome "Zune ad song" - Lake Michigan)

Porter: 1.5 (I feel I could change my mind on this, but at the moment they annoy me)

The Bees: 2 (these guys remind of Wilco)

Professor Murder: 1 (they try to be different and fail)

Black Lips: 2

Cut Copy: 3 (good slow beat!)

Architecture in Helsinki: 2 (interesting music, bad show)

Dan Deacon: 1 (some could say original, I say annoying!)

Vampire Weekend: 3 (tap tap tap - yay for happy music!)

Jens Lekman: 1 (waaay tooo slooow)

Adam Freeland: 1 (undanceable techno)

Minus the Bear: 2

(I'll keep updating this post as I listen to them)

simplify, simplify!

There's great beauty and wisdom in simplicity.